The Everglades (2)

Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Mon 19 Dec 2016 02:02
After the d-i-y breakfast we set off for Everglades City about 14 miles away.
An extraordinary place being a new development with houses some with docks for boats, shops, City Hall, and anything you need for a city——yet again there were very few people around and it was a bit like a lost city.



Unfortunately the mozzies are so bad that the residents cannot sit out in the evenings and enjoy the water views——instead they net their houses like a bird cage and sit within!

The clock struck 11am as we passed the Church so in we went

We were given a great welcome and there was a simple matins service ——the visitors had to stand up and introduce themselves. The last time we did that was in Fiji.

We have developed a liking for Cuban coffee and fortunately found the Havana Cafe on Chokoloskee Island which lay beyond the City and over a bridge
Both the Hotel and Everglades City have a significant number of houses that have docks with boats that can be hoisted out of the water when not in use. The area is known as Ten Thousand Islands, an exaggeration but it does give a flavour of what does exist. The boats can be taken out through a maze of islands and very narrow channels and into the Gulf of Mexico. However the water is very shallow (about 4 feet) and the risk of grounding or missing the channels very high.
After a swim in the hotel pool we set off for Marco Island. If we had known we would have gone straight after lunch as a swim in the Gulf Of Mexico would have been better than the pool at the hotel. 
The island was once part of the Everglades but has been cleared and developed and linked to the mainland by bridge. Once again an enormous amount of development providing housing with docks and hotels along the waterfront.
We just missed the sunset but the expanse of white sand was awesome
and then into Pinchers, a fresh fish chain with the speciality of the Keys—-stone crabs——tasting very similar to Henry’s crabs on Flushing Quay!


A drive home in the dark. The speed limit at night is reduced to 45 mph to reduce the risk of killing the tortoise, alligator, snake and panther. We saw, and missed, them all except the panther which did not make an appearance.