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The Everglades is 1.5 million acres of marsh wetland, the third largest national park in the contiguous
48 states, and the only ecosystem of its kind on the planet. You can take boat rides into the Gulf of Mexico,
hikes through the mangrove islands, and countless tours guided by national park rangers in funny green suits.
This being the South, of course, there’s always the (mostly positive) prospect of culinary adventure.
But the main attraction is wildlife. The place is full of storks, roseate spoonbills, dolphins, turtles, snowy egrets,
great blue herons, ospreys, cormorants, anhingas, raccoons and about 100 members of the species Alligator mississippiensis—
in the wild, in captivity, and wrestling guys named Julio.
1) Everglades City
Ah, Florida, where a suitcase is nothing more than a place to put all the clothes you had on when you left home.
I flew to Fort Lauderdale on Spirit Airlines from New York City, where it was 12 degrees. My friend Josh came
from Boston, where it was 4. We both quickly changed into T-shirts and headed for Everglades City,
just outside the northwest end of Everglades National Park. (Because there’s only one place to stay inside
the park itself—in the town of Flamingo, which we visited on our last night—any Everglades trip entails lots of
popping into the park for the day and then decamping to the small towns that surround it.)
The quickest way across the Florida peninsula is Alligator Alley,
or I-75. It’s about an 80-mile drive andon both sides of the road, as far as you can see,
is Big Cypress National Preserve, which adjoins Everglades National Park to the north.
The tan saw-grass swamp looks like a never-ending prairie, and it reminded me of a trip I once took to Kansas.
But like a good record album, the Everglades is seductive:
It has a rhythm and a mood and it isn’t long before you’re hooked.
On arrival in Everglades City, head for the Glades Haven Cozy Cabins. The cabins are plain and straightforward,
with the look of a sleepaway camp. There’s a small marina along the river
Across the street is the departure point for the Everglades National Park Boat Tours. We bought drinks at
the Glades convenience store (you can bring your own food and beverages on the boat) and hopped on the last
tour out to the Gulf of Mexico, known as the sunset boat. Our guide, Keith, took us by mangrove islands and
through manatee zone—slow speed channels, and explained that the Everglades harbors more than
20 species of mosquitoes. (Do not make this trip in the summer.) Dolphines can be seen.
For dinner, we hoped to try City Seafood, a picnic-table market right on the docks;
it supposedly makes a mean grouper sandwich. But like a lot of places in town, it closes at 6 p.m.
That conflicted with the sunset tour, so we ended up at the overpriced Seafood Depot—
home of the aforementioned gator nuggets.
2) Tamiami Trail
Before leaving Everglades City, go four miles south to Chokoloskee, across a causeway packed with
fishermen out for a Mullet . Chokoloskee feels more residential than Everglades City.
At the end of the island is the Historic Smallwood Store Ole Indian Trading Post and Museum.
It used to be a trading post: furs and natural resources going out, supplies from Key West coming in.
The shelves are lined with old-timey medicinal and snack-food kitsch. Mister Watson—
a cat named after a famous character shot to death by everyone in town (Peter Matthiessen fictionalized
the story in Killing Mister Watson)—prowled lazily. From now on, when I think about all that is weird and
cool about Florida, Smallwood is what will come to mind.
Heading east from Everglades City is the Tamiami Trail—or Route 41—one of those clever names
forged by squishing two others together (Tampa and Miami). The first good stop is the
Ochopee Post Office. It’s the smallest, most photographed post office in the U.S., they say.
Clyde Butcher’s Big Cypress Gallery is a more fulfilling detour. Butcher is a big fellow with a
Santa Claus beard who has spent his life trudging through the swamp taking photographs and the results
are powerful black-and-white testaments to the beauty of the place.
The best spot to eat lunch along the Tamiami is at the diner-style Miccosukee Restaurant.
The Miccosukee are one of the few Native American tribes in Florida to have escaped
Andrew Jackson’s Trail of Tears; they hid in the swamp.
You can also take an airboat ride here, if you must.
(Airboats are thought to have a negative environmental impact; within park boundaries,
they’re off-limits except to some rangers. The Miccosukee reservation, north of the Tamiami Trail,
isn’t part of the park; the land to the south is.)
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Across from the restaurant is Shark Valley, where you’ll want to explore the 15-mile trail into the park.
Their is a two-hour guided tram tour. If you’ve got more time and sunshine, rent a bike at the
visitor center and ride the paved trail at your own pace. Two things I learned on the tour:
The Everglades sits atop three miles of limestone, and if an alligator eats when it’s too cold the food
could rot in its cold-blooded stomach and kill it. An observation tower at the halfway point offers the best
view you’ll get of the park.
Where the Tamiami Trail meets Route 997, turn south and head for the town of Homestead. Here,
the road is lined with orchid sellers, fruit stands, and acres of farmland. The swamp stops because back in the days
when swamps were thought of simply as nuisances, the Tamiami was a dike: It blocked the flow of water spilling out
from Lake Okeechobee. The Everglades is actually a giant, slow-moving river of grass—Okeechobee is the source
and years ago most, if not all, of the tip of Florida was its wide, shallow, lazy delta.
The best thing about Homestead is the Mexican restaurants. Otherwise, unless you like antiques stores—
the Historic Business District boasts eight—there isn’t much else there. To be exact: There’s a police station,
a medical center, a movie theatre under renovation, the chamber of commerce, a museum, an art gallery and
the First Baptist Church.
The food is excellent, and the atmosphere is friendly and loud. If it’s full,
an equally great option is Casita Tejas across the street.
As far as lodgings go, there are plenty of motels, name brand and otherwise,
farther down Krome Avenue toward Florida City.
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