Key West, the southernmost tip of the continental United States, is a lush, tropical haven of free spirits and island charm. In Key West there is always a party going on somewhere, and it does not take too long to find it. The vibrant atmosphere and rich literary history make Key West an American original. Spend your day in Key West shopping or bar hopping on Duval Street. Visit the Ernest Hemingway house, or simply find a chair on Smathers Beach and soak up those tropical rays. However, before you set foot on the beach or belly-up to the bar at Sloppy Joes, you have to get to the Keys. The Fort Myers to Key West Ferry is a one-way service that will have you starting the party long before you get to Duval Street.

If you’re looking for a unique experience and want the thrill of adventure, Capt. Bob’s Half Day Everglades Adventure is for you. Hop on an airboat and cruise through the lake. The alligator population here is greater than anywhere in the world.

The Funmobile bus will pick you up at your hotel or condo, where you will enjoy a narrated ride and learn about the eco-system of the Everglades. The bus will drive you to Lake Trafford where the adventure begins. Bob will equip you with headsets and microphones so you can speak to him and ask questions during the tour. Capt. Bob is a super friendly tour guide, and will give you a history of the area, as well as displaying his knowledge of all the reptiles you encounter.

Bottlenose Dolphins

Dolphins in the Everglades? Most people don’t expect to see the playful marine mammals in the world’s greatest swamp, but many have the good fortune to do just that. The Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphin feeds, mates and plays in the shallow waters of Chokoloskee Bay where we take our 90-minute boat cruise through the Everglades National Park. Males can grow to be up to 13-feet in length and weigh nearly 1400 lbs.

Curious wild dolphins often approach the boat and apparently enjoy playing in the wake while displaying their amazing speed, strength and agility as they perform their natural acrobatics. Dolphins have been spotted playing with their food as well. They hunt fish and slap them out of the water with their beak, eventually catching up to the stunned fish and eating them.

The scenario plays out on any beach.  It’s instinctive and universal.  Walk along any beach just along the waterline where the waves roll rhythmically in and you’ll catch yourself doing it:  looking down.  Suddenly, right there, tumbling in sand and foam, you see it!  A fleeting hint of color, a minute rippled edge.  As the water recedes pulling a layer of sand and shell with it, it disappears.  Now you see it, now you don’t!  With impressive reaction time you reach down and grab the illusion.  Slowly you open a dripping handful of sand and peer inside, hoping for the perfect keeper – an intact shell, a wonder nature, strikingly beautiful, elegantly scrolled, perfectly fluted, delicately patterned.

Way back in April, when I posted “The Real Florida for Kids – Eco-discovery in Lowry Park Zoo,” I promised two more posts featuring special places in Florida where kids can truly experience Florida’s unique natural habitat. Well, it’s taken this long to get to part two: “The Mysterious Everglades.”

Imagine this. A river of grass: a slow-moving sheet of water spanning thousands of acres, sometimes seen, sometimes not, covered by golden sawgrass as far as the eye can see, and broken up only by hammock islands where cabbage palm, royal palm, live oak, gumbo limbo and West Indian mahogany thrive. There is a silence here. It’s a place of forbidding bogs, cypress knees protruding from dark water, spidery airplants clinging to tree limbs, life-sustaining mangroves, showy bromiliads, bright green fern, and the elusive ghost orchid.