Big Cypress National Preserve

Mr X and I stopped off to visit Big Cypress National Preserve on our way to the Everglades. It's a very unique place. I've never seen vegetation like this before.

We pulled off the road at a Ranger Station and went inside to get a map. We talked to the ranger for a bit, learning interesting tidbits about the area. We are fans of that show Dual Survival and we learned that the Everglades survival episode was filmed not too far from where we were at the time. We also learned that the part in the show where they tracked and captured a python was completely staged. Boo hoo! I know they have a disclaimer at the beginning of the show stating that they stage things from time to time, but it was such a disappointment to learn that that particular incident didn't happen to be authentic. Oh well.

We told the ranger that we wanted to do a hike in the Cypress preserve so he pointed us to a trail nearby. On our way out of the door he stopped us and gave us these big walking sticks to take with us, warning us to use them to test the ground in front of our path to ensure that we weren't about to step into a "solution hole", also known as a sink hole. He told us that he was out hiking a few days earlier with his girlfriend and she took a step and ended up thigh deep in swampy muck. Apparently it's fairly common. We thank the man for the walking sticks and the warning and off we went...

I was in the lead as we first stepped foot onto our chosen trail and wouldn't you know it, a snake slithered right in front of my foot and off into the tall grass on the side. It happened so fast that I didn't even have a chance to take it all in and freak out until Mr X started freaking out behind me when he saw the snake. A great start to a great hike, right? It wasn't so scary though. It was incredibly strange and beautiful, actually. I really enjoyed seeing this preserve. There were all sorts of bizarre bugs and eerie sounds that made us jump several times. We managed to find a 'solution hole' just as we were hoping. Mr X's walking stick went 3/4 of the way down and when we pulled it back out it was covered in thick black muck.

Unfortunately our hike was cut short once we got further into the forest as massive swarm of mosquitoes descended on us (we didn't even think about applying repellent). Off we ran, flailing our arms about and slapping wildly all over.

Our hike worked up our appetites so we headed down the road for some lunch. We pulled off when we saw this place, thinking it had to be a gem of a roadside restaurant. We asked our waiter for his recommendation and he suggested the soft-shell crab sandwich so that's what we both ordered. We hadn't had anything like that before. This is what was placed in front of us:

I didn't think it looked particularly appetizing. After a couple of bites I decided that my first impression was right. So I smothered it in ketchup because there was no tartar sauce available. The ketchup made it worse so I just munched on my fries. I probably won't order soft-shell crab again. Plus, at this point in our trip I was completely sick of fried food. Later the waiter asked me how I had liked it and I lied and told him it was good but that I stopped eating it because I'd ruined it with ketchup. He responded by telling me that oh ketchup would kind of ruin it and I should have tried tartar sauce.