Happy Monday Everyone!

I hope everyone had a good day back at work/school – mine was so exhausting, but Mondays without coffee are always hard 😛

To continue my “Visiting Florida” Series, I’m writing about The Everglades!

This is a continuation of my previous post, and we woke up in Miami!

Miami is a beautiful city – if you think more than just about the beaches, and the “party,” aspect of it, the weather is amazing, the people are friendly, and the architecture is marvelous.

Instead of staying in Miami, we actually stayed in Coral Gables, which is southwest of Downtown Miami, and still within Miami-Dade County. The city has a population of approximately 50,000 people, but wow, it was about to become 50,001 because it felt like home.

There are very rare trips when I walk in and don’t feel like I miss home – this was one of those trips. Coral Gables was one of the first planned communities in the United States, which is quite evident by looking at how it’s a mini utopia in Florida. Although there are many landmarks around the area, there was one scenic road which beautiful green trees on both sides and huge mansions behind them. Coral Gables is known as a “pedestrian friendly” destination.

But alas, driving through the beautiful neighborhood was just a means to get to Everglades National Park.

The Everglades is the largest subtropical wilderness area in the United States. Fun Fact, it is the only place in the United States where you can see both Alligators and Crocodiles! Although there are 5 entrances to the Everglades, we were at the Gulf Coast Visitor Center! We took an amazing boat tour. About 20 of us piled onto a speed boat and started riding around the Everglades. Since the Everglades is over 1.5 million acres, we only got to visit a small part of it.

We were lucky enough to sit in the front, and although going at high-speeds forced lots of bugs to fly in our mouths, eyes, nose (yuck), it was such a cool experience. The water was a beautiful blue, and it really felt like we were a part with nature and the cycle of life. I highly recommend going on a group tour in the Everglades if you visit!

It really was an amazing trip and fun excursion!

Although this was a short post, check me out tomorrow when I talk about the second part of day: Downtown Miami!

Before closing off this blog post however, I would like to raise some awareness.

Many of the park entrances to Everglades are closed on a long-term basis because of damage from Hurricane Irma. Because of everything else that is happening in our country, coverage on this Hurricane more than 5 months ago has decreased, but the effects are still just as catastrophic. The hurricane has destroyed homes and critical infrastructure in Southern Florida and the Gulf Coast. There are many ways in which you can help. It’s important to do what we can for emergency disaster relief and long-term recovery support.

xo

Sandhya

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