We are fortunate to have two National Parks here – the Everglades and Biscayne. I’ve posted numerous times about both and of course, Hubby spends many hours in the Everglades with his photography. He also often covers different stories for the paper. One of those has been the saga of Flamingo Point. Everglades National Park is huge (1.5 million acres) and has multiple sections and entries. Once inside, there are also multiple places aside from the Main Visitor Center set up for walking and other activities. Deep into the Park – as in 42 miles – is the “end” of our section at Flamingo Point. There is camping, a small marina, and was a restaurant and hotel. Significant damage was done during Hurricane Katrina and in somewhat typical government fashion it took far longer to get back on track than one would expect. However, part of the delay was because they decided to build a new area with some extra facilities.

There is now a nice visitors center where the old motel and restaurant used to be and a new lodge and restaurant are close to the campground. Hubby has followed that entire process, but I hadn’t had a chance to go yet. He was unexpectedly off work Friday and we drove separately so he could stay after lunch and take more photos.

It does take an hour to drive and the thing is you don’t usually see much going through that part of the park. The spots for bird watching and so forth are off the main road. This time of year all the migrating species are gone, and noon to mid-afternoon birds and other wildlife aren’t active. In other words, the drive down and back wasn’t eventful. In keeping with elevation to avoid future storm surges, the new buildings are up approximately fourteen feet which does provide a partial view of Florida Bay. The restaurant is where you order at the counter and they bring meals to the table. They do have a full bar and the menu is mostly sandwiches, salads, and some soup as well as a few desserts. It is nicely decorated. I had a BLT wrap, Hubby had the grilled fish sandwich and they were both good. This is not really a place I would suggest as just to go for lunch – except once to experience it. To combine it with one of the walks will be pleasant though.