Florida 2018: Day 4 - Key Largo
 |
Monday, July 23, 2018: We slept in until 8:00 for a change and awoke to a perfect sunny day. |
 |
Southern Florida has many beautifully manicured gardens, and these trees serving as a living wall were no exception. |
 |
Yet another highway sign test. It was becoming comical at this point. |
 |
By 11:00 AM, we were close to Everglades National Park, but we didn't go there. |
 |
Instead, we went to Everglades Alligator Farm, ... |
 |
... where we would get to take an airboat ride later. This little one was sitting in the parking lot next to our van. |
 |
Once inside, there was lots to see. Here's a rhinocerous iguana. |
 |
This little brown anole was sharing an enclosure with him. |
 |
These guys are called tegus. |
 |
Here are some scarlet, blue, and gold macaws. |
 |
In the center of the farm is a large pond enclosed by two parallel chain link fences. Four alligators sunned themselves on a shore while a larger group floated in the water just offshore. Right behind this fence are two small seating stands for visitors waiting for the 12:00 alligator feeding, and even though it was still a half hour off, people were already claiming seats. |
 |
There were large turkey vultures all over the park. |
 |
Tom's on the left and the turkey vulture is on a post on the right to give you an idea of how large these were. |
 |
These are Nile crocodiles. |
 |
Check out this tree ... |
 |
... and it's terrifying large spikes on the trunk. This might be ceiba speciosa. |
 |
This assortment of ducks was lounging in the shade. |
 |
These geese had some words for us, especially Tom. |
 |
Enjoying their own tropical enclosures were this Orinoco crocodile ... |
 |
... and this American crocodile right next door. |
 |
When we returned for the alligator feeding show at noon, we were amused to find that many more alligators were now on the shore ... |
 |
... and in the water. As more tourists filled the seating area, the alligators realized that feeding time was coming, so they came closer. |
 |
We watched the alligators get fed and learned a little bit more about them. |
 |
Ten minutes later, the show was over and we raced to the air boat dock for our 12:20 scheduled ride. |
 |
As we waited in line, turkey buzzards flew overhead. Not ominous at all. |
 |
We were lucky enough to be first in line for our assigned boat, so off we went to claim the front row. |
 |
Our pilot, Psycho, is ready to go! |
 |
We moved slowly through the water at first. See the alligator? |
 |
Look more closely. |
 |
Now we were all watching closely. |
 |
Is there one over there? |
 |
Yes, sir. |
 |
There's one too. |
 |
OK, it's time to hold on to your hat ... |
 |
... because here we go! |
 |
Oh, look, there's a tiny bit of spray. |
 |
But once we got out into more open area, ... |
 |
... the pilot spun the boat a bit and we started to get wet, just as we had been warned. |
 |
Is that all you got? With a big open lane like this? |
 |
This time, we got really soaked. Full-body, wet-purse, concern-for-our-camera wet. |
 |
We were wearing headphones to protect our ears from the very loud noise that an airboat makes when it is moving quickly. |
 |
We weren't technically in the Everglades but we were less than a mile away, so that was close enough for us. |
 |
Tiny shells were scattered among the wood debris here. |
 |
We enjoyed one last big boat spin before ... |
 |
... following our wake heading back ... |
 |
... into quieter waters. |
 |
These signs and big fake alligator marked the end of the ride. |
 |
Next, we made a beeline to the Gator Bites food truck. |
 |
Oh, yeah, here's some delicious deep-fried gator with ranch dipping sauce and fries. The gator was tasty! |
 |
Nearby is the snake building. |
 |
Here's a carpet python, ... |
 |
... anaconda (with his own private swimming pool), ... |
 |
... milk snake, ... |
 |
... Florida eastern indigo snake, ... |
 |
... and beautiful albino reticulated python. |
 |
Toward the back is a large series of pens where younger alligators are being raised. These little guys are hatchlings, ... |
 |
... these are 1-2 years old, ... |
 |
... and these are 3-4 years old. |
 |
This large pond display featured huge spotted gar swimming in the water, with a snapping turtle and diamondback terrapin or two hanging out. |
 |
These emus were off to the side begging passersby to feed them. |
 |
For reasons completely unknown, there was a bobcat display too. No idea why. |
 |
There were painted lizards in the same style that we saw the day before. Again, we resisted, but it involved a conversation. |
 |
Not far from Everglades Allligator Farm is Robert Is Here, a fruit stand that has been around for decades. |
 |
It's now a full tourist destination with amusing things all around. |
 |
In we go! |
 |
Here's a display of veggies and sauces. But wait, look closer. What's that on the top shelf? |
 |
It's a red Swedish Dala horse, right here in the bottom of Florida! |
 |
This was a honey sampling display, and Debbie was happy to try four or five flavors. |
 |
Tom ordered milkshakes for us ... |
 |
... while Debbie did a little shopping. That angry fruit on the left is soursop, AKA guanabana. We also got mango key lime juice and a coconut toast spread that we expected would taste like Singapore kaya but actually tastes like very creamy German chocolate cake frosting. |
 |
As we headed to the start of the Overseas Highway, we enjoyed a papaya-passionfruit milkshake (left) and a guanabana milkshake (right). They were so large that we drank half of each and kept the rest in our hotel refrigerator to enjoy for breakfast the next two mornings. |
 |
Within minutes, we were passing Long Sound, ... |
 |
... then Little Blackwater Sound, ... |
 |
... and then massive Barnes Sound. |
 |
Hey, let's go to all of these places! |
 |
We were welcomed to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. |
 |
We started to cross the bridge leading to the Keys. |
 |
That's Blackwater Sound to our right with Key Largo in the distance. |
 |
This tiny boat in Lake Surprise was decorated to look like an adorable little pirate ship. Pirates probably shouldn't be adorable though. |
 |
This tourist building had a mural of Underwater Jesus painted on the side. We'd be seeing it the next day. |
 |
This was a fateful decision: photographing the first of dozens of Key signs. Once we started, we couldn't stop. Here's Key Largo. |
 |
We passed this building several times during the week, but this was the only decent photo we got of it. |
 |
Ditto for this adorable manatee mailbox holder, with a baby manatee next to it. Multiple attempts were made, but this was the least blurry. It's still pretty cute though. We saw a couple of other manatee mailbox holders, but this was the only one with a baby. |
 |
Welcome to Tavernier! This is the town where we stayed for two nights. It's on the island of Key Largo but shouldn't be confused with the town of Key Largo. |
 |
We checked into the beautiful Coconut Palm Inn ... |
 |
... and received keys to our room, each with a palm tree keychain. |
 |
We also received a rum welcome cocktail. |
 |
Our room had its own private balcony. |
 |
Here's the bedroom, ... |
 |
... and again, looking toward the entrance and kitchenette. |
 |
Here's the bathroom. |
 |
We changed into our suits and headed out to explore the property. Here's the view from the north end of the property facing south, ... |
 |
... and the view from the middle of the property facing north. |
 |
We found a pair of chairs with a great view and took the first of several photos here. |
 |
Here's a view of those chairs from the pool area. |
 |
We hung out in the pool for a while, ... |
 |
.. and watched as thunderstorms in the distance appeared to come right for us and then dissipated before reaching us. |
 |
Before heading in to clean up, we walked out to one of the boat docks for a larger view of the resort. |
 |
We had dinner at the Sunrise Cuban Cafe just a couple of blocks away. |
 |
We started with an order of incredibly delicious Cuban toast. |
 |
Debbie had skirt steak (churrasca) with white rice and plantains. |
 |
Tom had pepper steak with plantains and moro (black beans and white rice). It was really good. |
 |
We were back on the resort grounds by 7:00 where there was a light sprinkle of rain, ... |
 |
... so we enjoyed our complimentary wine under an umbrella until it passed. |
 |
This chicken wasn't bothered by a little rain. |
 |
The rain passed in just a few minutes and we returned to our favorite seats by the water. |
 |
Here's Tom ... |
 |
... and here's Debbie. |
 |
Shhh, the sun is setting. |
 |
General Manager Tracey was out at 8:00 PM to get the fire started for s'mores. The wood was a little wet so it took a couple of tries, but eventually we had a roaring fire. |
 |
Debbie cooked the marshmallows while Tom held the camera and took exactly zero pictures of Debbie. But he did get this photo of the completed s'mores. Priorities, folks. |
 |
We enjoyed the fire for a little longer, ... |
 |
... then enjoyed one of the hammocks under the lights for a while. |
 |
We got one more sunset photo before heading in for the evening. |
 |
We had to leave before breakfast service the next morning, so Tracey was kind enough to make a tray of breakfast food for us. There was plenty for breakfast and for snacking later on in the trip. |
Copyright © Deborah Schilling/Thomas Bundy