Signs of the South

Just a collection of silly signs.

The mosquitos were horrible at Flamingo in the Everglades!

Bicycles are a common form of transportation on Key West.

 Whatever you do...just don't!

He fishes, She sells!

 Did you know its bad luck?

A slice of blue heaven

Don't peek!

 Southernmost purple martins

 In memory...

At the distillery

Florida Keys at Christmas

We took a quick trip down south the week before Christmas.

The weather was perfect, although its hard to get into the Christmas spirit.

 Floridians celebrate the holidays in a different way.

We watched a lighted boat parade.

It combined  a pirate theme with Christmas.

The parade participants got pretty creative with their boat floats.

 I also learned to paddleboard.

Pretty fun, actually!

 We visited a dolphin & sea lion center.

And a turtle hospital.

Saw quite a few iguanas.

And even ate dinner with some feathered friends.

Until we sailed off into the sunset and headed home.

Everglades National Park

National park number 42 is Everglades,
a land of water, sawgrass, exotic flora & fauna.

We stopped several places, including Shark Valley
where we rode a tram out into the marshes of the park.

The tram takes you to an observation tower overlooking the park for miles.

We could see alligators floating lazily in the water.

Along the way we saw many wading birds such as this wood stork.

This is a beautiful anhinga.
The turquoise ring around its eye indicates it is ready for breeding.

 Close up of an egret.

We even saw baby alligators.

 We stopped at pull-offs around the park and saw typical sights.

I even watched from a pier as this anhinga dived underwater after fish.
This park is so diverse and has tons of wildlife.