All apologies, but I have to take you back into 2020 briefly to get us caught up. Don’t be afraid, most of it is good stuff, and there are lots of pretty pictures.
Christmas week found us at Koreshan State Park where our stay began with a near-tragedy. The RV camping loop was tight, but TBG had no trouble motoring around to our reserved space. There was a little head-butting over the maneuvering into the spot, though, but once in, all that was needed was a minor adjustment to get better aligned. That’s when this happened:
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| Hhhheeeellllpppp!!!! |
I was standing outside the rig, watching in horror as the back wheels started to spin and sink. TBG, able to feel that happening, gunned the engine and launched forward in the nick of time. After a little deep breathing and a few vulgar expressions of relief, we returned to the office and explained our predicament. The nice ranger was able to get us set up in what he called an “emergency site,” (an unreserved handicapped i.e. paved space.) All the sites are very jungly, and a kaleidoscope of zebra longwing butterflies surrounded our new space.
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| Safe in site 7 |
Koreshan SP was founded in the late 1800s to be a utopian community for a religious group led by Dr. Cyrus Teed. I know I don’t usually recount history in this blog, but this tidbit you won’t find at the park or in any of its literature. TBG wondered aloud if the name “Koreshan” was at all related to David Koresh of the infamous Waco religious cult. The answer is that they are not directly related at all, but both using the name “Koresh” isn’t coincidental. It is the Persian equivalent of the name Cyrus, and was taken by both men in honor of Cyrus the Great, founder of the first and greatest Persian Empire.
Unlike the Waco fiasco, Teed’s utopia was actually a pretty nice place to live, and rather than remove themselves from their surrounding society, they were an integral part of the area and the establishment of the town of Estero. The monstrous generator even provided power for the small city as well as their Unity Settlement.
Because it was Christmas week, the grounds were decorated with festive displays, packages stacked on porches, and wreaths hung on all the doors. In more normal times, the buildings are open for touring, and on Sundays there is a small farmer’s market on the historic site grounds. I was really hoping they’d still be able to have the latter but not surprised when they didn’t.
I thought the whole park, including the historic site area, was simply beautiful and just had a soothing feel to it. I could certainly see why the Koreshans chose to settle here.
My favorite part though was, predictably, a critter. As we strolled the grounds for the first time, I stopped to read the gopher tortoise information sign. At first I thought the tortoise strategically placed near the sign was a statue.
Nope! She was real, and quite the cooperative poser.
I know it was a she because on a subsequent visit a volunteer told me all about her. After seeing her the first time and suddenly noticing all the other neon green tape marking other burrow entrances dotting the grounds, I was off to the races to see if more were afoot.
This was the only other one we found, a very young one, but old enough to have dug its own perfectly domed home.
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| Bridge to Monkey Puzzle Island |
It wasn’t entirely utopia what with a passel of yowling neighbor boys that I called the Screaming Weedwhackers due to their continually running around with sticks, hacking at the vegetation for hours. They were also the impetus for a verbal altercation between other campers in the laundry pavilion. We managed to avoid them by taking many walks around the park’s short but lovely trails, and fortunately they weren’t next door for our entire stay. A little rule-enforcing would’ve been nice, though.
When we made our reservations for this park well over a year ago, our friends Raven & Chickadee were going to be camped out on Sanibel Island, and we were going to celebrate the season together. It’s no mystery why that didn’t get to happen, but even though they weren’t there, on Christmas Eve-eve we still drove out to the island to spend some time at a place called J.N. “Ding” Darling Nat’l Wildlife Refuge. We began at their visitor center, which was only partially open, but I have to tell you that it is, hands down, the most gorgeous VC I’ve ever seen, and I regret that I didn’t take pictures of it. Every surface is covered with brilliant, semi-3D murals. Even the restrooms are fabulous, the outside of each individual stall door featuring a larger-than-life photograph of one of the refuge’s animals, and on the inside of the stall door is…a Fresh Fun Fact about that animal! I was very glad no one else was in there with me because when I closed my door and saw the FFF, I let out a loud, “Hey!”
As nice as the VC was, we were there to spot some wildlife, and we took the very helpful VC volunteer’s advice and decided to walk part of the Wildlife Drive to the observation tower, making a loop with the Indigo Trail for the return. There were plenty of folks making the drive, several cyclists, but very few of us walkers.
Though it is billed as a wildlife drive, and most folks we saw were doing exactly that, it is also open to cyclists and walkers. There is a fee for all ($1 per hiker, $10 per car) unless you have a NPS pass and you can even rent bikes if you come without your own. While you may see manatees, alligators, and other sorts of wildlife, it is predominantly birds to be seen here.
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For most of the walk, we saw birds at a distance, save a couple yellow-crowned night herons roosting and preening in the foliage lining the roadway.
We enjoyed the spectacular weather and the scenery, but if ever there was a time when the phrase “saving the best for last” was appropriate, it was when we reached the bridge and observation deck at the end of the trail behind the VC. Just about every type of bird the refuge harbors was there.
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| Little Blue Heron |
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| Green Heron |
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| Common Gallinule |
As you can see by that bright, colorful beak and tell from the name, the Common Gallinule is the Purple Gallinule’s less-showy cousin.
We saw almost all of the birds pictured in the brochure but, just as we were beginning to think we’d probably not see them this trip, we looked down the waterway, and there they were high in the trees.
Roseate Spoonbills! You can say either rosie-ETTE or rosie-ATE. I say ETTE or just Spoonies.
Since this would be our only trip out to Sanibel and wanting to make the most of the day and the confusing we’ll-mail-you-a-payment-request highway toll required to get onto Sanibel, we decided to drive the few extra miles to another section of the refuge. that isn’t geographically connected to the main part. It’s a freshwater habitat, unlike the salty mangrove one of the main refuge.
The Bailey Tract is a freshwater habitat unlike the salty mangrove habitat in the main refuge. There were only a couple other cars in the lot, and we didn’t see anyone until we were nearly finished with our walk.
We also didn’t see very much wildlife, either, but it was a pleasant, peaceful stroll. Sanibel is also famous for its great shell-collecting beaches, which we didn’t have time for this trip, though in hindsight it may have been a more iconic choice than the Bailey area.
TBG used quiet holiday time on Xmas Eve to work on leather gifts for the friends we visited in Colorado, I finished another painted gourd, and we streamed a movie that evening. On Christmas, we took a long, long morning walk, video-chatted with both sets of parents, and snacked on warm-from-the-oven banana bread and crustless pumpkin pie.
No complaints here.
COMMENTS
Sanibel was lovely, and I can see why you spent so much time in the general area. We did see the great bike trails everywhere. On our way back, everything was disturbingly crowded, and we just wanted to get off the island. In non-pandemic times, we would definitely want to spend more time out there. They should make it a bike or walk island only. We can dream, right? It was a shame we didn’t have L&E as tour guides, though. *sigh*
Interesting history about the park and definitely some beautiful sights. Your wildlife photos are wonderful – my favorite is the little blue heron. I keep trying to get good photos of the birds in the bay near our campground, but for some reason (Thor), they never seem to want to stick around when I show up. 😦
The Screaming Weedwhackers sounds like some kind of alt/punk band. 🙂
I too wondered about the recent rains contributing to the soft earth. Who knows, and considering the state has so many sinkholes I think we got lucky. Now doing a dirt broadie with a RV was exciting.
Slip Thor a canine Mickey, and go on some solo nature walks. We need pretty photos!
Those weedwhackers were a band of punks! 😆
That was quite a maneuvering job to eject your rig out of that soft sand! No wonder you have been a bit concerned about parking here on our property. I promise you that your rig will NOT sink. But if it does…well, Sister Wife, that is clearly a message that it’s time to begin our own utopian community, LOL.
Speaking of bummer, dang it, we really wanted to do Sanibel Island with you! So glad you enjoyed your day on the island, and that you saw so much wildlife and got such wonderful photos of the various herons. See you SOON!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Sister-wife Utopian Settlement!!!! Now I kinda wanna sink. We’ll need to put in a pool.
We really wish you’d been our Sanibel guides. I can’t wait to see birds through your eyes!
Get that kombucha ready!!!
As usual your bird photos are just beautiful. So happy you got to see lots of Roseates. They are so pretty. I just love their colors. Fun to watch them eat with those spoonbills on the shores. Jealous you got to see a gopher turtle. I’ve always wanted to see one but they have been elusive to me. Pretty painted gourd and leather work too. Such a talented couple you guys are.
Seeing all the birds was fun. I hope we can see some Spoonies at a closer range, especially eating! I hope you get to see a gopher tortoise someday. Florida is definitely the place to find them.
Thanks for the nice words about our crafting 🙂
Hey TBG quick thinking on your part and so good Essie did not sink altogether. We had a similar incident just as we park Betsy and she sank right away. We let her stay sank until the day we leave. On departure we ask a cool Kansas farmer pulled us out using his big tractor Whew!
Thank goodness for cool Kansas farmers! 😀