Looking for a nearby place to de-stress, get rid of anxiety, envelop yourself in nature, enjoy land and water sports and “astrotourism”? It’s just under a two hour drive away and now it has a comfortable, modern new lodge! Where? The Everglades. After an overnight “staycation” at Flamingo Lodge I saw the grandeur and beauty, and learned about and enjoyed the treasure we have in our backyard. Here’s more about the lodge and things to do in Everglades National Park. And read until the end to see a special deal for Miami Museum and Attractions month of May. Park.
More about Flamingo Lodge later, but first, more about the Everglades and things to do. How about biking, hiking , canoeing, kayaking, world class fishing, birding (over 360 species of birds), and enjoying the clear starry nights, away from the “light pollution” of the city.
There are also boat tours like the one we took, a backcountry boat tour that took us through canals to one of the wide bays. You learn about the three eco systems (saltwater, fresh water and brackish, a combo of saltwater and freshwater. Together with the vegetation that is both that of a temperate and subtropical climate, you get the tremendous variety of nature.
And then there’s the vastness of it all: to go from one end of the Everglades to the other by kayak or canoe would take one to two weeks! We also saw the camping platforms in the water hosting tents.
Along the way we learned about the three kinds of mangroves trees whose roots are populated by oysters and mussels (can’t eat them), spotted the beautiful Tricolored Heron with a shiny blue beak, aerial bromeliads, the rare butterfly orchid, of course crocodiles (Flamingo is known as the crocodile capital of the US) and more.
Fishing is big. Many bring their own boat and stay in the Lodge or campsite, or you can rent a boat. Catch your dinner, and they’ll cook it for you in the Lodge’s restaurant. Learn about the early beginnings of this National Park at the newly renovated Guy Bradley Visitor Center with a ranger on hand to answer any questions.
The big news is the 24 room Flamingo Lodge that opened in November. There are studio, one and two bedroom suites. We stayed in a one bedroom suite that to me is an apartment, complete with fully equipped kitchen, bath, sitting room, and bedroom and balcony with a water view. It’s comfortable, attractive, and well equipped (except no TV and no streaming by computer).
There’s an adjacent all day casual restaurant that has a menu to please all tastes. We loved the wraps in particular, the mahi mahi and the spinach, cheese and vegetable burrito that we enjoyed with our wine that we brought (just paid a $15 corkage fee).
There’s no lack of accommodation choices, like houseboats for rent, campgrounds for RVs (regular and electric) and BYO tents, and wonderful eco tents along the Bay that were rustic outside and inside had a new bed (or beds) with thick mattress and chairs. Each RV and tent area has it’s own shower room, picnic tables and grills.
In season this year the Lodge rooms started at under $300 for a studio which includes taxes; off season they’re about $100 a day less. Eco tents are $50 off season (unfurnished but they will supply a cot at additional charge) and were $109 to $149 in season this year. Off season rates online do not include taxes. Note though that the eco tents in season are booked six to eight months in advance. Upcoming season rates, November 2024 to April 2025 are not yet confirmed. Also, only service dogs are allowed.
The lodge recently launched a Bed & Breakfast package. It includes one menu item from the breakfast menu plus juice & coffee/tea. Nightly rates start at $177 and it’s currently available through October 2024. More information is available at https://flamingoeverglades.com/special-offers/
For more information on the Lodge, go to Flamingo Everglades: https://flamingoeverglades.com/
For the entry pass to the Park, $35 is for the standard one-week pass for Everglades National Park. The annual pass for Everglades National Park is $70. There are also a variety of America the Beautiful annual passes, including discounted ones for seniors, military, veterans, those with permanent disabilities, and 4th graders.
Important Note: For the month of May and Miami Museum and Attractions Month there’s a special offering from Flamingo Adventures. For details, click here.
So if you’re thinking about a short getaway, put this on your schedule, and now is a perfect time. And on your way home you can stop at popular spot Robert is Here to pick up some fresh fruits and vegetables and a smoothie. You might also want to stop at the Redlands Community Farm & Market which has more variety of produce and lower prices and other farmers markets in the area. To find out more, click here for my earlier post.
2 Responses
We learned so much about biodiversity!!!!
Looks like fun. Thanks, I would never have discovered this place!