Time for a Florida Road Trip!

When we returned to Florida at the end of October, our mail was inundated with Hard Rock Casino mail, offering Tony, “The Gambler”, free play dollars and our first free night offer at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino.  The winds had been terrible the previous couple of days, creating huge waves and beach erosion, so it was no fun at the beach.  All this tempting literature from the Hard Rock and the desire to see some different scenery, helped shape a road trip.  We decided to travel to Everglades National Park and then break up the return trip with a night at the casino.

We hadn’t been to Everglades NP for several years and had only visited in the summer.  I was interested to see what wildlife was there in the fall and winter with the “great bird migration” just starting.  We headed south to our favorite area right inside the park, the Anhinga Trail.  As we made our way into the parking lot, we were greeted by 30 Black Vultures and warning signs indicating that they WILL damage your vehicle. 

 

 The park service provided tarps and

 bungee cords for you to cover your vehicle. 
 Evidently the vultures pick at anything rubber; windshield wipers and the weather stripping around the windows, many people covered their vehicles.  Tony covered ours, but watching the vultures, you would see them test the tarps and hop around the parking lot and target any vehicle that owners neglected to cover.  The vultures actually were quite comical and even more so when returning owners were chasing them off the uncovered vehicles!

We had visited the Anhinga Trail many times in the summer, where we would see many huge alligators.  However, we learned since the water level in the Everglades is still high, the alligators were nowhere to be seen. 



Anhinga along the trail

We were initially met along the trail by a double-crested cormorant that had just caught lunch, something that looked like an eel. 

The cormorant, a swimming bird that catches fish, struggled with its prey in the water until it finally downed it in two big gulps.  We saw a number of blue, green and tri colored herons in addition to the anhingas and cormorants. 

We decided to go directly to the Flamingo Visitor Center at the end of the park road, which was 40 miles from the entrance.  From the Flamingo marina they had Mangrove Boat Tours that would take you back into the everglades.  Arriving at the marina we once again were met with more black vultures! 

Vultures migrate to South Florida in the winter from October to March.  Experts say the black and turkey vultures, members of the stork family with wingspans of nearly 6 feet, come to the subtropics in search of carrion, but we know better, they are looking for windshield wiper blades!
 

Looking out over the Florida Bay we also were able to see hundreds of White Pelicans that had just migrated there for the winter. 

 
I had only seen them once before in Cancun.  They are beautiful birds in flight, looking similar to a Wood Stork.  In flight, you can see the White Pelican’s black tipped wings as they glide gracefully just above the water.  They have the second largest wingspan of all birds in North America, 9 feet; second only to the California Condor.

However, I was most surprised by the number of Osprey that were there. 

White Pelicans watching Osprey carrying away their catch.

 

Between the Florida Bay, the marina and the mangroves, I saw more Osprey there than any other birding location that I have been to in Florida.  Every time I looked around, it seemed an Osprey was carrying off a fish it had caught. 



Another good catch!

Osprey landed on a tree near the marina.

Two hours later he was still eating the same fish!

  Osprey is the only raptor whose diet consists solely of fish.  While eagles, hawks and other raptor eat small mammals too, the Osprey never strays from sushi.  We were really fortunate to have several of the Osprey hang around the marina where we were waiting for the boat tour and pose.

We also saw several manatees in the marina, our first of the season.  Manatees have just started returning for the winter, and a couple females with one year calves were hanging out in the marina. Unfortunately to water was not clear, so all we got to see were their noses!

Manatee mother and calf

Our boat tour was very interesting.  As we made our way down the narrow canals, we were able to see two small crocodiles, my first in the wild. 

Evidently the Everglades is the northern extreme for crocodiles and southern extreme for alligators.  We also saw a number of White Ibis in the mangroves.  The Ibis is the last bird to leave when hurricanes approach and the first to return. 

We learned some interesting facts about the flora of the mangrove swamp.  I had never heard of the Manchineel tree, otherwise known by the Spaniards as manzanilla de la muerte or the “little apple of death”.  Everything about this tree is so toxic, not only is its apple like fruit poisonous, but its leaves and bark is so caustic, you receive chemical like burns just by brushing up against the leaves or trunk.  Even water dripping over the leaves, can cause burns on your skin if it drips on you.  It is said that Ponce de Leon was struck by an arrow that had been poisoned with Manchineel sap during battle with Florida natives, dying shortly thereafter.  Poor Ponce de Leon, he came to Florida to find the Fountain of Youth but found the Tree of Death instead!

The mangrove trees themselves are interesting too.  Mangrove swamps protect coastal areas from erosion and storm surge from hurricanes.  They tolerate a broad range of fresh/brackish/saltwater and expand by massive intertwining of aerial roots. 

Their seeds are also unique as they form a propagule (a ready-to-go seedling).  The mature propagule drops into the water and can remain dormant-floating for over a year.  Once a propagule arrives in a suitable location, it can start to root within an hour. 

Our day at the Everglades was full and with sunset approaching, we made our way to the Hard Rock Hotel.  While we had been to the casino many times, but we had never stayed overnight.  The room was quite nice and it was great not to have to drive the additional hour home. 

We had a great dinner at the Hard Rock Café, bringing back memories of past vacations.  Christina loved to go there whenever we were vacationing when she was a child.  After dinner, off we went to lose money at the slot machines.  Ultimately we retired early before we lost more than our free room would have cost.  Guess we will just have to settle for winning thousands of pretend money on our “Jackpot Party Casino” game on our cell phones! 

Happy Halloween, It's one of my Favorite Occasions!

I have always loved Halloween!  I’m sure it started with the fact that I love CANDY!  M&M’s Milky Ways, Snickers, malted milk balls, candy corn, I love it all!  Easter is my second favorite, always love all the great stuff that the easter bunny brought me in my Easter Basket!  Easter is more gourmet, but  Halloween is pure bulk.  Who doesn't remember coming home, dumping out all your treasures and picking out the good stuff.  The secret was to hide the Milky Ways, Snickers and 3 Musketeers before my dad could get them!

However, I think this love for the holiday is more a product of my upbringing, with candy just being a bonus.  My family was always looking for an excuse have fun, to be out of character and become someone different for a day.  Going through these old pictures, I found these wonderful reminders of Halloweens gone by and how I am a product of my roots.

My Aunt & Uncles and Cousins, the "Down the House" crew.

 My mom was a fantastic seamstress and initially made all our costumes, which were passed down to all the kids.


Carol & Barbara, my cousins with Jo Ann in the famous clown costume that everyone wore.  Millions of yards of bias tape were used for the white edging on the sleeves, feet and neck.  I also wore Carols outfit when I was older.

 


Clown Christina with Ya Yia and Pa Pou

 

 

 





Crocus Drive neighbors who just want to Trick or Treat, not have their picture taken!!!
Leclairs, Pararas & Jones

 

Being an excellent seamstress myself, Christina had many costumes over the years too. 



Rainbow Brite.  When I made this costume it cost a fortune, just for the materials.  Vange had bought me a "number" and I won $45, the exact amount I spent on the costume!  Lucky costume!

 

Christina the good witch!

 

I was room mother every year and also would get into the act.



Mom and Daughter Mini Mouse's

However, it appears that we didn’t need Halloween as the only excuse for that great escape.  In my early years, my brother Bob loved Cowboys and Indians and my parents enabled him by purchasing him a genuine indian headdress, which he frequently wore. 

 



Brother Bob in full headdress

 

 

 

However, we didn't see to stop at Halloween.  We later used our Campouts as the perfect opportunity to have fun all our participants get into character.

 



The Pirate Campout
 

 

 





The Greek Olympics Campout
 

 





The luau

And the craziest of all, the Wild, Wild West Campout.

Finding gold at McGriff's Mine

 

Of course, campouts made for great family portraits!

But there is always one in the group who just goes a little over the top.  For us that is my brother Mike who looks for any excuse to take it to the extreme.

 

Mike top
 Steve, Ed and Salami on the bottom



Another Greek God, two in one family and a goddess to boot!



Hold onto your head, you don't want to be another shrunken head around Mike's neck!



Who buys a fake butt!

 

Captain Jack Sparrow and the Zombie

 

But as I said, its in our roots, so I guess we can't be totally blamed.

  For look who is our role model!

Ya Yia, the Cyclops!

So for all you lucky people who get to go out trick or treating, have a great time and be safe.  Oh, and save the M & M's for me!

Uncle Charlie Crashes the WWII Memorial

The beginning of October my Uncle Charlie came to town from Arizona after the death of his first cousin Boo Painter Davis.  Charlie is my mom's younger brother and they are the only two remaining siblings in the Tipton clan.  While his family moved away over 60 years ago, Charlie still maintains his connections with Maryland relatives, always making the trip back here for special events and funerals.  Of course, funerals in themselves can be a little humbling to octogenarians, but Uncle Charlie took it all in stride and used the opportunity to visit relatives and reintroduce his daughter, Barbara, to her Maryland relatives.




A Tipton's visit over 40 years ago!
Uncle Charlie, Aunt Betty, and Lisa, Paula, Barbara & Terry across the front along with the Pararas's, Bodmer's and Grandma Tipton.

Charlie's visit to our home was a great reason to have a family weekend ourselves.  My mom came up and we reconnected with the western Tipton's reminiscing about the past and bringing each other up to date about family and life.  We invited more Tipton cousins over for a dinner on Saturday night, but wanted to sightsee with Barbara during the day.  Uncle Charlie wanted to take in some local civil war sights of which there are a whole host of sites in our area; Antietam, Harper's Ferry, but alas, the stupid government shutdown had them all closed.  

The other option was DC, but that was closed down too.  However, Uncle Charlie had never seen the WWII Memorial and I thought we had a good shot of seeing that memorial since he is a WWII veteran and the U.S. Park Service didn't stop veterans from visiting.  So we set our sights on taking on Washington and made our way to the memorial.

It was definitely a terrible time to be visiting Washington.  All the museums were closed, the zoo was closed, any National Park/Memorials including walk up memorials were closed, any affiliated sidewalks, roads or parking lots were closed but worst of all, the most unpublicized fact, all the bathrooms on the mall were CLOSED!  Give me a break!!!!

I have been scanning old family photos and had a great picture of Uncle Charlie in uniform.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find that one in time for our excursion, but I was able to locate the picture of Charlie in uniform with his family on the front steps of their home in Dickerson just before his deployment.

Top Row:  Uncle Tip, Uncle Charlie and Grandpa Tipton
Bottom Row:  Ann Lee, Grandma and Aunt Mary
Cat: Unknown

So with that photo in hand,  Charlie, Barbara and I were intent on crashing the WWII Memorial.  At 85, Uncle Charlie seemed to be game for being civilly disobedient and we set off for DC. 

We arrived in DC and had to park almost a mile from the memorial, so Uncle Charlie, said "Let's rent bikes."  Most of the other veterans I saw that day were in wheelchairs, but we rolled up to the memorial on bikes!

We arrived in the midst of a rally with WWII veterans and cheering crowds.  Evidently the three tour buses in front of the memorial were full of veterans and their families who had been brought there by the Honor Flight Network.  I had never heard of them before, but it is a great organization that brings WWII veterans to "their memorial" before they can't make the trip. 

The veterans made their way in a procession of wheelchairs down the entryway to the memorial,  lined on both sides by Honor Flight volunteers and the general public clapping and thanking them for their service.  Uncle Charlie took to congratulating each of them too, shaking hands, finding out what units they were assigned to.  Uncle Charlie served in the Army Infantry in the Pacific and was in the 25th Division, 35th regiment.

With photo in hand, we followed the procession through the barricades, past the Park Rangers with the rest of the veterans into the inter sanctum of the memorial. 

 

 

Our intent was to visit the memorial, but it became  much more meaningful by visiting with the other groups of veterans.  We spent some time soaking in the symbolism of the memorial and the unique experience we had, enhanced due to the shutdown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Charlie and Barbara by the Iowa tower.  They lived in Iowa when he taught at the University there.

 

Another Infantryman who served in the Pacific

 

We then took a quick ride around the mall

 

and made our way back to the car.  We had to cut our visit short and set out in search of two of the most elusive commodities on the mall, food and a public restroom!