On Saturday, February 5, King Mango took us on a tour of the Everglades.
Entertainment was provided by Little Ella on the didgeridoo.
Heading west on the Tamiami Trail we stopped to enjoy the Clyde Butcher Gallery.
Across the street a man and an alligator were trying to catch fish.
Everglades City was having its
annual seafood festival.
You could watch young children
getting knocked off a spinning, bouncing shark, but what we really liked was
the seafood.
There were tons of it as well as the resulting
garbage. It was everywhere.
Even though the bins were full, people kept placing their plates on top knowing they would tumble to the ground. Finally folks just began tossing their leftovers on the ground near the cans.
It happens every year. Its an Everglades City tradition.
It didn't take long tire of garbage piled too high and the music playing too loud.
We jumped on our bus and
headed south. We didn't stop until the road ended on Chocoluskee Island.
In the distance was an old, elevated building.
Its where Ted Smallwood sold everything anyone might have needed a hundred years ago. They say it hasn't changed much.
I noticed that the machine I used to buy nickel Cokes from now sells them $1.50. It took young Quin a while to figure out how to use the bottle opener.
Ted's great-grandson showed us the elixirs used in days gone by. One from 1910 touted the benefits of cocaine ( one of the original ingredients of Coco-cola when a bottle cost two cents a hundred years ago).
Ted died a long time ago but a pretty good facsimile of him still holds court and, a flyswatter.
After telling Mr. Smallwood goodbye we headed home to Coconut Grove where we unloaded our ice chests, bicycles
,and tired bodies. Before he drove off we heard the king say,
"What fun we had in aces and spades.
Let's go back soon to the Everglades!"
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