Everglades, casinos and a funeral procession.

Our trip to Everglades National Park with Steve and Noreen started out perfectly--with Cuban cafe con leche at Cafe Cubano. Bud even bought a pound of the coffee so we can try making it ourselves--it's called Pilon Espresso (http://www.javacubana.com/). If we can duplicate the flavor, we'll try to order it online.

The temp was around 72, with light cloud cover.  Nice for photos with good color saturation.

We started at the Anhinga Trail, just beyond the Visitors Center, where we bought a hat for Bud and more presents for the grandkids in their excellent gift shop. (A bit of advice for old folks like us: if you're 62 or older, buy a Senior Pass to all the national parks. For $10, you, and everyone in your vehicle, gets free entry into all the national parks for your lifetime--a true bargain!)

The first thing you see at the Anhinga Trail is masses of black vultures (Noreen, our bird expert, noted that these are different from the one with red heads, called turkey vultures).

A face only a mother could love!



The trail makes a two-sided loop, and we started with the loop that overlooks a large pool filled with American Alligators--they are darker, have broader snouts and are more common (and bolder...uh, more aggressive) than the endangered American Crocodile. When I say the pool was filled,I counted 14 and those were just the ones above water, trying to soak up some sun on the hammock!

I remember the same overlook from our houseboating trip to the Keys back in 1986.  Could these gators be the grandkids of the ones we saw then?

The trail is called the Anhinga Trail because of the plentiful anhingas.  They are stunning birds and are everywhere.

Anhingas like to dry their wings...nice display!



Anhingas also have rather startling blue-rimmed eyes.

I can't name all the birds we saw, but I loved this one...such a beautiful body, with wonderful colors.  But, oh, those legs and feet!  surely they were meant for a much larger bird?

After taking in nature and enjoying a healthy stroll, Bud and I headed for the Seminole Hard Rock Resort and Casino, just north of Miami. Click here for details. It was a short, if a bit fun, trip.  Table limits were high ($15 and up).  The machines are overwhelmingly slots (not for us), though we did find some keno machines that showed promise-a few minor jackpots for me. It all seemed ok until a cocktail waitress came by and offered drinks--for $5 each.  We haven't seen this in casinos anywhere in the world--not in South Africa, not in South America, not anywhere in Europe, Southeast Asia or the Caribbean--and certainly not in the US! Drinks are always free--though tips are greatly appreciated.

On the way back to Tavernier we decided to hop over to 95 instead of taking Florida's Turnpike and ran into the funeral procession for the two Miami police officers that were shot last week. Click here for the full story.  It was incredible--the entire northbound section of 95 was closed and there were hundreds of law enforcement vehicles, lights blazing in the procession.

What, might you ask, was Maggie doing all this time?  She was having a lovely day with her dog nanny, Carol Trump (305 664-0539).  Carol took her to the dog park to play with her usual pals, then snagged her an invitation to the doggie birthday party of one of those pals. When we picked Maggie up she was pooped and smiling, and got rave revues for her behavior.  (Of course!).