Travel Update 13

After wrapping up in Biscayne and the northern entrance of Everglades, we started on our road towards Austin for Christmas. We drove up the gulf coast of Florida all the way through Alabama, Mississippi and into Louisiana. We mostly had driving days with a few library stops here and there, trying to keep up with blogging.

The most interesting bit of driving was going through the Florida panhandle, especially near Panama City, where Hurricane Andrew made landfall in October 2018 as a category 5 hurricane. It seemed like nothing escaped without some form of damages. Many of the buildings seemed like a complete loss. Still, the city is slowly rebuilding, as construction crews were on many sites, replacing what had once been there.

On a much lighter note, on Thursday, December 12th, shortly after crossing into Alabama, we were looking for a place use the restrooms when we turned the corner to find .. a Buc-ee's. As we haven't driven in Texas yet, we were not prepared for what we saw.

   

All sorts of coffee, but only one type of tea.

Buc-ee's is a Texas based travel stop with Buc-ee's branded everything from travel gifts, to coffee, to "brisket for now and jerky for later", to roasted nuts, to world famous restrooms. We happened to stumble upon their first store outside of Texas.

That night we ended up at a free campsite in Mississippi at which we were able to stretch our legs and have a quieter and darker night than we had at the Walmarts the prior nights.

  

We stayed there for an extra day to recoup from driving, but had to continue on the next day to catch the Oregon men's basketball team beat Michigan in overtime and cash in on a free burger at Red Robin during Kathleen's birthday month.

Everglades - North Entrance

On our way south we stopped briefly at the Shark Valley visitor center in Everglades national park. However the main attraction from this visitor center is a 15 mile paved trail. There are trams that operate on this trail, but it is perfect for a relaxed bike ride. When we stopped on the way south it was getting late in the day so we didn't have time to complete the loop before it got dark. So instead we decided to skip it and make sure to stop on the way back north.

The trail was well worth the bike ride, and it was nice to be able to stop and take pictures of all of the wildlife as we went along. There were a ton of animals a long the way.

Baby Alligators!

Wood Stork

In the middle of the loop there is a 45 foot tall observation tower. From the top there are amazing panoramic views of the "river of grass" as well as many of the birds and other wildlife that the park has to offer. 

It was beautiful and a great way to end our time in southern Florida before rushing to Texas for Christmas.

Biscayne

The second National Park that we visited in Southern Florida was Biscayne National Park. Biscayne covers nearly 173,000 acres, 95% of which is covered in water. It was established as a National Monument in 1968 to protect the bay from encroaching industrialization in Southern Florida. Biscayne bay is incredibly shallow, averaging only 10 feet. Plans were made to dredge out a channel to the ocean, which would have devastated the coral reef ecosystems that support the large variety of life. 

Since the park is covered mostly in water, we had to take boat tours out to explore the park. Our first trip out was an evening trip: The Park After Dark - Evening Bay Tour. We ended up having the whole boat to ourselves because we were the only ones who booked the trip that night. It was a super relaxing slow boat ride around the bay as the sun was setting. 

The next day, we came back and took a trip out to Boca Chita Key. This key was owned by Mark C. Honeywell in the late '30s. He used the island as an exclusive party key and had a variety of structures built on they key, including a light house (on the wrong side of the key), a chapel (so that he wouldn't have to leave the key on Sundays), a garage (for fancy cars with no roads?) and a random wall.

 

The structures were almost exclusively made out of bricks from coral limestone.

As we mentioned, the lighthouse was on the wrong side of the key, leading a few ships to run into the coral reefs and sink. The coast guard eventually had to tell the owners of the island that they could not have any lights in the lighthouse. From the top of the lighthouse you can also see just how shallow the water is and how many boats have scraped along the coral reefs nearby.

Walking around the island we also caught a glimpse of some underwater life.

All in all, we really enjoyed our time in the park. If we go back, we think we would love to do the snorkeling excursion that they offer. There is a lot to see underwater, including many shipwrecks and a ton of sea life around the coral reefs. Even better would be bringing your own boat out to explore at your own pace.