Miami, FL

The Mahogany Hammock trail at Everglades NP

January 22nd - February 24th, 2024

Visiting family and Florida's national parks

Our journey up the east coast officially began in Miami, Florida. Miami has 3 national parks within it’s vicinity: Everglades NP, Biscayne NP and Dry Tortugas NP. These parks are all special in unique ways from the main stream of national parks.

Trevor’s sister and her husband, Sydney and Mack, also are currently living in Miami for Mack’s PHD. We had such a fun time hanging out with them and getting out on adventures together.

While we were here, Trevor’s mom also visited us and we took her around Miami and went on some adventures in the parks with Mack and Syd.

Everglades National Park

The Everglades is a large national park with different areas. The main things we did were the boardwalk hikes and a kayak tour in Flamingo Bay, a tram tour in Shark Valley, and a boat tour in Ten Thousand Islands.

The Mahogany Hammock trail at Everglades NP

The Eco Pond Trail, Everglades NP

A sea of lily pads along the Anhinga Trail at Everglades NP

The Anhinga Trail, Everglades NP

A swamp puppy along the Anhinga Trail, Everglades NP

This gator was literally resting his head on the pathway along the Anhinga trail at Everglades NP

On a ranger guided kayaking tour of Flamingo Bay, Everglades NP

Kayaking around Flamingo Bay, Everglades NP

The pathway up to the Shark Valley Observation Tower

The view from the top of the observation tower along the Shark Valley tram tour

Gator along the Shark Valley tram tour

Mack and Syd looking into the river of grass

Wildlife along the Shark Valley Tram tour

Gator along the Shark Valley Tram Tour

The view from the top of the Shark Valley Observation Tower

At the top of the Shark Valley Observation Tower with the crew

From the top of the Shark Valley Observation Tower we could look down and see a massive crocodile (which usually there are only alligators in this area).

Gator along the Shark Valley Tram Tour

We went on a boat tour of the Ten Thousand Islands in Everglades NP

An island of White Pelicans at Ten Thousand Islands, Everglades NP

There were a few dolphins that rode the wake created by our boat's bow. They were so close to us that we got sprayed by the dolphin's blowhole. One of the coolest experiences we've had!

Ten Thousand Islands, Everglades NP. It doesn't look like much in pictures but it is really fun to cruise through in a boat.

Ten Thousand Islands boat tour

Boardwalks at Ten Thousand Islands, Everglades NP

Boardwalks along an inlet at Ten Thousand Islands, Everglades NP

At the "Robert Is Here" fruit stand near the entrance to the Everglades

Big Cypress National Preserve

Big Cypress shares a boundary with Everglades NP and is very similar in environment. We went on two ranger guided tours in Big Cypress. The first was a wet walk into a cypress dome, where we walked through knee deep water in a densely forested swamp area. The second was a canoeing trip on the Turner River, a very scenic stretch of the park that meanders through cypress and mangroves trees. Big Cypress ended up being our favorite park out of all the parks we visited.

Mack and Syd on the wet walk we went on through a swamp to a cypress dome

Cypress trees along our wet walk

Though not super apparent in this picture, the water in a swamp is actually really clear and beautiful

Nearing the epicenter of the cypress dome on our wet walk

Nearing the epicenter of the Cypress dome on our wet walk

A look into the water along our wet walk

Nearing the epicenter of the Cypress dome on our wet walk

Mack and Syd in the cypress dome

In the cypress dome along our wet walk

We never thought we'd enjoy a walk through a swamp so much, it was awesome.

In the cypress dome along our wet walk

Mack and Syd kayaking on the Turner River. It was super rainy this day but that just added to the adventure.

Kayaking on the Turner River

Views along our Turner River kayaking trip

The gang after kayaking the Turner River

Biscayne National Park

Biscayne National Park is unique as the park consists of 95% water. It's a protected bay for it's coral reefs, historic shipwrecks, and marine diversity. The main thing to do in this park is to get in the water, whether that be boating, diving, canoeing or paddleboarding. We took a boat tour to an area called Jones Lagoon, which is an amazing labrinth of mangroves where we went on a guided paddleboard tour.

Boating over to Jones Lagoon for our paddleboarding adventure

Paddleboarding on the Jones Lagoon

A sea sponge in the Jones Lagoon

Peep the starfish in the Jones Lagoon

Two small Caribbean Reef Sharks underneath us on Jones Lagoon paddle

Paddleboarding at Jones Lagoon, Biscayne NP

Dry Tortugas National Park

Dry Tortugas NP is one of the few national parks that is mainly centered around a historical landmark rather than an open area of wilderness. It's main feature is Fort Jefferson, which is one of the nation’s largest 19th century forts in the United States. The park is only accessible by boat or seaplane, so we took a two hour long ferry ride to get to the park.

Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas NP

We snorkeled next to the moat along the entire perimeter of fort.

Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas NP

The Yankee Freedom, as seen from a window at Jefferson Fort

The dock at Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas

Florida Keys

The Florida Keys are a string of islands stretching down 120 miles off the southern tip of Florida. There's a highway that connects all the islands together that makes for a scenic and unique drive. We came here two times, once to visit Key Largo to go on a mangrove kayaking tour, and again to visit Key West on our way to Dry Tortugas NP.

Lunch with mom and Syd before heading out on our mangroves kayaking tour

Manatee along the dock at our mangrove kayaking tour

Setting out on our mangrove kayaking tour

Kayaking through mangroves

Kayaking through a mangrove tunnel

Dinner with Syd in Key West the night before going to Dry Tortugas

Kayaking through mangrove tunnels

We went to the Turtle Hospital in the Florida Keys and saw some cute turtles trying to get better

The Turtle Hospital in the Florida Keys

Miami

Miami is a fun city that is full of fun activities to do. The main things we did were the Bayside Marketplace, salsa dancing lesson, the Paradox Museum and the Wynwood Walls.