Everglades Wonder Garden

For the last month or so, we have driven past the Everglades Wonder Gardens without giving it much thought and assumed it to be just another tourist trap. Well, I suppose on some levels that is exactly what it is. But after reading about the place, we decided to take the plunge. The Gardens is one of the oldest attractions in south Florida, opened to the public in 1936 by two brothers who had a bit of a reputation including rumors of their former occupation as bootleggers. Bill and Lester Piper were referred to as mountain men of the Everglades.

They settled along the Imperial River in Bonita Springs , raised their families there and started collecting various animals of the area and any exotic species that came their way. Many were rescue animals in need of rehabilitation. That tradition continues until today. It remains a classic tourist site with 1930 style animal enclosures, an animal parts museum and many exotic trees and plants from around the world.

A guide with a sense of humor guides you through all the exhibits providing information about each of the animals. The stuffed remains of a huge alligator is preserved on the premises who lived in the park for over around 50 years and when he died was 18 feet long and weighted an estimated 4000 pounds!

It turned out that it is a lot more fun and entertaining than the visit to the Naples Zoo. Flat Stanley came with us and really enjoyed it a lot. The lady at the entrance said that he had been there several times in the past. Apparently, he had forgotten about those visits.

The park remains in the family with a grandson and his wife now running the place.

http://www.sanybel.com/everglades_wonder_gardens.htm

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/13422

As Time Goes By

With a period of warmer, if not always dry weather, we have been spending more times outside enjoying nature, the Arts and visiting with friends old and new. There is a new nature park in Naples called Freedom Park that has walking trails and a chance to view native vegetation and animals close to town. In fact, what is most interesting about this park is its location. It is wedged in between a mall, golf club community and the Naples High School with the entrance along a major highway. But once you enter the walking trails, you could imagine that you were in a remote wilderness-at least some of the time.

We also have been visiting with friends who dropped by who are staying more north in Florida, who belong to our Winnebago club. I have mentioned before the serendipity that often seems to occur while traveling and meeting new people. As in often the case in campgrounds, we became friendly with our immediate neighbors who hailed from New Jersey and regretfully had to go home a few days ago. After they left, we noticed the unit that was parked next in line, who had arrived in the last few days hailed from New York, but had not gotten a chance to say hello. So, on our way out of the park a day or so ago, Anneke asks where in New York they are from. It turns out that they are from the same area I was raised. This led to more conversation and eventually, we discovered that he and I had gone to the same Maritime College in New York City and he was just one year behind me. Given the small size of that school-what are the odds? We are hoping to get to know them better before they also head out in the next few days.

Finally yesterday was a day of culture. We visited the Naples Museum of Art in the morning, followed by a traditional Japanese lunch and in the evening a concert by the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra. Who says sailors have no class?

Visiting the Keys

We were invited by our friend Doug to visit him at his new home in the Florida Keys. He recently moved south to a house on a canal with direct access to both the Gulf and the Atlantic. It has been a number of years since we have seen him so we accepted quickly. He is living one of my several dream retirements with a place on the water with boat dock in the back yard.

In compliance with the guest and fish keeping rule, we spent three days there and had a great time. (For those unfamiliar with the guest and fish rules, it is rather simple: both fish and guests stink after three days.) It seems, like always this year, the weather could have been better. But we had a great time catching up on what everyone has been up to.

We explored the favorite Keys pastimes of eating and drinking at the local establishments, which was a lot of fun. We also dropped by a local fishing equipment emporium, where they have Earnest Hemingway’s fishing boat on display.

While the weather was not good enough to get in some ocean fishing, we did get out in the boat a couple of times, including a crab pot check and a waterborne sunset.

All in all, we had a great visit.

Flat Stanley visits the zoo

We decided it was time for Flat Stanley to go on an outing, so we took him the Naples Zoo. The entrance fee was a bit steep, but we had hopes of visiting a great Zoo. Sadly, we were disappointed. The Zoo was originally a botanical garden that apparently added the zoo portion as best they could. They have a limited number of animals, and in many cases, the viewing was obscured by the design of the enclosures.

After visiting a number of great zoos including the Toledo Zoo, we were less than impressed. Stanley seemed to enjoy himself, so the trip was worthwhile.

http://www.napleszoo.com/