Friday, December 31, 2010

Day 6 Florida Winter Vacation 2010

Today we slept in a bit, had breakfast and then headed to Everglades National Park.  The park entrance is only 6 miles from our hotel. 

7354 Everglades National Park FL

First stop is the Ernest F Coe Visitor Center.  We got our National Park Passport Book stamped.  This is a very nice visitor center with lots of displays and murals.

7357 Everglades National Park FL - Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center7366 Everglades National Park FL - Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center Stitch7373 Everglades National Park FL- Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center

This is the only panther that we saw.

7388 Everglades National Park FL - Royal Palm Rd7382 Everglades National Park FL- Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center - Karen & Florida Panther statue7383 Everglades National Park FL- Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center - Bill & Florida Panther statue

We parked at the Royal Palm – Anhinga Viewing Trail and walked around the raised boardwalk.

7391 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail

Of course we saw some Anhinga’s.

7394 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - Karen & Anhinga7395 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - Anhingas7417 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - Anhinga drying wings

We also saw lots and lots of Alligators.

7402 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - alligator7422 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - alligators7424 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - alligator

And this Great Blue Heron.

7404 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - Great Blue Heron7405 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - Great Blue Heron7406 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - Great Blue Heron

A Great Egret.

7415 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - Great Egret7416 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - Great Egret

A Wood Stork.

7454 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - Wood Stork7456 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - Wood Stork7458 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - Wood Stork

A couple of Black Vultures.

7460 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - Black Vulture7461 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - Black Vultures

As we were driving out of the parking lot there was this giant alligator getting ready to cross the road.

7465 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Anhinga Trail - alligator beside road7464 Everglades National Park FL- Royal Palm Rd - alligator beside road

We continued along the road to the Flamingo Visitor Center, we didn’t see any Flamingo’s here but we did see an Osprey sticking its head up out of its nest.

7477 Everglades National Park FL- Flamingo Visitor Center7474 Everglades National Park FL- Flamingo Visitor Center - Osprey nest7474a Everglades National Park FL- Flamingo Visitor Center - Osprey nest & Osprey

Everglades National Park is a park that we will come back to visit.  Both of us enjoy seeing the birds and identifying them.  The temperature got as high as 79 degrees today… nice……

To see all of our photos ( and a short video of an alligator swimming ) from today you can find them by clicking this link to my FLICKR site.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Day 5 Florida Winter Vacation 2010

Today we are up and out the door a little earlier than usual.  We have a 100 mile drive ahead of us as we head South through the Florida Keys to Key West Florida.

It is just over a 100 mile drive but it will take about 3 hours because the speed limit is 45 mph and sometimes 55 mph.

7096 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL7097 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL

Karen and I enjoy driving on Scenic Roads and this Highway has several designations.

7101 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL

Along the way we saw several of these Manatee Mailboxes.  We are still hoping to see a real Manatee.

7108 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL - manatee mailbox

We drove from Key to Key making our way South towards Key West.  Saw this giant spiny lobster.

7114 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL - Spinny Lobster statue

A series of bridges and causeways connect each Key.

7122 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL7147 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL7241 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL

7176 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL7277 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL7235 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL

We arrive in Key West and found a parking lot to park the car.

7280 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL - Key West7282 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL - Key West7284 U.S 1 The Overseas Highway FL - Key West

Lucky for us, right around the corner from the parking lot was the terminal for the Conch Train.  Once aboard the train we got a guided tour of the town of Key West.

7291 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train7315 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop back on Conch Tour Train7341 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train

First stop on our tour is Mallory Square, we got off here, wandered around, bought some souvenirs and had some lunch.  Here are some photos that I took as we walked around.

7292 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop Mallory Square7294 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop Mallory Square7297 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop Mallory Square - Great White Heron

7308 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop back at Mallory Square view from lunch table7306 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop back at Mallory Square view from lunch table7309 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop back at Mallory Square

We found the “Mile Zero” marker that signifies the beginning of US 1

7301 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop start of U.S. 1 The Overseas Highway7302 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop start of U.S. 1 The Overseas Highway

We also each had a slice of Key Lime Pie from the Key Lime Pie Factory.

7312 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st Key Lime Pie Factory7314 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train 1st stop Key Lime Pie

Back on the Conch Train we continued our tour of Key West.  We saw Harry S Truman's “Little White House”

7316 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Harry S. Truman Little White House7317 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Harry S. Truman Little White House7318 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Harry S. Truman Little White House

We passed the marker for the Southern Most Point in the USA…  I wanted to get off the train to take more photos, however when I saw the line up of people waiting to take photos, I decided that it just wasn’t worth the effort so I shot these photos as we passed by.  We will have to come back another year at a time when there aren’t so many people.

7328 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Southernmost Point Marker7329 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Southernmost Point Marker7330 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Southernmost Point Marker

This is Ernest Hemingway's Key West house.

7334 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Ernest Hemingway House7332 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Ernest Hemingway House7333 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Ernest Hemingway House

Marilyn Monroe was in town for the New Years Eve celebrations.

7339 Key West FL - Conch Tour Train - Marilyn Monroe in front of the Tropic Cinema

It is 5pm and we better find our car and head North to our hotel.

To see all of our photos from today, you can find them by clicking on this link to my FLICKR site.