Pine Island Again.

 

On Friday, we made another trip to Pine Island. We looked for some geocaches that we hadn’t found yet. The northern end of the island appears to be less commercial and seems quieter. We were told that there are some beautiful sunsets, but we have seen gorgeous sunsets just about everywhere.

 

 

We saw a lot of palm farms which reminded me of corn fields back north. The trees were in various stages of growth.

 

 

We hiked around for a short while in Calusa Canal Preserve. Thousands of years ago, a canal was dug by the Calusa Indians. It was the most efficient way for them to travel for trading. They engineered a system, similar to our canal locks, to control the amount of water in the canal segments. Since then, most of the canal has been destroyed, although remnants of it can be seen in the Preserve. The more I read about the Native Americans, the more I learn about how intelligent they were.

 

 

The trails in the Preserve are overgrown in a few places and at times, we had to “wade” through palmettos.

 

 

We stopped for lunch at the Tarpon Lodge and Restaurant. It was a bit fancy and I felt out of place with my dirty and worn shoes that I use for geocaching.

 

 

 

 

 

Even the side order of mayonnaise was served on a doily!!

 

 

Cordell noted that the only restroom had a chair in it. He said it made it a real "restroom".

 

 

While walking around the grounds at the restaurant, I admired a concrete table that was decorated with pieces of colored glass.

 

 

 

 

There are two geocaches left on the island that we haven’t been able to find, but we probably won’t be back there this winter.