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February 24, 2015  Day 95 South for Winter

Rod and Gun Club
Everglades City, FL

We had fog alerts this morning but departed our anchorage at Marco Island at 7:30. We experienced light fog but mainly just an overcast sky and did not need the radar.  By 11:00 the sun came out! We were happy to have calm water the entire trip as we were about 20 miles off shore part of the time.

Love the dolphins!

We entered the Everglades about 1:00 and were treated to a dolphin that swam and jumped next to our boat for several minutes.

We arrived at the Rod and Gun Club which has a face dock at 1:30 and tied up for the night.  We went inside the lobby and marveled at the beautiful wood and furnishings. Many presidents and famous people have stayed here in earlier years. 

Going through the Everglades on an airboat

Fascinating scenery!

Passing another airboat

We went back to the boat and confirmed our reservation for an airboat ride. The company even sent a driver to pick us up.  At 3:15 we boarded the airboat and donned our headphones to protect from some of the loud noise these boats make.  For the next hour we were treated to a mostly fast ride with quick turns through very shallow canals lined with mangroves. The Everglades are fascinating! Our driver stopped for a while and answered our questions about wildlife, size of the area, etc. We were surprised to learn the Everglades covers 4900 square miles. We are so glad we took this ride!

After our driver took us back to our boat, we got ready for dinner at the Rod and Gun Club.  We had a fun evening and ended up talking to four ladies at the table next to us. They were traveling as part of a “Roads Scholar” bicycling group, which we found fascinating. Two hours later we returned to our boat!

We will depart the Rod and Gun Club in the morning and travel offshore to the Little Shark River where we will anchor.