Day 1- Snakes, Heat and Ice Cream

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Day 1 of our road trip was a little rougher than we excepted. The goal had been to arrive at the Fakahatchee Preserve mid morning, bike and then walk the Big Cypress Bend Boardwalk right at lunch time so that we could go to Sanibel for lunch and then head up to Sarasota. But we had unexpected traffic on US41/SW 8^thStreet so we didn’t get to Fakahatchee till 11. This meant we were biking the area at the highest heat of the day and we paid for it.



The great thing is we hit our goal and did 9 miles. The first two miles of the park is scrub/open plains with lots of sawgrass. The path was littered with these interesting black and red grasshoppers that we tried our best not to run over. The remaining 2.5 miles that we did into the park was more like a forest with shade and dappled light. I spotted a hawk, however he flew off before I could get a good shot of him. We saw a lot of gorgeous air plants, ferns, a cute black and red bird that never stood still enough for a photo. We decided to turn back at 4.5miles in and as we were riding bike I looked down and realized that about 2 feet away was a gator. YiKES! He was about 5 feet long and he had found a little sun spot. I really got a scare when Jay tried to get a little closer for a photo and the gator came in my direction – not something I would want to happen again!



Riding back to the cars it had gotten a lot hotter and more humid so the last 2 miles were rough. I will say that the Jane’s Scenic Drive is very bike able, the road is compact gravel and I was worried that my comfort bike would struggle but I guess the high volume of car traffic the park gets has smoothed out the road enough for any fat tire bike to ride comfortably. At the beginning there is a ranger station with bathrooms. The total road is 11miles long but if you do it, you need more water than you think you need as the humidity seems to be higher in the forest area than the open area and that will zap your energy while biking.



I think Jay was in better shape than I post ride, however I didn’t want to miss out on the experience so as Jay says I just plowed through it. It is a very pretty area, the board walk winds through old cypress, oak, royal palm trees and typical marsh like forest area. You could hear a ton of birds, but the trees are so tall that we didn’t get to see them. There is an eagle nest halfway up the board walk and even though the info guide said it was their nesting period we didn’t see them. At the end of the board walk is an observation pavilion where there is a large pond and these iridescent fish with almost neon green tails. It was a very peaceful area and worth the visit. On the way back to the car there was a tiny pond and we saw the creepiest thing……two snakes swimming around in the water. We are not sure if they were Cotton Mouths or a banded snake, either way I didn’t want to get any closer. It was odd watching them swim around, sort of makes you question swimming in a lake again!



So here we were, done with our biking, walking and exploring and it was now 2pm. So we scrapped the idea of lunch in Sanibel. We needed food NOW!



The drive through Naples just seemed to be taking too long for our hungry and parched selves so we broke down and did Mcdonalds Drive thru – can’t believe we did that on a vacation but I think for sanity it was the best move we could make.



We got on 75N and stopped in Fort Myers real quick to go to Jay’s favorite jerky place where they let you sample before you buy, so now we have a nice sack of mixed beef jerky and sausages for Jay to snack on for the rest of the trip.



We arrived in Sarasota around 5.30 and the pool was calling out our names. We did drive through the historic district which we plan on biking through on Tuesday. Our hotel is really nice, the Hyatt Regency Sarasota, we are on the very top floor and our glass observation/reading nook has an amazing view of the bay and Northwestern side of Sarasota.



We did some pool time before heading out for dinner. We had planned on going to one of the Amish restaurants for dinner but they close at 8pm so we had a back up list of places in Siesta Key so we headed over. Siesta Key is one of the 5 barrier islands along the Sarasota Coast. It boasts the #1 beach, but we won’t be able to confirm this fact till the sun comes back up.



Siesta Key is small and quant, kind of a mix between Key West and Downtown Disney. It has a lot of places to eat but not a lot of bars. I can’t imagine it at high season as right now it is a mission to find parking and that was with a lot of foot traffic from the surrounding resorts and rentals. I am looking forward to returning on Tuesday afternoon and seeing it in the day time.



For dinner we opted for the Siesta Key Oyster Bar – SKOB. We found the prices to be average and low compared to other beach towns we have visited and especially South Beach. We opted for two orders of baked oysters, a platter of clam strips and some onion rings. I have never eaten oysters before………………..you won’t find me eating oysters again – ick, the texture was just too squishy for me, through Jay loved them, one order had tobacco butter and bacon and the other order had blue cheese and buffalo sauce. Since I opted out a majority of our dinner choices, I decided rather than ordering something else that I would just have ice cream for dinner – I am on vacation!



So straight to Big Olaf’s Creamery which was started and is still owned by an Amish family, but has grown to be a handmade ice cream distributer in the SW FL area.



The YELP reviews were inconsistent, a good number complaining about customer service, however the two kids who helped us were very nice, polite and eager to help up choose our flavors making recommendations of their best sellers. I opted for the toasted coconut and rocky road on a waffle bowl. Jay went with amaretto almond and pistachio on a waffle bowl. All the flavors were great. My only complaint for the waffle bowl consistency was a little thick so it was a struggle to break it for scooping ice cream. However the flavors of everything was great and I might need another visit on Tuesday. Jay said the best part was it was whole nuts in the ice cream rather than chopped nuts and I concur.



It was a full Day 1 of our FL Bike/Drive road trip. I don’t remember putting my head on the pillow.



Tuesday we plan on biking to a place for breakfast called The Breakfast House – with a name like that they better know what they are doing. Then we are going to an antique mall, then lunch at Yoder’s Amish diner and then an afternoon at the beach. Not sure what the evening will bring but I am sure we will get up to something good.

Places we visited today

http://www.floridastateparks.org/fakahatcheestrand/

http://www.thebeefjerkyoutlet.com/

http://sarasota.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels-sarasota/?src=agn_tig_hr_sl_local_businessbasic_srqss&hyattprop=yes

http://www.skob.com/

http://bigolafs.com/

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