1 Feb 2014 - Seminole Indians Kick Butt

The gas station we stopped at was near a fenced-off pond that had a wild alligator in it. This photo just epitomizes what I believe we are doing to this planet. His front foot is resting on a plastic bag. 

The ribs were awesome...as was the rest of the meal!

The Seminole Chief

One of the US soldiers. I'm always impressed with how committed these guys are to participating in the re-enactments. It was over 80 degrees today!

A Seminole Indian. They all hand tomahawks so not sure if scalping was common practice.

Friday (yesterday) was Scott and Brenda's last full day in Florida so we drove to Marco Island to spend the afternoon on the beach and have dinner with them before they headed home today.
They are staying at the Hilton and it really is a gorgeous hotel. Scott said they were staying far above their station but I disagreed...we've all worked hard for a lot of years and the rare times when we indulge ourselves is deserved. Besides, anybody that rents a BMW for their vacation probably looks weird staying at a Super 8!
It was overcast at the beach but not a problem for those of us who really don't like to lay out and bake in the sun. We had strawberry daiquiris, poked around for shells, and then headed up to the pool for a while before changing for dinner.
The hotel had a seafood buffet and one look convinced us that it was the logical choice. I'm not sure I could find any type of shell fish or otherwise, including Sushi, that wasn't on that buffet...hot and cold. Wayne and Scott ate crabs legs while I pigged out on Scampi and then we tried a bit of everything else. It was delicious! We even managed to scarf down a piece of chocolate cake and a couple of chocolate covered strawberries! We bid them farewell and hoped they weren't going home to another big storm. They left in a storm and lost one day of their holiday having to spend it in an airport. The weather wasn't spectacular while they were here...a few rainy days but again, no wind chill or frost warnings so not all bad.
Wayne and I headed to the Everglades today to the Seminole Reservation to watch an re-enactment of the Second Seminole Battle. I bought a book that gives the 'short' history of how the Seminole Indians fared at the hands of the US Government but you don't need a book to understand they were treated like all other natives in North America. The re-enactment was good...not quite as impressive as the Civil War ones we saw in Virginia but interesting non-the-less. It was a stinker of a day...80 degrees and we didn't stay quite as long as we'd planned as it was just too hot for me. However we sampled some killer ribs and all the fixings (potato salad, beans, and Native fry bread) and visited a few of the vendors before heading home.
The canals on either side of the I-75 through the Glades were loaded with alligators and I would have loved to stop but once again, there are no shoulders and no stopping permitted. We did stop at the Big Cypress State Park but all the rain we've had over the past couple of days flooded the trail and we had to go back. We weren't prepared to do any hiking anyway but would probably have walked a little way along the trail...it was very tropical. However, it doesn't take much imagination to know that you would really have to know where you were going and what to look for as alligators, snakes, and 'other' wildlife wouldn't be too far away. The panther reserve is also right near there so......
Tomorrow is going to be another hot day and we are planning to hit the beach at Lover`s Key very early in the morning. Low tide is 8:30 am and it`s the best time to find shells that have come in overnight. The plan is to get there by 8:30, get our shelter set up before it gets hot and wander a bit. I suspect if the sun is as hot tomorrow as it was today, we`ll be staying close to the beach shelter except for those times when we are testing the water!
This week I`ll be looking for a hairdresser to get a cut. The heat and humidity are not friends of my hair! Heaven knows there are a kazillion places to get a manicure and pedicure so I won't be embarrassed to wear sandals when we go on the cruise next week!
All is well and it was a great day. We have decided Naples is the place for us and we are going to stop looking for a place to spend the winter...I think we`ve found it!
Until next time, love and hugs to all...especially my baby HoneyBees. xx