Southwest Florida on the Gulf of Mexico
music to accompany this page. Jimmy Buffet, A PIRATE LOOKS AT 40, MIDI, Sequenced by Esh (music provided by Centerstage Productions)
Southwest Florida on the Gulf of Mexico
We've taken the drive from Miami to Naples many times. And there is always something new to see and experience.
Tin City welcome sign
Tin City (GPS 81:47.14, 26:08.23)on the Gordon River, is a small tourist shopping and eating place at the Naple's end of Tamiami Trail. Tamiami Trail stands for Tampa to Miami. This route was first opened April 1928 and cuts right through the Everglades. The following pictures are of some of Tin City's colorful buildings with tin roofs, hence the name.
Fishing boats tied up across from Tin City looking like a scene out of the film KEY LARGO with Humphrey Bogart.
Cruise boat departing Tin City to tour the mansion-filled islands around Naples. There are probably more millionaires in Naples, Florida than any other city in America.
About a 10 foot gator sunning itself close by Highway 41. If you want to entice alligators out of their holes, bring a dog and let it swim in any canal in the Everglades. We almost lost our dog once that way. I Threw a stick into a canal for the dog to fetch and suddenly alligators were coming from every direction. The dog was retrieving the stick and oblivious to the flotilla of alligators closing in behind her. Fortunately, she made it back in time. And denied the gators a 30 lbs. meal. Only try this with a pet you want to get rid of.
Canal that parallels Alligator Alley (Interstate 75), a 100 mile highway through the Everglades from Ft. Lauderdale to Naples. Continue on this road and 3 days later you will be in Michigan's Upper Peninsula looking at moose instead of alligators. The Florida Everglades is known as the River of Grass. You never want your boat to break down in the Everglades because you can't walk out. If the alligators don't get you, the sawgrass will with it's tall, sawtooth blades. A friend of mine got lost in the Everglades for several days. It wasn't until a search plane spotted him that he was able to get out.
View along highway 41. On one of our trips to Naples we stopped at Collier Seminole State Park on this highway for a picnic lunch. We couldn't see any campers in the park, so it looked like we would have the park to ourselves. A park ranger at the entrance wouldn't accept the entrance fee from us. He claimed we wouldn't stay long in the park. I asked why he said that. He wryly answered that we would soon find out. We got to a lovely site and took our food out of the car, set it up on a picnic table and kicked back to relax when suddenly it hit. Swarms of mosquitoes were beginning to cover our exposed arms and legs, necks, ears, nose and any piece of flesh that was exposed. We barely got everything back into the car and spun the tires while throwing up pine needles behind us in our haste to get out of there. We passed the trooper on the way out who shouted, "I told you so!"