Hello to my National Park enthusiasts and welcome to my first “live” blog. By “live”, I mean that I just got back and want to tell you all about my trip… the good, the bad, the must-do’s, and the not-so-must-do’s. 

First, let me introduce the most important part of this trip, my travel companions. These two are better known as my two evil stepsisters. Wait… that’s for my Disney blog. 😉  Joining me on this trip were my two hilarious, fun-loving sisters-in-laws, Dawn and Lindsay. Together, we made quite the reptile regiment. Lindsay has the best sense of direction and the newest phone, so she became the NaviGator. Dawn likes to stir the pot from time to time and keep the group morale alive, therefore making her an excellent InstiGator. I like reading about the places I go beforehand and creating detailed itineraries, thus receiving the title of InvestiGator. Dawn enjoys most water activities, including snorkeling. Lindsay loves challenging hikes and hugging bears, but won’t get in the water to snorkel for fear of becoming shark bait. Their opposite interests attract, which makes them two of the best travel companions. We enjoyed some fun activities, ate some good food and met some great people. I hope I enticed them to join me on future trips.

Anastasia, Drizella and I… Sorry, I just can’t help myself. Dawn, Lindsay and I all live in the Atlanta area. The main reason we chose the Everglades is its proximity to Atlanta and also to Biscayne National Park. It was easy to plan a 4 day, 3 night trip and visit both parks. Our first day was mostly a travel day. We left Atlanta on a Wednesday morning. Thank you Southwest for keeping all the plane doors intact! We arrived in Miami and were faced with our first challenge…finding the rental car facility. It would have been easier to wrestle an alligator. We did not find the Miami airport to be either user friendly or attractive. Reliving this goose chase brings me to the first item on my Don’t-Do list. I tried to be a budget-savvy traveler and get us a great rate on a rental. I went through AutoSlash and chose a car from Economy Rent-a-Car. The process did not go as expected. CAUTION if you are planning to do the same. Their facility is one of the off-site rental companies and signs for the shuttle are not well marked. My advice is to spot another distressed looking tourist and work together as a team to get there. It’s like a fun, unexpected scavenger hunt. Just give yourself plenty of time to play the Find Your Car game. Needless to say, I was a bit cranky at this point. Thank goodness for Lindsay though, who grabbed us some empanadas from the glorious food truck outside of the car rental building. Dearest truck, you make outstanding empanadas which we would have missed had things gone more smoothly. Always a silver lining.

After getting our car, we hopped on in, empanadas in hand, and drove 45 minutes to Shark Valley, just in time for the 4:00 tram tour. The two options that I considered at Shark Valley were the tram tour and renting bikes. I ultimately decided on the Shark Valley tram tour but wish we could have done both. Quick shout out to all the national park guides who love these special places and share their knowledge and enthusiasm. Thank you!

While I absolutely recommend the tram tour, I was a little disappointed that we didn’t see more alligators. We did get to see a few, and one particularly large boy who was hanging out on the road, but they were few and far between. The alligators are less active in the cooler winter, but fortunately so are the mosquitoes– and that is an acceptable tradeoff for me. Speaking of trades, while we saw fewer gaggles of gators, we saw a plethora of feathered friends. I did not consider myself a bird lover, but the Everglades has made me reconsider. The Great White Egret was the first to greet us and the last to say good-bye. After our time in the Everglades, we were able to identify the Great Blue Heron with its scarf of winter feathers, the Double Breasted Cormorant, the Red-Shoulder Hawk, the Purple Gallinule, the cranky Osprey protecting her nest, the White Pelicans having a block party, and the Brown Pelicans wishing they were invited to the block party. You might not think you are a bird person either, but if you spend some time in the Everglades, you will be! When you visit, be sure to bring your binoculars.

On the tram tour we stopped at the Shark Valley Observatory Tower which is very much like Clingman’s Dome Tower in Great Smokey Mountains National Park. It is the highest elevation in the Everglades National Park at 70 feet. Atop the tower, we first spotted our first female anhinga, who, in her feathered fashion, reminded us of Moira from Schitt’s Creek. 

After our tour, we headed back to Homestead for dinner and to check into our hotel. We stayed at TownePlace Suites. I enjoyed our stay here, except for the noise complaint we got. Really? Whatever. As the kids say, our haters can stay mad! The room included breakfast in the morning, a full-sized refrigerator, and a kitchenette – all which came in handy. It was a comfortable stay and we were well rested for Day 2.