Fort Lauderdale to Florida City -- Apr. 19th

Woke up and got in the shower. Got on the internet to see what to do with my day. I remembered seeing a special on the Coral Castle, and looked it up, got the address and decided to do that and go to the Everglades. I also registered for my free Disney day on my birthday and bought an Orlando Magic playoff ticket. I gave Joy a ride to Dana's, and got on the A1A to start heading to Homestead, FL. I decided to forego Miami and hit that up on my way back up from the Keys. I arrived at the Coral Castle, and it was pretty awesome. The story behind it is this: A man in the early 1900s started mining coral, carving it, moving it and building a castle. Coral is one the densest materials around and it is very heavy. Many of the pieces weigh several tons. The man who did all this was 5 feet tall and only 100 pounds. He used only crude tools, and did the whole project in secret. When people would ask how he did it, he would say he knew how they built the pyramids. Some claimed to see him from a distance "levitating" the pieces, and he was somehow involved with magnetism. Anyway, the castle is very impressive, with an accurate sundial nearly to the minute, a telescope, lodge, tables, chairs, and all kinds of other stuff. His crowning achievement is a 9 ton revolving gate that uses no bearing or gears or anything, but is easy enough a child can push it open. Pretty awesome. After that I wanted to get something to eat on the way to the Everglades. I looked for something quick, but something I hadn't had before. All that was on the way was BK, KFC, McD's, and all the usual crap. I alsmost gave up, then saw a quaint little roadside diner that was perfect. I ordered a dolphin sandwich, flirted with the owner, and headed on down the road.

The Everglades was only a few minutes away, so I paid the 10 dollar entry and went to the visitor's center. It had just closed so I went to the outdoor map and planned out a route. Went to the bathroom, accidentally sharted, and had to dispose of my new WalMart swim trunks. Whoops. Went to The Anhinga Trail, first, a trail my brother recommended to me. It was awesome, it featured a wooden walkway over water with dozens of Anhingas(a type of bird), alligators, and other wildlife. I went to a few other trails and lookouts and then it was getting close to sunset, so I thought I would go all the way down the main road to Flamingo, FL. It wasn't really what I hoped for, and didn't get that good of pictures, but I wanted to try and do some extended night exposures, so I went to another part called Bear Lake. When I got there, it was dark and there was a path marked TRAIL, so I grabbed my flashlight and camera, and started down the path. A little risky, I thought, but hopefully the lake wasn't far. After hiking for about 2-3 miles in the pitch black woods, with swamp all around me, I was hearing alligator noises in the water and decided to turn back. Quite a little adrenaline rush. I got back to the car and noticed a second path on the other side of the pull in. This one was not marked. I walked down it, and sure enough, the lake was about 50 feet from the start of the trail. I sat on a dock in the pitch black, listened to the water animal noises, saw birds flying in, heard some weird ass noises that were either animals fighting, or a weird mating ritual or something. It was really cool. I took a few extended exposures and got out of the park. I hit up the WalMart in Florida City, got my self some new trunks, waited in line for 20 minutes in the speedy checkout 12 items or less lane, behind a trashy family with 30 items. Many times I would say something at this point, but I decided to just hold my tongue this time. I found a TravelLodge within a mile or two, and finally got some Wi-Fi to post with. Enjoy.