Four Points Bulletin

Everglades City couldn’t be missed. It is the stone crab capitol of the world, almost 400,000 pounds of stone crab claws come from these waters every year (approximately 1,000 times more pounds of stone crab that the city population). It is also the western Gateway to Everglades National Park. Everglades are defined as natural region of flooded grasslands, covering 3,000,000 acres in southern Florida. Mangroves can be found in this region as well, which provide a habitat for marine species, filter pollutants, and stabilize sentiment which protects communities during hurricanes. We drove an hour and a half from Miami to Everglades City today for an airboat ride with Captain Jack’s Airboat Tours. I think it is safe to say that this is the best airboat ride on the planet. During the 50 minute tour we were in and out of a wild maze of mangrove tunnels.

After the airboat ride Captain Jack customers have access to a series of boardwalks within the mangroves. It was there that we saw a roseate spoonbill. The next day when I told an Everglades National Park employee this he said he has never seen a roseate spoonbill on the ground, only in flight.

We had time in-between boat rides so we explored the tiny but historic town of Everglades City. Its city hall has survived many hurricanes since it was built in 1928. Our next boat (also booked through Captain Jack but executed by Everglades National Park Adventures) was the Ten Thousand Islands Boat tour.

One third of Everglades National Park is navigable by water, so what better way to see the park than by boat. Ten Thousands Islands are a chain of islands and mangroves islets south of Everglades City and within the national park. Ten thousand is an estimate, the number changes with the tides. The trip to Everglades City made me realize that we needed more time in the everglades.