Naples Boat Club, Naples, Florida

Fog and misty rain today but still nice to be out and about. We were having coffee on our back deck this morning, heard a splash, dolphins were playing in the empty slip across the dock from us. We watched them for some time, could have reached out and touched them. We assume they were chasing fish around the docks. One would slap his tail down every time he jumped, haven't seen that before. Got the rental car today and drove down to Marco Island. It is beautiful, wonderful homes and shopping. Huge houses, looks to be on the same economic level as Naples, which is pretty posh . Then we went on to Everglade City. It is actually quite a small town, and with smaller homes, more ordinary. Ate lunch at the historic Rod and Gun Club in Everglade City. It was built in 1864; still retains the dark wood interior, with mounted trophy fish and skins on the walls. There is a large porch with tables and chairs where one can have lunch, or an interior dining room. There are cottages for rent, and a dock whre boats can dock. There were 3 looper boats there, Moore Stuff, Married with Here and Scoperta, so we had a visit with them. They had just returned from an airboat ride, and said it was great. After lunch, we went to Captain Dave's and went for our airboat ride. It was an hour of whizzing through the Everglade mangrove forest. Saw a raccoon, many birds, and an alligator. He was swimming around a little bay, apparently watching for food on the shore. The driver told us that mangroves filter out 90% of the salt, which is why they can live with their roots in salt water. They also clean the water and so are an important part of the eco-system in this area. The Everglades has the 2nd largest mangrove forest in the world; the largest is in Bangladesh. Noticed that many of the mangroves are not looking healthy, tops are dead. The driver said that the cold winter last year killed or damaged many of them. The cold weather also killed 97 manatee in the Everglades National Park, as well as many other fish and snakes not used to the cold. Went to the Everglades museum which reviewed the history of the area, very interesting.

Pelicans like to ride on the front of the airboats. Some have legbands, which may indicate disease or injury, or that they were relocated from New Orleans out of the oily waters.

The alligator. The guide told us that the number of inches from eyes to nose is an indication of the length of the alligator. This one seemed to be about 8 inches from eyes to nose, so he was about 8 feet long.

Trophies on the wall of the Rod and Gun Club

On the airboat

Our airboat

We were whizzing along these narrow corridors between the mangroves

There was a railroad that came down through Southern Florida and the Everglades that carried cattle south for transport and sale to Cuba. With the embargo on trade with Cuba in 1959, the railroad went out of business