November 9, 1998 - Welcome to Pa-hay-okee

After a much quieter and more restful night we left Winter Park bright and early (well, OK - it was 9:00AM) after stopping at Panera to pick up sandwiches for the road. We were boring and just ordered the same thing we had on Saturday night. Again, Panera is great, and we will be on the lookout for other locations.

We decided to take mostly back roads to get to the Everglades, but starting out we drove south on Florida's Turnpike. (Naturally, we put some Jimmy Buffet in the CD player.) We exited the turnpike at a town called Yeehaw Junction (you just can't make this stuff up). We then drove south on US 441 to Lake Okeechobee. We were hoping for a scenic drive around the lake - any sensible person looking at the map would expect the same. Unfortunately the lake is completely surrounded by a 20 foot high levee. It makes for a pretty non-scenic drive.

A sign proclaimed Lake Okeechobee to be the second largest freshwater lake in the United States. After doing a bit of research with Microsoft Encarta® we've figured out all the caveats - it's the second largest freshwater lake in the contiguous 48 states that is wholly within the boundaries of the United States. (Lake Michigan is the largest lake that meets all these criteria.) While the lake has a surface area of over 663 square miles it is relatively shallow with an average depth of around 7 feet. Luckily, we were able to stop at Pahokee State Park, a very nice lakeside park in Pahokee, on the southeast corner of the lake, and eat our sandwiches in the shade of a tree. Unfortunately, the park was about the only nice part of Pahokee. By taking the backroads we saw the Florida that most tourists don't see and the one the state doesn't want you to see. In fewer than 300 miles we saw at least six correctional facilities and dozens of towns caught in the terrible grip of grinding poverty. We also drove through thousands of acres of sugar care and saw more egrets than we have ever seen before.

On this leg of the trip we went through Sand Cut, FL, the self-proclaimed "Speck Capital of the World." Sadly, we were never able to find out just what that meant.

We turned west at Homestead, FL and headed for Everglades National Park. Homestead was heavily damaged by Hurricane Andrew in 1992. It is now the site of more exotic plant nurseries per mile than anyplace else we have ever seen.

We stopped at the Visitor Center at the entrance to the park to get oriented. The Native Americans who originally inhabited the area called the Everglades Pa-hay-okee, meaning "grassy waters." It was a fitting name at the time. Prior to the watershed "improvements" of the 20th century, the water from Lake Okeechobee used to flow down through the Everglades in a river that, at times, was 70 miles wide although only a few inches deep. With development, farming and water control projects, the Everglades now gets only a fraction of the water it used to get. It's a miracle that the park exists at all. Much of the historical Everglades area has been drained and is used to grow crops or graze cattle. The park owes its existence mostly to Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, author of the book River of Grass and tireless crusader for the establishment of both this park, and nearby Biscayne National Park. Ms. Douglas just died this year at age 108 (being feisty may just extend your life). While at the Visitor Center we met up with the cute guy in the picture. Sadly, we can't remember exactly what his official title is, so we are, for the moment, calling him the Not-Quite-So-Great Blue Heron. We'll try for a correction tomorrow.

We are fairly happily settled in our 1-bedroom cottage about 100 yards from Florida Bay. The only thing marring a perfect experience is the need to swat about a dozen or so mosquitoes whenever we come into the cottage. They do manage a bite first, so perhaps they die happy. David is fixing burritos for dinner tonight. With no TV or radio we hope to have a very quiet night reading and needlepointing. Guess who's involved in which activity?

Tomorrow morning, armed with sunblock, hats, and bug juice, we will explore some of the nearby trails. In the afternoon we are booked on a two hour boat trip on the Bay.