19 MAY 2021 – We are on our way. We left home this morning and headed South. Our goal is to see Marco Island and return to Naples, FL to spend the night.
This Was Our Flight Plan
We made it to Marco Island with just one stop half way down for an emergency Latte and a couple Glazed Chocolate Munchkins. The trip went well. This trip I am using a different camera. If you recall, my camera failed while we were on our trip to the Outer Banks. My cell phone was also acting up so instead of buying a new camera I just bought a newer, better iPhone to use as a phone and a camera. So far it seems to be working.
Marco Island is the most expensive place in the United States. You can google that if you don’t believe me and I’m not sure what criteria they used to claim that but it is. Now, having been there, I believe it truly is. Many, many big residential developments with fancy fronts and expensive golf courses. Then, once you get towards the beaches, hundreds of condominiums, short, tall, new, old, and all expensive. The Island is very nice and I would recommend staying there to anyone who is looking for a nice place to spend the week at a beach resort. Here are some pictures from there: … However, first are some exciting photo’s from the trip down:
Streaking Along on the I275 Bridge Between Tampa & St Petersburg 
St Petersburg 
The Gulf … Ft DeSoto Way in The Background 
St Petersburg Beach 
The Sunshine Skyway Bridge (Look Up Tampa Bridge Collapse) 
Approaching The Bridge 
A Very BIG Tank Trucking Down I75
OK .. Now the pictures from Marco Island:
High Rise Condos 
Driving Onto The Island 
Down Town 
That Pink Thing in The Corner Is NOT A UFO … It’s My Finger 
The Condo’s 
Downtown Naples … Also Very Nice 
OK! 
Our Hotel 
Getting Ready to relax
So we finished up our day at a hotel in Naples. Had a nice swimming pool and they served drinks and meals right from the edge of the pool … we stayed till we turned in. Nice day … nice evening. Naples is more city like than Marco Island and offers more of a variety of things to do. I think we may go back there some day. Marco Island is nice but mostly just beach stuff.
20 May 2021 – So here’s what we plan to do today:
We will drive on US 41 which is called the Tamiami Trail and is the original Alligator Alley. We may make some diversions as we find places of interest. Once we get to the East side of Florida we will drive South to get into the Everglades National Park. We have been there a couple times before but always enjoy it. Once we leave the park we are going North to the hotel we have reserved in Ft Lauderdale (Plantation, FL actually).
Okay … we did it. Here’s some pictures from along the way. First we diverted South to a place called Chokoloskee (easy for you to say!) which was one of the earliest settlements along the Everglades and was the original county seat for Collier County until Naples took over.
The Tamiami Trail 
The Everglades 
Here We Are 
The Courthouse 
They Are Way Out There and Need BIG Antennas 
The Library 
Lookout Tower 
The Bay 
Homes 
The Smallwood Store 
The Lighthouse
The place survives on fishing, both commercial and tourist, as well as airboat rides and tours. Nice, but only to visit.
We drove on into the Big Cypress National Preserve. More Everglades and Native American Villages. You normally can pay a fee and tour the villages but the COVID has hit our Native Americans very hard so they are all closed up. We did see many alligators along the way.
We Are Stopping Farther On Where They Have a Board Walk With Info on It 
Here’s The First Gator Nancy Spotted (I nearly got ran over by a dump truck getting this picture) 
Here’s What It Looked Like From The Bridge 
Here We Are on The Board Walk .. mOst of The Following Are Self Explanatory 
Infor Sign … Notice The One Guy Grinning !! 
We saw Several of these Birds Diving 
Junior 
Lotsa Gators!! 
Back On The Road To Everglades NP 
The Park was next:
Here We Are 
Driving The ENP 
The Base is Limestone … not Mud or Sand 
A Couple Interesting Grasshoppers Nancy Found 
The Black One was About an Inch and a Half and The Brown One about 2 Inches 
The Walkway 
The Jungle on A Hammock 
A Huge Mahogany tree 
Two Manatee’s Playing 
The End of the Park and The Gulf of Mexico 
That was it for Everglades national Park. We kept looking for some of those nasty Burmese Pythons but didn’t see any. The Everglades are interesting as they look like a huge sea of grass with these Islands they call Hammocks all over it. There trees grow and animals flourish. Definitely recommend it.
21 May 2021 – We spent the night in Ft Lauderdale and headed home this morning. Interesting scenes along the way. We followed the backroads and saw much of the sugar and orange industry.
The Way Home
Palm trees That Surround A Farmstead 
Burning Sugar Cane (It’s how They Dispose of It After Harvesting it) 
The Sugar Industry Put Up A Sign Saying “The Air Out Here Is Cleaner than In The Crowded Urban Areas!) Guess It depends Where You Measure. 
We made it home safely and have unpacked. ring to think of our next adventure. Stay tuned and Thanks for coming along.