ALONG THE GULF COAST OF FLORIDA’S PANHANDLE

March on the Gulf of Mexico waiting for a sunset

Traveling along the most westerly shores are lying some of Florida’s most beautiful white pristine beaches. We’ve found one can choose between quiet pristine beaches and more lively beaches with active water sports for surfing or parasailing. The hunt of finding seashells tends to vary, and we always come back with lots of sand between our toes. There have been a few outer barrier islands accessible on excursions to explore.

Naturally capturing evening sunsets has become a top priority here along the gulf coast. Several of the state parks have provided opportunities for some interesting wildlife photos.

We’ve been rewarded with glimpses of white squirrels which are a rare variant of the Eastern gray squirrel, a rare red-cockaded woodpecker, red cardinals, and small land crabs crossing the road.

Both of us have encountered some kind of invisible biting bugs known as “no see ums” causing our bodies to welt and itch something awful for several days. Heading to a pharmacy for Benadryl has brought some relief.

Leaving Florida behind us now, we can reflect upon the fond memories of great times enjoyed with Cousin Joan and Gene, Orlando’s Disney World and Epcot Center, a Bahamas cruise, the drive on the Overseas Hwy to the Keys, Everglades National Park alligators, crocodiles, and wildlife birds, launching JR’s dory on its maiden voyage, swampland and mangroves, palm trees galore, key lime pie, the armadillo and manatee sightings, wonderful state parks and beaches, the warmest of weather ever able to wear shorts and swimsuits in February,

beautiful sunsets along the Gulf of Mexico plus much, much more. However, we still can’t help wondering where were all the flamingos?

DISCOVERING JOHN RINGLINGS GIFT TO SARASOTA

If you an art history bluff and love the circus than put a visit to Sarasota, Florida on your bucket list. Touring the John and Mable Ringling Complex took us two full days and it was amazing. There are four wonderful venues well worth spending time at on thirteen lovely acres. Ca d’Zan was the Ringling’s winter residence. This dazzling palatial mansion of circus tycoon John Ringling is a tribute to the American dream and reflects the splendor and romance of Italy. It is one of the last of the Gilded Age mansions built in America in the 1920s.

Marble tile patio at Ca d'Zan residence

There are 56 incredible rooms filled with art and original furnishings from around the world. With its Venetian Gothic architecture, the mansion is a combination of the grandeur of Venice’s Doge’s Palace combined with the grace of Ca d’Oro with Sarasota Bay serving as the Grand Canal.








The expansive marble tile patio overlooking Sarasota Bay with steps down to the waters edge for gondolas and yachting in days of the past leave one with a sense of grandeur.

The living room

John Ringling's gilded beds imported from Italy

Stops on the property at the Big Show Circus Museum and Tibbals Learning Center building consisted of displays of gilded circus parade wagons, calliope music pipes, costumes, posters, photos, and a variety of circus memorabilia. The miniature circus handcrafted over fifty years by Howard Tibbals is said to be the world’s largest. It encompasses 4000 square feet depicting the entire scenes of the various aspects of the Ringling Circus down to the minutest details from set up, tents, animals, performers, support systems, wagons, rail cars, etc.

In the Circus Museum sits the famous canon that launched performers into the air, the Ringling’s private railway car the Wisconsin for travel, circus posters, and more ornate circus wagons. The only thing missing was live animals, music, and real life performers for when the circus would actual come to town.

A tram cart shuttled us across the complex grounds to the Ringling Museum of Art which is internationally recognized for its vast collection. The building is modeled after a Venetian palace with its grand courtyard of architectural columns. Ringling had purchased each statue and column at a different time and place in Europe and had them shipped to Sarasota for the building.


John Ringling had invested much of his $200 million fortune in the area in the 1920’s making Sarasota Florida’s cultural center of affluence. His legacy

is best seen in his winter residence house and in his splendid collection of European art. His love of Italy, and his fine collection of Baroque paintings are the cornerstone of his collection in the magnificent art museum.

The highlight of the Museum of Art was the Rubens Gallery. Peter Paul Rubens was the world renown 17th century Flemish painter in the Netherlands who create numerous masterpieces. Many of Rubens original works were purchased at auction by John Ringling.

A docent gave the two of us a delightful private tour for an hour through several of the art galleries with exemplary collections of Renaissance and Baroque paintings and Cypriot antiquities. The Asian exhibits of ceramics and carvings were exquisite. You can say we were indeed at this point a long way from the swampland of the Florida Everglades.

CATCHING SOME OF FLORIDA’S GULF COAST HIGHLIGHTS

Departing the Everglades we headed west on the Tamiami Trail Hwy 41 across the southern peninsula through Big Cypress Swamp Preserve. Spotted several dead alligators along the roadsides being scavenged upon by turkey vultures as we sped passed. Collier-Seminole State Park about 17 miles south of Naples was our destination.

After securing a campsite, a short afternoon Jeep excursion to Marcos Island nearby quickly becomes a bit of an eye opener about Florida’s overdeveloped coastal urbanization. 

Tall masses of condominiums lined the Gulf of Mexico professing to be the utopia of senior retirement living. Neither of us finds any appeal in how the land has been ravaged by land developers. The drive on the island definitely impressed upon us to carefully rethink how we would approach our journey northbound in the coming weeks ahead. Avoiding all big city density areas as much as possible would certainly be the game plan.

Florida State Parks are much less expensive places to spend the night than staying at RV parks. The latter all double their rates during the winter peak season due to the high demand from northerners who escape south to avoid the cold. So along the Gulf Coast northbound thus far we’ve managed with some finesse to spend the evenings in state parks along the way. Skyrocketing gas prices aren’t getting any cheaper here either.

But continuing on this leg of the journey there have been some great discoveries northbound along the way. The Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Meyers along the Caloosahatchee River for starts. Thomas Edison and his new wife Mina Miller had lumber brought down from Maine in 1885 to build their winter family home and guest house known as Seminole Lodge. 

The two houses are connected with a pergola draped by colorful bougainvillea. Veranda porches with wicker lounge chairs surround each one.Both buildings have lovely open air cottage windows that overlook the beautiful and relaxing views of the river and property’s tropical plants, fruit and palm trees.

Thomas Edison and Henry Ford were great friends who shared their winter residences as neighbors in Fort Meyers overlooking the bay. The two men worked together with Harvey Firestone here forming a research botanical laboratory to produce a domestic rubber supply source. Edison had acres of exotic plants such as tropical fruit trees and banyan trees he cultivated on his property. 

Mina Edison's Moonlight Garden

The banyan trees with long roots have grown to be the largest in North America.It was fascinating to learn about his 10,000 ideas and 1,093 invention patents, visit his laboratory and residence, and walk the thirteen acre estate.

Sanibel Island happens to be one of the better places to collect sea shells around low tides, especially after a storm. The winds were gusty creating white caps and the currents too strong for swimming. Shell collecting didn’t yield much, but folks on the beach were enjoying the warm breezes and beautiful white sands. 

We watched three people trying to extract a fishing line and hook from a pelican’s bill without much success.

On the island J.N. “Ding” Darling National Wildlife Refuge has a visitor center at the entrance to a five-mile wildlife drive. There are good exhibits, duck stamp drawings, wonderful nature photography displays, and a film on the refuge. We opted to do the wildlife drive with our Jeep rather than take a guided tram tour with a naturalist. Tarpon Bay and the preserve are best for observing birds during low tide. A flock of white pelicans and a small common heron was about all we spotted. It was slim viewing for us especially after all the wildlife sightings we saw in the Everglades.

Leaving the refuge a short stop at the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum provided a good assortment of Sanibel-Captiva Island sea shells and exotic shell samples from around the world. 

One might say we hit the highlights of the island, however to truly experience the place try relaxing on the beaches, paddle a kayak through the mangrove tunnels, ride along the bike pathes, or go fishing in the waters of Tarpon Bay for a few days would be the ideal way to enjoy Sanibel and Captiva Islands. Better yet go when the winter tourists haven’t migrated in hordes. By 5:00pm we were caught in traffic gridlock getting off Sanibel Island.

At Koreshan State Historic Site we came upon a gopher tortoise feeding and another one heading into its burrow.

And hooray finally that first armadillo sighting occurred recently as one scurried through our campsite at Little Manatee River. Gotta get out in those state parks folks where real action happens far away from Florida’s urban overdevelopment.

ADVENTURES EXPLORING EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK

The excitement of the moment for launching that wooden dory JR built last July in Maine arrived of all places down in the Florida Everglades. At Flamingo Campground in the Everglades we met Lee and Shelby from New Mexico who were traveling with a dory they had built just like JR’s. It didn’t take long to discover we had much in common with this delightful couple and soon became fast friends.

 They offered to help us load our boat off the top of the Jeep, roll it down a path through the woods to a canoe trailhead with their wheel cart, and put it in the water. Along with their dory too, the four of us rowed up a canal lined by mangroves to Coot Lake. They set the sail on their dory as JR powered up a trawling motor he had placed off our stern. Although our dory still isn’t completely finished we know it floats without any leaks. It was great fun buddy boating fun together safely in alligator and crocodile waters.

Hooray no leaks as we head up Bear Canal through the mangroves

First row (check out the smile)

Lee and Shelby's dory fully rigged for a good sail

 We all cheered as they pulled out a cold beer for us to christen JR’s dory’s maiden voyage.

Mangroves, wooded hammocks, and swamp wetlands make up the Everglades

 Even though it is the dry season the mosquitoes seemed to be out and about in the wet grasslands and especially liked guess who. Most of the week in the Everglades we were out biking and hiking on various trails to catch photos of the great wildlife.

Wood storks

Snowy Egret taking flight

Blue heron foraging in a pond

Roseate spoonbills

Baby anhingas on a nest

Anhinga drying its wings

Great Blue Heron catching a fish

Taking a siesta