The Motor Vessel "Once Around"

The Motor Vessel "Once Around"
The Motor Vessel "Once Around" in the Florida Keys

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Checkmark on The Admiral's Bucket List

One of the things Carrie has wanted to do for a long time (and mentioned about a bazillion times as we approached Florida) was to do an airboat ride in the Everglades.  She says she has wanted to do it since the days of “Miami Vice” and is reminded so every time she watches “CSI Miami”.  Whatever.  Wednesday she got her wish.
Fred and Julaine from Boreas joined Carrie, Leo and me for the “3 hour tour”.  We were up at 6:00 AM, had breakfast and drove the hour and a half up to Florida City near Miami.  We arrived at 9 AM at “Airboats in Everglades” where we met our driver, John, and took off for an enjoyable morning in the swamp.  John said he had grown up there and had been airboating the Everglades for 40 years, the last 10 of them as a guide.  He knew his stuff, and we learned a lot.
For example, did you know that the Everglades "swamp" is actually a fresh water river?  It measures 55 miles wide and 120 miles long, and it flows at an approximate rate of 1 mile per day, making it the slowest flowing river in the world.  It is fed from underground aquifers from as far away as Canada, and supplies the drinking water for Miami, the rest of Dade County and elsewhere.  Pictures obviously tell this story better than I could, so here goes:
The Airboat and the crew. left to right, front row, Julaine and Fred from Boreas; back row, Leo, me and the Admiral

Leaving the landing area

I think this was called a tri-color heron



Does this look like alligator country to you?

Does this?

Sure does to this guy!


One of the bird species lives entirely off a worm found inside this yellow flower

We spooked these guys as we drove by



Leo enjoys the ride



This guy wasn't spooked however

John driving, me riding shotgun, Leo and his mom and Julaine.  Photo by Fred

OK, this guy actually stared us down!


This little red beaked guy was beautiful

Another interesting bird

The sawgrass "prairie".  No this is not land...

...we are running right through it at about 30-35 mph

The "Alligator Lily"

the last wildlife caught on camera that day!

By shortly after noon we were on the road back to Key Largo and we were all smiles, especially my Admiral.
Check that one off the list!

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