Hear and Taste Gator in the Everglades and Homestead, FL

 EVERGLADES

Everglades

We left Naples and drove SouthEast through the Everglades National Park on Rt 41. At this point in our winding journey, we're moving directly opposite of our final Westward goal of CA by January. This is because we want to make it to the SE corner of the country. Neither of us have ever visited The Keys. We're heading to Homestead, the southernmost city in the mainland USA, where we will leave the coach and take the scooter down The Keys.  As you can see, the weather doesn't look good for our plan...


Miccosukee Indian Village Hides in the Everglades

Wherever we've traveled, there have been remnants and markers of the American Indians who lived here before us. (A good read, though laborious, is Trail of Tears, which Dede read two years ago while we traveled out to Tennessee, sometimes on the trail.) We were delighted to find an Indian reservation, the Miccosukee on our way through the Glades. During the purge of Indians in 1830 ("The Indian Removal Act") they hid in the Everglades and learned to live off the fish and gators. (Later, a gator wrestler told us it is from them that we get gator wrestling!) Today they speak their native language and English. They have a tribal chief but they don't call him chief, they call him chairman.  They don't sing or dance, except in private just for themselves. They wear American clothes, but often add a home-made woven pattern on a scarf or vest.


Now we know that what we thought were "tiki huts" aren't all from Hawaii! They're Miccosukee huts! We saw them all the way down The Keys, too. They let in a little light at the top and the weaving is art!
 


Here at the Miccosukee Restaurant we sampled frog legs and gator tail (and fry cakes).

Frog Legs, Gator Bites!
(Everglades, FL)

Gator tastes like eating hard muscle if turkey could have hard muscle. Frog tastes like frog. (No kidding! Have you ever smelled frogs when you're around a frog pond?  Well that's the taste of frog!)  Everything had the taste of old grease, like the age of the décor (mid 50's), and the service was slow, but we were there for the bragging rights, not fine dining. Yup, we both ate 'em!


We waited on the pier and were entertained by fish and bird.


What kind of duck-bird is this!? Why it's a purple gallinule! (the females are brown.) Click here to find out more about Florida birds.


 

 

 

The Indians took us on an airbus ride. It felt like flying! Click here to see a video! (Warning: it's loud! We had ear plugs in.)  Want more? Here's a second video. (Dede plans to replace the audio with symphonic music on both of these....)

   

We flew the airbus all the way to the hidden Indian Village way out in the Everglades (pictured above).

Bumble Bee on the Wing

Can you see the bumble bee on the right of the path? Dede followed his flight down the path until she caught him on the wing! Over the side of the path is the vegetation that composts naturally. It's not pretty to look at and it has the smell of wetlands: the smell of decay and ferment and must. It's such an important part of the earth's renewal. Even though it looks like dying earth, it's really just the opposite: starting-over.





Homestead

Our place in Homestead the GoldCoaster was very much like the other SunRV resorts we've been in in Naples and Fort Myers Beach. We couldn't find a tennis court, not in the resort and not in the local High School or park. So we went swimming every day and rode our bikes around the resort. Mostly we got around on scooter to local sites, even visiting civilization on Dede's birthday.
 


We sampled some native fruit: dragon fruit tastes like a gentle mix of kiwi and strawberry.

Dragonfruit

CORAL CASTLE
We loved Coral Castle, built entirely by one  five-foot tall man--Ed Leedskalnin. He was love-sick for a girl who spurned him in marriage in the old country, so he quarried the coral under his property and built everything he needed to give his imaginary wife a life of luxury. This all goes to show the power of unrequited love!


He created a "time out" corner where he could put his wife or his child if they needed a talking-to.  He got to sit in the chair on the right side while the offending one put their head and arms through the slits in the coral wall.

Did you know that almost all of Florida is coral? It explains so much about all the underground springs and why there are so many sink holes!

 

 

His sun-dial tells the time of day and the season. Look at the shadow at the very bottom. It is telling us that the time is 1:30PM. When it's summer, the shadow is at the bottom but when it's winter the shadow moves to the top; thus showing the seasons.

He dug a well and made the biggest valentine gift ever given: the heart table. It's in the Guinness book of records! This is a place where he pictured himself and his wife sitting together for a talk if ever they argued. We think that's a great idea but it wouldn't be used too much at our house! Besides, it weighs 5,000 pounds and wouldn't travel well in the coach.














Sign at the beach.
(Dede kept an eye out!)

We toured other resorts and beaches nearby. This beautiful beachfront park (south of Homestead) includes a bath house with a second-floor bar/restaurant.

 

 

We learned where all the beautiful landscaping trees come from! Homestead is a real farming community.

From cart to scooter!









We've decided that farmers are the poorest Americans. Whether Alabama, Florida or Kentucky, you can tell you're in a farming community when you go into Walmart and the shoppers are wearing yesterday's clothes and haven't combed their hair. We must look very odd to them, in fact when we talk to each other the folks around stop and listen to us, like we're from another country. So after awhile we don't talk too much while we shop. When we go shopping, we have to be careful that all the food and supplies can fit in the scooter and backpack!  Here we are trying to pack all our groceries into the scooter and backpack. It gets tricky! Once in awhile you'll catch Dede holding a grocery bag in her hand as we scoot along.

Alligator Farm
We heard the roar of alligators at the alligator farm!  Click here for video! They roar when they are in mating season and when they want others to go away.

 

Florida Everglades are the only place in the world where Gators and Crocs live together in the wild.

    




There are over 250 alligators in this pond!

 
Alligators can eat a rat in about 3 bites or less! Click here for the feeding video. Yuck!


So here's a tip if you're ever chased by an alligator: climb a tree or run zigzag. They can outrun a galloping horse but only in short spurts and going straight ahead.

And how do they bite you? Sideways! So don't think about sneaking up on the side!

See ya later, alligator!

Next stop: The Keys!