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Overview
Most people think of Naples, Florida and think of white sandy beaches and expensive shopping. But what you may not know is that Naples is right on the edge of the Everglades and is host to a wide variety of nature activities for the adventurous type. That also means that there are a ton of animals to view and we had our hearts set on seeing one in particular – THE FLORIDA PANTHER.
Day 1
The Flight
Our flight was from Peachtree City, Georgia to Naples, Florida. We flew a Cessna Skylane 182 on the 455 nautical mile mission, which clocked us 3.7 hours on the hobbs meter. The Skylane was perfect for this mission because we could hold full fuel (87 gallons), have both me and Kevin upfront, and still had the backseat and baggage area left for all the luggage we could possibly want for this two-night trip.
Even though it was a far flight, we only burned about 50 gallons. That had us landing with over three hours of fuel reserves. And although the plane could’ve flown for another three hours, I’m not sure that we could have. We were certainly ready to land and start our adventures after a long flight.
Flight planning this time of year can get a little tricky. According to my flight planning app, Garmin Pilot, the temperature departing the Atlanta area was about 38 degrees Fahrenheit and we were excited to see that the forecast temperature in Naples was in the mid 80’s! Our weather forecast on the route was IMC until about a third of the way into Florida. And as we all know, IMC in the winter usually means icing. I decided to flight plan for 5,000 feet because that kept us in warm enough temperatures while we were in the clouds.
When we first leveled off in cruise, the temperature was 9 degrees Celsius. That was plenty warm, and the clouds gave us a nice bath of water on our windshield and wings – no icing to be found! Of course, as we traveled south, the temperature only got warmer and once we made some headway into Florida, we were finally out of the clouds. All in all, we were in a total white out for a little over three hours and I was happy to have the Garmin G1000 NXi programmed with the GFC 700 autopilot to make that all pretty stress free.
Kevin doesn’t love flying in IMC. He’s not an instrument rated pilot (and hasn’t started training yet) and mainly became a private pilot in the first place because of how much he loves to look out the window. It was complete torture for him to have to sit in the airplane and not be able to see the ground for so long. We listened to the XM radio for a little while until he decided that he would pass some time watching a few episodes he downloaded from Netflix onto his iPad. So, I turned off the XM radio and he connected his Bose headset via Bluetooth to his iPad and found himself a few episodes deep into his show until the weather finally cleared, and he could look outside again.
When we were leaving the Atlanta area, we had gotten cleared direct to Naples. However, once we were a little north of Tampa, we got a reroute. I suspected we were going to get a reroute because our current route had us going straight through the Tampa Bravo airspace. Our reroute put us over the Lakeland VOR which sits nicely in between the Tampa and Orlando Bravo airspaces.
After we passed Lakeland and about two more waypoints on V157, we started getting vectored by Fort Myers approach. They gave us headings until we were cleared for the visual approach into Naples and handed off to the tower.
I was surprised at how quiet Naples airport was on this particular day. Usually, it’s a complete zoo to get into. I’ve flown in here a few times VFR (and not on a flight plan) and had to do multiple 360s just to enter the pattern. But today was different. The weather was nice, and it was “in season” to be in Naples so I’m not too sure why it was quiet but I certainly wasn’t complaining. We even got cleared to land over 10 miles away from the airport.
Our landing and taxi and were insignificant events which is always good news for pilots. The controllers at Naples are always very kind and that was the case this time as well. Our flight finished when we parked on the ramp at Naples Aviation FBO.
Naples Aviation FBO
Wow. All I can say is wow. I’ve been to Naples Aviation FBO a handful of times and each time they just step it up a notch. We hadn’t even shut down the engine and there was already a line guy waiting in a golf cart in front of us to chock us and give us a lift inside.
However, since we were not a big fancy jet, we got parked around the corner into a tiedown space. Which I don’t mind at all, but it does always make me laugh. We asked the line guy to give us about ten minutes because we had made a complete mess in the airplane to pack up and I needed to disconnect all our cameras from filming the flight in.
He left us be and when we were finished packing up there were not any line guys around, so we started to walk to the front door of the FBO. We hadn’t walked maybe ten steps when a line guy spotted us and zipped over as fast as he could on a golf cart to give us a ride.
Once inside, there was a super nice lady at the front desk who checked us in, in a matter of minutes. I really appreciated that, because there’s a lot of places that I go to that take forever to get checked in, but luckily, they got their process down!
It’s worth noting that I did not call ahead to let them know we were coming. I didn’t need hangar space and know that they usually have tie-down space, so I wasn’t too concerned about making a reservation. However, it’s certainly not a bad idea to call ahead as Naples does get very busy.
Rental Car
Next on the to-do list was to get our rental car. When I was reserving a car, I called the FBO to see what car rentals they had available. They told me that they had Go Rentals or Hertzs in the FBO. I only recognized Hertzs, so I asked her to connect me to them to reserve a car.
Hertz gave me a quote to rent an economy car for over $400 for 2 ½ days. At first, I thought that the price was so high because we were renting from Naples. But Kevin overheard me on the phone with Hertz and pulled up the Avis app at the same time who quoted us $122 for the same amount of time. Needless to say, we did not rent with Hertz decided to rent with Avis.
The only issue, which turned out to be not an issue at all, was that the Avis branch was across the airport in the old commercial terminal. When we landed, we weren’t so sure how we were going to get there to get our car, but worst-case scenario, I was going to call the branch to see if they could pick us up or we could even Uber.
When I told Naples Aviation where we were renting from, they offered to drive us on airport property to the Avis branch across the way. Apparently, they drive people over all the time and it was no problem.
Checking in at the Avis branch was standard and to my delight, they told us that when we were ready to go home, we could bring back the Avis rental car through the gate at the FBO and park directly at our airplane to unpack. Then, they said that a Naples Aviation FBO worker would park it in the lot and give them a call to come pick it up. So, we didn’t even have to go back to that side of the airport when we were leaving which made this whole plan flawless. We literally left it at our plane when we left and the rest was taken care of!
Hotel
We decided to make a hotel reservation at a Holiday Inn on Fifth Avenue. We had stayed here before and enjoyed it because it’s fairly new and it’s super close to downtown Naples. It’s not close enough to walk, but it’s a short car drive or Uber ride. There is an outdoor pool here, but we never used it. I would much prefer to go to the beach than just another hotel pool, but the option is there should you want it.
This is also one of the more affordable hotels in Naples. Our rate at this time (during peak busy season) was $189 per night plus taxes and fees with a complimentary breakfast.
Dinner
Kevin was born and raised in Naples and that is where his immediate family still lives. It just so happened that the day we flew in was the day after his dad’s birthday. It was perfect timing and we got to go out to eat with his parents to celebrate.
Being that it was his dad’s birthday, his dad wanted to splurge a little. Me and Kevin are not the type to want to go spend a lot of money on dinner but when you’re in Naples, sometimes it’s inevitable.
His dad picked out a lovely French restaurant for dinner called Chez Boet that they have been to a few times but me and Kevin had never been. The waiter was amazing. He spoke French and didn’t even let us look at the menus. He wanted to tell us about all the dishes himself and really wanted us to order the specials – which we all did!
To spare you the details, we had an array of food. Escargot, baked snapper, fresh vegetables, a nice bottle of wine – we had it all and it was fantastic.
After dinner, we walked to the boat ramp. It was nice to walk off all that food and the boat docks are conveniently just about two blocks away. We walked all up and down the docks admiring everything from small fishing boats the whole way up to gigantic yachts you usually only get to see on TV.
After this long day of flying and eating, we retired back to our hotel room to get some sleep before a starting our next day to go searching for a Florida panther!
Day 2
CREW Bird Rookery Swamp Trail
We headed out early in the morning to grab some coffee and breakfast on the go and make our first stop of the day at the Bird Rookery Swamp Trail which was about 35 minutes from our hotel. This was our first time at this trail, and I was really excited about it based off their website and photos. It’s free to enter and it has over 12 miles of trails to walk or bike, including a 1,500-foot boardwalk with wheelchair accessibility.
At the parking lot there’s a little dock on a pond where you can scan for alligators before you even enter the trail. When we were on the dock, there was a man leaving in a Jeep that told us that there were some deep parts of water on the trail to be aware of. Naturally, we wanted to see for ourselves, so we set out on foot to see what this trail had to offer.
Maybe only 20 feet onto the trail from the main entrance and I already spotted a baby alligator in the weeds. It’s pretty tough to see alligators if you’re not used to looking for them. Kevin and I both grew up in Florida, so we have eyes for it, but even so, I’m sure we miss a lot because they commonly look like logs and sit very still.
There are tons of signs here warning about wildlife being on or near the trail. That may be scary to some but to us it was exciting! On the website homepage, there’s a photo of a panther sitting on the boardwalk that we had just started walking. And although we really want to see a panther, I’m not quite sure what I would’ve done if we encountered one on the boardwalk!
We did have to take our socks and shoes off one time to cross through about 10-inch-deep water on the trail just as the man in the Jeep had warned. The water was clear, so we had no issues making the cross. We walked almost 3 miles round-trip on this trail and saw lots of birds, alligators, turtles, and even a black racer snake (harmless but can catch you off guard). The trail is gorgeous, but it is very narrow with water on both sides, and you never know what’s in there – so keep your eyes open!
Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary
A 15-minute drive and we were at our next stop – Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. They currently require you to make a reservation to enter, but we made our reservation while we were on this short drive as we had no idea what time we would be getting there in advance.
You do have to pay to enter the sanctuary. General admission was $17 but I didn’t mind since it goes to conserving the nature area. The entire trail is a 2.25-mile boardwalk that is wheelchair accessible and takes you through a wet prairie, a marsh, lots of swamp land and a huge cypress forest. Even if you don’t happen to see any animals on your visit, the walk is absolutely beautiful and almost the entire thing is shaded under the trees. If you are there when it happens to rain, they have a few spots that have a roof for shelter along the way.
We came here because we’ve seen lots of videos and photos online of Florida panthers along this boardwalk. You must be lucky to see one, but you never know! We didn’t see as many animals on this walk as we did at the bird rookery, but we always enjoy our time here. We saw a few hawks, alligators, water snakes, and most importantly we got to talk to a volunteer that had seen a Florida panther herself there about a year ago. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she told us the story of seeing the panther and shared with us how magical of a moment it was.
Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge
We drove another 35 minutes to get to the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge and grabbed lunch on the way at a gas station Subway. Glamorous, I know. But what beats eating a sandwich next to a caution sign for Panthers?!
To be totally honest, we mainly visited here because of the name, it was free, and because it was along our intended route for the day. There are only two walking trails here – one is 0.3 miles and the other is 1.3 miles.
As we entered, there were two gentlemen leaving the trail. They told us that they saw absolutely nothing, not even a bird. Knowing that, we decided not to spend too much time here. We walked for a few minutes on the trail just to see what it was like and sure enough, we also saw zero living creatures.
Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park
15 minutes down the road and we arrived at the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park where it is $3 per vehicle to drive the scenic route. This was my favorite stop of the day by far and also where we saw the greatest number of animals.
While you’re driving on the dirt road, there’s water on both sides of you. The neat thing about driving the park is that at any time you can stop and get out and view the wildlife. And that is exactly what we did!
Well, to be clear, there was one time I did not get out of the car. We stopped alongside about a 10-foot-long alligator that was getting some sun right on the edge of the road on my side of the car. There was plenty room to go around him, but we stopped next to him and put the windows down to take some photos and videos. He wasn’t too disturbed by us being there either. He moved his legs a little when the car would make a noise but overall, he was very peaceful and we were excited to have such a close viewing for so long.
The other most notable experience here was when we pulled off the side of the road for another car to pass. The road is narrow and there’s only a few spots that are wide enough for both cars to easily pass by. So, when we saw a car coming up, Kevin pulled off to a wider area and while we waited for that car to come past us, he got out of the car to see if he saw anything in the water.
He came back to the car like he saw a ghost and had chills running down his arms. My first thought was that he saw a big spider. But no, he told me to quickly get out of the car to come see this huge alligator. Knowing Kevin’s antics, I was pretty sure that it was going to be a super small alligator and that he was just trying to get me worked up.
To my surprise, he was telling the truth and it was one of the most amazing experiences I’ve had with an alligator in my life! There was a huge alligator under the water, about 13 feet long if we were to guess. The water was crystal clear, and you could see him lying on the bottom. When he saw us standing on the edge of the water, he started to slowly move away until he nudged himself underneath a log.
It was so freaky, and I had imagined a scenario if the water wasn’t that clear. People go up to water all the time to clean off their feet or their hands and if the water wasn’t crystal clear, you would never know that there was this huge dinosaur underneath the surface. And even more freaky, even with the crystal-clear water, he disappeared in a matter of seconds underneath a log.
Wooten’s Everglades Airboat Tour
Nine more minutes’ drive and we found ourselves at the most touristy place you could imagine – Wooten’s Airboat Tour. You can tell this place is old just by the signs out front. The signs are heavily faded from the sun and haven’t been updated in a very long time. We saw lots of groups of people going in and out when we were in the parking lot.
We didn’t have a reservation for any airboat tour (their website says you don’t have to have one) so we went inside and they said that they had room on their last tour of the day in just a few minutes time for $32.50 per person. It was only a 30-minute airboat ride, so we decided to go for it (they have lots of different tours, different lengths, and the ability to book a private tour).
While we were waiting to board the airboat, we saw a couple of big alligators around the docks, so we knew we were going to see some wildlife here. Before long, we were boarding the boat with a captain and a group of six people from Pennsylvania. The airboat could’ve sat at least 15 people by my guess, so having only 8 of us on board was very roomy. We had an entire row to ourselves.
The captain was super lively and interactive. He was a very fun guy to be around and really knew how to drive an airboat! We are passing through the narrowest channels through the swamps and anytime there was a big opening, he was sure to do a huge 360 spin, spray some water, and let out a big “YEEEHAW”!
It was over before we knew it and we had gotten to see a few more gators before we ended the day. A fun stop even though we normally avoid tourist traps at all costs.
Dinner
We drove 40 minutes back to the hotel to get cleaned up and ready for dinner. We decided to go to Ziggy D’amico’s which is a newer whiskey bar and diner in Naples. I absolutely love a glass of whiskey after a long day, so that’s what led me here in the first place, but I will say that their food is also great and very decently priced compared to other Naples dining options.
We were sat at a table in the outdoor patio area, and they had live music outside to enjoy – one of my favorites! My whiskey cocktail of choice this night was called the “75 Smash” and had Four Roses bourbon shaken with mint, blackberries, pineapple and topped with ginger beer. It was SO good & I will definitely be ordering it again (and trying to recreate it at home).
I ordered the Nashville hot chicken mac and cheese while Kevin decided to order the cheese steak sandwich. I have dined here a few times now and have always loved what I ordered. It’s worth mentioning that they have really great thin crust pizza!
Day 3
Naples Zoo
We almost didn’t visit the Naples Zoo because we decided to fly home this day instead of staying another night. The weather the next day in Atlanta was forecasted to be low IFR from sunrise the whole way through nightfall. Kevin had to get to work the next afternoon, so we didn’t have much flexibility to stay later than we anticipated.
The zoo opened at 9 AM so that’s what time we got there. It was $22.95 per person to enter the zoo, which is a small place but very lovely.
It was here that we finally reached our goal of seeing a Florida panther. Since it was early, all the big cats were up and walking around. I was worried that we wouldn’t get to see the panther if it was laying in the back of the enclosure but since it hadn’t reached the heat of the day and I don’t think that they had gotten their breakfast yet, they were all very lively. The tiger was roaring, the cheetahs were interacting at the glass with visitors, and the Florida panther was pacing the fence line right in front of all the guests.
Although it wasn’t a wild Panther (her name was Athena), it was still exciting to see one on this trip as it’s not something you get to see very often even in captivity.
We walked through the zoo very quickly which was easy to do early in the morning without a crowd, and then made our way to the airport because we wanted to be airborne before 11:30 AM.
Departing
We got out of the Naples airport super fast since we didn’t have to return the rental car ourselves and checking out was very easy at the Naples Aviation FBO. We did our pre-flight, filed our flight plan, and we were on our way!
We left Naples, Florida very satisfied to have gotten to enjoy short-sleeve weather for a few days in winter and experience a more wild side of South Florida that most people aren’t aware of. I highly recommend taking some time to enjoy some of these walking or driving trails next time you are in the area – you won’t regret it!
Are you interested in purchasing a plane like we flew on this trip? Contact us at ChasinTailwinds@gmail.com for more information on purchasing a new Cessna aircraft.
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