It was a gorgeous day to get outside. What should we do? I think we should go on an adventure!
I started looking up places on Google maps that we've never been in our area. I found the Randell Research Center in Bokeelia, FL. It looked like a great place to start!
It's about a 30 minute drive from our house, pretty close by.
Bokeelia is a little town on Pine Island, a coastal island in the southern gulf coast of Florida. I'd love to live there, I love the feel of small towns. And I love being surrounded by water.
We stopped at a small public kayak launch to enjoy the sights. There was a short boardwalk. We stayed a little while and watched the mullet jump out of the water.
A lovely lady loved this place 🙂 we can understand why she did ❤️
We arrived at the Randell Research Center, where the University of Florida is researching and preserving the archaeology / culture of the Calusa natives. We started our walk on the Calusa Heritage Trail ❤️
The history of the natives makes me sad. I hate that they were raped and murdered or sold into slavery. Indigenous people took care of the world around them, unlike the "civilized" people. It's heavy stuff.
The Calusa natives engineered and dug canals! They had a network of man made canals that helped them travel by canoe faster from one side of the island to the other.
It's amazing that they were able to do this with very limited tools!
I took this picture because I've never seen a red headed skink before!
The Calusa natives built up the land. It says that they would use their trash to start the foundation on their mounds. They built structures on the mounds. And the chief lived on the highest mound.
We went to the top. I'm sure these stairs are not from the Calusa.
Even though it's only about 30 ft up, it felt very high. Florida is flat land, especially southern Florida! The only heights I experience on a regular basis are bridges.
Fletcher did not want to go to the top of the mound. Wyatt wanted to leave as soon as he got to the top of the stairs. I wonder if there was a negative energy that led them to hesitate. I think small children are more intuitive then adults on stuff like that.
We only walked a portion of the trail. We'll definitely have to go back and see what else is there! This was our view leaving 😍😍
We had to stop by this park on the way home!
The playground looks like a pirate ship! Arrgh!!
This is basically what we live for 😁
Fletcher could swing all day!
Wyatt climbed the rock wall, of course!!
As you can probably tell, this was the highlight of their day! Just look at those faces ❤️
We had to go check out the water too.
Simply beautiful 😎
One more time on the swing before the sun disappears!!
And that's the end of our adventure ☺️
Thanks for stopping by my blog! ❤️❤️❤️
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