Written by: C.M. Griffin | Design & Layout by: Chelsea Coolsaet
Sometimes when I have a free day—by design or last-minute necessity—I yearn to reconnect with pure, old-fashioned Southwest Florida and to my sanity. On those days, I pack up a small cooler with some food and beverages, jump in my old F-150, crank the windows down and the music up, and follow 41 southeast from Naples out into the Everglades.
My first stop on 41 is always Big Cypress Bend, about 10 miles east of Highway 29. I park, drop a few bucks into the donation bin, and head out onto the half-mile boardwalk that leads into the overgrown swamp forest. Bromeliads and other air plants cling to the bald cypress and strangler figs that envelop the wooden walkway. Ferns and fallen trunks carpet the ground between the Sabal and Royal palms that crowd the rest of the landscape. At its end, the boardwalk opens to a large platform overlooking a mid-sized wading pool. This is where I eat a small picnic lunch and watch the herons and gators seeking respite from the heat.
Just a few miles down the road toward 29, I hit my favorite airboat company, Everglades Private Airboat Tours. Once under way, the roar of the airboat’s fan drowns out just about everything, leaving passengers to enjoy the scenery as the boat carves through and skips over a sea of grass. The mixture of fresh green shoots and soft-brown dried plants creates a color unlike any other I have seen in this world. When I’m not watching the tour guide pick up gators by their maws, I lose myself in this color. When the tour is over, I turn my truck east out of the gravel lot and head south on 29 a few miles later.
Highway 29 shoots through Everglades City and out onto the small island of Chokoloskee. At the end of the road lies Smallwood’s Store. Now a museum, Smallwood’s is a place of legend in these parts, especially since Peter Matthiessen’s Killing Mr. Watson popularized the story of E.J. Watson. I pay my three bucks, buy an old-time bottle of coke from the cooler, and wander the store looking over all of the memorabilia on display. I always find my way to the porch out back, where I sit on the wooden planks and look out over the 10,000 Islands – and the spot on shore where Watson was shot dead by his neighbor back in 1910.
Once I have taken my fill of the Gulf breeze, I head back to Everglades City for an early dinner at the Rod & Gun Club. I like to eat on their verandah and look out over the canal. From this perspective, it’s easy to imagine 1950s and 60s Hollywood types chugging up the narrow waterway and tossing lines to uniformed dock hands. As I eat my shrimp scampi, I can almost hear and see those elites chatting in the sitting room and sitting at nearby tables, smoking their cigarettes and sipping martinis.
On the way home, I eschew 41 in favor of Jane’s Scenic Drive which meets up with 29 about ten miles north of 41. While there aren’t any sprawling vistas on this bumpy, gravelly road, the slow crawl through the heart of Fakahatchee Strand gives me ample opportunity to look at the wildlife—herons, ibis, anhinga, cormorants, gators, and a host of others. It also gives me time to open that cooler and enjoy a nice soda pop before the road nudges me over to 75, down Golden Gate Parkway and Collier Boulevard and then up Pine Ridge Road. When I finally get to my favorite watering hole, I am amazed at the proximity of the Everglades and all of her wonders. She waits, ready whenever we want to escape the strip malls, chain restaurants, and seasonal throngs of SW Florida.
Information:
Big Cypress Bend and Jane’s Scenic Drive - Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park:
www.floridastateparks.org.
Everglades Private Airboat Tours:
www.epat.cc
Smallwood Store:
www.smallwoodstore.com
Rod and Gun Club:
www.evergladesrodandgun.com
NOTE: Bring cash as Smallwood Store and The Rod & Gun Club do not accept credit cards and Big Cypress Bend accepts only cash donations. Also, the Everglades Private Airboat Tours offers a $3 discount for cash payments.
Pulse Magazine SWFL | 7
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