Game Drive

Our quest for the perfect donut was rewarded this morning.  Wasn’t exactly a donut but it was a cinnamon roll, which I consider to be of equal status.  On our way up to another section of the National Park, we stopped in Homestead at Knaus Berry Farm, a family farm and  bakery that has been operated by the same family for over 50 years.  According to some of the information we found, their cinnamon rolls are legendary and we decided to test this.

So we lumbered into the parking lot in our RV just as the school across the street was starting, which caused some delays getting into the place.  But even sitting there on the street in sight of the bakery, we could smell the cinnamon rolls.  Smelled so good!

We were going to pick up two for each of us, but the price was better for a half dozen, so we came away with six cinnamon rolls. They were soft and moist, just like gramma’s old recipe.  I had one for a mid-morning snack a little later. It was fantastic.  Just like gramma’s old recipe.  Deb, our culinary expert, is convinced that they used lard in the recipe, just like gramma’s old recipe. This is the secret to an out-of-this-world cinnamon roll.

If you ever are in Homestead, Florida, go there.  You won’t be disappointed.

First stop after the bakery run was Shark Valley. There is a visitor center here, but the main attraction is the lookout tower which gives a good view of the vast areas of grassland that makes up a large portion of the Everglades. This tower is seven miles from the parking lot, and is accessible by walking, bike, or a periodic tram that runs back and forth. The loop path to the tower is paved, making for an easy and pleasant bike ride.

We probably should have started a count of the alligators we saw on the way, or maybe not.  We would have surely lost count. There were dozens.  And those were just the ones laying right along the trail.  Most of them just laid there with their eyes closed, unconcerned that we were taking their picture.  At one point on the trail, we approached several people all gawking in the same direction and saw that they were all looking at some baby alligators perched on mama’s back and playing in the weeds.  So cool.

It took longer than expected to drive here from our camp site, which left us in a dilemma: we had one more night reserved at the campsite; do we drive all the way back there for tonight or just move on and figure out a different place to stay for tonight? In the end, we decided to go back along the Loop Road towards our campsite since the fastest way go get back north would be on the Florida Turnpike.

So we headed west on US-41 along the north side of the National Park and drove into Big Cypress National Preserve.  US-41 follows the Tamiami Canal, one of the waterways used to manage the flow of water through the Everglades area.  For several miles as you drive west, this just looks like a wide ditch, with the occasional outfitter offering airboat rides.  A little later on, however, once the road curves into the Big Cypress area, the terrain changes from grassland to stands of Cypress trees and other vegetation, and the canal, now shaded by thick stands of cypress and mangroves, is a haven for lots of wildlife, including scads of alligators.  It’s hard to see them really well at sixty miles per hour, but we saw a lot of them.

We stopped at the Clyde Butcher Gallery.  This guy is described as the Ansel Adams of the Everglades, and takes black and white photographs exclusively using large format cameras.  His prints are usually quite large, with a big price to match. Cool to see and window shop.

Shortly down the road is the Florida Oasis Visitor Center.  This marks the south end of the Florida Trail, Florida’s version of our North Country Trail. This runs 1500 miles across most of Florida and ends here.  Also here is a boardwalk overlooking the canal, with dozens of alligators lounging around.  Fun to watch them from a safe height.

We turned off US-41 onto the Loop Road, a 24-mile, mostly dirt road that goes through some dense cypress stands and mangrove stands.  This reminded me a bit of the game drives we took when we were in Africa in 1990. Drive for a bit, stop and watch the wildlife.  Drive for a little bit, stop and watch the wildlife. And again. And again.  Along the road were lots more alligators, egrets, herons, and of course stands of trees that were beautiful in their own right.

The road was very bad in spots and with all the stops we made, it took us a long time.  Add to that the 1.5 hours it took to get back to the campsite and we were ready to get out and take a walk, which we did.  We walked around the campground for a while and stopped by the amphitheater where a ranger was giving a talk on the birds of the park.  But the mosquitoes started coming out so we returned to the RV. 

Tomorrow we start heading north.  We’ll have to get used to the cold all over again.