Swamp or no swamp
were told, so we picked up a few specimens.
Another day, another beach, this one closer to our rental and quite a contrast to the wilds of DelnorWiggins. A wall of high-rise hotels and condos lines much of the Gulf of Mexico on Marco Island, and while the beach is technically open to all, finding parking can be a problem. Countyowned Tigertail Beach, on the north end, has a paid lot, restrooms and an overpriced cafe.
The beach sits on a tidal lagoon facing Sand Dollar Spit. Getting to the surf and nicer sand on the Gulf side means taking a long walk to where this slender spit of sand meets the mainland. Before Hurricane Irma hit in September, beachgoers had the option of wading across the lagoon, hoisting beach bags and cellphones overhead. Irma moved
One of the gals was adamant about seeing alligators, so we began looking for likely spots.
The word “swamp” put off three of the guys, so a small contingent ventured into the outback 30 minutes east of Naples to the Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. After slathering on bug repellent, we set off on a 2.25-mile boardwalk that winds through a fraction of this 13,000-acre wilderness. Alligators poked their snouts through water lettuce, one poised to pounce on an egret. We saw Florida redbelly turtles, an anhinga bird and a pig frog, or so we geeks discerned from the booklet we bought in the gift shop.
The sanctuary encompasses the largest virgin bald cypress forest in the world, spanning 700 acres. Some of these trees, cousins of redwoods, sprouted five centuries ago. The gardener among us seemed more interested in smaller flora, like blue pickerelweed and the strangler fig sending its tentacles around the trunk of a pine tree.
We made the guys who stayed behind feel bad enough to agree to an excursion to the Everglades, or perhaps it was the prospect of racing across the water on an airboat. Even grown men in their golden years can be little boys at heart.
Calling the Everglades a swamp doesn’t do it justice. This complex ecosystem has pine forests, sawgrass prairies and mangrove estuaries. We didn’t have to enter the national park, which covers just a fifth of this wilderness, to enjoy it. Everglades City had a kitschy collection of airboat operators hawking their tours on gaudy road signs. Captain Jack’s speedy, twisty thrill ride through mangroves sent hair horizontal on those of us who still have some. We saw gators and held one at an animal sanctuary that was part of the package.
Everglades City bills itself as the Stone Crab Capital of the World, so we decided to try some for lunch at the historic Rod and Gun Club, a former private club that once hosted presidents and movie stars. Ernest Hemingway stayed here in 1942. The kitchen was out of claws, but our server pointed down a channel to a marina and drawled, “We can go git you some.”
They were worth the wait. dividing our time hanging out on the deck and exploring 8 miles of beach only accessible by boat. Southern Living magazine listed Keewaydin among its Top 10 Secret Beaches of the South.
We might not have gotten there but for the young boater who led the way. With a couple of bikini-clad ladies behind him, he stood with muscled torso at the wheel of his speedboat, patiently slowing his throttle while our paunchy pontoon crew putt-putt-putted behind him. When we reached the island, he gave a friendly wave before he gunned it and sped off.
At least we thought it was friendly. For all we know, he could have been saying, “So long, geezers!”
Katherine Rodeghier is a freelance reporter.