At the southern tip of mainland Florida lies the third largest National Park in the United States...Everglades National Park. The everglades are a wilderness of wetlands and forests. There is a river that flows from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay that feeds the Glades. The park was created to protect this wilderness
The park is home to over 36 protected species including the Florida panther and the manatee. Over 350 species of birds and over 300 species of fresh and saltwater fish can be found in the park
The Florida panther...one of the most endangered animals on the planet. It is estimated about 50 live in the wild, mostly in the everglades
Some of the other animals and birds found in the park
If it's Florida...there's flamingos
You can tour the park in an airboat. There are several entrances to the park. My son and I had the chance to go fishing in the park one day and entered at the Flamingo entrance
From the entrance in Florida City to the Flamingo boat ramp and visitors center is a 38 mile drive. The park is very large and extends for miles out into Florida bay
We had a great day fishing with Rick Murphy
Beautiful grass flats go on for miles and miles
Everglades National park...everyone should see it someday....
Florida has over 1300 miles of coastline...more than any state in the lower 48. Only Alaska has more coastline than Florida. The coast of Florida is divided into 10 regions each with a name related to the area
The wife and I are avid beach goers. Usually we go to the beaches here in west central Florida on the Gulf coast. However on this trip we ventured across the state to visit the Atlantic side and wound up here on Cocoa Beach in the area known as the Space Coast.
The reason for the name is obvious. Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center dominate the area. Here from our hotel balcony you see launch pad 39A where the Apollo and Shuttle missions went to space.
One of the major differences on this side is....waves...we rarely see big waves on the Gulf coast
Even rarer on our side would be a guy on a surfboard
The Port Canaveral cruise ship terminal is just up the street. The water gets deep very quickly on the Atlantic side. Here the ships just head out to sea. On the Gulf side they follow channel markers for miles out into the Gulf
The Cocoa Beach Pier is a cool place with several shops and places to eat
Lots of fun to be had around the Pier
This is how we relax...we loved Cocoa Beach. In Florida the farthest you can be from an ocean is about 50 miles and they are all beautiful....I close with some pics of the biggest difference in our two coasts...No sunsets on the Atlantic but the sunrise was awesome. Sitting on the balcony with a cup of coffee waiting for the sun to come up over the ocean was amazing...
Sunrise from Florida's Space Coast....it doesn't get any better than this
