Down South...Day Fifty-Four...Friday, January 22, 2010...Deeper Into the Wild

Up early this morning before sunrise...do the whole coffee "ritual" and spend some time outside before the mosquitoes wake up.
I'm hungry this morning, so I cook up a great breakfast of eggs, fried potatoes and Nueske's bacon...along with the last of the Cuban bread.
They have boat tours here...out into the Bay or into the Everglades back country...so I decide that would b a fun way to spend a couple of hours after breakfast. I'm on the 1:30PM boat, and we head out right on time...heading through the canals. Minutes after we start, we see our first Crocodiles...they like it up near the Marina because there is less sea water (they're freshwater guys unlike Gators which like salt water). Deeper and deeper we go into the thick of the Everglades...seeing an Ibis here and a Heron there. After a few miles, we break out into a large body of water called Coots Bay...which we race across before picking up the canal system again on the other side. Along the way, our guides point out a particular type of tree...can't remember the name. It's highly poisonous...just brushing against it can cause severe rash and even death. The local Indians used to used an extract of this tree to tip their arrowheads...very deadly. It was just such an arrow that killed the Spanish explorer, Ponce de Leon.
After another hour or so, we head back to the Marina...a fun tour.
Having skipped lunch, I'm already hungry at 4:30PM...so...I relax with a glass of South African Cabernet while waiting for the charcoal to start. Tonight, I'm grilling that Skirt Steak that's been marinating in the Mojo Criollo...along with some more grilled asparagus and the rest of that great potato salad. The steak is absolutely fantastic...plenty tender from the marinade and really tasty. This is a profoundly good dinner.
Finishing early, I have some time to enjoy the sunset and read a little more of my Lincoln biography.
But the dark is inevitable...and soon...I'm in my new "second home", the Escape for another fun evening of XM Radio and cold beer...life is good! By 9:00PM, I'm nodding off...time for bed.