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Published: December 7th 2012
Ben last wrote when we were on our way to Pananama City Beach on Tuesday, 27th November and it was absolutely chucking it down. We found a room at the Flamingo Hotel (it had stopped raining by this point!) then went for a stroll down Pier Park, one of the main streets lined with shops and restaurants with different coloured lights everywhere...a real holiday feel! We ate at Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville and managed to find something that wasn't fried!
On Wednesday, we headed to Wakulla Spring State Park as we knew we could get a river cruise here and possibly see some alligators. We got there at about four o' clock and had just missed the last one. We ended up staying at the Wildwood Inn, just outside Crawfordville. It was in the middle of nowhere so we had to drive 10/15 minutes to find the nearest restaurant, Posey's. Everything was fried! (starting to get a bit fed up of fried food!)
We got up early on Thursday in time to drive back to Wakulla and make the first river cruise at 9:40am. What a fantastic river cruise! We were the only ones on the boat so had the
equivalent of our own private guided tour. Before we even got on the boat we saw an alligator and a few manatees! (we weren't expecting this) The cruise was magical. As Ben said, it's a very special place. Wakulla Spring is possibly the biggest and deepest natural spring in the world (according to our guide book!) and it pumps out half a million gallons of crystal clear water a day. Despite this, the water is very calm and still and it's absolutely teeming with wildlife. The cruise lasted about forty minutes and we only went a couple of miles up and down the river but we saw loads! We saw about twenty alligators of different sizes including one with a baby, several turtles, loads of different birds like black vultures, ducks, cormorants, anhingas, herons, egrets...and about twelve manatees! Not only was the wildlife amazing, the setting was spectacular-loads of cypress trees with spanish moss draped all over them. It gave the place an eerie yet magical and mystical look. We also got to hear some of the alligators bellowing-a deep-throated growling/gargling noise, maybe to communiate with each other as they seemed to take turns?! We even got to watch one
of them as it made the noise and saw the movement in its throat! It was a fantastic cruise and it was only $8! Real value for money!
Once off the boat, Ben was keen to find out whether we could snorkel in the roped off swimming area as some of the manatees were swimming there. The ranger said it was fine as long as we didn't pursue them and if they came near us we just had to gently push them away! I was a bit apprehensive as I'd never swam with anything so big but I knew I'd be safe with Ben so was just about up for it. It was amazing! The water was quite warm as it stays a constant temperature year round, about 69 degrees farenheit I think. As soon as we stepped in, tiny fish were nibbling our feet and as soon as we went under we saw two manatees! They're huge! Such strange looking creatures-small heads with little scrunched up eyes and whiskers (a bit like a sea lion), then huge bulbous bodies with a fan shaped tail. (my Dr. Dolittle Ben told me that this was where the mermaid myth came
Wakulla River
Cypress trees covered in Spanish Moss, not a moss at all but a plant with tiny flowers.from!) A couple of them were having a snooze on the river bed but then another one drifted over and seemed very curious about us! It gradually drifted closer to us, looking at us with its tiny eyes so we gently swam back to keep a disance. It kept moving towards us though so we eventually swam away and not long after we got out of the water as it was starting to get a bit cold! We also saw loads of mullets down there-but they weren't as exciting as the manatees!
Next we stopped off at St. Mark's State Park, a bit further along the road to possibly do a couple of trails. On the drive in to the park, we saw alligators, lots of turtles and loads of birds but after doing one short trail, we knew it couldn't match Wakulla so we drove on. We headed for a place called Steinhatchee as we wanted to stay by the coast and a lady at St. Mark's said there was a bit of accommodation there. On the way, we briefly stopped off to stretch our legs at a place caled Keaton, a small, quiet place on the gulf,
Wakulla river
Cypress Trees covered in Spanish Moss, not a moss at all but an 'air plant' with tiny flowers, living in the trees about 15 miles from Steinhatchee. We then continued on and just a few miles out of Keaton we spotted an armadillo...and it was alive! (we usually see them as roadkill!) Ben stopped the car and reversed up onto the grass closer to it. We got out of the car and crept silently towards it to get a closer look and a few photos. It didn't seem to notice us as it continued snuffling around in the grass. What a bizarre looking animal! It had tiny eyes ike a mole and its 'armour' looked solid. Very interesting and unusual! As we were just getting up close, a car pulled up and a woman asked if we were okay. We got chatting and she insisted we go back to her house to have a beer with her husand! We didn't hesitate so followed her back to Keaton. Carol and Charlie couldn't have been more welcoming. We had a great time with them-chatting, having a tour of their house, eating a few cheese and crackers and sinking a few beers. Carol also gave Ben some trout to take with him to be cooked at the restaurant! She also phoned a place called Good
An Anhinga basking.
Much like a Cormorant but bigger and only found in fresh water. When it swims its body is totally submerged and just the head is above water. An excellent swimmer and even better fisherman! Times in Steinhatchee and managed to get us a good deal on a room. We left the Waltons before it got dark and found our room easily with Charlie's directions. We decided to book two nights so that we could join Carol, Charlie and their friends in the Who Dat bar at our hotel and it would also give us a chance to chill out for a day. Once we'd checked in, we went into the Who Dat bar for food and a few drinks. We got chatting to the bar flies in there and ended up being asked to join Joey on his pontoon for a little sunset cruise the following night. We took him up on the offer and agreed to meet him at 'fifteen to five' the following evening.
The next day, we decided to explore a bit of Steinhatchee but after a four mile walk discovered that there wasn't really much to explore! We chilled out back at Good Times for a bit and then went to meet Joey and Rick for the sunset cruise with a crate of Yuengling! We had a lovely time on the boat. The sunset wasn't too spectacular but it
was just nice being on the boat, chatting and watching the sunset with a few beers. Joey stopped off at a fish market on the river so that Ben could buy himself 2lb of headless jumbo shrimps! Back in the Who Dat bar, we met up with Carol and Charlie and they introduced us to their friends. There were loads of them! They took over the whole place and I thnk they needed every table in the whole bar putting together so they could all eat! I enjoyed a steak while Ben went for the 'cook your catch' option so that he could have his shrimps and the rest of the trout Carol had given him. He was in seafood heaven! After a few drinks, Charlie asked if we'd like to go back to Sue and David's for a few more drinks on their porch so off we went! Another couple, Carol and Bob were also there and we had a great time. Loads of laughs, stories and drinks and even a couple of shots of tequila! I won't say much more about that night because 'what happens on the porch, stays on the porch' but also, 'what happens in
Steinhatchee...never happened'!! Hopefully we'll get a chance to join them all again next summer for the scallop season?! We were very tempted to stay another night and join them all for their Christmas bash but we needed to get moving. We loved the Steinhatchhee gang! Lovely people and lots of laughs.
On Saturday morning, we said our goodbyes to Joey and Rick then got going to head for Clearwater. Clearwater actually seemed a bit rough so we carried on driving through to the Gulf Boulevard, right on the coast and lined with hotels, motels and inns. We managed to find a good deal and as it had a kitchenette we decided to cook for ourselves. Heaven! Pasta, sauce and vegetables! Yeah! Ben made loads so we had enough for the next couple of days too! We didn't bother to go out and explore the area as we needed an early night!
We set off on Sunday for Anna Maria island and spent a few hours there on the beach and having a wander round. It's a gorgeous little island but accommodation was a bit out of our budget so we booked the Days Inn at Bradenton, about 12
miles from Anna Maria. Here, we managed to find a Thai restautrant so good food again!
We drove to Siesta Key Island, south east of Sarasota on Monday morning and spent a couple of hours on the serene Turtle Beach. We then drove onto Fort Myers and booked two nights in the Neptune Inn on Estero Island. The room had a hob so we were able to cook again for two nights. Yippee! More vegetables! We managed to watch the sunset with a Bud and then after tea we went out for a stroll. The place had a real seaside feel to it and there seemed to be lots of lively bars and restaurants. We just enjoyed the stroll though so got an early night so that we could have a full day on the beach the following day. Both of us were up and at 'em early on Wednesday so Ben went for a run on the beach and I went for a swim in the heated pool! What a great start to the day! After breakfast, we got out on the beach and just relaxed. Lovely sunshine. (no swimming in the sea though as it was cold-about
Green Bellied Turtles
Obviously a favourite log. 11 degrees) However, it was quite a cloudy day and by about three o' clock the clouds completely covered the sky! We satyed out another half hour or so but it was getting a little bit chilly so we went back inside to start some more cooking! We watched the sunset again, had tea then watched a bit of telly. No beer as we wanted to get up and out for a run and swim before we checked out!
Thursday morning didn't quite go to plan (not for me anyway!) as I decided to do this blog before my swim but after half an hour it logged me off without warning and I lost about 800 words. I was absolutely fuming! I started again but didn't get finished so just had to save what I'd done. We checked out at eleven to head for the Everglades along the 40 that runs north of the park. There are only three entrances to the park and we'd decided to head straight for the Ernest Coe entrance at the south east end. We saw loads of birds along the way-kingfishers, marsh hawks, great egrets, herons, turkey vultures...and we also got a glimpse
Big male Gator bellowing.
Aparrently a rare sight but we saw this one sticking his head right out of the water bellowing to the other males. Something about 'find your own patch'....... Very impressive, you could almost feel the vibration from the deep rumbling noise! of the Indian Villages that are scattered along this area. Once inside the park, we did the short Anhinga trail and as well as seeing several more birds, including the tri-coloured heron and the green backed heron, we also heard a pig frog (!) and saw a few more alligators. (one alligator particularly close!) We could have explored more of the park but felt that we'd been really spoilt with Wakulla! Although we only saw a small part of the Everglades, we weren't overly struck by what we saw. There was a fair bit of litter about in the water and it just wasn't really the wilderness we were expecting. Perhaps we didn't see enough of it to appreciate it or should have gone on an air boat tour to get more of a feel for it? Anyway, we left and drove onto the Keys, where we stayed at the Bay Cove Motel in Key Largo. We headed out for a stroll but there was really nowhere to go! It's just the 1 highway with hotels and a few restaurants and shops scattered along it! Oh well, back to the room to watch the rest of The Green Mile!
We were away by half eight on Friday morning and drove straight to Key West, with a brief stop off to have a look at Sombrero Beach in Marathon. The weather wasn't great as it was fairly cloudy and there were a few spots of rain appearing. We didn't really know much about the Keys so on the way there I read some bits about them from the guide book. We both thought the Keys consisted of a string of gorgeous beaches so we were very dismayed to find that there weren't really many at all and that the islands are built on coral and limestone! There was also a really stinky sulphur smell that kept hitting our noses very frequently! Yuk! On reaching Key West, we parked up down a street just around the corner from Duval, the main touristy street, then went for a walk. Duval Street looked quite quaint yet lively and consisted of a mixture of shops, bars, restaurants, cafes and clubs and a variety of people! It was nice to stroll down...until the heavens opened! We tried to walk in between the showers but in the end the rain became heavy so we went back
to the car. As we weren't too impressed with Key West and knew we'd pay a lot for a room, we decided to get out of there so drove back along the road to Islamorada. We found a room for $63 and after a bite to eat we went for a stroll...only to discover it was the same as Key Largo with just the road to explore! We cursed ourselves for a little while, thinking that we should've stayed in Key West as it was a nice little town to walk around but it all turned out good in the end. We found a quiet pier with a couple of chairs at the end of it and no one around. We got a six pack of Bud from the liquor store and sat there for a couple of hours like a couple of old biddies, talking and looking at the stars! It was lovely!
So, now we're in the Monroe County Library in Islamorada. We'll now be heading to Miami to see what adventures we can find there before then flying to Cancun on Monday!
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Carole Erdman
non-member comment
Steinhatchee
Bob and I are so glad that you liked Steinhatchee. We sure enjoyed your visit and had a great time at Who Dat and on the porch. Hope you come back soon and enjoy the rest of your trip.