So Day 2 we were up early as the girls had to leave by 8:15 for the Circus gig in Palm Beach Gardens.
Naya and one of the other students were hired as stilt walkers for the event.
I think it was called Santa's Circus or something like that. Looks fun.
Tommy working it for his Instagram page....
So that left Ernie and I to our own devices all day. We got a lazy start and made some eggs and stuff for breakfast. We then rolled over to the boat rental/concession stand and they said, nope can't launch off our dock, so down the riverbank a hundred yards and put it in there. I pumped up the SUP which is 15' long and set it up for kayaking..
Upon launching, Ernie ( a Florida native) noticed how many red mangroves were growing along the river. As population has increased and need for fresh water goes up, the water table drops and saltwater goes further inland. It is a problem plaguing all of South Florida on both coasts.
Here is an article from last year talking about the Loxahatchee River. As we paddled up the river we noticed the old cypress trees that were either dead or barely hanging on. Apologies as I didn't bring a camera (big mistake).
So after about a 15-20 min paddle we got to the entrance of Kitching Creek and headed up it. It is a natural freshwater shed off of the park. Withing 100 yards, the banks changed. On one side was the now pervasive red mangrove and the other bank was pine woodland. Ernie was amazed at the dichotomy of the river banks.
We paddled up for a few minutes and rounded a curve and there was Wally Gator.
(this is the part where I REALLY wished I had a camera). Wally was about 9-10 ft long and sunning himself on the bank. He must of left his cufflinks and cigar at home as he was naked. We were only a few feet away as we rounded the bend. We both immediately shut up and slowly drifted by. He watched but wasn't too threatened. Our gaze soon shifted to a fallen cypress tree across the creek. On the felled tree, was a baby gator about 3 feet long and 3 turtles all sunning. It was a fantastic photo op, with glass smooth water and the reflection of the tree and animals in the water was stunning. Back near Wally, the creek forked and we thought that the other fork was the way, so we slowly turned around and headed for it.
Wally took notice as we were slowly moving directly toward him. He raised his head and was ready for action. We slowly slid by about a dozen feet away and he didn't give us any ground and was on full alert. We headed by and went upstream........too many low hanging branches. Luckily the tide was out but after a couple of trees, we turned around and headed back.
As you can see from the map, the creek went quite a bit further had we gone around the felled tree. The animals were enjoying the sun so much we didn't want to disturb them and headed back out to the river. We realized the next day that we should have kept going.
We headed back to the river and continued upstream for 4 or 5 more corners, then realized we had a headwind and headed back to the launch point.
We were out for about 2.5 hours and were getting ready for lunch. Beached it and broke down the rig and carried it out back to the car.
A bonus was a big Gopher Tortoise, powering through the grassy area by the bathroom. Back at camp, we ate lunch and showered. We then headed to the store for more firewood (we ripped through several bags the night before).
On the way in we had both seen a sign on Federal Highway for a ''tiki bar". We stopped by on the way back. It was not a real tiki bar, but a Chickee hut with beers and people partying. We walked out on the docks and this boat kind of sums up the kind of place it was. A garage for your runabout... Everyone was nice and we had drink and then headed back with our now ample supply of wood.
Dinner was NY Strip steaks over the open fire and potatoes baked in the flame, followed by.....more rum and Girl Scout cookies...
Good Times!!!!!!!!
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