"So There *is* Something Cool in Florida " a Everglades National Park Travel Page by thebeatsurrender

My company had our annual offsite in Miami, so I figured I'd fly in early, rent a car and take a tour of the everglades. We flew into Ft. Lauderdale in the early morning. The sunrise during descent was gorgeous. I took a few hours (can't exactly remember how long, but I want to say 3-4 hours) to get all the way down to Flamingo. Lots of birds flew overhead on the way down. My coworker drives like a maniac and we ended up with many a poor little butterfly and bug in the grill.

The weather was beautiful when we went. As October is the beginning of hurrican season, I was expecting rain and mosquitos, but the temprature was nice and cool the first day, only a little bit humid and rainy the last day, and I did not end up with one bite.

We rented a canoe and we canoeing in the canal. It wasn't as cool as I was hoping as the bay and lakes were closed off due to winds. As it was the first time canoeing for all of us, it also took really long to get anywhere. It's a nice, relaxing way to spend an afternoon, but when you're short on time, not the most bang for your buck. If I lived there though, it would be an awesome activity to do on weekends.

The scenery tends to be rather monotonous on the canal, and we didn't get to go anywhere really cool (no mangrove canopies or anyrhing). Also, canoeing is a lot harder than it looks. We constantly kept running into the side of the canal.

We did get to canoe by an alligator though. It was super cute and just sat there sunbathing.

The sunday after our offsite, we rented another car and drove west along the Tamiani Trail. For a day trip, this was the most satisfying leg. We ordered a giant Everglades sampler plate of food at a Native American run tourist restaurant across the highway from the Shark Valley area. It was really greasy and not exceptionally tastey, but it was exactly what I wanted -- alligator nuggets, frogs legs, along with some traditional foods that you can't get anywhere else.

We took a nice walk in the Shark Valley area, where we saw lots of birds, pretty scenery, and the total highlight of the trip: Baby alligators!!! Well, in any case I figured they were baby alligators, cuz that's what they look like. If I'm wrong (pic above), shoot me an email, but I'm pretty sure that's what these cute little critters were. They were just cuddling in some grass at the side of the trail. You could see mama swimming in the water next to the road.

Next, we headed to further west, and took a drive through the Big Cypress area. It was really pretty, with lots more trees -- tall ones rising up from the water, which offered nice variation to the day.

Last, we headed all the way to the gulf coast to the 10,000 islands area. Unfortunately, we didnt have enough time to explore, but I did get a chance to dip a toe into the Gulf of Mexico.