#13 The Birds and the Bees

Koreshan  State Historic Site has a boat landing where you can rent canoes. Not having done any boating in quite a few years, we decided to give it a go. Of course, we almost tipped the canoe over when getting into it.

After getting off we did OK, except of course for running into the shore a few times and into a few branches. We enjoyed an hour and a half paddle upriver (that’s river talk y’know), where we saw some local scenery and a few critters, including a palm seeking sunshine as well as a fellow out for a morning walk.

We wondered where these guys were headed??

This live oak was dripping with Spanish moss.

Although we had researched Florida pretty well, it has been a surprise how well hidden some of the activities are, especially the non commercial ones. Our friend Theresa told us about the Corkscrew Swamp, but we couldn’t find it on the Florida State map or on any of the attraction maps or brochures. We finally asked a park ranger and learned it was about 30 miles away. The Audubon society administers the 6000 acre swamp, which is home to the world’s largest remaining collection of bald cypress trees. The Corkscrew has a 2 ½ mile boardwalk through the various habitats of the swamp.

This is the dry season and much of the ground was dry, but the profusion of trees, plants and birds was impressive. The lush swamps and forests offered many special views of birds and other animals. This Anhinga dives for food, but since his feathers do not have natural oils, he has to spread his wings and dry his feathers after diving.

Anne was the first person of the day to spot an Otter (at least the first to write it on the chalk board!). We even saw some snakes, and, of course an alligator.

But probably the most interesting thing we saw was the Tillandsia, which are the plants that grow in air, or air plants. 

In addition to the Spanish moss that often decorates the trees, we saw many other Tillandsia, some flowering like this one, on the walk.

Another activity that Theresa pointed out to us was a cruise on Naples Bay and a look-see at Tin City, so called because of the tin roofs on the buildings in this shopping district that formerly housed Naples fisheries. 

We took the cruise through Naples Bay and saw many fabulous houses along the bay. Here is one built by Larry Bird:

and one owned by the Mars (candy bar) family:

Three bottle nosed dolphins swam along side the boat for several minutes, sometimes jumping completely out of the water. They may just have been the highlight of the cruise!

Scores of others lined the shore along with the Firestone family's 90 foot hand crafted wood yacht (cost $12 million in 1992).

We especially liked the house with attached boat garage:

Only about 15% of these homes are used for primary residences. The others are occupied only about four weeks per year. Thinking back to the relatively modest Ford and Edison summer homes, a pretty big scale factor seems to have been applied to the number and size of the wealthy folk's mansions in the last hundred years. Must be nice .........


We know everyone saw the birds in this post, but did you see the bees?