Category: National Parks

Posted in: Exploring South Carolina, Museums & Tours, National Park, National Parks, School, Sightseeing

Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina

Although Fort Sumter is part of the National Park Service, there was not an admission fee. However, the only way to get to the fort is by boat, and the ferry ride does cost money.

The boat ride was similar to other boat tours we had taken. They pointed out other sites and talked about the history of Fort Sumter. There was a Park volunteer on the ride to and from that handed out maps and the Junior Ranger programs and badges.

We had a windy, cold, drizzly kind of day, so the water was a little rougher. Once we were docked, there was a ranger led talk that lasted about 15 minutes and went over the history of why Fort Sumter was built and its role in the Civil War. Even after the Civil War, they upgraded the Battery to keep it as a coastal defense. After the talk, we were free to read all the signs and explore around the fort. However, we only had an hour once we docked before the ship left again. It definitely felt rushed. We definitely could have spent a little more time reading and learning, at least another 1/2 hour to an hour would have been nice.

DETAILS:*

  • TICKETS: Fort Sumter, $0. Boat rides were $30/adults, $18 ages 4-11. (Our total for 4 adults was $127.20, as there was an additional $7.20 fee on the online booking receipt.) COVID Restrictions: masks required
  • HOURS: Visitor Center 9:00am-5:00pm (in Charleston). Boat rides vary per season and per location When we went boats departed Liberty Square (Charleston, SC) at 9:30am, 12:15pm, 3:00pm, and Patriots Point (Mount Pleasant, SC) at 10:45 am and 1:45 pm.
  • PARKING: Pay parking on street or nearby lots. It was $5 for the day at Patriot’s Point, which was where we departed from.
  • BATHROOM: Yes
  • TIME RECOMMENDED: 1-2 hours
  • *Details correct at the time of posting, but please double check before you go.

Posted in: Exploring Georgia, Hiking, National Park, National Parks, Sightseeing

Fort Pulaski National Monument, Georgia

Written by tepetravels

Fort Pulaski is outside of Savannah, Georgia (on the way to Tybee Island), and about an hour from our campground. It is part of the National Park Service, so we were able to use our annual America The Beautiful pass.

It was similar to Fort Zachary in Key West, but had a few unique features to it including a moat and a drawbridge!

The Visitor Center was closed, although the bathrooms across from the Visitor Center were open. The Visitor Center had maps outside and there was someone there to hand out Junior Ranger program booklets and badges. There are also few hiking trails; however, only two were open when we were there. The ranger did not think the Lighthouse trail would be opening anytime soon. It seemed like nature was reclaiming the trail.

Visitor Center, informational signs, looking towards Fort Pulaski from Visitor Center

There was a moat around the fort, which was pretty cool. During the Civil War, the Fort was originally Confederate, but Union soldiers gained control. There was a small cemetery out front from when the Fort also acted as a prison for Confederate soldiers during the Civil War. Parts of the outside paths and trails were closed for construction. We entered the Fort on a boardwalk over the water and through the drawbridge.

One of my favorite features was the drawbridge and the amazing doors of the Fort.

The Drawbridge

The fort had lots of rooms and cannon exhibits open on the main floor. It also had stone spiral staircases leading up to the top floor. Most of this area was closed for repairs/construction and there was also no guardrail along the edge. It definitely gave you a different perspective of the fort and the surrounding area.

Views from the top of the Fort

Fort Pulaski still had some of the metal rails in the floor that guided the cannons. It was neat to see those, as Fort Zachary in Key West had similar markings on the floor of where (I assume) these metal pieces used to be. It was nice to see the “whole picture” of the cannon set up at Fort Pulaski. Pulaski also allowed us to see a couple new cannon accessories that we had not seen before; the casement gin and sling carts that were used to move the heavy equipment.

There was another really neat feature that we got to see at Fort Pulaski, the foundation and built in cisterns. The Fort is surrounded by salt water, so there were 10 built-in cisterns to collect rainwater.

During the Civil War the Fort also acted as a Prison for Confederate soldiers.

Some information when it was acting as a Civil War prison

DETAILS:*

  • TICKETS: Included in America the Beautiful (Interagency) Pass. If you don’t the America The Beautiful Pass, it is $10/person for a week pass (ages 15 and under free), or $35 for a Fort Pulaski annual pass. Cash was not being accepted at the gate, credit/debit cards only. COVID Restrictions: masks required, Visitor Center closed.
  • HOURS: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
  • PARKING: Parking lot at Visitor Center/Fort.
  • BATHROOM: Yes, by the Visitor Center
  • TIME RECOMMENDED: 1-3 hours
  • *Details correct at the time of posting, but please double check before you go.
Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring Florida, National Park, National Parks, School, Sightseeing

Turtles, Mosquitos and Alligators…OH MY!

Written by tepetravels

Although we have seen plenty of turtles and been bitten by many mosquitoes, this post is mostly about my favorite, alligators. My kids may be getting sick of me pointing out an alligator every time I see one, especially since we see them all over the place in the South (Florida, Georgia and South Carolina). I’m not sure why, but I get a huge kick out of seeing these guys in the wild. We saw some decent sized alligators (as well as some crocodiles) in the Everglades National Park, Florida. We even got to see one with it’s mouth open!

At our campground in South Carolina, we saw several smaller ones on the nearby walking trail in the ponds. One looked very young, only 2-3 feet long. The campground’s alligators were not even close to being the same size as the ones in the Everglades, so I felt pretty safe walking around the walking path as long as we all stayed aware.

The boys certainly enjoyed the first several ones we saw and it was a great teaching opportunity to slide in some alligator facts. I have some of these facts below!

Fun alligator facts:

Alligators have about 80 teeth and as the old ones get worn down, new ones come in.

Alligators can hear underwater.

Alligators vs Crocodiles: We saw both in the Everglades. It was a great teaching moment.

Alligators have a rounded snout and are dark grey/black in color. Alligators also do not normally show bottom teeth with their mouth closed.

Crocodiles have a pointed snout and are a grey/brown/green color. Crocodiles bottom and top teeth are visible with their mouth closed. Crocodiles tend to be more aggressive.

An alligator can live up to 50 years. They continue to grow throughout their life.

The power in an alligator’s jaw comes in closing, they do not have a lot of jaw opening strength.

To estimate an alligators size from a distance, calculate the length from the tip of their nose to the eye ridge. One inch of distance here is equal to one foot of total length.

Alligators dig burrows (holes, tunnels) and once they move out, other animals move in. These holes are very important, as they can be deep and hold water, even when other areas have dried up.

Alligators can climb, short fences and even ladders, although we did not see any on stilts or ladders during our encounters.

To get away from an alligator, just run in a straight line 20-30 ft, no zig-zag required. To be safe, I would keep running.

They can leap out of the water using their tail, up to 5 feet!

They will balance sticks on their snout to attract birds…to eat.

They do not hibernate, but they do have times where they are dormant when the weather is too cold (below 55℉).

Mating season is May to June. Eggs hatch in Mid-August to September.

The babies gender is determined by the temperature in the nest. The mom will stay with her eggs and protect them for a year to two after they hatch.

If you have any great Alligator or Crocodile stories, we would love to hear them. Post them in the comments.

LINKS:

US Fish & Wildlife Service

Smithsonian

Britannica

Kissimmee

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Campground Review, Exploring Florida, National Park, National Parks, Sightseeing

Miami Everglades RV Resort Thousand Trails: Campground Review

Written by tepetravels

For our stay in Miami, we stayed at the Miami Everglades Thousand Trails. This was not part of our Thousand Trails membership, so we had to pay extra for the site. We were only there a few days, so we did not get a chance to do a video or take part in many of the campground’s amenities.

The campground did have a propane refill station, an office (they met us outside, so we didn’t get to see it), and a laundry room. The washers were listed at $1.50 and $2/load, dryers $1.50/load. However, they ran on a card which you had to rent for $5 (refunded when you returned the card) and had to place a minimum of $5 on the card.

The park had a nice walking trail along the outside of it and we got to see several different types of lizards.

There were lots of fun things to do around the campground, including putt putt and shuffleboard. Part of the park was a large open field, which was used for group camping, as well as storage, but also would work for running off excess energy.

Dog area, tiki hut, shuffleboard, pool, basketball

It was in a decent location, although there was nothing close by, as it was surrounded by plant nurseries. It was about 30 minutes to Everglades National Park (depending on which Visitor Center you wanted to go to) and Biscayne National Park.

The huge negative for me, and the reason why I would not go back, are the interior roads. They are barely single lanes and are not marked as one ways, so when we pulled out, we had to guess which road to go down and hope no one was coming the other way. Because the roads are narrow, it also made pulling out of our site take an hour. Not packing up and pulling out, just pulling out. Our neighbor to the left had pulled really close to the road and the neighbors across parked their cars along the road, so we had to keep backing up and moving the RV so we could clear them all. The neighbors were nice and moved a car and tried to help with making sure I was clearing my blind spots. For smaller rigs, it would probably work out well, but it was incredibly hard to maneuver a large RV. NOTE: Someone told us that going over to the tiki hut side, driving past the tiki hut and by the propane would be easier and give you more room to maneuver (instead of trying to turn left onto the center road). It definitely helped.

If we had a smaller RV, I would stay here again, but it was just too hard to maneuver with ours.

Our site and the narrow rows
Black line is how we were directed to come into the site. Pink line is how we left our site, going across and around by the tiki hut instead of trying to turn left on center lane.

SUMMARY OF CAMPGROUND:

Our rating: 3 out of 5 hitches (The nice walking path and amenities got it to a 3)

Cell Phone Reception: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile

Laundry: Yes

Bathrooms/Showers: Yes

RV Sites: Pull Through, Back-In, grass/dirt sites

Pop Up Tents/Gazebos/Outdoor Rugs On-Site: Tents were listed as a no, but we saw several around the campground. Screen rooms had to be approved.

Amenities: picnic table, concrete patio at site, community fire pit, cable, playground, dog area, pool, large tiki hut area with picnic tables, putt putt, basketball, shuffleboard, pickleball, horseshoes, sand volleyball court, walking trail

Cabins: Yes

Tent Camping: Yes

Full Hook-ups: Yes

            Amps: 30, 50

Pool: Yes

Food On-Site: No

Camp Store: unknown

WiFi: Pay

Accepts Mail: unknown

Fishing: No

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring Florida, National Park, National Parks, Sightseeing

Biscayne National Park (Near Miami, Florida)

Written by tepetravels

The Miami area has two National Parks: Everglades and Biscayne National Park. The Everglades were amazing, so we wanted to check out Biscayne as well. Biscayne National Park is 95% water, with only one trail at the Visitor Center. There was parking at the Visitor Center and you could schedule a boat to take you around the park.

Bottom right: red and black mangroves

The Visitor Center had a movie about the park, as well as a great learning area about the history of the area and it’s ecosystem. We all learned that the red mangroves are the ones you normally think of with their long roots reaching into the water. The black mangrove trees have roots that stick up through the ground like straws! The Visitor Center’s trail was only about a 1/4 mile. The path consists of a bridge and a dirt path, but we did get to see the different types of mangroves in person along the trail. Nick was able to complete the Junior Ranger program there as well, as this book was mostly reading and could be done without taking a boat into the Park.

Guided tours (via boat, snorkel, paddle boards, and kayak) are available, but do cost extra. It was neat to see, but not very much to do unless you take a boat out.

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring Florida, Hiking, National Park, National Parks, School

Everglades National Park

Written by tepetravels

While we were in Miami, we went to Everglades National Park. At first just to see it since we were in the area, but it turned out to be one of our favorite parks.

We took three trails: Anhinga, Gumbo Limbo, and Eco Pond. The Anhinga and Gumbo Limbo trails were at the Royal Palm Visitor Center and were a nice walk. Anhinga was a nice smooth path and boardwalk.

The Anhinga Trail had water that was amazingly clear. We saw two alligators along this trail: one swimming and one right next to the trail.

The Gumbo Limbo trail was a shaded dirt path through a forested area. We saw lots of dragonflies.

The Eco Pond was also a dirt trail that wrapped around a pond. We had read that it was supposed to be good for wildlife, but we didn’t see any.

We stopped at the Flamingo Visitor Center and saw two crocodiles and a few manatees. The water wasn’t as clear here, so we could only see them when they poked out. We saw some nesting ospreys and so many other birds.

Which one is the crocodile or alligator, which one is wood? It’s crazy how much they can look look like a log in the water! The picture on the left is a log, and the ones on the right are crocodiles in the water.
Bottom center and right: manatees

There were boat and kayak launches throughout the park as well. The Flamingo Visitor Center had a food truck there making some tasty burgers, so we grabbed a quick lunch (Weeki Tiki Food Truck, $9.50 for a burger).

I would definitely recommend visiting the Everglades National Park!

Note: Each Visitor Center had their own stamp, if you collect them.

Posted in: Exploring Louisiana, Hiking, National Park, National Parks, School, Sightseeing

Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve: Chalmette Battleground and Cemetery

Written by tepetravels

Chalmette Battleground and Cemetery is another part of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. When we were there, the Visitor Center was only open on the weekend. The park itself was open until 4:00 pm most days.

It is a battleground site. This was our first battleground visit on our trip. There is not a lot to see: a Visitor Center, the obelisk monument, a memorial urn statue, and a plantation house. If you climb the levy, you can look at the river. There is a nice paved walking trail around the monument to the house. There is also a driving path (I did see lots of people walking it too) that leads further back on the battlefield and to the cemetery.

Pano of the Park grounds

The Rodriguez Plantation house is still on the property, although the second story staircase is gated off with a danger sign. We saw that the second story balcony was missing several boards.

The Park’s grounds also contain a National Cemetery, although only 4 from the War of 1812 are buried there. I didn’t know until after our visit, but there is also an audio tour available by calling on your cell phone (number is 504-799-0803 per their website) and there is also a virtual tour.

Cemetery: Can be accessed by walking or driving on the “self-guided driving” path

As a side note: Will saw one of the paintings featured on an informational plaque at the park in his history textbook. He thought it was pretty funny that the image included in his textbook had a National Park Service plaque memo that the image was inaccurate, as the river “was not crowded with ships during the battle”.

Posted in: Animal Sightings, Exploring Louisiana, Hiking, National Park, National Parks, Sightseeing, YouTube Video Link

Jean Lafitte National Historical Park: Barataria Preserve

Written by tepetravels 1 Comment on Jean Lafitte National Historical Park: Barataria Preserve

SUPER BONUS – Brought to you by the National Parks. Call (504) 799-0802 and learn about the Barataria Preserve.

We wanted to take a nice walk, so we headed to the Barataria Preserve (part of the Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve).

Our first stop was at the Visitor Center at the Barataria Preserve (the Jean Lafitte Visitor Center in the French Quarter is currently closed due to COVID). Unfortunately, we went after work/school, so we didn’t get there until 4:30 and they closed the gates at 5:00pm. We took the shorter Visitor Center Trail, which took about 20 minutes. We really liked the park and decided to come back on the weekend when we had more time. There are several trails that were closed because of damage, so I would recommend stopping at the Visitor Center to see which ones are currently open.

Our second time there, Nick got his Junior Ranger Badge. We took the Bayou Coquille Trail and Marsh Overlook. The trail began as a dirt/gravel path and once you got to the marshy bayou, it switched to a wooden plank trail.

It was gorgeous. We didn’t see any alligators, although we did see lots of caution signs for them. It was probably too cold, as it was in the 60’s. We did see a turtle sunning on a rock, several great egrets, a nutria eating and swimming in the bayou, and a deer.

Part of the bayou was covered in a flotant, which is a floating mass of plants. It looks solid, but is not always strong enough to hold a human’s weight. It certainly looked like you could walk on it, it would be a huge surprise to find out it wasn’t solid and end up in the water!

Although I was disappointed we didn’t see any alligators, going in the cooler weather probably saved us from a few mosquito bites. And as a friend pointed out when they saw the pictures, probably from seeing a few snakes too. (I am glad we missed the snakes, especially since they have cottonmouths and copperheads down here.)

I could spend several days there. I loved seeing the Spanish Moss on the trees and hearing the different bird calls.

The park did a nice job with the informational signs around the trail as well. Several stops had an audio tour that was a great touch. You called a number from your phone and entered your stop number to hear the information. It was really neat (see beginning of this post to experience it for yourself).

There are a few other trails on the other side of the road by the Educational Center. We were told those trails are mostly dirt, so if it had rained recently they would be muddy. We didn’t have the shoes for mud, so we may go back another day.

VIDEO: Clips From Our Walk In Barataria Preserve in Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve

Posted in: Exploring Texas, National Park, National Parks, Sightseeing

Waco Mammoth National Monument

Written by tepetravels

I dragged Ben to see more dinosaur bones. He was thrilled. Well, not exactly since he isn’t into dinosaurs, but at least this time we could see actual bones easily.

While looking up things to see in Waco, I saw the Waco Mammoth National Monument listed. It is a relatively new part of the National Park Service, having been inducted in 2015. It was less than 10 minutes from downtown Waco, so after exploring Magnolia, we drove over. On our way to the park, we passed the suspension bridge, which we also wanted to walk across, but was currently closed.

We have the National Park pass, but you still have to pay admission to see the bones. The flyer at the desk says it is for access to the bones with a guided tour. However, there was not a guided tour, just someone monitoring the amount of people in the building. We basically paid another $20 to the city of Waco to see the site. It is a really small park with only one real walking trail and a short loop off of the main trail through the woods. Since there had been rain this week, parts of the trail were covered in water, so we didn’t get to go on the whole trail.

Ben said the molars looked like boot prints.

It was interesting, but I would not go back again, especially since we would have to pay again.

Posted in: Exploring Texas, Hiking, Injuries, National Parks, Sightseeing

Pointy Things Hurt

Written by tepetravels 2 Comments on Pointy Things Hurt

After years of poking ourselves with sewing needles, bamboo skewers for kebobs, or even sharp corners of the cabinets, you would think that we would learn.

Nope.

In Arizona, Nick touched the red fruit of a cactus. The fruit were smaller than a dime and looked soft, but there were still sharp needles on there! You just couldn’t see them as easily. We had just been researching about the prickly pear cactus fruit and how you have to remove the fine needles from it before eating. However, because they were smaller, I guess he thought he could poke at them.

In Texas, near the Japanese Tea Garden, Ben had a run in with a yucca plant. There were not any sidewalks from the Garden to the neighboring parking lot, so we we trying to walk in the grass area to avoid the incoming car/truck traffic. Ben got too close to a yucca plant and got stabbed by its pointy tip. We did some quick research and found that yucca’s have a toxin in them that create swelling. We keep a stocked first aid kit in the truck, so we cleaned it, put antibiotic ointment and a bandage on and gave him a Benadryl. It bled quite a bit for such a small hole. We changed the bandage that night and used Benadryl cream. It still had quite a bump for a few days and was sore.

We have definitely learned new things on this trip. For example, I had no idea yucca had a toxin and that the ends got harder as the plant got older.

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