Waking up in a very quiet campsite in the middle of a pristine forest, a time when few people are out and about, is a feeling we will long remember.  Though we spent only one day at Hillsborough River State Park, we left with a great appreciation for what the Florida forest service has accomplished in making room for people to camp and live in harmony with this protected reserve.

Today we drove 6 ½ hours, 332 miles, in order to get to our next destination, but it was not as tedious as it sounds.  In fact, not tedious at all.  Rather than taking the interstate highway, we chose to take the longer route and drove through the Florida Panhandle on two-lane forested secondary roads, a much more relaxing ride – talking, listening to music (the best of the ‘60s), and marveling at the scenery.

Around 3:00 pm we arrived at the T.H. Stone Memorial St. Joseph Peninsula State Park on the Gulf of Mexico, across the bay from Port St. Joe – a new experience to add to the many new experiences we have had on this trip.  On a very narrow piece of land, with the Gulf on one side and the St. Joseph Bay on the other, sits 9.5 miles of a white sand beach and sand dunes.  We walked the beach on boardwalks spanning the sand dunes; there were few people on the walk, to the point where at times we felt we had the beach to ourselves.  We examined sea shells, walked the nearby wilderness boardwalk (a different boardwalk) that is also on the peninsula, and took photos.

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But the most exciting experience was the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico.  We will never get tired, or even used to the emotion, of watching a beautiful setting of the sun, providing an artistic picture of the sky.  And a bonus:  in addition to the sunset, the advantage of being on a narrow peninsula was that we also had an exceptional sunrise on the bay side the next morning.  These will be some of the cherished memories of a lifetime.

Sunset:

Sunrise:

After a morning of enjoying the symphonic sounds of an almost empty beach, we continued on our journey.  This was a slow but mostly lovely drive along the Emerald Coast, named because the color of the Gulf water which appears green.  We called the Chabad of the Emerald Coast and were directed by the rabbi to a supermarket that sold fresh challot.  We also double-checked Shabbat time, confirming that this part of Florida (the part south of Alabama in the Florida Panhandle) is on Central time, and thus we needed to set our watches back.  We then continued to Walmart to shop for other needed essentials and explored a section of Fort Walton Beach where we meet a very knowledgeable city manager who was happy to fill us in about the history and development of his area.

Next we continued to a Milton, Florida KOA where we set up camp for Shabbat.  This RV park was nice, friendly, fairly well-developed, and large enough for some good Shabbat walks.  Interestingly enough, they serve a continental breakfast that we were able to enjoy: coffee and milk from a carafe, paper cups and bowls, plastic silverware, and separate packages of cereal, Danish, and jams with a hashgacha;  even the bags of bagels (which we did not take) had an OU certification.

It was a nice relaxing Shabbat.

We are now back in Lawrenceville, Georgia, where we will get our RV ready for storage and prepare for our trip home.

After a restful Shabbat in Key West, it was time to hit the road again, driving through the multiple islands (keys) and over the many bridges.  We stopped along the way for lunch with a view of the ocean, and then drove to another section of the Everglades – on the northern side – called Shark Valley.  We were fortunate because until December this entire area was under water and closed to visitors.  We took a 2-mile easy hike along a paved road, looking at the flora and fauna.

It is astounding when one realizes that seeing the wildlife and beautiful plants of the Everglades has become an almost commonplace occurrence; they are just so plentiful.

We then continued on to Midway Campground – where we stayed just before our trip to Key West – in the Big Cypress National Preserve.  It is a small, well-kept campground and, as we find in most state campgrounds, campsites are nicely spaced with vegetation between each one.  Midway is a nice place to chill after a long drive.

February 12, 2018

Another day’s driving through scenic byways and highways, a stop at Walmart for supplies, and arrival at our destination, Manatee State Park – beautiful nature and trees but no manatees. There is now a dam between the Manatee River and Lake Manatee which prevents this unique mammal from migrating to the lake.  There are bobcats, rattlesnakes, cottonmouth snakes (both poisonous but we happily haven’t seen any), owls, and very large turtles (those we’ve seen).

There was a controlled fire at Manatee State Park about a year ago, and we saw both the charred trunks of the trees which burned together with abundant new growth – an interesting combination which leads us once again to marvel at the wonders of how nature replenishes itself and in what ways the expert forest rangers are helping to develop/keep the areas as they are meant to be.

During our second day at the park we drove to a river walk in Bradenton, just north of Sarasota and the city nearest to the campground.  We followed the artistically created Riverview Boulevard along the freshwater Manatee River which leads into Tampa Bay.  Along the way, we saw many people fishing – some didn’t seem to be catching anything, although one gentleman had two large fish in a bucket when we walked the trail and six or seven when we returned about an hour later.  We are not sure if the success is due to the spot, luck, or the fisherman’s ability.  We have heard that many of these people are fishing for food more than for sport.

From Bradenton we crossed over the Manatee River to an island (one of a series) with some beautiful white beaches and many, many resorts.  We followed the Gulf of Mexico Drive which divides the Sarasota Bay from the Gulf of Mexico for a bit, stopped to enjoy a view of the bay, and returned to the campground in late afternoon.

February 14, 2018 Manatee Viewing Center and Hillsborough State Park

This morning, on our way to our new campground, we made a side trip to the Manatee Viewing Center in hopes of getting a better glimpse of a manatee.  When we arrived, we were happily surprised to find that the folks from the viewing center and marine biologists from Orlando’s Sea World were releasing a manatee that they had saved into the waters. This 825-pound mammal was rescued in November near Sarasota with boat-caused injuries on its back, taken to Orlando for treatment and rehabilitation, and just today reintroduced into the water.  The manatee has only one creature that threatens its existence and that is careless boaters; even sharks are not natural predators of this adorable mammal.

The viewing center is a project of the Tampa electric company where warm water discharged from the power station meets the colder water of the Gulf of Mexico.  This is an ideal environment for the manatee as they need warm water to survive (not less than 68 degrees F). Though we didn’t see any other manatees in the water, the weather was quite warm, and we were told that dozens came last month when the weather was colder.

Speaking of weather, this has been an extremely warm February, the warmest in the Tampa area on record.  For the four days we have been in the area, the temperature has been consistently in the 80s.

The viewing center complex also includes a nature walk and a 50-foot observation tower overlooking beautifully kept areas, including a mangrove forest.  Mangrove forests provide food for a large variety of fish, nesting areas for large coastal birds, and help prevent erosion with specialized root systems.  They are found along the coasts of Florida and the Florida Keys.

After the viewing center we headed to Hillsborough State Park where we are stayed for the night.  This is a very large and beautiful park – one of the nicest we’ve been to – with a flowing river filled with vegetation and wild life.  We had a nice, long hike through the woods along the Hillsborough River; we even saw a couple of gators and really cute squirrels.  And our campsite was beautiful.

We will be on the road again tomorrow, going into the Florida Panhandle.

Key West is the southernmost point in the United States, only 90 miles from Cuba.  Though we had been to Florida many times visiting Bill’s parents after they retired, we never made it to Key West.  Now it is a fulfilled dream.

The road from Miami to Key West, the Overseas Highway or U.S. 1, is 113 miles long and passes through more than 40 islands connected by 42 bridges, the longest of which is the 7-mile bridge.  We had heard that this bridge is daunting for some, but from our point of view, it was not nearly as scary as a bridge we crossed over the Chesapeake Bay last summer.

On one side is the Atlantic Ocean, on the other, the Florida Bay leading to the Gulf of Mexico.  When driving on one of the narrow roads or on one of the bridges, the view of the two bodies of water – from the right and from the left – is beautiful.

The campground we stayed at was one of the few that are open; when we were looking for places to stay, many of the campground websites said they were rebuilding following Hurricane Irma.  Being a private campground, the spaces are close together (the more campsites, the more money), and not an inch of space is wasted.

We weren’t sure what we would find in Key West – other than a marker at the southernmost point – except that we knew that it was not a nature environment.  Not exactly true: in the two days we spent in Key West before Shabbat, we had the opportunity to examine the human species in their various flavors.  Though there is a population that lives in Key West year round, including the servicemen and women stationed at the Truman Annex Naval Air Station (after all, we are only 90 miles from Cuba), mostly we observed the “tourists.”

The main activities seem to be drinking, eating, shopping, fun in the sun, and water sports.  Though neither of us are drinkers, we did have some eating opportunities (we, however, marveled that so many restaurants and bars could all stay in business).  There is Starbucks, a Häagen-Dazs with an OU certificate on the wall for its ice creams, and a small Israeli fleishig diner we found on the Chabad website.  Thursday evening we had dinner at the diner, and Friday lunch was at Starbucks and Häagen-Dazs, not as healthy but a lot more fun.

Not surprisingly, the main languages we heard were English and Spanish, but we also caught quite a bit of Hebrew.  We struck up a conversation with an Israeli who ran a T-shirt store (he was surprised that we understood a conversation he was having with a friend), and walking along the street we heard a number of vendors speaking Hebrew.

Every tourist town has its own unique personality; some are more interesting than others.  We would call Key West interesting.  As usual, we walked a lot and enjoyed experiencing the town on foot, getting our picture taken at the southernmost marker, walking past Hemingway’s House (below), visiting an ecological museum – did you know that Key West has the largest coral reef in North America, third in the world – experiencing Mallory Square (a town square with food, entertainment, and a great view of the sun setting), watching street musicians, visiting some shops (they mostly seemed to have the same things), and seeing cruise ships that are as large as small cities.  But the very best was watching the sun set over the ocean.

We returned to the campground Friday afternoon and spent a nice, quiet Shabbat there, taking a few walks to the ocean only 10 feet from the RV.

Following our great weekend in Delray Beach, we stocked up on some supplies that we may not find elsewhere on our trip: cold cuts, rolls, grape juice, and yellow cheese.  Then, a three-hour trip on the Florida Turnpike brought us to the entrance of Everglades National Park.  Our Seniors Pass, which we bought on our last trip, got us into the park for free, and we stopped at the visitor’s center to get some background information and maps of the area.

Everglades National Park was established in 1947 and covers 1,500,000 acres.  The name often brings up images of swamps, alligators, snakes, and jungles.  But the reality is different.  Much of the land is flat and covered by prairie-looking grass.  But it is not dry prairie; water is just below or on the surface.  Some of it consists of dense trees such as pine; much of it is the Florida Bay, a shallow lagoon between the southern tip of Florida and the Florida Keys.  Some of it is indeed marsh, but rangers say that the marshes are not the “real” Everglades.

There is nothing like the Everglades in the world.  The ecosystem is a story of balance – two seasons, dry and wet; tropical and temperate species which co-exist.  And it is the only place in the world in which alligators and crocodiles live together.

Before driving to our campground we stopped at the Royal Palm parking area from which we took two hiking paths. The first was the Anhinga Trail, a self-guiding trail along a boardwalk through a sawgrass marsh where we saw local wildlife in its natural habitat, all in fresh water. As the Everglades is mostly water, there are few real hiking trails; thus, the walks we took were mostly on boardwalks, built over the wet areas.

We saw and photographed anhinga birds, American alligators, tri-colored heron, great blue heron, purple gallinules, great egret, osprey, and other birds we’re not sure the names of, yet.  (We thank those folks who gave us some of these names.)  The Everglades is home to some 300 species of birds and is a birdwatcher’s paradise.  We became real fans of watching these large, graceful birds in flight.  In fact, the alligators (which are abundant) were interesting to find (some are hidden in almost a Where’s Waldo way), but they all look the same.  The birds, in their variety and numbers, were stunning.

The second hike was along Gumbo Limbo Trail, a path through wilderness that was heavily damaged by Hurricane Andrew in 1992.  Did I mention we were not far from a Nike Missile Base?

After an hour’s drive through the park (38 miles) we reached Flamingo campground, on the Florida Bay near the southern tip of the Everglades, our home for the next two nights.  Due to damage from Hurricane Irma in September 2017, only one of four sections of the campground is currently in use.  The rangers cleared the campground from debris and only recently were able to resupply usable water for the campers.  They are now starting to work on the other parts of the campground.

February 6^th, day 2 of our Everglades excursion

Hiking today was in a different part of the park; the habitat is more salt water.  Here we found the highly endangered American crocodile, manatees (large, relatively docile mammals), crabs, and again, multiple types of birds we could not name.

We learned to see the difference between the alligator and the crocodile.  Crocodiles live in salt water; alligators in fresh water (thus, alligators are found further north in Florida, crocodiles in this southern, salt water area).  Crocodiles have a blunt nose; alligators have a long, narrow snout.  Crocodiles show all its fierce teeth; alligators look like they are grinning.

After a 3-½ hour hike in the morning which led us along the Florida Bay and onto a trail, we returned to our camp spot for lunch and a well-deserved nap.  Weather-wise, we have been very lucky – it stormed last night; during the day it has been cool and windy – this is a good thing.  Normally, the Everglades are very hot and humid with clouds of mosquitoes ruling the area.  Though we were warned about the mosquitoes, we have yet to be bothered by them due to the heavy breezes.

Even on this trip we are still impressed with how friendly and creative other campers are.  In addition to the standard RV rigs which we discussed during our first trip, there are many homemade vans and station wagons which are being used as campers.  There are also a variety of tents, small and large, including one that has an air-conditioner.  People bring dogs, bikes, canoes, kayaks, motorboats, and motorcycles.  Though most people are here to vacation, we are meeting more and more who have sold their homes and are living on the road full-time, not out of need, but out of desire.  Some work from their RVs and some are retired.

February 7^th, day 3 of our Everglades excursion

After packing up up our RV and leaving the Flamingo campground, we began our 38-mile ride out of the park.  On the way, we stopped to take two more short hikes, across boardwalks to small islands called “hammocks.”  These little pieces of land are just a few inches above the water and are an oasis for trees and nesting wildlife.  Compared to our previous trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, it seemed strange to see signs on the road reading “Elevation 3 feet.” Elevation in the park is measured in inches, not feet.

We know that storms, such as hurricanes, and fires are a natural part of nature that allow for new growth to replace the old.  At one time, fires would be put out as they occurred; now, however, the philosophy is to let them burn and allow nature to take its course.  At times, rangers use a “controlled fire” in specific areas to allow light to reach the ground and promote new growth.

The same is true of hurricanes.  A good part of the park was hit very hard during Hurricane Irma and others before it.  However, we already saw new growth and re-birth.

After leaving Everglades National Park we headed to our next destination, the Big Cypress National Preserve (729,000 acres, created in 1974), which is just north of the Everglades and is a part of the Everglades ecological system.   A preserve differs from a national park in the way it can be used: for example, oil and gas exploration and extraction, hunting, and private land ownership are allowed in the preserve (controlled and regulated), but not in the national park.  It is also home to Seminole and Miccosukee Indians.

We camped in the middle of the preserve for one night and took a few hikes – one in a cypress forest, for which the park is named, and one along a boardwalk near the visitor’s center.

We will return next week for another night after we spend three days, including Shabbat, in Key West.

We are writing this post from the Everglades National Park, where we arrived this afternoon (Feb. 5) following a wonderful Shabbat with the Chabad of Delray Beach, Florida.  (We will write more about the Everglades after we have experienced many of its wonders later in the week.)  Originally it was not our intention to post pictures and descriptions of this trip until after we returned home to Israel, but we had many requests to post as we go so that people could follow the adventure, and admittedly, we also have a desire to write about our experiences while they are fresh in our memories.

We are very lucky to have a close and dear friend who arranged for us to stay in the parking lot of her housing complex in Delray Beach.  She is also very active with the local Chabad which is only a short walk from where we were parked.

This Shabbat was a special experience.  The Chabad community in Delray Beach, though small, is warm and inviting, and welcomes everyone – at all levels of Yiddishkeit – who are treated with the kavod and dignity that they may not receive elsewhere.

Our acquaintance with the shul rabbi, Sholom Korf, goes back years, and we have personally witnessed his many acts of chesed.  Through his acts of generosity and compassion, he is a rav who leads by example: “acts of kindness are essential to Torah life.”

On Friday night the shul hosted a delicious dinner for about 50 people, the next day the congregation was treated to an outstanding kiddush, and on Sunday, there was a lox and bagel breakfast following davening.  Mix that with zemirot,  a series of devrai Torah which were inspirational, interesting, and timely, and the wonderful people we met, and we have a Shabbat we will long remember.

And what a small Jewish world we found once more.  We met someone whose daughter lives on the same street we lived on in Chicago (she moved in shortly before we left), and a couple whose son is now studying in the yeshiva where Sima’s brother is the rosh yeshiva.

Sunday morning we drove out to the cemetery where my parents and sister are buried.

Sunday night we watched the Super Bowl at a reasonable time.

And for those who may be interested: During our 3-day stay in Delray, we exceeded our past record in living in our self-contained RV, without outside resources.

 

Trip #2 of Kosher RVing

This is going to be a shorter trip than the last, just 3 ½ weeks.  Between welcoming our new grandson and wanting to be home for Purim, this was the amount of time we had, and we decided to use it to explore Florida.

The flight to Atlanta, where the RV is stored, was 24 hours, 5 hours of which were in the Paris airport.  It could have been worse; those nice Parisians have designated areas in the terminals for couches where you can lie down.  We napped a bit and it was much more comfortable than the hard plastic chairs you find in some airports.  After a night in a hotel, we picked up our RV, bought supplies at Walmart, hit an outlet mall for the fun of it, unpacked, and settled in for our first winter camping experience.  That night it was -3 degrees C in Atlanta.  I am glad to say our Winnebago Travato was nice and cozy; the furnace worked very well, and we had a good night’s sleep before traveling into Florida the next morning.

As an aside: We have been talking about a name for our camper and it has come down to two:  Gulliver (after the famous fictional traveler) and Binyamin of Tudela (after the famous, real, 12^th century Jewish traveler).  To be decided.

Following a full day’s drive we found our first scheduled campground, the Mike Roess Gold Head Branch State Park, west of St. Augustine, Florida.  Unlike our last trip, where we traveled and stopped where we wanted to on a whim, for this excursion we have almost all of our stops planned and reserved.  This is the busy season in Florida and snowbirds (including the many people who have RVs) move from the north in the summer to the south in winter, and campsites in the popular areas, and as one goes further south, are hard to get.

There are so many cities, historical sites, and places of interest in Florida that one could spend months and never visit them all, but that is not the main purpose of our travels.  We like nature and peace and quiet.  The Mike Roess State Park has beautiful lakes, forested areas, marshes, and hiking trails.  Just taking a stroll in the morning with my cup of coffee gave me a sense of peace.

A bit later in the morning, we took a 3 ½ hour hike, partly along the Florida Trail, 5.44 miles of which are in the state park.  (The Florida Trail, one of eleven national scenic trails in the U.S., currently runs 1,000 miles, with another 300 miles planned, from the Big Cypress National Preserve near the Everglades to Fort Pickens at Pensacola Beach.)  We walked from lakeshore to pine forest, up and through a ravine, and observed the sandhills which are home to animals such as gophers, tortoises, turkeys, and others.

And of course, we took photos.  Sima and the kids gave me a new camera for my birthday and I am having the time of my life playing with it – who needs video games and TV when you can be out in the middle of nature taking pictures.

We will be spending Shabbat with friends and the Chabad of Delray Beach.

Shabbat Shalom

Bill and Sima