Six Mile Cypress Plus Some

Saturday was an off-island day with our first stop being a farmer's market in Cape Coral.  It was a fairly big market with a few crafts and lots of vendors selling fresh produce.

We walked around looking at what all was for sale and tasting some of the samples.  By the time we left, we were loaded down with lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.  :)

After leaving the farmer's market, we drove about ten miles to the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve.  (Slough is pronounced "slew.")  The Preserve began when a group of Lee County high school students who were studying the role of forested wetland in Florida's ecology became alarmed at how quickly beautiful areas such as this could disappear due to development.  They became known as "the Monday Group" and launched a campaign that convinced voters to increase their own taxes to purchase and convert the Slough into a preserve.

The Six Mile Cypress Slough consists of over 3,400 acres of wetland that measures 11 miles long and 1/3 mile wide.  It is a natural drainage-way and will have as much as 2 to 3 feet of water during the wet season making it comparable to a wide, shallow stream and is home to so much of Florida's beautiful trees, plants, birds and animals.

There is no admission fee to the preserve which is amazing when you consider the 1.2 miles of boardwalk throughout the preserve and the Interpretive Center.  They only charge a small parking fee of $1 per hour (or maximum of $5 per day).

After eating lunch at one of the picnic tables, we walked into the Interpretive Center first and looked at all of their exhibits.

One of the interesting things we learned, was how the slough got its name.  The Six Mile Cypress Slough got its name during the time the area was occupied by cowboys and cattle ranches, the cowboys knew they had 6 miles to go before they reached the Caloosahatchee River dock when they reached the slough.  The Center also had a lot of "hands-own" exhibits like touching different animal furs.  I was so surprised at the softness of a river otter.  I would have thought it would have been very rough like a bear's fur.  An otter's fur is so dense that the water just slides right over him and keeps his body from getting wet.

When we left the Center, we noticed this unique alligator bike rack in front of the Center.

Next, we began walking through the Preserve on those 1.2 miles of boardwalks.

We saw a couple of wild pigs sleeping almost as soon as we began the walk.  Can you see him in the picture below?

Ken's picture is much better.

I told Ken I was depending on him for zoomed-in pictures because I forgot my camera.  He got a lot of good pictures and I borrowed some from Ken.

We also saw some beautiful irises.

There were quotes posted in several areas along the boardwalks.  This was my favorite:

The boardwalk ran along Gator Lake...

...where we saw a mama alligator...

...and her babies not too far away.  (Thanks again, Ken for the great close-up!)

We meandered our way along the boardwalks through the beautiful slough...

...and spotted an ibis...

...meandering through the water.

As we walked along the boardwalk, enjoying the unique beauty of the slough,

we commented several times about the slough looked like the kind of place that snakes would like -- particularly water moccasins.  And about that time we looked over the boardwalk...

...and spotted a water mocassin curled up at the base of a tree.

We had seen pictures in the Interpretative Center of people wading through the slough as part of a tour.  That was one tour that none of us wanted any part of!

Another great close-up shot by Ken!

We continued along a little further and as we stopped to look over the boardwalk, Bonnie dropped her sunglasses in the water below.

Well, Bonnie and I thought her sunglasses were lost forever to the swamp.  But not Chuck!  We couldn't see them in the water because of all the little leaves covering the top of the water, but we hadn't moved from where Bonnie dropped them and were fairly sure where they were.  Chuck found a long dead stick and was able to retrieve them on the first try!

Ken got this picture of the "rescuer" in action!  :)

Bonnie's hero!

After all that excitement, we walked out to the peaceful Wood Duck Pond.

We didn't see any wood ducks but we did see some turtles.

Close-up of the turtles by Ken!

The slough has such a unique beauty to it and mystery too.  It is filled with cypress trees...

...and what looks like old tree stumps.  

They are called cypress "knees" and are a part of the root system of the cypress tree that supplies water and nutrients to the tree. 

I think they look like little trolls.

We continued on to Otter Pond.  While we didn't see any otters, we did see an alligator cruising across the pond.

As we ended our boardwalk tour through the slough, we commented we sure wouldn't want to get locked up in here at night!  But it sure was beautiful to walk through in the daylight!  :)

Now, you would think after the farmer's market and the Six Mile Cypress walk, we would be ready to just go back home to our campers to relax the rest of the day.  Not us!  After leaving Six Mile Cypress, we made a stop at Dollar Tree, Wal-Mart, Beall's Outlet (where Bonnie helped me find a big beach bag and a cute outfit for pickleball, and then our last stop at where else but Costco!  :)

After picking up a few groceries at Costco, we then headed home where we got back together after dinner for our nightly round of card games.  A Nother Best Day!