Myakka River State Park - the best of FLA

(7 mi. east of I-75 on Atlantic coast, 12 mi. SE of Sarasota)

13208 State Rd. 72, Sarasota FL, 941-361-5511

Myakka River State Park Website 

As of July 1, 2020, some but not all amenities are open at this park. Call before visiting 941-361-5511.

Heading south from St. Petersburg on the way to surprise the parents in Labelle, Myakka River State Park is my favorite of Florida's gorgeous state parks. The wilds and the camping facilities here are a pleasure. Business first: the roads of the campground and campsite number 84 are well-paved and spacious all around, back-in, with water, electric and sewer, plus grill, fire pit and sun, shade and some privacy behind trees. Next-door was a nice, clean shower facility with I think laundry. All the facilities were top-notch. Because we had to stop for a new battery in Port Charlotte (a story that will definitely be told) we arrived at night. We're still getting the timing thing down. But no matter, the cool campground host helped us back into the spot (another thing we're still learning).

Next day, Mab took a walk that ended up being a 5K because the park road and the park itself stretch for miles. The entire park is 58 square miles. Along the way she spotted gators. Later we went along the large accessible birdwalk, beautifully built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s, overlooking the river floodplain (looks like a lake) to see the sunset as well as waterbirds and nearby wild hogs. Make sure you check out the website, because there's a lot to do that we didn't even touch, like water activities, wheelchair-accessible wildlife tours by boat and tram, and a canopy walkway above the treetops.

Great moment that night: at the end of the day we went to unwind at a ranger program of Florida tall tales. It was held in a small cabin built by the CCC, so all around was tight, superb woodwork. The guys were goosenecking through the whole program, wanting to climb up there and eat the wood or something. A ranger and a volunteer read Dave Barry and other Florida writers.

Finally the volunteer got up to talk about Bertha Palmer, and Mab and I looked at one another. Earlier on a map I found a Bertha Palmer homestead located on the far side of the park, miles away. That was the name of someone we both knew of, a socialite in Chicago a century ago, who helped start a lot of the things that millions of people still enjoy today, like the museums. Potter Palmer, her husband, established the famous downtown hotel, the Palmer House. We'll check into it later, we decided.


That night, listening to the volunteer's story, it turned out to be one and the same person. Bertha Palmer was vacationing in Sarasota (I forget, but it may have been after her husband passed away) and bought some land in Florida. She started growing rubber and it turned into a big industry for the area. Eventually she donated the lands, which became Myakka River State Park. Then came the funny part. At the end they asked where everybody was from, and when we said Chicago they asked if we already knew of Bertha Palmer. Mab is modest, so I just had to tell everyone that she is an actress (retired) and on one of her jobs she researched Bertha Palmer, looks, personality, history, everything. So here was one of their visitors who actually played Bertha Palmer. What are the odds? They will never hear that one again, for sure.

Life is a lot more interesting when you get out there meeting people. Can't wait to hit the road again.

Everglades National Park - Flamingo Campground & Visitor Center

We returned from this lifetime kind of trip around the Gulf Coast right before the coronavirus spread over the nation and our minds. I'm posting this anyway as a diversion and hopefully it will help somebody months from now. This was an odyssey filled with magic moments, and we feel so lucky to have done it when we did, and when we could have. I think everyone understands by now: do the things you want to do, don't wait. - Wheelie

Park HQ: 40001 State Rd. 9336, Homestead, FL, 305-242-7700

Website: https://www.nps.gov/ever/index.htm

Accessibility Features: https://www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/accessibility.htm

Park Map: https://www.nps.gov/ever/planyourvisit/maps.htm

Flamingo Visitor Center 239-695-2945

The Everglades is a massive national park in the vein of Yellowstone, with several visitor stations spread many miles apart. For instance, from our entrance at Ernest S. Coe Visitor Center some 30 miles southwest of Miami, it took an hour's drive southwest to reach Flamingo Campground inside of the park. Most of the terrain on the way looked like tallgrass prairie, not the marshes we expected after driving this way over the coastland bayous on I-10. During our stay we learned that the Everglades was the first park established not for its physical beauty but to preserve the area's plant and animal life. Its success in that regard is argued forever but I'd wager it's good it's here.

Flamingo Campground

We spent two nights in the Everglades Flamingo Campground. Pull-through, level pad, 30 amp, with water and dump station. Ours was an ADA site and easy to get around. It came with a really cool picnic table with one side extended out so that I could drive underneath. Huge site, and surprisingly not a lot of campers considering that the rest of Florida was jampacked. The campground is ringed by trees and we saw a beautiful sunset here, but of itself not much to look at. Only a few hundred yards behind us was Florida Bay, which is basically the entire submerged tip of Florida, and a few hundred yards away from that, the Flamingo Visitor Center. It's always a delight, the air is just different, staying inside a national park. I get the night-before-Disney-World flutters in my stomach!

Flamingo Visitor Center

The next morning at Flamingo VC, five minutes away, right off the bat we made the first big mark on our checklist: a hulking crocodile lay 40 feet away across the water from the visitor center. He was so large we could not even see the whole of him in the tall grass, and of course a couple of kayakers poked their noses in until someone at the center called a warning. Then right overhead in a light fixture a family of ospreys kept their nest, with the little ones just visible. Nearby on the other side of a footbridge, a large croc floated eerilt still below. Now you're reading that right: these were crocodiles, not alligators, because at Flamingo the water is saltwater. Further north and east you'll find freshwater and the alligators that the Everglades is known for. But according to a ranger, this area of the Everglades is one of the few places you can see this type of crocodile in the lower 48.

Also at the same visitor center swim the manatees. All day people tried to glimpse these shy mammals, but at 3:30 PM they really turned out and we got to see them up close. A ranger said it happens daily. The manatees surface right up to the marina looking for food, algae. Mab was the first to see one. We wondered aloud if we might, and she looked down and she and the manatee were staring eye-to-eye! Then of course the rest of us ran over and scared it away. But now there was no shortage of sightings, near and far. The rangers said they're as friendly and shy as they look. They're definitely chill. Mab just brought me a vodka and tonic as I write this up, and the olives floating around in the bubbles remind me of how the manatees would pop up and just kind of drift down again out of sight.

Flamingo VC

A big disappointment was the charter boat run by a concessionaire that was not wheelchair accessible. We never got an explanation why, but another concessionaire at Gulf Islands Visitor Center the next day was mighty surprised to hear - because they do offer accessible boat tours at Gulf Islands. At Gulf Islands there are concerns about the tide and the weather affecting the boarding of the vessel. Think you crossing a ramp between the peer and the boat, which is what this is, and the angle has to be doable. But at Gulf Islands, most of the time they get it done. We and the Gulf Islands concessionaire let park officials know our feelings.

Accessible trail along Florida Bay

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Florida Bay

Also at Flamingo we heard a talk by a ranger about gators and manatees. We could pick his brain about finding manatees and flamingos (Mrazek, below). We also enjoyed a traveling exhibit table with skull and wood specimens, as well as the knowledge and people skills of the parks worker (I don't think she was a ranger) who not only spooled out her expertise but also handled a couple of rude characters and still left smiles on everyone's faces. She just impressed me and was fun to talk to, which is a common experience with NPS staff.

Mrazek Pond

To reach Mrazek Pond was a half-hour drive. Mrazek is a unique site, the pond lined with birds, scores of them, probably hundreds, including ibises, pelicans, anhingas, egrets, turkey vultures and roseate spoonbills (flamingos). The sights and sounds filled us, and the dozen or so birders who were there in full kit (outdoor wear and chairs, photographic equipment, telescopes, video, computers, etc.), with a thrill that we did not want to end. But the afternoon was getting late.

We learned late in the day about the Anhinga Trail. It was must-see. The daylight was ticking away.

Anhinga Trail

Turns out that the trail is part of Royal Palm Visitor Center, which is all the way back a couple of miles from the park entrance at Ernest S. Coe VC. It was spontaneous: we were making this up as we went along. The drive did not seem that long, but yes, by the time we arrived it was the last minutes before dark. In that light, Royal Palm and its parking lot with spacious ADA slots looked like new, but we headed straight back to the trail, which also was in outstanding shape.

Anhinga really is must-see, especially from a wheelchair. It was a joy taking this thing, a boardwalk built just above a grassy swamp, smooth and straight and flush, with high railings for folks to lean on safely as you look all around you. When we were there the rapidly fading daylight severely compromised what we could see, so we were taking this thing pretty darned fast yet I felt nothing but secure. With the sounds and smells and sensations, it felt like we were in nature here. There were things splashing out there, animals calling, insects waking up to do the night shift. On the next night was a scheduled nighttime flashlight trail program with a ranger to show you exactly what's out there. Wish we could have done it. But we couldn't and we didn't care, we loved it anyway. Anyway, the boardwalk looked and felt new and sturdy and seemed to be built with almost a CCC-type quality, if you know what I mean. Definitely do this during the daytime though.

By the way, Off! repellent totally works. We'd heard there were mosquitos here, and that's no lie. Duh, swamp, right? Anhinga Trail was maybe the second time in my life I'd ever asked for Off! It's hard for me to wash it off, and the critters usually don't fool with me too much: if they do, they get MS. Bah! But on the Anhinga Trail at night, no, mosquitos are another kind of crazy. At least three were eating my face when Mab sprayed me. Saved! It was strange feeling them everywhere around me even if they weren't sinking their fangs. At one point Mab flicked on the mini-flashlight so we could read a sign, and we both gasped. Swirling around my head like a halo was a constellation of frenzied skeeters, trying to break through the force-field. Wow, the things we do in the dark.

And get this: as we were leaving, a minivan was unloading. It was two elderly couples, with both guys in push wheelchairs. They told us it was their second time to Anhinga, it was so good. But they didn't bring bug spray! What?

Anyway, we let them use ours, and then we drove to the camper in the dark. We were going to sleep hard. It was a great day.

Next, Shark Valley and the Ten Thousand Islands.

Live Your Someday Now

Having a good time following this family of full-time RVers. He's paraplegic and the whole family and their trip reports are very can-do and fun. They have a couple of YouTube channels. This is a man to talk to.

Meanwhile I'm writing up our latest odyssey. Just got back and we're digging out from the unfinished business while we were away. You should have seen the bundle from the post office. Hut-hut, HIKE!

But we'll get this routine down. We got to, because we're already itching to go.

They stand vigil over the river - Vicksburg National Military Park, Vicksburg, MS

On a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi 60 miles from Poverty Point Historic State Park is the site of one of the nation's most important battles. During the Civil War, the river was the lifeblood of the U.S., and whoever controlled Vicksburg controlled the lower river. Here the river winds like a snake, and the Confederate fort at Vicksburg, perched on a high bluff and stacked with artillery, could obliterate anything going by. Both sides needed Vicksburg.

The Union, led by Ulysses S. Grant, laid siege, pounding the fort with heavy guns. We already know that the Confederates had the artillery to hit back. Both sides dug in and let loose, making hell on earth for weeks on end.

This is going to be a picture-heavy post. That's because there are no words to say it like we seen. In the park you drive a narrow loop a couple miles long. Everywhere you turn you see monuments to the detachments, commanders and the states who fought here.

This batch, the Illinois Monument, modeled on the Pantheon in Rome

The place is hilly and green with moguls: these are the entrenchments and bunkers where the cannons fired from. You drive a long, narrow loop. Only a couple hundred yards over those low, rolling hills you can see the cars of tourists on the other side of the loop. Those cars are in enemy territory. These boys firing the massive iron balls were practically on top of each other. This realization, and the sheer number of dead, are the things that affected me most.

You settle into a somber, respectful silence as the battlefield tells the story more viscerally than all the books and documentaries you've ever seen. Honestly, I would have liked even more help visualizing where the actual walls and other landmarks stood - but the experience is profound.

The visitor center is easily accessible. By itself it did not strike me as a great museum resource, but there the Park Service offers a number of free or cheap resources like guided or self-guided driving tours to do. We spent three hours max, and covered some 80 percent of the park, all from inside the car.

National Park Service: Vicksburg National Military Park

Roll On

Out on the road, things don't always go as planned...

We took off on a big trip west. It came together quickly. The perfect small travel trailer came on the market, and they don't last long, so we put our money down. It's a toy hauler, meaning the back flips down into a ramp that will be great for the wheelchair, and it's 16 feet long, so it should be OK for us to sleep and eat but still be able to fit in most campgrounds at the national parks which is our goal. The catch is that the toy hauler is all the way on the other side of the country in Arizona, but we've wanted this for a long time, so now the trip is part of our adventure.

The big day comes, and we got a late, late start. We don't travel light: as my health becomes more and more involved, so do the number of suitcases, bags and the like. Stuck with the work as usual, Mab has a hard time planning and packing. What can be packed, and what will still be needed in the morning before we leave? What will we need handy in the car? In the hotel? In the RV? These things frustrate her.

To make things worse, in loading the van, the stacked containers she uses to store the luggage toppled, creating more confusion.

Then when we finally loaded up, the van lift that transfers me from wheelchair to passenger seat had no charge. Sometime during the past week a button had jostled and turned the unit on. So, while we embarked and the lift was charging up, I sat in the back of the van. I'll do this for short trips when it's not worth the hassle of transferring. But being in the back of a cargo van (no windows installed yet) can be a drag, especially during a road trip. The music's garbled, there's no one to talk to and nothing to see. I sit tall, so all I see through the front windows are grass, pavement and sometimes the bottom half of cars and buildings flashing by. So here we are, driving down colorful Route 66, but all I'm getting is Route 33.

But I remembered something Mab has told me about travel, and she's done more than her share. She said that no matter how much you plan, things rarely if ever go exactly according to plan. You've got to be willing to deal with whatever comes up, and roll on to experience your trip. And sure enough, the traveling I've done has gone that way, and so it was today. It's kind of the way you have to be with a disability anyway, willing to roll on.

UPDATE: 48 hours later, we were driving through the desert brush and oil pumps of arid west Texas. We weren't where we were supposed to be: We should have been a couple hundred miles to the north, but we took a wrong turn for Abilene instead of Amarillo, because we were both punchy the night before and they both start with "A." But we rolled on until our newish vehicle with only 15,000 miles on it lost all power on a four-lane interstate. We pulled over on a thin strip of shoulder with loaded oil rigs whipping past on one side, and a steep ditch on the other, so that we were stuck there in 100° heat. Of course it was Sunday afternoon and the roadside services were slow to help.
I have MS, so after two hours in the heat I was seeing Jesus. Jesus was wearing a brown law-enforcement uniform, and turned out to be a sheriff, hallelujah. Big Thanks to him and Nissan Roadside Assistance and to Dale at Westwind Transport of Big Spring, Texas, who towed us to a completely accessible hotel with lovely air-conditioning. Thanks to these guys, the middle of our story has a happy ending.

We were stranded in the hotel until Monday. On Tuesday we lost the room to somebody with reservations. All that day we sat in the lobby, with Hoyer lift and all those bags around us, while we furiously made phone calls to the Nissan warranty garage 100 miles away. (We were waaaay out in nowhere.) It was a little bit exciting where we'd end up.

But long story short, we got the van back and on Tuesday night were back on the road. The rest of the trip was brilliant.

Roll on.