Everglades National Park

This was the beginning of several day trips. The Everglades, a World Heritage site and largest subtropical wilderness in the US at 1.5 million acres, was a short drive from our resort so we made two day trips as there was so much to see and do. The first day we took a leisurely route, stopping at one of the many orchid nurseries in the Redlands area and at a farmers market. The second day I took the dreaded I-75 to avoid road construction on the leisurely route but only got lost and still had to drive the 20 km of roadwork :(

The beautiful orchids were in such stark contrast to the grey, rather ugly alligators that lurked in the murky waters. Even the babies aren't cute! We walked the short Anhinga and Gumbo Limbo interpretive trails. The weather was perfect....sunny and not too hot. Since I'm not an early morning person as you know, we left late and stayed until sunset. Works for me!Read more