St Petersburg-Maderia Beach - St Petersburg, FL/Naples-Marco Island Holiday Campground - Naples, FL

  St Petersburg, FL/Naples-Marco Island Holiday Campground - Naples, FL

Our first stop was in St Pete.

We seem to learn something new every day in every place we visit. Some days, we learn multiple things about things we did not even know were things- like mangroves. This was our day to learn all about mangroves. 

We learned about the red Mangroves (trees) as we walked through a mangrove area along the coastal area. We were really intrigued by their fascinating root system.

Mangrove forests are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. (The intertidal zone is the area where the ocean meets the land between high and low tides. Yep, I had to google that one.) Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand freezing temperatures. There are about 80 different species of mangroves, all of which grow in areas with low-oxygen soil, where slow-moving waters allow fine sediments to accumulate.

Many mangrove forests can be recognized by their dense tangle of prop roots that make the trees appear to be standing on stilts above the water. This tangle of roots allows the trees to handle the daily rise and fall of tides, as most mangroves get flooded at least twice per day. The roots slow the movement of tidal waters, causing sediments to settle out of the water and build up on the muddy bottom. Mangrove forests stabilize the coastline, reducing erosion from storm surges, currents, waves, and tides. The intricate root system of mangroves also makes these forests attractive to fish and other organisms seeking food and shelter from predators.

Mangrove forests live at the interface between the land, the ocean, and the atmosphere.  They are centers for the flow of energy and matter between these systems. Mangroves have piqued the interest of many researchers because of the various ecological functions of the mangrove ecosystems, including runoff and flood prevention, storage and recycling of nutrients and wastes, cultivation and energy conversion. The forests are major blue carbon systems, storing considerable amounts of carbon in marine sediments, thus becoming important regulators of climate change. Marine microorganisms are key parts of these mangrove ecosystems. However, much remains to be discovered about how mangrove microbiomes contribute to high ecosystem productivity and efficient cycling of elements.

And to think, yesterday I had no idea what a mangrove was.

This was the first of a few alligators we saw on the bank of the disc golf park. Karma had already taken a few swims before we saw the alligator. He was a little disappointed when this ended his swimming for the day.

Stag horn Fern is a species most commonly cultivated as an ornamental plant, since it is probably the easiest to grow. Native to rainforests of Java, New Guinea and southeastern Australia, it does best with year-round temperatures above 40°F, so it can only be grown in gardens with a very mild climate (zones 9 and above) or as a house plant that can be moved outdoors during the summer. It has naturalized in Florida. Staghorn fern makes a great ornamental adornment for a wall indoors or seasonally outdoors in the Midwest. This species was given the Royal Horticulture Society’s Award of Garden Merit in 1993.This particular plant caught our attention hanging in the campground where we stayed.

   
  After Hurricane Ian hit the area, the sign is all that remains of the Coastal Everglades National Park Visitors Center.

Karma found some friends to play with at the Bonita dog beach. We found this dog park online and went to check it out. To get from the parking lot to the beach, we had to wade up a channel where the water was hip deep in some places. This was probably the best dog park and dog beach we have visited in our travels - even though access is unique. The beach area was blocked off on either end by mangroves. There was a nice, large beachy area surrounded by ocean in the front and thick mangroves behind it. The entire area was sealed off and completely private. Wading through the channel was literally the only way to access this area unless you approached the area by boat. There were several really friendly families with their dogs there during our visit. We had some very pleasant human interaction while the dogs enjoyed some rowdy canine time. We enjoyed a few hours at the beach, but we had not come as prepared as some folks. We set out to find something to eat and drink where our wet clothes were not a problem. We were definitely not looking our best, but we were getting pretty hungry. Hungry beats out vanity every time at our age.

Lisa was either invading the personal space of this alligator or giving him a dental exam.  With her, you just never know... 

The gators were hanging out in the swamp just doing what gators do.

Know what gators do in the swamp? Any darn thing they want to do!

Lisa was enjoying the scenery and the fabulous weather while riding on an airboat in the Everglades. The local native tour guide was keeping us entertained through the headphones sharing stories of his life and adventures growing up in the Everglades. He made the tour interesting and highly enjoyable. We came across his younger brother leading another tour. It was evident these two are full of mischief and have tons of funny stories to share.  We might never know what was reality and what had been embellished upon in their storytelling, but we had a really great time.

We watched an alligator handler (another local native) give a lively presentation with this 12 foot alligator. He presented a lot of good information with a few funny stories thrown in the mix.  It was well worth the stop and price of admission. 

Lisa found a new friend for Karma to play with.

Strangler figs rob the host tree of nutrients by their strangling growth habit which eventually results in the death of the tree. Even though the strangler figs smother and outcompete the host, there is evidence which suggests trees encased by strangler figs are more likely to survive strong tropical storms.

Strangler figs produce valuable fruit for the wildlife and habitats for many species.

This approximately 8 foot alligator was making himself at home near the parking lot.

We travelled by airboat through the mangrove tunnels.

Lisa enjoyed cruising through the mangrove tunnels in an airboat while our tour guide kept us entertained and laughing.

This was a rare shot of both of us together.

This alligator in the Mangrove tunnels did not seem bothered by the tour group boating through his neighborhood. He did enjoy the snack the tour guide treated him to as we passed through. I am sure the treats helped ensure this guy made his appearance near our boat as we traveled past. I guess you can teach an old alligator new tricks.

We saw several osprey perched in the Mangroves during our airboat tour. 

Holiday Campground - Ochlockonee, Bay FL

Holiday Campground - Ochlockonee Bay, FL 

We are taking our time traveling the Florida Coastline- this is our second stop after Gulf Shores (technically in Alabama, but on the state line).  We are slowly learning how to slow down and smell the proverbial roses.  We decided Tuesdays will be our travel day.  We picked Tuesday as a travel day because its a day with the least amount of other people traveling. The days of the week are pretty irrelevant to us- we try to do the opposite of what people on vacation typically do. When the masses are on the beach, eating out, or shopping on the weekends, we try to steer clear of tourist attractions. We can make a mid week day be our Saturday.  We are still determined to keep our travel limited to a 5-6 hours maximum- which equates to 250-300 miles at a time.  Keeping it under 300 miles is very important to us. This not only makes the travel much easier, it also helps control costs. By traveling this way, we are able see and do more in more places with less travel costs. Another huge benefit of staying each place a week, you get a big price cut for a full week (often one day is free). We also feel less rushed to see and do everything in a few days. It is much more enjoyable to take our time and spend as long or as little time at a place as we want. It was wearing me out being in tourist mode, so rushed, busy and in perpetual go mode. I had COVID for over 6 weeks and it kicked my booty. Mark was only mildly sick for a few days. We started slowing things down after the COVID ordeal.

When we first started our adventure, we said it was more about the journey than the destination. This has proven to be more true than we ever imagined. Many of our best stays have been in little places we had never heard of before that are not typical tourist traps. We are not fond of the resort campgrounds- they tend to be cramped, crowded, treeless concrete parking lots and are always incredibly expensive. Our favorite campgrounds are COE property or state parks. We have even stayed in a few city parks. The campgrounds are radically different from the resort style. We can stay in COE campgrounds for over a week significantly cheaper than one day in the resort parks. The place we stayed in Key West cost more for one week than a month in the very best COE property. The other differences are even better than the cost savings- they are typically water front and the sites are exponentially larger with shade trees. We have stayed in several "nice/upscale resort campgrounds" but none of them are even in the same league as our worst COE park. We are always surprised at the number of people who know nothing about COE parks. We wish there were more COE parks in more areas. I definitely would love to stay in them exclusively every stop if we could. We cannot stay in the majority of national parks- our rig is literally too big and we do not fit. We no longer even look at campgrounds inside the national parks.

The Gulf fritillary, or passion butterfly, is a bright orange butterfly. They are referred to as "longwing butterflies", because they have long, narrow wings compared to other butterflies.

The Gulf Fritillary is most commonly found in the southern areas of the United States, specifically in many regions of Florida and Texas. We saw hundreds of them at that park. We are getting to be very good detectives curtesy of Google.

The St. Marks Light is the second-oldest light station in Florida. It is located on the east side of the mouth of the St. Marks River, on Apalachee Bay.

In the 1820s, the town of St. Marks, Florida was considered an important port of entry. The town served as a port for the prosperous planting region of Middle Florida and some counties of South Georgia. Growers hauled their agricultural products down to the port town in wagons by way of an early road which connected the former territorial capital of Tallahassee to the town of St. Marks. Later, this road would be widened and improved upon by the Tallahassee Railroad Company and would become the state's first railroad. The route was so critical, they named the road Tamiami (short for Tallahassee to Miami). That road is still a main thoroughfare through town. 

Once the agricultural products reached the new port town, they were loaded aboard boats for shipment to New Orleans and/or St. Augustine. However, there were problems in navigating both the Apalachee Bay and the St. Marks River. In many places both bay and river were shallow, and it was not uncommon for boats to run aground and/or get mired in the muddy shallows.

In May 1828, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an act which authorized the construction of a lighthouse at St. Marks and appropriated $6,000 for its construction.

After a survey was completed of the St. Marks area by Robert Mitchell, the Collector of Customs at Pensacola, and a site chosen for the lighthouse, it was discovered that the initial construction sum of $6,000 would be insufficient. The appropriation was increased to $14,000.

Calvin Knowlton was brought in to build the tower. He oversaw its completion in 1831. That same year, the tower's whale-oil lamps were lit for the first time by Samuel Crosby, who had been appointed the first Keeper of the St. Marks Lighthouse the previous year.

The lighthouse was automated by the United States Coast Guard in 1960, and in 2000 the Coast Guard spent $150,000 to stabilize the lighthouse. In 2000, the lighthouse's fourth-order Fresnel lens was deactivated and a modern solar-powered beacon was placed outside the lantern room. The historic Fresnel lens remained in place in the tower for over a decade. In July 2005, Hurricane Dennis broke a window of the lantern and flooded the inside of the tower.

In October 2013, the Coast Guard deactivated transferred ownership of the lighthouse to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, which operates the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge. In October  2019, a replica of the original fourth-order Fresnel lens was lit in the tower. The light is now maintained as a private aid to navigation and is lit seasonally.

You have seen a lot of lighthouses when you can identify the type of Fresnel lens by sight in the various lighthouses.

We had such an amazing view from our campsite which backed up to the bay. We love sitting outside, drinking coffee, listening to the waves and fish splashing around, while watching the yachts come in and out of the locks on the dam. This morning "coffee break" ritual has become our favorite way to start our day.  There was an incredible number of fish jumping out of the water. I squeezed in some great rock polishing time while watching the fish and the boats and rocking in my rocking chair. Anyone who has known me more than 5 minutes would never have predicted me happy as a clam, sitting in a rocker and grinding rocks with rock dust head to toe. I find the tranquility of the water to be the world's greatest Prozac. It relaxes me and gives me a sense of peace and calm that I cannot adequately express in words.  

Gulf Breeze RV Resort- Gulf Shores, AL

 

Gulf Breeze RV Resort- Gulf Shores, AL

USS Alabama (BB-60) is a retired battleship which was manned by a crew of 2,500 during war time. She was the fourth and final member of the South Dakota class of fast battleships built for the United States Navy in the 1940's. The first American battleships designed after the Washington treaty system began to break down in the mid-1930s.  They took advantage of an escalator clause that allowed increasing the main battery to 16-inch  guns, but Congressional refusal to authorize larger battleships kept their displacement close to the Washington limit of 35,000 long tons. A requirement to be armored against the same caliber of guns as they carried, combined with the displacement restriction, resulted in cramped ships. Overcrowding was exacerbated by wartime modifications that considerably strengthened their anti-aircraft batteries and significantly increased their crews.

After entering service, the Alabama was briefly deployed to strengthen the British Home Fleet, tasked with protecting convoys to the Soviet Union. In 1943, she was transferred to the Pacific for operations against Japan; the first of these was the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign that began in November that year. While operating in the Pacific, she served primarily as an escort for the fast carrier task force to protect the aircraft carriers from surface and air attacks. She also frequently bombarded Japanese positions in support of amphibious assaults. She took part in the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign in June–September and the Philippines campaign in October–December. After a refit in early 1945, she returned to the fleet for operations during the Battle of Okinawa and the series of attacks on the Japanese mainland in July and August, including several bombardments of coastal industrial targets.

The Alabama assisted in Operation Magic Carpet after the war, carrying some 700 men home from the former war zone. She was decommissioned in 1947 and assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She remained there until 1962 when she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register with plans to demolish and scrap the parts. After requesting custody of the USS Alabama, the state of Alabama was given its namesake to refurbish and maintain as a museum.

Since 1965, the retired battleship USS Alabama has been in Mobile, AL as a National Historic Landmark open to the public as a museum.  Several movies have used it as the set for military movies- including Under Siege and Men of Courage. In 1969, The USS Drum was decommissioned and brought to the park to be cradled next to the USS Alabama. She is the oldest American submarine still open to the public as a museum.

Obviously, visiting this museum was high on our must do list. There was no way we were leaving Mobile, AL without spending a (full) day touring the boats and the memorial park which honors all veterans and branches of the military. It is likely one of the best memorial parks we have ever visited. There is even a smaller replica of the Veteran Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.  Thank goodness I carry snacks in my purse, because I ended up needing a few of them. After a long day in the military museums, Mark treats me to a Mexican dinner so I can have my favorite meal (fajitas). This compromise works well for us. We both enjoy these museums and memorial parks, but Mark obviously has a much deeper connection. This memorial park scored bonus points by having a submarine included in the tour. Every time we tour a submarine, it becomes much more obvious there was no way in heck I could have spent 12 hours, much less 12 years, on one of them. Kudos to Mark and his submariner buddies for being hearty enough to patrol the seas to protect our country. We are eternally grateful to all veterans for their service- to the ones who gave and the ones who gave all.

Lisa was standing in front of the USS Alabama on our way to start the tour. Recall it consisted of a crew of 2,500 men during wartime. You have to pack and carry a ton of food and supplies to house that many people and be battle ready for combat.

The entry door to the Battle Bridge obviously was not built for big bulky men. I had to duck down to climb through the door.  Mark and his Lapon buddies were a bit smaller, more physically fit and much more nimble in their 20's than they are now. I am not sure how many of them could still get  through the small openings found throughout a submarine at a full run. It would be an interesting challenge to watch though..... I would even volunteer to be a medic just to get a front row seat for the entertainment.

Lisa was looking in awe as she stood between the anchor chains on the bow. This was definitely not a chain you can buy at Home Depot.  So many of the things aboard a military vessel are so much larger and more highly technical than most civilians can even fathom. It is very impressive when you consider they designed and built these highly technical beasts without computers using tools which were significantly inferior to the tools we presently use.

The Alabama's battle history during WWII is depicted in bronze at the memorial.

USS Alabama's awards and the battles it supported are commemorated on the bridge wings of the ship. Each military vessel has some memorial of the awards it earned in combat placed in or on the vessel. Safety for the crew and vessel dictate placement of the memorial. A submarine is successful because of its ability to hide from the enemy. A colorful display on the outside would be visible and interfere with its ability to remain hidden, which would endanger the crew. The awards earned by a submarine are placed on a removable plaque to assure safety for the crew and the vessel. The current costs to build a battleship or submarine are estimated to be between $6.4 -12.3 BILLION in 2023. Safety of the crew is paramount, but the vessels require protection as well.

USS Alabama had 4 of these 5 bladed screws (propellers) weighing in at 18.5 tons each and measuring  17' 4.5" in diameter. These propellers could propel the ship at 25 knots. Nautical miles are different than miles on land. To convert nautical miles to miles, you multiply the length value by 1.151. So 25 nautical miles is equal  to 28.769 miles on land. One nautical mile equates to exactly one minute of latitude,   __________________________________________ 

In June 1944, while on her eighth patrol, the USS Herring with her entire crew of 88 souls were lost at sea following a Japanese attack off the coast of Matua Island. Not only was this the Herring's last patrol, it was also its most successful patrol. She is credited with sinking a total of 9 enemy ships during her service.  In 2016, her wreckage was located near Matua Island by a joint expedition of the Russian Geographical Society and Russian Defense Ministry. It was reported that "Russian divers in cooperation with the Pacific Fleet sailors discovered the submarine at a depth of 104 meters [341 ft]." The wreckage was discovered but never recovered. The sailors the USS Herring remain on eternal patrol buried with the wreckage.

USS Drum (SS-228) is a Gato-class submarine of the United States Navy. It was the first Navy ship to be named after the drum, a type of fish. The Drum is now a museum ship in Mobile, Alabama, at Battleship Memorial Park.

The Drum was the twelfth of the Gato class but was the first completed and the first to enter combat in World War II. She is the oldest of her class still in existence.

USS Drum received a total of 12 battle stars for her World War II service. She is credited with sinking 15 ships, for a total of 80,580 tons of enemy shipping, eighth highest of all US submarines in total Japanese tonnage sunk.

The Drum was donated and then towed to the USS Alabama Battleship Commission in 1969. The Drum was dedicated and opened to the public on 4 July 1969.

The submarine was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1986.

The Drum was moored in the waters behind the USS Alabama, until she was substantially damaged by the storm surge of Hurricane George in 1998. As a result, she is now on display on shore. The Alabama and the Drum also sustained damage when Hurricane Katrina came ashore in  August 2005. Following extensive restoration, tours on board the Drum were resumed in January 2006. Most funding to maintain the submarines comes from a community of past and present  American Submarine Vets.

   And then we said goodbye to the Battleship Memorial Park in pursuit of some amazing combo fajitas. 

                         I can usually be persuaded into about anything with the promise of fajitas. If you                          upgrade them to combo fajitas (chicken, steak and shrimp), then you are sure to persuade me.

                                              Never underestimate the power of bribery.