Where do we go from Captiva...
Marco Island or Everglade City?
February 10, 2023
We left at civil twilight from Captiva Island and Tween Water Marina- 6:42am to make the tides work for us. Our decision is to go to Marco Island where we have reservations versus pushing through to Everglades City which is 88 miles. The winds are to pick up this weekend starting later Saturday afternoon and last through very early Monday morning. We decided to see how well we were making with time and make a decision mid morning. We decided to push on to Everglade City. Going down the intracoastal, we saw Sanibel and at its southern tip, Sanibel Lighthouse. By binoculars, it appeared that beach was closed and tall fences were up but the Lighthouse still standing!
Danny and I noted some wind picking up even before we got to turned into the Ten Thousand Islands just past Marco Island. There were also signs of "red tide" which is the presence of a special bacteria which decreases oxygen levels to those species living in the Gulf. This is mainly noting fish of all sizes dead and floating on top of the water. In the Ten Thousand Islands and throughout the Everglades, there is just a sense of serenity and calm. The Everglades have the added benefit of no crab pots or traps are allowed in the water. Those going in or through the Everglades must also take a test and pass it so visitors appreciate
the sensitivity of this area. I took the test so I held the permit.
Blue herons, Everglade scenery, group of white pelicans, oyster catchers, and an osprey with a fish. On my tour, the naturalist told us, that ospreys are the only raptor that can rotate their talons to adjust to what they are carrying. The white pelicans go for fish on the surface of the water where brown pelicans do the dive bomb technique. While on the tour, we saw white ibis birds who have a long, curved orange bill. Apparently they are last to leave in a hurricanes situation and the first to return after the storm. Everglades National Park was named a National Park in 1947 under Harry Truman.
The propagule fall off the red mangrove tree into the water and move from place to place until they start to sprout and set up throughout the area. You will see them next to trees, on rocks, and on beaches. During my Everglades tour, the naturalist told us that in the Shark River area further south from here are not only alligators but also crocodiles which surprised me. They had a display of the skulls of both. The alligator skull on the left and crocodile on the right.
We saw an adult Osprey feeding one baby. Sometimes these babies fall prey to eagles, peregrine falcons, and owls.
We ended up tying up at the Rod and Gun Club, once a predominant place in Everglade City to stay. Many famous people have stayed here including Eisenhower following WWII to fish. The place unfortunately has not been kept in the condition it should. Danny and I were here probably 5 years ago and it is not what it once was. Beautiful place with dark wood and carvings on the Barron River.
Everglade City were also affected by Hurricane Ian although not as bad as Hurricane Irma in 2017. When we woke up the first morning in Everglade City, we had quite a surprise. Because of my inflexibility from injuries, I had to have Danny tie the boat tight to piling for me to get on and off the boat. Well the piling was somewhat curved towards the boat and shorter than our 2nd level. With the change in the tide while we were sleeping, we woke up to the following...
Danny was angry with himself, that he did think of this happening. So while I went on an Everglades boat tour, Danny stayed and made the repair. But the repair looks good!
When I returned, he was almost finished the repair. We walked over to the Museum of the Everglades which we enjoyed previously. It is a very good museum. I heard from a man on our boat tour that Marco Island had an excellent Museum as well. Missed it this time, hopefully next time. The Museum of the Everglades goes through telling you the history of the Everglades starting with the Calusa Indians. When the British took over the land from the Spanish, the Calusa Indians who controlled all of Southeast Florida were gone. Many died of diseases from the Europeans and there have been thoughts some may have left and gone to Cuba with Britain's takeover. The Seminoles were later found here along with escaped slaves when the United States bought this area from Spain in 1821. The Indians would move themselves to the numerous islands throughout the Ten Thousand Islands in the Everglades where they built homes above the water and lived off the land and water to avoid the white settlers. During the Civil War, the few white settlers who farmed the land would support the Union troops in Key West by sending them food. White settlers started to come in larger numbers in the late 1800's. They supported themselves on fishing, hunting, and farming. Two items that were hunted for an international market were bird plumes or feathers for women hats and alligator hides for belts, shoes, suitcases, and handbags. Data in the Museum showed the destruction of 80% of the birds in the Everglades by 1910 as well as harvesting 100 tons of alligator hides annually. Henry Flagler who developed much of the east coast of Florida had an engineer evaluate the possibility of building a road through the Everglades in 1905. The engineer told Flagler there was not enough fill dirt on the earth to be able to build a road. Flagler dropped the idea of building a road.
Barron Collier who was a millionaire from Memphis bought over a million acres in southwest Florida in the early 1900's. During this time, the government had been building a road to connect both the East and West coast of Florida from Tampa to Miami 274 miles. Because of lack of funding, lack of workers due to World War I, the work stopped. Barron Collier made a deal with Dade and Lee County officials that he would personally finance finishing the project IF all of the area he owned could be in its own county to be known as Collier County and he could route the Tamiami Trail through the property he owned. The officials accepted, work started in 1923 and the final 76 miles was completed in 1928. The Seminole Indians served as guides in building the road over the terrain and some of the laborers were prisoners from nearby jails. Once the road was opened, there were uniformed police force stationed every 10 miles throughout the trail in Collier County. The officer lived with their wife in a two story house where the wife sold gas, oil, and refreshments and the officer patrol his section of the road assisting people passing the area. These officers were very easy to see as they wore bright red long jackets. Everglade City was the seat of government for the county and for the Tamiami Trail. The Museum mentioned this town became a "company town". Collier built and owned everything in town. Workers in the city were paid with script not real money and could only be used in Everglade City. Unfortunately, the death of Collier in 1939, the depression, and World War II affected the development of Everglade City to the visions of Collier. Ultimately, the seat of government moved to Naples in 1962 as more development was occurring in that area and the total destruction by Hurricane Donna in Everglade City in 1960.
The public school here is one campus including students from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.
The stone crab industry is big business here where the crabbers provide 95% of the stone crabs to the world market. We question that high percentage with the number of pots we saw moving on to the Keys. If you have never had one, you should try it and enjoy it with mustard sauce! 😊
While walking on Sunday, we saw a set up for building stone crab pot with wood slats and concrete block to weigh the pots down. They also catch blue crabs in the area as well and the pots are no different than what you see in Virginia. What is most interesting to me is stone crab are harvested for the claw only. When they are caught, the claw has to be 2 7/8 inches minimum, the claw is broken off and crab returned to the water to regenerate the claw over time. The next time the stone crab is caught, the mature claw is broken off and the cycle repeats itself. The season in Florida runs October 15th to May 1st.
Then to have an appreciation for the shallow depth of the entry about halfway up before getting to Everglade City at marker 17... red/orange is not good!
As the sun rises, we leave Everglade City on our way to the Keys...
Comments
Post a Comment