After driving across Highway 75, “Alligator Alley,” we arrived at an RV park near Homestead – selected for easy access to the Everglades and to Miami. It was on an old avocado farm in the middle of all sorts of produce and flower growing areas. We headed for the main entrance of the Everglades National Park, where we checked out the visitor center and took the Anhinga and Gumbo Limbo trails. We saw turtles, egrets, and gators.
Then we drove down to Flamingo on the Florida Bay, where we saw manatees, woodpeckers, osprey, and one of the relatively rare crocodiles (no photo).
On the way back we stopped at Paurotis Pond, where we saw wood stork rookeries and some roseate spoonbills. That night we went to Marlins Park to see the Marlins beat the Brewers. It is a gorgeous park and the first major league game of our road trip.
The next day we explored a little more of Miami, Key Biscayne and Miami Beach in particular.
We then turned our thoughts toward hitting the road again for a week in the Florida Keys…