After attending Mass we drove to the Everglades.  This was another bucket-list park for Annette.  She’s been begging to go to the Everglades for at least the last six years. 

Of course the first thing we did was go to the visitor center.  Here, I quickly learned that the Everglades are NOT a swamp (the way I described it to the kids while we were on the drive down here).  They aren’t a swamp because the Everglades are made up of moving water as opposed to a swamp whose water is stagnant.

Next we went to hike the Anhinga Trail.  We were immediately caught up in the wildlife there.  There was a small body of water where we saw birds, fish, turtles, and alligators galore.  The kids were enthralled watching an alligator swim around.  Dominic spotted a ton of lizards and fish (he seems to have an eye for finding the hard-to-find wildlife). 

Next we took the Gumbo Limbo Trail.  Gumbo Limbo is a tree that grows in the area that we learned had two nicknames: the Tourist Tree and the Naked Indian tree.  It gets its nickname because tourists get red skin that peels.  The Gumbo Limbo tree has a red bark that peels.  Dominic was absolutely in love with the nicknames and pointed them out to me everywhere.

This trail was nice because it was in the shade!  (The sun is relentless here.) 

We hiked through what is called a hardwood hammock.  This area was full of live oaks, gumbo limbos, and royal palms. 

In the parking lot, I found a tree that I thought looked a decent amount like a live oak, but when I looked up into it, I saw some kind of fruit on it that I knew didn’t grow on a live oak.  I eventually asked a ranger and was told that it was a mahogany tree. 

I didn’t even realize that mahogany trees grew in the U.S.  I thought they grew more in the jungles of South America.  Anyway, I loved being able to see a mahogany tree.  It definitely had me wondering if I could find a sawmill that sells mahogany and bring some home.  Maybe I could talk my husband or father into making me something special with a beautiful piece of mahogany wood!

Driving back to the campground, we were greeted to several peacocks crossing the road.  None of them had the long tail, so I’m assuming that they were all female.  Although they didn’t have the gorgeous tail, they did have a gorgeous blue neck.

We’ll definitely be back in the Everglades tomorrow.  There is still a lot to see!

Rebecca