Trip report #5

The day after our Epcot adventure we drove to Brandon (near Tampa) to visit my niece Jennifer, her husband Jeff, and meet their daughter Rowan. Brandon is not that far from Orlando via the I-4, but the interstate has a reputation for being slow. We were fortunate we didn’t have any traffic delays, making the trip in about an hour and a half, but there were slow downs on the return leg. Still, no major problems in making the round trip.

We hadn’t seen Jennifer and Jeff since their marriage many years ago. (Their daughter, Rowan, is 12, going on 13, which gives you some idea of the time lapse involved.) Jenn is the younger daughter of my sister Carolyn. Jennifer and Jeff live in a neighborhood subdivision that has well-kept houses, large yards, and plenty of trees. We arrived around 1:30 PM and enjoyed a visit of more than 3 hours.

Among the many topics we discussed is the state of education in Florida. Jenn is a teacher and has some very pointed insights into how education is approached by both school systems and parents. It still boils down to the home; schools can do their best but unless parents get involved and value a good education, the best efforts of teachers and school administrators will only accomplish so much.

We also spent some time talking about Jennifer’s father Harry, who passed away a few years ago due to cancer. Although Harry and Carol had divorced many years ago, we had kept in contact with Harry and had been witnesses at his 2nd wedding.  We were friends as well as in-laws, and Harry’s passing was an emotional one. Our visit allowed us to fill in some of the blanks surrounding his last few months in Florida.

No visit would be complete without a photo record. Here is a group shot of the 5 of us.

Left to right: Jennifer, Jeff, Rowan (front) Jerry, and Pam

We took leave of the Gould family and headed back to Orlando (on the infamous I-4) for our last night with Mary and Jeff. The next morning would see us on our way to southern Florida, headed toward the Florida Keys.

We decided to drive down central Florida rather than head for either coast line. For the first time I saw some of Florida’s iconic orange groves, hundreds of acres in some stretches. There wasn’t a lot of activity in them this time of the year, but we could see where younger trees had been planted among older trees and other maintenance had been completed. We also drove past large sugar cane fields and a Domino Sugar processing plant. As in Louisiana, sugar cane is a viable cash crop in central Florida. Who knew?

We arrived in the Homestead area a bit earlier than I had thought, so it was decided to make a brief (2 – 3 hour) visit to the Everglades. We saw many large white birds, mainly Great Egrets and White Ibis, and, just before we left, even an iconic crocodile.

Entering the Everglades

Great Egret

Crocodile near Flamingo Point

One of the oddest signs we saw on the entire trip was at Flamingo Point, southern most point of the Everglades road.

What the heck?

We didn’t see any vultures, but we did see this Osprey nest:

Ospreys nesting, Flamingo Point, Everglades

And, finally, a first for me: Coconuts growing in palm trees.

Coconuts in palm tree

Our trip to the Everglades was short but memorable. In a trip video, to be posted later, I have included some footage of the crocodile swimming  and a Great Egret flying and landing in a tree. Not great cinematic stuff but I found these events interesting.

We returned to our Best Western in Homestead for the night after a full day of travel and sight-seeing. Next morning we would begin our visit to the Florida Keys.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents Worth:

I found the details of Harry’s death, as related by Jenn, emotionally moving.  Harry was a faithful correspondent [once each year ] through most of our marriage; his irreverent Christmas cards were always anticipated.  Harry left us too soon.

There are lots of varieties of palms — and not all grow coconuts.  I noticed several palm frond patterns, various palm heights, and differences in trunk types.  Apparently there is even a species of rat living in these palms.  Who knew?

Happy Trails.