When those relatives or friends come to visit Southwest Florida from Idaho City, Ohio or Des Moines, Minnesota, you need something fun to do when they have gotten on your nerves. You can let them sit around your pool and eat all of your hurricaine supplies or you can take them to the Florida Everglades.
This is something even you will enjoy. They recommend you wear ear protection, on the boat-ride, so you don't have to listen to your brother-in-law go on-and-on about his new tractor.
There are two types of air boat rides I like. The first is through the 'river of grass'. You can find a few of these vendors on US 41 East (Alligator Alley) between Everglade City and Miami. The ride on a four-seater or twenty-seater makes it's winding way through the sawgrass. This is a floating river of grass, ever changing. The ride is fast & fun and the gators are so cooperative. You will talk about it for days afterward.
My personal favorite ride is on the canals and rivers that run through the trees. There are two or three vendors in Everglade City that will take you on this trip. These boats are smaller 4 - 6 people but very fast and you will be amazed at the creatures who inhabit this vast space.
You will see manatees up close, gators big enough to eat you, You can hand feed schools of huge fish and only the camera lens will catch them taking it from your hand. You will see wild hogs and raccoons who walk on tree roots to get a hand out. Pelicans will land on your boat and expect a fish. It is a photo op, so be ready.
Even if you don't have any relatives or friends to go with you, go anyway. It's a great way to spend an afternoon. Stick a few marshmellows in your pocket, in case you see a hungry gator.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Florida, too hot or too windy - Nah!
I am one of those rare birds who was born in Florida. My accent is southern when I talk with others who have the same affliction. We have a tendency to shorten sentences and lengthen vowels. We don't drop our 'R's' we just hold on to them longer. Fortunately I don't write in 'southern' so you don't need an interpreter.
I want to dispel some myths about Florida, that are perpetuated by some who need them to be true, for their own reasons. I don't need any of these to be true or false, I am just acting as your tour guide to paradise.
Myth 1. 'It is too hot in the summer.' If I was roofing houses or picking oranges, I might agree, it is hot, but since most of my time is sitting in an air conditioned house, car or office with regular trips to the beach, golf course or bike rides, it is the perfect temperature for all of those activities. Your shirt may be wet with perspiration ( or swey-et) as we say in the south, but you can throw it in the wash, put on another and eat dinner out side on the patio, all year long.
Did you ever think we might want you to believe it is too hot so we can get on the golf course without having to wait. Nah!
Myth 2. Hurricanes will blow you away. Of all the things to be worried about, a hurricane is the least. I have lived in Florida for more than half my life and although we have had some disasters, and others have had losses, personally the most I ever lost was a beautiful tree in my back yard that would have not fallen if I had kept it trimmed. Hurricanes take a specific set of conditions to actually hit where you live. We get a weeks notice, which the people who have regular tornado's or wild fires would trade you a hurricane and never complain. The building permits people are requiring the builders to design homes and buildings that will stand despite the wind. Trust me, the percentages are on your side.
Come live in Paradise, if it's too hot, sit in the shade for a while, if they tell you a hurricane is coming, and you are really worried, put up your storm shutters, go visit your relatives in Iowa, take them some oranges, offer them a place to escape when it snows. They will say good things about you when you leave.
I want to dispel some myths about Florida, that are perpetuated by some who need them to be true, for their own reasons. I don't need any of these to be true or false, I am just acting as your tour guide to paradise.
Myth 1. 'It is too hot in the summer.' If I was roofing houses or picking oranges, I might agree, it is hot, but since most of my time is sitting in an air conditioned house, car or office with regular trips to the beach, golf course or bike rides, it is the perfect temperature for all of those activities. Your shirt may be wet with perspiration ( or swey-et) as we say in the south, but you can throw it in the wash, put on another and eat dinner out side on the patio, all year long.
Did you ever think we might want you to believe it is too hot so we can get on the golf course without having to wait. Nah!
Myth 2. Hurricanes will blow you away. Of all the things to be worried about, a hurricane is the least. I have lived in Florida for more than half my life and although we have had some disasters, and others have had losses, personally the most I ever lost was a beautiful tree in my back yard that would have not fallen if I had kept it trimmed. Hurricanes take a specific set of conditions to actually hit where you live. We get a weeks notice, which the people who have regular tornado's or wild fires would trade you a hurricane and never complain. The building permits people are requiring the builders to design homes and buildings that will stand despite the wind. Trust me, the percentages are on your side.
Come live in Paradise, if it's too hot, sit in the shade for a while, if they tell you a hurricane is coming, and you are really worried, put up your storm shutters, go visit your relatives in Iowa, take them some oranges, offer them a place to escape when it snows. They will say good things about you when you leave.
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