Saturday, January 1, 2022; Back to Biscayne and the Everglades

 Saturday, January 1, 2022; Back to Biscayne and the Everglades

We packed back up into suitcases and stashed our suitcases into the “storage” room, which was actually the “business center” containing a computer and stacks of dining room chairs filling more than half the floor space.  This would allow us to go back to Biscayne Bay for the paddling clinic that we were signed up for without having to leave a car full of suitcases unattended.  It was only a 20 minute drive to Biscayne so we had time to wander around the boat launch and beach areas.  There is a decent sized lagoon with life guard stations and large concession building.  The boat launch had a lot of lanes and parking, as well as a boat lift.

The paddling clinic was run by a family that has had thousands of hours volunteering for National parks.  It was very well run and educational, as well as very enjoyable.  We were treated to a show by a bottle nosed dolphin swimming by the canoe launch ramp area as we were loading up.   The weather was perfect with temperatures in the upper 70’s/lower 80’s with a very slight breeze causing only a slight ripple on the water.  The water was tepid, so stepping into the water was no big deal.  We had to don life jackets, but the area where we were going to be paddling is only 3’ deep, so if we fell overboard and got tired swimming, the guide suggested that we simply stand up on the bottom if we fell out of the canoes.  

Price and Ciara were in one canoe while Ben, Janet and John were in another canoe.  After a short period of instruction, and follow the leader around a buoy course in the water, we paddled a little way through some mangroves, and then to some man made islands where a refinery was planned at some point, but stopped by environmental activitists.  Paddling through the mangroves reminded us of the dinghy rides through the mangroves in the Galapagos.  By the end of the clinic, we were feeling pretty confident about paddling canoes.  

We finished up the paddling clinic a little after noon, so we thought we’d head back and see the Nike Missile base in the Everglades since the ranger really peaked our interest.  We were hoping to grab lunch at the Gator Grill, but it was still closed when we drove past it again.  We had some left over breakfast items from the hotel’s breakfast that we got through, as well as plantain chips and Cheese-its leftover from our New Year’s Eve TV party with Miley Cyrus in Miami.  Miley wore a stick on skimpy top that got unstuck just as the bell struck midnight, resulting in an untimely costume change and improvised vocals on her song.  What would a New Years’ Eve party be without at least one good costume malfunction.  

We arrived at the Nike base about a half hour before the scheduled ranger lead tour, but found that we could just to a self guided tour and spoke with the volunteer guides on the site.  It was really interesting to see a Nike Hercules missile.  There were several models of the Nike Missiles, but the Hercules was the biggest and most powerful, capable of lofting a nuclear warhead 100,000 ft up to do a semi ballistic intercept of Russian bombers invading from Cuba.  The idea of detonating atomic bombs in the atmosphere over US soil is unthinkable today, but during the Cold War, the fear of nuclear annihilation put things into a different frame of reference.

After touring the Nike base, we thought we could do another short hike, and mistakenly thought the Snake Bite trail, which had be recommended by a ranger on our first day in the Everglades, was close to the Nike Base.  However, we had that entirely wrong because the trailhead was closest to Flamingo, which was nearly at the end of the park road.  That meant driving more than 30 minutes each way, plus the trail was 2 miles long, so that took nearly an hour and a half to walk.  The trail was shaded through mostly mangrove forest, but there was very little wild life to be seen, and the last few hundred feet were very muddy and slippery before the boardwalk leading out to a view of the water was reached.  The view was not really worth the 2 mile walk.  There were a lot of deep foot prints in the mud around the boardwalk suggesting people had tried to walk out to the areas around the boardwalk, but for what purpose we have no idea.  Several hikers were carrying very long camera lenses, so maybe there are places to spot shore birds, but we certainly didn’t see any.  

The Snake Bite trail detour ate up so much time that we didn’t have time left to drive down to Key Largo.  So we headed back north to check into the Embassy Suites in Fort Lauderdale.  We made another stop at “Robert is Here” for more exotic milk shakes.  While we were leaving the Everglades, Price learned that his flight on American Airlines was canceled, ostensibly due to weather in Seattle, where there was some snow on the runways.  When he tried to rebook another flight back to Seattle, American Airlines was asking for $2800 one way.  That was insane.  Price ended up booking an earlier flight on Southwest Airlines for $700, or about the same fare we had paid for Price’s flight through Princess EZ-Air.  The EZ-Air phone lines were closed for New Years, so they were of no help.  

We arrived at the Embassy Suites well after dark, and unfortunately most of the family owned restaurants were closed or close to closing.  So we ended up making a late night Taco Bell run.  Price’s flight now departs at 6:30am, so we will have to leave the hotel at 4:30am to get him checked into his flight.  So far, John and Ciara’s flights are still on, although Ciara’s flights may be in jeopardy because of a weather system hitting Chicago in the next few hours.  We’ll see how the day plays out tomorrow.