Florida: Everglades City History Tour

Day 199
No Boat Travel

We hoped to extend our stay at Everglades Isle marina since the weather looks miserable for anchoring out and we like this facility. Unfortunately, when we talked to them about rate, they told us the rate we had for our first three days here was a one-time only promotion. To renew for additional days we would need to pay the full price for each day, and the full price here is more than our budget tolerates.

With rain and thunder storms in the forecast, anchoring out did not sound like too much of a fun time. I suggested that Clark consider the Rod and Gun Club marina at the other end of town. We stayed at the luxurious Everglades Isle partially because of my birthday in conjunction with the promo rate. The Rod and Gun Club does not offer the same atmosphere as Everglades Isle, but their daily rate is actually less than Everglades Isle promo rate. All things considered, we decided to move there for the next three days to wait out the bad weather before heading further south.

Clark did research on his Active Captain app before making the decision to move to the new venue. Part of the reason they offer lower rates is that they do not accept credit cards. We do not carry large amounts of cash on board, so we needed to find money at a bank. Somewhat surprisingly, Everglades City does not have a bank (even though our Google app seems to think there is one here). We asked a local and found out that we could find an ATM in the local mini mart.

We went there first to get cash and then went to the club to make our reservation. They seemed confused that two people on bicycles wanted to have a slip for a 35-foot boat. When asked where we were hiding our boat, we just said it was tied up downstream. I got the impression that Clark did not want to say it was currently located at a competitor's marina.

The Rod and Gun Club holds a lot of history. The building dates back to 1889 when it was  used as a post office, trading post, and warehouse for sugar cane. In 1922 it became the Rod and Gun Club famous for its fishing and welcoming of visitors to the area.

Ad for Rod & Gun Club Restaurant and Motel -
seen from the water side of the building.

We made our reservation at the club, and with that business concluded, we headed for the post office in town. At least they have one of those here. Even so, we were concerned as to what their hours may be, so we headed there to get that off our 'to do' list before they closed. Clark had a bill payment he needed to get posted asap.

With our business for the day out of the way, we could explore more of the town's history starting with the county court house. At the court house we learned of Barron Collier who was responsible for the founding of the Town of Everglades and Collier County.

Monument at Court House honoring Barron Collier

Collier County Courthouse

From there we visited the Museum of the Everglades to learn more about the area. Fortunately, this museum was free (donation only) which Clark loves. The museum described the history of the area and the influence of key persons over time via several videos of interest. One of which gave more insight into the creation of the town and founding of Collier County. It all relates to the creation of the Tamiami Trail.

The Tamiami Trail project was instigated to connect Tampa to Miami - the west coast to the east coast of Florida. Because of the complexity (swampy terrain) and nastiness (mosquitoes) of building this connection across the state of Florida, the effort of completing this roadway has been compared to the building of the Panama Canal. Building the trail took several years, and the trail would not have been completed in the 1920s at all if not for Barron Collier. When the project was threatened due to budget, he volunteered to pay for the completion of the trail with his own money under one condition - he got to have his own county in Florida. Voila - Collier County was created.

I do not know why, but the school in Everglades City caught my eye and has fascinated me since we floated by it in our boat three days ago. I noticed their football field with a sign saying "Gators" first. Later, when we were out biking, we came across the school again - I posted pictures of the crab traps all over the property across from the school. Today, I read in the history museum that the Everglades City School is the only remaining school in the entire nation that offers pre-school through grade 12 in the same facility. At one time the school had a school boat to go collect students from the area and transport them to school by water. Perhaps that explains the school's proximity to the water's edge.

After visiting the museum, we decided to go for lunch. On the way there we passed Ivey House which began as the rec hall for the Tamiami Trail workers. It changed hands several times over the years and is currently in use as a Bed and Breakfast.

Historic Ivey House

Ivey House Historical Marker

We had lunch in a cafe offering a wide variety of food options including sandwiches and pizza. Clark and I both ordered wraps which were quite tasty. We ate out so that we could continue our explorations of this end of town afterwards. After lunch we stopped into a couple of stores. I was surprised by the extent of merchandise in the local hardware store as, compared to other stores in town, they had a rather comprehensive inventory.

On the other hand, however, the local supermarket is a reasonable-sized store with minimal inventory. When we came into the store, I immediately recognized that I would have a hard time finding the items I wanted to buy. Clark asked me if I wanted a shopping basket. When I hesitated to say yes, he asked if I wanted a shopping cart instead. Whereby I laughed and said a basket was fine.

If living by the adage "beggars can't be choosers", I would have bought some items to "make do". However, since I was not desperate and not in the beggar category yet, I decided to pass. Everything I looked at was either not the right product (breakfast cereal choices) or not the right size. The bean can was too large, the mayo jar too small, the tuna only packed in oil not water, ...  In the end we walked the entire store and did not buy a single item.

After our history lesson, lunch, and failed shopping expedition, we decided to go back to the marina and hit the pool. Yes, it warmed up enough to make a dip a viable option! With the bike riding in the heat I was definitely ready to jump into a pool. Besides using the pool, I decided to take advantage of the free washer / dryer setup as well as the free ice offered by the marina. This marina has a few annoying rules such as last load in washer by 3:00; no showers taken after 5:00 p.m.; clubhouse locked by 9:00 p.m. (i.e. no restrooms at night).

Since I wanted to coordinate the laundry, pool time and shower taking, we needed to be done with our town exploration and back to the boat by 2:30 to collect the laundry. We made it back in time.

The pool is heated. Clark dipped his hand in and came back with the verdict "warm". Hmmm - did I believe him? I decided to wait until after I put my wash in the dryer to change into my swimsuit and then swim during the dry cycle.

Setting my phone timer for the washer cycle time

The water was fantastic and the perfect temperature - not too warm and not too cool. It felt wonderful. After my swim, I managed to get my shower and wrap up my laundry before the 5:00 deadline. I even collected my free ice to bring back to the boat.

Since it was warm today, I decided to run an extension wire out the sliding door and cook outside. I used my electric cook pot. By the time dinner was ready the mosquitoes were chasing us inside. Before we sat down to eat, we turned on a fan and shut all the windows and doors to keep the nasty buggers outside. We have not ventured outside since.

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After viewing yesterday's post, Clark was disappointed by the videos I selected to share. Here are the two he thought I should have included in that post.

In this first video a person at the airboat office threw a marshmallow to the alligator by their building. As she walked back into her office, she said, "They eat anything including people!"

The alligator eventually noticed the marshmallow and ate it.

This second video was taken on the airboat ride. It speaks for itself.