We both happily left the Florida Keys on our way to the "Everglades" to get ourselves an "alligator"!!! We saw a few in the river on the way as we were driving.  We also learned that there are Florida panthers in the area, we had no idea, but unfortunately, we never saw any.
http://www.nps.gov/ever/naturescience/floridapanther.htm

We found the most amazing tour company that took us on an airboat ride in the everglades to find ourselves that "alligator"  and because it is off-season, we were lucky to get a private tour.

www.evergladestours.org/AirboatRides‎

It was crazy just how fast we were going and just how close we would get to the mangroves as we were speeding along...

And it wasn't long before we saw our first alligator.  We learned they are very territorial and are also loners...so you won't usually see more than one at a time

So off to find the next one...and it wasn't long until we found him...

And then we saw what our tour guide called......Swamp Monkeys....

Yes racoons...they actually live in the mangroves, even though there is no solid ground for them, just roots and water. They climb around the roots of these trees and in this case, hang in them.  They literally drape themselves in the branches, we got so close you could hear them panting from the heat, similar to when we take Gracie for a run in the park...

So it was a great afternoon in the Florida Everglades..

And this was our awesome guide "Captain Bobby"

Then off to our campsite in Naples, Florida, another warm muggy night in Florida.

Another beautiful day in Florida.  We have been so lucky with the weather, hot and sunny, which we hear will change soon, so we are enjoying it as much as we can each and every day...The one thing we noticed was that the long, sandy white beaches are gone, and are replaced by more boggy and swampy waterfront.  There are so few natural beaches here that they created man-made beaches in their place, but not too many of those either.

We headed out in the morning, our destination...Key West!! We have never before seen so many bridges. They were everywhere! Many of the old bridges were partially dismantled to allow boats to pass through and the remaining parts were then turned into fishing bridges, which is very popular here.  Someone we met here made a comment that "If you go hungry here in Florida...you are just plain lazy..."

We made it to Key West and there was a Motorcycle Poker Run happening, so it was pretty crazy downtown...

And with every Biker event....you will always come across a "Biker Chick" something like this...

And to a more "G" rated chick.......

Chickens, roosters, chicks...they were everywhere. One of the locals said they are so called "leftovers" from the "cock fighting days" many years ago.  Now they just roam around, scratching up all the gardens, and even if the roosters wake you up early every morning...you can't do anything about it...they are protected here in Key West..

They had a nice waterfront, pretty "touristy" but nice.  We heard that it was once a really quaint destination, but all that changed several years ago with the increase in tourists and the Cruise Ships coming into the area. I think we were expecting the "quaint" Key West...

This is one of the museums downtown, they had lots of outdoor sculptures..

And this one's for you Kim...

Who in the world doesn't know this as the classic Marilyn Monroe pose??

And you can't be in Key West and not pose in front of this..

So after only two nights in the Florida Keys, we were both yearning for the long sandy white beaches that we left behind and decided it was time to move on.