Getting to Florida

Hi!

We headed south from Atlanta to Florida via Macon and Valdosta, Georgia. Both cities have interesting homes.

During the Civil War, General Sherman set up forces outside of Macon and fired cannon into the city hitting one house which is still standing and is known as the 'Cannonball House.' The original cannonball is on display. It seems an incredible coincidence that the only home to be hit by a cannonball was the 'Cannonball House.' What are the odds?





Since Macon was not burned as were other major Georgia cities, it has the largest collection of antebellum homes in the state.

Valdosta, not as large as Macon and well out-of-the-way of Sherman's March to the Sea, has interesting homes of various eras. We drove up and down the streets of the historic district looking at the variety of housing.

Entering Florida, we headed for Chiefland on the west coast. It was in Chiefland several years ago that I was hit by a car while biking. Taking no chances this time, we biked the Rails-to-Trails bikeway, a paved trail built on the bed of and abandoned railroad line: eight feet wide and really long. We only got about two miles before the rains came.

Sarah had some coupons that she brought from home, so we've been doing some fine dining. We aren't being served by just some waitress; we're getting our food directly from The King.


Sarah and Allen with Gilly the Shark as 'Santa Jaws.'

Continuing south, we sojourned with our friends Steve and Sharon in Sarasota. They showed us a good time for the four days that we were there: A play, a visit to a crafts show and farmer's market, the annual Sarasota holiday parade and a visit to the Mote Aquarium where Steve's alter-ego, Gilly the shark, was playing 'Santa Jaws' for visiting children were some of the highlights.


Allen @ Myakka River S.P.

Almost before one could say, “Continuing south,” we were in Myakka River State Park for several days of biking and bird-watching. In addition to the egrets and herons, which seem to be hanging out on every street corner here in Florida, we saw a bald eagle, many turkey vultures, and some hawks. There were alligators, too, as well as many feral hogs. The hogs are descendants of those brought by the original Spanish settlers of Florida. Their rooting causes great damage to the park's vegetation and they drive out native species. More that 1,000 hogs are removed from Myakka River S.P. annually. 'Removed' is a euphemism for 'killed.'


Sarah collects sea shells @ the seashore, Naples, FL.


Tropical birds, Naples

We have seen and heard the term 'Paradise' frequently used by people who live here to describe their state. As most people like where they live, it seems rather rude to denigrate other people's hometowns. Having spent my life living in the Center of the Universe, I can't think of another place that I'd like to be. People who live elsewhere: Making the best of a bad situation.

Miami, FL
December 15, 2006

We lucked out on our way from Florida's west coast to Florida's east coast. We took the Tamiami Trail across southern Florida through the Everglades. We had some time to kill and decided to stay in a campground in the Big Cypress National Preserve which is contiguous with the Everglades. It was our good fortune to be in in the campground the last week before they started charging, so we got a week of camping for free.


Sarah bikes the Tamiami Trail.

We did some biking along the Tamiami Trail. The two-lane highway is 60 mph. We don't bike that fast and didn't want to be food for the turkey vultures, so we biked against traffic and kept on the verge when vehicles approached. Biking on the mowed sawgrass was tough slogging, but the view was great. We've driven across Florida on the Tamiami Trail before, but from a car one sees only some birds and a few alligators. When biking, one is closer to the water that is on the north side of the road. [The Everglades is a wide river that flows slowly from Lake Okeechobee south to the ocean. The Tamiami Trail blocks the flow and water builds up on the north side of the road. Sluices regulate the flow to the south side of the trail.] In the narrow band of water, about 20 feet wide and many miles long, is an accumulation of wildlife.


Alligators bask along the Tamiami Trail.


In our six mile ride we saw literally tons of alligators and hundreds of large birds. I can identify the major birds. The little tweety ones are a mystery to me. I have a bird-book, but many of them look alike in the book, too.

Shark Valley, part of the Everglades along the Tamiami Trail:



The down-side of free camping is that it often comes with no facilities. One of the campgrounds only has chemical toilets. This one is always free. The other had flush toilets, but no showers.

A week without showers....No wonder the buzzards are circling.



One of the first things that we did when we got to the campground in Miami is to get some water over our bodies

Regards for a good winter,

A&S

P.S.

Sarah wants me to let you know that she has perfected the art of bathing from a cup of water and that the buzzards are only being attracted by me.

I wasn't able to get this posted in time for the Thanksgiving letter:



--R