Everglades City - Chokoloskee

The Everglades, once considered a swamp, is actually a wide, shallow river running from Lake Okeechobee to the west Florida coast (The Everglades: A River of Grass, Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, 1947).  Many islands, known as the 10,000 Islands, have been formed along the coast.  Few inhabited places are located in the Everglades.  Two small communities remain on the west coast, Everglades City and Chokoloskee, highlighted on the chart above.

There is much water among the 10,000 islands, though little with enough depth for a cruising boat.  The channel through the mangrove islands toward Everglades City is tricky with many quite shallow spots.

Everglades City was once a prosperous and important city in southwest Florida.  The impressive city hall stands in tribute to this once thriving town.

The Caloosa inhabited this area for centuries.  The first white settlers arrived during the civil war.  In 1889, George Storter, Jr., purchased the land in this area for $800 and built a home along the river.

The area remained a small fishing village until 1922, when Barron Collier, an advertising millionaire from New York, began buying property, eventually owning most of southwest Florida.  He converted the Storter home into the private Rod & Gun Club.

It has been a popular place hosting many celebrity guests, including Presidents Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, and Nixon.  Films made in the area have brought famous guests - Winds Across the Everglades (Burl Ives, Gypsy Rose Lee), Cannonball Run (Bert Reynolds, Sally Field), Just Cause (Sean Connery), Gone Fishing (Danny Glover and Joe Pesci).  A wide diversity of the famous have visited, from Mick Jagger to Jack Nicklaus to Earnest Hemmingway.

The Rod and Gun Club is now operated as a hotel and restaurant.  It also serves as a marina, tying boats to the bulkhead along the Barron River. A popular stop for cruisers since it is the only place to stop.  The closest anchorage is 3 miles away.

Collier convinced the state and federal governments that a road was needed to connect Tampa and Miami.  With Everglades City near the middle of the proposed road, it made a good headquarters for the construction.  The Tamiami Trail was completed in 1928 and Everglades City began to prosper.  It was the largest city for many years in what became Collier County and served as the County Seat.  Then in 1960, Donna changed everything.  Hurricane Donna blew 8 feet of water over the island, destroying most of the buildings.  The County Seat was moved to Naples in 1962.  The once busy Bank of Everglades is now a bed and breakfast and most of the property in the town is vacant.

Today, one of the biggest industries is air boat rides. (The boat at left has an additional passenger on the bow.) Tourism, restaurants, and fishing make up the majority of the commerce.

This boat for sale illustrates the philosophy that boats priced at "free" are often overpriced.

If a quaint fishing village is a place you might like to settle, an interesting house with a lighthouse is for sale.  A unique property, on the Barron River, with a single wide for a guest cottage (don't want those guests staying too long).  Next door, the airboat ride operation keeps the home humming with the sweet sound of propellers driven by Chevy V8's.  The property comes with a long dock and a fishing boat, easily converted into a cruiser.

Uniqueness may describe much of Everglades City.  Yard art incorporated into landscaping is another example.

In 1947, the same year that Marjorie Stoneman Douglas published her first book, 1.5 million acres of this area was dedicated as the Everglades National Park.  The park headquarters, down the road toward Chokoloskee, has a great specimen of the Gumbo Limbo tree. Its growing range in the U.S. is limited to South Florida and is known as the tourist tree because its red and peeling bark resembles sunburnt tourists who frequent this area.  Gumbo Limbo wood was the primary wood used to carve carousel horses.

There is much history in this area.  Bricks have been placed in front of City Hall to commemorate notable residents.  There is a brick for Totch, whose great-grandfather settled here.  Totch did well making a living from the land, until the land and water became a National Park.  Then it became difficult for him to gather the animals for food and sale.  The Park Service described Totch's difficulties as "poaching."  Randy Wayne White tells the story of Totch looking for other ways to make a living.  He bought an old shrimp boat and went into the import/export business - only, he never exported anything.  He ran afoul of the authorities again, but because of his knowledge of the 10,000 Islands, they never could apprehend him.  Finally, the IRS did.  Totch describes the rigors of living in the Everglades in his autobiography, Totch: A Life in the Everglades,  Loren "Totch" Brown,1993.   http://www.florida-everglades.com/totch/

In Chokoloskee, the community where Totch was born, the Smallwood General Store still stands.  It is now a museum.  The store has a large role in local history as it is the site where Ed Watson was killed.  The area residents, tiring of Watson's ways, all shot him in front of the store as he stepped off his boat.  The account is detailed in Peter Matthiessen's well-researched historical fiction, Killing Mr. Watson, 1990.

And, for a fun read, Carl Hiaasen's Nature Girl uses Everglades City and the 10,000 Islands as its setting.


Now, with a brief introduction to the Everglades and your reading assignment - Stoneman Douglas, Brown, Matthiessen, Hiaasen - we leave you with a sunset at Cape Sable, the southernmost point of the Florida peninsula.

Ft Myers - Sanibel Island

The light bulb is celebrated in Ft. Myers.  This city was the winter home of Thomas Alva Edison and the work he completed here is of great community pride.

A different light bulb is at left, a parade balloon ala Macy's Thanksgiving parade in New York City.

Ft. Myers also bills itself as the City of Palms, planting Royal Palms along many of the city streets. Below, the light bulb leads the Parade of Lights through the palm-lined city streets.

Thomas Edison is still in Ft. Myers, standing under a Banyan tree he planted.  It has grown to be the largest Banyan in the U.S., covering over a half acre.  The Banyan is known as the "Walking Tree" for the way the roots drop from the limbs, growing to tree trunk size, supporting the limbs above.  While Edison is most remembered for the light bulb and phonograph, his research into botany was extensive.  He brought many species of plants from around the world.  One of his projects was to find a plant that would provide a source of rubber if the U.S. was cut off from foreign supplies.

From varieties of citrus ( Temple orange blossom), to palms (Palmaya Palm), a huge specimen of a Brown Wooly Fig tree (another in the large family of Ficus, along with the Banyan), to a hedge of Bougainvillea, the grounds of Edison's home and laboratory are filled with his work in Botany.

Edison's winter home provides a view into the lifestyle and activities in the early 20th century.  Lighting was celebrated with elaborate chandeliers.

The home is located on the Caloosahatchee River, providing a beautiful view, cooling breezes, and a dock for shipping material to the home and laboratory.

A museum of inventions and machinery developed by Edison has been organized in the laboratory across the street from his winter home.  Of course, light bulbs and electrical generating equipment are a major component of the museum.  The Edison Museum is a worthy stop for both the entertainment and educational aspects.

Henry Ford was an employee of Edison Labs.  He was working on a machine design of his own, which he called a quadricycle, a four-wheeled internal-combustion-powered device.  Edison told him that his design had promise.  The rest, as they say, is history.  After Ford became successful at his own company, he began spending winters at the Edison home and eventually purchased the house next door.  Henry Ford can still be seen standing in the gardens.

The garage behind Ford's home houses two of his most famous products: the Model T and Model A.

The museum has displays devoted to Ford also.  Another one of Ford's famous products was the Flat Head Ford V8.  It was the first 8 cylinder and first V configuration engine available in a car affordable to the masses.  One of its first big tests was being fitted to a Model A and driven to Ft. Myers for the winter.







Sanibel Island

Sanibel Island is a Gulf barrier island west of Ft. Myers.  It is the island in the bottom of the satellite image above, with Captiva and North Captive Island at the upper end of its tail.  It was a secluded place and natural environment because it could only be reached by private boat or ferry.  Until 1963, that is.  A bridge from the mainland was built, leading to much development on the island.  Fortunately,  some large tracts of property have been set aside for conservation - Ding Darling State Park and the Sanibel-Captiva conservation area.

The Sanibel River flows through the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation area.  Its natural appearance and its hosting of native wildlife belie the fact that it is man-made.  It was dug to provide drainage of wet areas and to provide flood control for storms.  Though man-made, it does add to the natural surroundings.

The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation has an interpretive center with vast amounts of information about the flora and fauna native to the area.  One of the displays contained live turtles that inhabit this area of Florida.  Another worthwhile educational stop.

The developed areas of Sanibel Island offer some entertainment features also.  Randy Wayne White, a Florida mystery writer, lives on Sanibel Island.  He has a series of novels featuring Doc Ford, a marine biologist living on Tarpon Lake in Sanibel Island.  Randy Wayne White is in partnership with Doc Ford's Rum Bar and Grill, featuring his books and some Florida and Caribbean foods.

A sampling of different foods throughout the country has been an objective of this journey.  The black bean dip at Doc Ford's was not only delicious, its proportions could have made it an entire meal.  A couple of rum drinks added to the experience.  Doc Ford's menu includes 19 varieties of rum.

Randy Wayne White traveled through many countries as a writer for Outside Magazine.  He began collecting peppers from the countries he visited.  His hobby expanded until it became a business with a huge variety of hot sauces.  These three were on our table.

http://www.amazonpepper.com/index.htm












A culinary and literary experience combined at one location.  For some recreational reading, a Doc Ford book can bring great enjoyment.  And, because he researches his topics well, there are always some new information to be learned.  The link below will provide more information on RWW and his books.  And, if you ever visit Sanibel Island or Ft. Myers Beach, consider giving one of the Doc Ford Restaurants a try.






http://www.randywaynewhite.com/Site2/About_Randy.html