We start off the day with bagels from Panera's at North Beach. There are many cute picnic areas spread out over the park.
The sun's out but there's a biting wind blowing across the water ... no wonder there's no one here! We walk out past the restricted birding area to get to the beach.
After shelling for a while the wind drives us back to our car. Brrr, it's so cold when the wind blows! After driving for a few minutes we park the car and start hiking through the interdune area only to find a large inlet blocking our access to the beach.
We're more succesful at the next stop; several trails with hard, packed sand lead straight to the water.
I love seeing the wind bend the dune grasses.
Sandy found this beautiful leopard crab shell.
Fort De Soto also has a historic fort, but it is closed for repairs. You can access the pier from the same parking lot.
The shore as seen from the pier.
Did you see the tall column standing next to the tree in the last picture? This is a close up of the top:
On the way in, I'd noticed a few cars pulled off the road at an otherwise nondescript stretch of road so we decide to check it out on the way back and it turns out to be a bald eagle nesting area. I immediately spot the nest, but it's so high up in the tree that you can only see the white of its head. In Michigan we once spent an hour watching an eagle guarding its nest without it ever leaving so we had little hope of seeing it fly, but less than a minute later it leapt up and made a small survey of the area before resting to the nest.
Our next stop is also an unplanned one; we're heading across the Bob Graham Bridge when we notice a cluster of enormous kites near the water. After driving to the other side and back we make it to a small secluded beach exploding with big, bright kites. Kite surfing is so on my list of things to do before I die!
There are a few wind surfers as well:
There's so many of them out on the water that it looks like they're having some kind of competition, but one of them assures us they're there "any time the wind blows." Apparently all this wind is good for something, because they say it's one of the few times they've been able to stay up for more than a minute at a time.
One of them asks me if I'd like to learn how to do it (like yeah, in a heart beat!), but it's just too cold to go out there without a wetsuit. Just my luck!
The next stop is Myakka River State Park. This is Florida's largest state park so it's impossible to see all of the park in a day, but I think we got a pretty good impression. After a quick stop at the vistors center we drive straight to the short trail leading to the canopy walkway.
The wooden suspension bridge was the first of its kind in the United States. It's only 25' high, but there's a 75' observation tower once you reach the other side.
View from the tower:
We continue our way along the park's scenic route when I spot two black vultures near the side of the road. And yes, it was an armadillo :-(
Shortly after that we take a wrong turn and find ourselves at the airboat docks. We're trying to find a place to turn around when I spot an alligator floating near the boats.
Another one is resting near the water's edge.
We keep going until we reach the birdwalk area. We see two armadillos, but no interesting birds. Here's a view of the lake:
From Myakka River we drive straight down to Naples. We get there just in time to watch the sunset at Delnor Wiggins Pass State Park.
The beach is piled high with shells and Sandy's having a field day going through them.
It isn't until later that we realize one of them had a dead snail/crab inside it. Phew, what a stench!
Total miles for today: 239
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Breakfast: Panera's
Lunch: Panera's and snacks
Dinner: Capriccio (disappointing)
Hotel: La Quinta Inn Naples
2 comments:
Didn't know you're such a shell experts. Hope the smelly one was not the Leopard shell! Wish I could have been there with you shelling!
Poor armadillo! When I asked for more pictures of an armadillo I didn't mean dead ones.
I dont like the alligators. They frighten me, I hope you never get tempted to take a close up.
Is it always that cold there this time of the year? See you tomorrow on internet, xxx love Joeve
No, the leopard shell was fine ... unfortunately it got cracked on the way home, but all the pieces are still attached.
It was colder than usual, but it does get colder during the winter. That's why it's the best time of year to see the manatees; they easily get hypothermia so they migrate to the warm springs to survive the winter.
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