Wednesday was a travel day for us, a pretty straight drive from DuPuis WEA to Everglades National Park. Our route led along the east side of Lake Okeechobee to US 27, a fast straight road through sugar cane country, to Florida 997 (Krome Avenue) through Homestead and finally into the park.
We made two stops along the way. First, a stop for lunch at the Sawgrass Recreation Area, a birding hotspot, just off US 27 along a canal. It has a dock with airboats, a small wildlife exhibit of rescued animals, a cafe of sorts and a parking lot. There are also walking trails along some dikes which we didn't take the time to investigate. The parking lot was dirty and hot, totally without charm, but we saw Killdeer, a pair of Monk Parakeets, a couple of Muscovy Ducks, a Northern Harrier and large numbers of grackles and starlings.
Our second stop was at Robert Is Here, a fruit and vegetable stand about 10 miles before the entrance to the park. It specializes in tropical fruits but also has a selection of vegetables. We only bought some arugula because we needed a serious provisioning soon. They are also known for their shakes and smoothies made with tropical fruits. A sign near the counter said "no yogurt, no soy". Apparently you can have a smoothie mad with ice or a shake made with soft-serve ice cream. For me, the specialty is the key lime shake which tastes like a cup of frozen key lime pie. Sadly I was forced (forced!) to share.
Then it was into the park with a stop at the visitor center and Long Pine Campground for four nights. At the VC, we enquired about Biscayne Bay National Park, about 30 miles away, and the boat trip out to the keys. They gave us a number to call and we did, hoping to book a trip on Thursday morning. Nope, it was full, as was Friday morning, so we settled for Thursday afternoon.
At the campground, there were not a lot of available RV sites but we found a nice one near the entrance (site 107). We also found out that Long Pine now has hot showers, a great improvement over years past. The nearest shower house, however, is in loop E and our site is before loop A, a bit of a hike. Oh, well.
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