Hi friends! It’s so good to see you again! We enjoyed our winter in Florida and wanted to share a post on our time in the Sunshine State.

Florida is exceptionally diverse and we were fortunate to experience different regions of this state. We saw historic forts, world-renowned beaches, the rugged landscape of the Everglades, and even experienced some ‘Disney Magic’!

Pensacola

Our first stop (early December) was in Florida’s panhandle region. We spent a week at the Gulf Islands National Seashore in Pensacola and saw stingray, dolphins, and big crabs! The weather was cool and the beach was wide and void of people. We hiked and biked along several trails in the park and admired historic Fort Pickens. Also, of note is a nearby naval air station, which is home to the Blue Angels. The pilots regularly practice over the Gulf of Mexico in the summer!

One day, when we walked onto the beach, we immediately noticed a group of young men filming a music video. It wasn’t long before I wandered over with a well thought-out opening line of ‘whatcha doin’? The band, named Walden, told us about their in-progress tour and music video (you can read about it here: Where’s Walden)! The guys were kind, answered all of my questions, and long story short … we enjoyed watching their gig that evening at a local brewery. Keep an eye out for them and catch a show if you can! They play original indie music and we are excited to watch their career and say ‘we knew them when …’

(click on any picture below to open the gallery and read the captions)

Nights of Lights in St. Augustine

We headed east from Pensacola to see The Nights of Lights in St. Augustine. If Christmas in St. Augustine isn’t already on your bucket list, then I recommend adding it! Over 3 million twinkling lights illuminate the historic city and it consistently makes the list of ‘best Christmas lights in the US’! The town is walkable; however, trolleys are available that play Christmas carols while touring the city. If you still aren’t feeling convinced, then just know that there wasn’t any snow or winter parkas in sight during our time in the US’ oldest city!

From St. Augustine, we drove to Orlando to board a plane headed for the frozen tundra on Lake Erie! Despite being cold, it was wonderful to spend the holidays in Northeast Ohio with family and friends!

World Renowned Beaches

We spent the month of January enjoying the sunshine and gulf breezes in a condo situated on the Gulf of Mexico. We logged 120 miles of beach walking (plus more miles on our bikes) and found several ocean creatures: starfish, sea urchins, crabs of various shapes and sizes, sand dollars and jellyfish! One day there were so many sea urchins on the beach that it made the local news!

The condo we rented was, coincidentally, situated very near an active movie filming site! There was more security at the movie than at the Walden music video shooting, so I didn’t have a chance to [casually] meet the film’s stars. But, we did ride our bikes past some filming, so we still have a one-in-a-million chance to make the big screen! The movie is called ‘Lean Into Love’ and you can read about it in the Tampa Bay paper (including interviews with the actors). You can imagine my surprise when I realized that we weren’t interviewed for our bike ride film scene!

It was nice to be stationary for a month and we used the time to outline our travels for 2022. If you missed our 2021 summary post, then you can check it out here!

Journeying Further South

After our month of lounging on the beach, we traveled inland to Orlando to visit with friends and experience Disney Magic. We crammed in all 4 parks into 2 days and focused our time on the new rides since our last visit (in 2000). It was a whirlwind and I think we both have our ‘Disney fix’ for another 20 years or so!

We stopped two additional times along Florida’s Gulf Coast before landing in Florida’s National Parks!

Everglades National Park

When I think of the Everglades, then I immediately think of the alligators! However, we learned that there is as much wildlife diversity in the Everglades as in Yellowstone NP! Unfortunately, invasive species are decimating the fragile ecosystem.

Humans introduced the Burmese Python to the area in the 1970s. However, Hurricane Andrew destroyed a nearby python breeding facility, which released hundreds more pythons into the southern Florida ecosystem. Since then, park biologists have noticed a 90% decrease in the population of white tailed deer, bobcats, possums, raccoons and foxes. The park has enacted several measures to try to eradicate the species and brags to have killed over 2,000 pounds of python in the past year. Considering an adult python can weigh up to 200 pounds, then it becomes evident that there is a lot of work still to be done.

Anyhoo … back to the alligators! We started our Everglades adventure by riding bikes along the 15-mile Shark Valley trail. Pedestrians, bicyclists and the park’s tram share the paved all-purpose path. All are great options to see giant gators in the canal and lounging in the sun! We saw alligators of all sizes including babies with a very protective mother! At the half-way point of the looped trail is an observation tower that overlooks the entire area. However you experience Shark Valley (by tram, bike or on foot), plan to spend a few hours in this diverse ecosystem!

From Shark Valley, we drove deeper into the Everglades and spent several nights camping at Long Pine Key Campground. During our time in this section of the park, we toured the HM69 Nike Missile Base, kayaked the Flamingo Canal into Coot Bay and saw awesome wildlife (including giant crocodiles, manatee and nesting osprey). The weather was perfect in late-February … sunny, warm and not exceptionally buggy. There are many things to see and do in this park and we really had a great time!

Dry Tortugas

Heading south from the Everglades landed us in the southernmost point in the Continental United States – KEY WEST! What an experience! The island is quaint with cute houses and beautiful blue waters. We did the touristy things but our main purpose of driving this far south was to catch the Yankee Freedom ferry bound for Dry Tortugas National Park!

Dry Tortugas National Park primarily consists of small islands, protected underwater areas, and Fort Jefferson. The Yankee Freedom takes 175 passengers to a 16 acre island that houses the historic Fort. Visitors can explore the Fort (either on a tour or self guided), snorkel in the clear blue water, lounge on the small beaches, watch the extensive types of birds, go fishing, and kayak (bring your own boat). There are 10 campsites on the island and we were lucky to score a site for 2 nights!

We originally booked our trip in February 2020 (to visit the park in winter 2021) but we adjusted our dates because of pandemic. After waiting for this trip for 2 years, our anticipation was high when the alarm went off at 4:30 AM to start our day! You see, campers are required to check in for the ferry by 6 AM! After a security check and general information from the boat’s captain, we had a bit of free time before boarding began at 7:30.

Dry Tortugas is 70 miles from Key West and the trip takes over 2 hours. Although we didn’t see any marine wildlife from the boat, we enjoyed complimentary breakfast and coffee while cruising by deserted islands in the Gulf of Mexico. Just about mid-trip, the boat passed through deep water and fellow passengers were looking a little green from the rough waters! The crew quickly shifted from handing out breakfast to passing out barf bags and ginger ale! We felt fine (but enjoyed the complimentary ginger ale all the same).

During our time on the island, we spent our days on the beach and snorkeling. Colorful fish are prevalent and we saw barracuda and queen conch! At night, we watched hermit crabs scurry across the sand while the vibrant Milky Way was overhead!

We were fascinated with the history of the Fort and spent hours exploring the grounds. The idea behind the fort was to protect the trade route around southern part of Florida. However, it was never completed, in part, because the island ground proved to be too unstable for the immense weight. Fort Jefferson is the largest brick structure in the Americas and is comprised of over 16,000 bricks! Like the other Floridian Forts, it became a critical component in the Civil War to house military criminals, Union deserters and Prisoners of War.

We had a great visit to this lesser-known park. If you have the opportunity (and desire) to pitch a tent, then I definitely recommend doing so. The island is quiet once the last day-trippers leave and it’s an experience like none other!

Key West

Dry Tortugas

Biscayne and Big Cypress National Parks

Biscayne National Park sits at the ‘top’ of the Florida Keys and south of Miami. It is an ocean preserve to protect the barrier islands, marine wildlife and migrating birds. We stopped in the visitor center and listened to an engaging presentation by one of the park’s rangers. We were delighted to see manatees in the protected harbor. It was a quick stop, but enough to know that a return trip is warranted to explore more of what this park has to offer!

Big Cypress National Preserve is north of the Everglades (and down the road from Shark Valley, where we started our FL National Parks adventure). This preserve simply felt ‘wilder’ than other parks. For starters, we camped in the Monument Lake campground. The campsites are situated around a man-made lake and we immediately saw several large alligators! I saw a 2-foot Burmese Python (in the campground) and the host told me the rangers are tracking a giant one in the same area! Other wildlife spotted in the park included an eastern diamondback rattlesnake, a famed 14 foot long alligator (appropriately nicknamed ‘Big Daddy’), white tailed deer, extensive migrating birds, and several varieties of turtles and fish. Additionally, there were reports of black bear and Florida Panther sightings nearby!

Big Cypress NP is larger than the state of Rhode Island. The landscape in Big Cypress is as interesting as the wildlife! While some areas were true cypress swamps, other areas were pine forests! In fact, there are 5 different ecosystems within the park. It’s really a fascinating place – simply plan to bring your sense of adventure when you visit!

We had a wonderful winter in Florida. Not only was it nice to be warm, but we had a great time exploring the diversity of this state. We are now heading north to join a friend for a portion of her hike on the Appalachian Trail in the Smokey Mountains! I can already feel my Florida tan starting to fade away …

Here are a few more pictures of our time in the Sunshine State … we had a great winter (can you tell?)!

I hope you are well and that our paths cross in the coming year! 😘