Day #6: Monday - January 7, 2002

I didn’t have any troubles getting up in the morning, and honestly the fact that Kathy adjusted our breakfast time to give us all a little extra sleep had nothing to do with it!  Nevertheless, it was to be our last full day in the Everglades and we were all ready to enjoy it to its absolute fullest!

After a quick breakfast, I was told that we would in fact be taking a cruise along the Buttonwood Canal, which sounded great to me.  I was then asked for twenty bucks, which wasn’t as great, but I wasn’t about to spare any expenses at this point.  Besides, with the thoughts of seeing dolphins and manatees and all sorts of exotic creatures, along with recommendations from Kathy and others about how great the trip actually was, we were all pretty psyched!  Fortunately, as it was a later boat, we did have some time to kill and the idea that we could relax even more than normal was extremely appealing…
 

Six days into the trip, I finally got it together and got some pictures before breakfast...

As we wandered into town to spend the next hour or so waiting, we started to notice that quite a few other people had chosen to go along on the same cruise, so at least we weren’t the only weird ones aboard!  There were nearly a dozen of us total that went, and we almost looked like a gang, waiting for our boat to come in!  Needless to say, nobody messed with us…  While we awaited our departure, we were also able to witness one of the more unique activities of the day – the departure of Rob and Libby’s kayaking trip!  Even though they had come from two completely different worlds, they meshed like the best of friends and it was just really cool to watch.  Besides, I had money bet that they’d have tipped before they passed out of our view…
 

Very few people know that during the off-season, famed entertainer Weird Al Yankovic actually works here at Flamingo Lodge as a kayaking instructor.

It wasn’t long before our “Captain” finally arrived, and he was definitely a work of art himself.  He didn’t seem to be too happy that he would be taking us on our cruise that morning, or even that he woke up at all – I think Steve described it best by indicating that this was the type of Captain who needed a few beers in him to be at his best that early.  Hell, it was after ten o’clock and I was up and awake, so he must’ve been operating at another level entirely!
 

This crocodile seemed less than happy to make our acquaintance!

To say the very least, the cruise ended up being much less than we had expected.  This could’ve been based on a number of factors including the Captain, the colder weather, the mood of the wildlife, El Nino, etc…  We did see a crocodile in a very cool pose, but the highlight of the entire trip was probably passing alongside Rob and Libby on their way back!  Although the touring company didn’t technically guarantee any manatee or dolphin sightings, we were definitely a little bummed and disappointed.  As soon as we pulled up to the dock, the Captain made a b-line straight for the bar, if that’s any indication…
 

Hey, don't those guys look familiar???

We were getting hungry, too, so Amber and I decided to hit up The Flamingo Restaurant for a hearty, filling lunch that was as far away from ham and turkey as we could get!  Upon entering, we noticed that quite a few other people had gotten the same idea, and we figured it would take a good hour just to stop and say Hi to everyone – luckily our stomachs took charge at that point and basically summed it up to, “You’ve been around these people for a week – sit down and order food – you can say hello later!!!”  I’ve never been one to argue with my internal organs, so we did just that.

The menu was surprisingly much more intriguing than that of the Buttonwood’s and I, for one, found it necessary to order something different.  I knew that I could have all the burgers and fries when I got home, so I tried to think about what the great Jimmy Buffett would order in such a place.  After opening the menu, however, I realized it was much easier than I thought and within no time I was digging in to a delicious conch sandwich, complete with key lime mayonaise.  Amber had, of all the exotic and delectable entrees, a salad, which just strengthens my previously discussed theory, but I was later informed that it was a very good salad, so I wasn’t going to argue!  Between the Bob Marley tunes playing in the background and the beautiful view we had over Florida Bay, we started to realize that it was going to be more than difficult than ever to leave the next day!

We proceeded downstairs to the gift shop because I still had some money in my wallet that deserved to remain in the Everglades, and that problem was quickly taken care of!  It didn’t take long for me to find a variety of trinkets with alligators and other Everglades-related animals on them to occupy everyone back at home.  I lucked out and somehow managed to get out while still being able to carry everything by myself, which is better than quite a few visitors can claim, I’m sure!  By this time it was early in the afternoon and we decided to head on back to camp in search of K.C….

We found him lying unconscious in the middle of a pile of ham and turkey sandwiches – he’d have been a goner if we’d have arrived any later!  (just checking to see if you were still paying attention)  Actually, I think we found him sitting on a picnic table, nonchalantly waiting for us, but it’s still all a bit fuzzy at this point!  Our next task was to find something to occupy the remainder of our day, and considering that we were all just about hacked out, it was obvious that we’d have to find something else to do.  Although Eco-Pond came up as a suggestion, it was ruled out by an even more relaxing (and less mobile) solution – it was time to go for a swim!

Now technically we weren’t allowed to use the pool, but luckily for Kathy's relief we were much too lazy to actually go swimming anyways!  It was just as relaxing and much less strenuous to simply watch other people swimming instead, so opted for that choice instead.  We reserved a small table and umbrella in one corner of the pool area and just sat and did absolutely nothing, and to quote Ron Livingston from the movie Office Space, “It was everything we had hoped it would be…”
 

	K.C. spent most of the afternoon playing with his nuts... (coconuts, that is)
...while Amber provided something much more pleasant to look at! (no offense, K.C.!)

As odd as it sounds, it was actually fun just watching other people enjoy their vacations – we really learned quite a lot that afternoon.  For example, we learned that only the largest of the obese guests at the hotel chose to utilize their pool privileges during the day.  They still weren’t actually in the water very long however, and after a whopping one lap, they decided that reading was a more appropriate activity at the time!  We also learned that people get confused very easily when they hear their name shouted in an area where nobody should even know it – fortunately Anna was a good sport and chose to join us for a few minutes.

Above all, we learned that nothing beats sitting and doing nothing all day, and by nothing I do truly mean absolutely nothing.  Although you can try to do it back at home, there’s always that little list nagging in the back of your head of everything that you should be doing, but from where we were at, none of it really mattered.  Sure, there may have been obligations and problems that we had left behind up north, but for just a little while, we were able to brush all of that aside and truly relax.  It made me realize how important vacations really are to making it through this crazy life in which we live!

It seemed like we’d been running around so much for the past week that it was surprisingly refreshing to simply sit back, breathe in the fresh air and enjoy Florida, the sun and the fact that for one more day, we were still two thousand miles from Michigan and everything back home.  Not to say that we weren’t all anxious to get back home, but hey, actually we really weren’t all that anxious to get home – come on, we were in paradise, remember?!?!?  Yeah, I was definitely looking forward to snow-blowing the driveway and going back to work, but it could wait just a little longer!  I was just waiting for the call saying that Michigan had just mysteriously disappeared and that we’d all have to stay forever…
 
 

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