It had been almost 15 years since we spent any time touring Florida. With cancellation of our cruise to Cuba, our non-refundable flight tickets created an opportunity to take a driving trip to southern Florida.
We used Townplace Suites Hotel as a homebase to visit the Everglades National Park. This hotel is about a 20 minute drive to the Everglades National Park Ernest Coe Visitor Center. The Center is a great place to get acquainted with park features and wildlife and plan your walks and activities. In addition to rangers, the center is also staffed by volunteers sharing their terrific local knowledge.
Here is a brief summary of the park areas we visited:
Shark Valley
There is a small visitor center in the northern area of the park. The primary activity is a 15 mile paved path that provides a circular park tour. You can rent bikes, walk or ride a ranger narrated tram to cover the path. We purchased advance tickets over the Internet for the 2 hour tram ride. The tram is a good way to receive interpretative information as you view the plants and wildlife. If the day is very warm, the tram also can be more comfortable than a bike ride as the path has little or no shade.
If you visit this park area, try to make time to stop at Glades Eats Miccsosukee Restaurant, near the turnoff from Highway 41 to Shark Valley. A park volunteer recommended the restaurant's Indian Taco. This was a delicious treat - fry bread with chili, lettuce, tomatoes and cheddar cheese.
Royal Palm
Royal Palm was established as a state park in 1916 and later became part of Everglades National Park. At this location, there are several trails you can walk. We walked along the wooden boardwalk Anhinga Trail and were rewarded with sightings of birds, fish, alligators and turtles - even birds eating fish. We also walked the Gumbo Limbo trail to view this hammock area and trees for which the trail is named. Each of these walks are short in length (0.4 to 0.8 miles). More time is spent observing wildlife or plants and trees on these trails than actual walking.
Mahogany Hammock
While only a gentle half mile walk on a well-constructed boardwalk, this walk was one of our favorite park activities. The hammock is a dense, jungle-like environment of trees and plants. There are many Gumbo Limbo trees and the largest Red Mahogany tree in the park located along this path. At times, the sunlight was completely obscured by dense plant growth.
Flamingo
This area is about 38 miles from the Ernest Coe Visitor Center. In 1892, a small village of fisherman, farmers and hunters was established in this location. In 1910, the census reported 49 residents. Flamingo is now the most southern headquarters of the Everglades National Park. Hurricane Wilma severely damaged many of the existing lodging, food services and Park Visitors Center in 2005. There are plans to rebuild the Mission 66 style National Park buildings but much work is still needed.
It was raining on the day of our visit. We walked along the marina and observed manatees, alligators and nesting osprey. This was the first day of viewing alligators - and we viewed many during our three days of park visits. We arrived at Flamingo late in the day and an earlier arrival could have allowed us to ride a tour boat to explore Flamingo from the water.
Robert Is Here
On the drive to the Everglades National Park, you are likely to see the "Robert Is Here" fruit stand. Robert Moehling's roadside stand specializes in exotic vegetables and tropical fruits. Robert setup his first stand in this location in 1959 as a seven year-old. You can purchase mangoes, papayas and avocados here, but also vegetables and fruits that are rarely seen in grocery stores. For example. have you ever seen the fruit of a Swiss cheese plant (monstera deliciosa), jackfruit or guanabana? This is a must stop if you find yourself on SW 3444th Street in Homestead, Florida.
Where Did We Stay?
We happened to arrive in Florida on Super Bowl weekend. This made finding a hotel room quite a challenge. For our visits to Everglades National Park, we stayed in Homestead. This was far enough from Miami that room availability was not an issue. Our home base was the Townplace Suites by Marriott. The suites at this modern business hotel included a full kitchen which was convenient for a takeaway dinner. Our park drives from our hotel ranged from 30 minutes to one hour, depending on our destination within Everglades National Park.
We used Townplace Suites Hotel as a homebase to visit the Everglades National Park. This hotel is about a 20 minute drive to the Everglades National Park Ernest Coe Visitor Center. The Center is a great place to get acquainted with park features and wildlife and plan your walks and activities. In addition to rangers, the center is also staffed by volunteers sharing their terrific local knowledge.
Here is a brief summary of the park areas we visited:
Shark Valley
There is a small visitor center in the northern area of the park. The primary activity is a 15 mile paved path that provides a circular park tour. You can rent bikes, walk or ride a ranger narrated tram to cover the path. We purchased advance tickets over the Internet for the 2 hour tram ride. The tram is a good way to receive interpretative information as you view the plants and wildlife. If the day is very warm, the tram also can be more comfortable than a bike ride as the path has little or no shade.
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| This "Jetson-like" tower is an observation platform at Shark Valley |
Royal Palm
Royal Palm was established as a state park in 1916 and later became part of Everglades National Park. At this location, there are several trails you can walk. We walked along the wooden boardwalk Anhinga Trail and were rewarded with sightings of birds, fish, alligators and turtles - even birds eating fish. We also walked the Gumbo Limbo trail to view this hammock area and trees for which the trail is named. Each of these walks are short in length (0.4 to 0.8 miles). More time is spent observing wildlife or plants and trees on these trails than actual walking.
 |
| Only Do This With a Model Alligator! |
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| Anhinga Drying Feathers |
While only a gentle half mile walk on a well-constructed boardwalk, this walk was one of our favorite park activities. The hammock is a dense, jungle-like environment of trees and plants. There are many Gumbo Limbo trees and the largest Red Mahogany tree in the park located along this path. At times, the sunlight was completely obscured by dense plant growth.
Flamingo
This area is about 38 miles from the Ernest Coe Visitor Center. In 1892, a small village of fisherman, farmers and hunters was established in this location. In 1910, the census reported 49 residents. Flamingo is now the most southern headquarters of the Everglades National Park. Hurricane Wilma severely damaged many of the existing lodging, food services and Park Visitors Center in 2005. There are plans to rebuild the Mission 66 style National Park buildings but much work is still needed.
 |
| Look at bottom for the Manatee drinking rain water from platform. |
It was raining on the day of our visit. We walked along the marina and observed manatees, alligators and nesting osprey. This was the first day of viewing alligators - and we viewed many during our three days of park visits. We arrived at Flamingo late in the day and an earlier arrival could have allowed us to ride a tour boat to explore Flamingo from the water.
Robert Is Here
On the drive to the Everglades National Park, you are likely to see the "Robert Is Here" fruit stand. Robert Moehling's roadside stand specializes in exotic vegetables and tropical fruits. Robert setup his first stand in this location in 1959 as a seven year-old. You can purchase mangoes, papayas and avocados here, but also vegetables and fruits that are rarely seen in grocery stores. For example. have you ever seen the fruit of a Swiss cheese plant (monstera deliciosa), jackfruit or guanabana? This is a must stop if you find yourself on SW 3444th Street in Homestead, Florida.
Where Did We Stay?
We happened to arrive in Florida on Super Bowl weekend. This made finding a hotel room quite a challenge. For our visits to Everglades National Park, we stayed in Homestead. This was far enough from Miami that room availability was not an issue. Our home base was the Townplace Suites by Marriott. The suites at this modern business hotel included a full kitchen which was convenient for a takeaway dinner. Our park drives from our hotel ranged from 30 minutes to one hour, depending on our destination within Everglades National Park.
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