In the way of come back on Tampa Bay, we went to the Everglades to see some gators and wild landscapes.  There are lots of small business around to show you the place by air boat and we picked up Coopertown Air Boat Rides. Today, the weather is not good but we have a lot of fun :)

The Everglades are a subtropical wetland located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large watershed. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimmee River, which discharges into the vast but shallow Lake Okeechobee. Water leaving the lake in the wet season forms a slow-moving river 60 miles (97 km) wide and over 100 miles (160 km) long, flowing southward across a limestone shelf to Florida Bay at the southern end of the state. The ever-changing Everglades are shaped by water and fire, with frequent flooding in the wet season and drought in the dry season. Environmental activist Marjory Stoneman Douglas popularized the term “River of Grass” to describe the sawgrass marshes, part of a complex system of interdependent ecosystems that include cypress swamps, the estuarine mangrove forests of the Ten Thousand Islands, tropical hardwood hammocks, pine rockland, and the marine environment of Florida Bay.

Reference: Wikipedia

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In a district of Miami, Little Havana, we went to an Authentic Cuban Restaurant called Versailles.

It’s a nice restaurant, where foods are very goods and not too expensive. There is a “mirror room” at the bottom of the restaurant, there is nothing special but it’s fun :)

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And guess what is my favourite? :)

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278 miles from my place

Leave at 9 am, we make a break to take a brunch at Waffle House. As you can see on pictures, the place looks very nice for long-distance truck drivers :)

When I saw the map of Florida and the directions we had to take from our place to Miami, I thought we are going to cross Florida in diagonal but no way! We need to go around because there are no road for that. There are only forests (with orange made from Tropicana?) and swamps with gators (The Everglades).

After 6 hours, we finally arrived at Miami Beach! Total costs for fuel and tolls: only $50 for 600 miles round trip…

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