Everglades City 2: Eclipse and Airboat!

1324 nm   N25 52.090  W081 23.096

Sunday 1/20/19

Today was overcast and rainy, as predicted.  We mostly stayed aboard.

But this evening, Carol, one of the RV'ers, had organized an informal "Eclipse Party" to watch the total Lunar Eclipse.  As the day wore on, the coluds got a bit thinner, but still didn't clear.

By the 10 pm , a bunch of cruisers and RV'ers showed up, but  the clouds had scattered clearings, and we could only see the moon in between.  The eclipse started, and we got scattered glimpses.  My iPhone wasn't up to the task of taking any good pictures under these conditions, but I tried.

Partial Eclipse

Then, in the final minutes before totality, the sky went crystal clear, and we had a great view, watching totality while listening to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon"!

Monday 1/21/19

Today was our Airboat ride through the Everglades!  After the front blew through, it was clear, cold, and windy.  We bundled up good in preparation.

There were many choices, but we chose Everglades City Airboat tours, as they were the only ones who had two-way headsets for all the passengers, allowing commentary by the airboat captain and questions from the passengers while the boat was running.

Everglades City Airboat Tours

We learned that on the Gulf side, the Everglades were primarily Mangrove swamps, while on the Atlantic side, it tended to grasslands.  We zoomed through Mangrove "tunnels" at high speeds, and came to a pause in a secluded lagoon, where raccoons and catfish abounded.  Unfortunately, no alligators, as the water here is too salty for them at this time of year.

Mangrove Tunnels

Fearless Raccoons

Hungry Catfish

The Raccoons were totally fearless, coming right up to the airboat, and even placing their paws on the edge of the boat and peering inside at us!

We continued through the twisty, winding streams, and saw lots of waterfowl.

A Maze of Twisty Little Passages, All Alike

Adult Ibis

Heron

Juvenile Ibis

Pelican, perched in the Mangroves

It seemed like all too soon, the 1 hr ride was over, and we were back at the dock. :(

Back at the Dock

We had originally planned to leave tomorrow, (Tuesday), but the weather forcast showed only a one-day "window" until more bad weather was due, so we elected to extend our stay here by another three days.

Anyway, the people and facilities here are great, and we heard about a cookout that was being organized under the Tiki Hut by the pool the next day!

Life is good.