Airboat tour of the Everglades

 Our last adventure was an airboat tour of the Everglades. We drove west about 30 miles to a freeway rest stop where we met out tour guide. We weren't actually in Everglades National Park, just in the Everglades. It was only the two of us and the guide which made it a very relaxed tour.

The tour guide stopped and picked a water lily for me, such a beautiful flower.

We saw some yearling alligators, but they are so small it is hard to see them in the vegetation. It is right in the center in the grasses almost under the big leaf

We stopped at a suburban shopping mall on the way home and I loved this sign in the parking lot.

Day trip on A1A

 I talked Calvin into a road trip north along A1A. We were only going about 30 miles, but it was a SLOW 30 miles.

Our destination was Wakodahatchee Wetlands and nearby Green Cay Wetlands. The wetlands were created to discharge highly treated waste water back into the groundwater. In the process they created boardwalks where you could see get into the natural habitat. Wakodahatchee was a nesting ground for Wood Storks. Wood Storks had been endangered but are now thriving in this environment.  There were probably a dozen trees full of nesting birds.

We also saw common moorhens, 

Cormorants

Great egrets

 and Great blue Herons

along with all kinds of other birds that I didn't manage to photograph. And great views of the wetlands.

You might be able to spot a wll hidden bird in this one.

We had planned to spend a little time on the beach after the wetlands, but just after we got a picnic lunch the rain started, and it was serious rain.  So we ate our lunch in the car and headed back to Ft. Lauderdale on the freeway. It rained all night, which was a rare and pleasant experience for us.

Florida Spring 2021 Around Town

 We decided to join the rest of the "Spring Breakers" in Ft. Lauderdale for our first post Covid vaccination vacation. We chose Ft. Lauderdale because it had the cheapest flight from Reno and didn't really have any expectaions beyond spending a little time in the sun.

We rented a house with a pool in a gated neighborhood about a 15 minute walk to the beach, dining and Hugh Taylor Birch State Park. 

I envied the orchids growing native in the neighborhood.

We shared pool time with a couple of iguanas.

We had dinner one night at Franco & Vinny's mostly because it was close to our house.  It served great Italian food, but we discovered that the 50 year old institution was closing this month.  The 79 year old Vinny decided he wanted some time to enjoy his life a little more.

Walking home after dinner we saw a beautiful crescent moon

Across the street from the restaurant was a Hugh Taylor Birch State Park.  Hugh Taylor Birch was a wealthy Chicago business man who came to Ft. Lauderdale in 1893.  He bought 180 acres of beachfront property for his winter estate and when he died willed the property to the state of Florida. The park is now an island of trees and greenery in the middle of Ft. Lauderdale.  We enjoyed a morning walk there.

And, of course, there was the beach.  We did see crowds of spring breakers, but they were a pretty "cheeky" bunch so we didn't take pictures.