A Great Day in Okeechobee






Leaving the marina



  

I started the morning off by taking a complimentary boat tour of Lake Okeechobee. It ended up being a fantastic tour. Captain John Campbell was extremely informed of the facts and history of Lake Okeechobee. Okeechobee is the second largest fresh water lake in the United States. It covers 730 square miles (467,200 acres) and averages about ten feet in depth. In addition to the many recreational benifits it offers, it is the primary water source for South Florida. The lake is thirty-seven miles long and thirty miles wide.





Seven foot gator



Living in Florida for over forty years, I have seen my share of alligators, but I could not believe how densily the lake and surounding asteries are populated with gators. I definately would not advise swimming in these waters.










Approaching Lake Okechobee

 

I have never been on the Northern areas of Lake Okeechobee, although I have crossed the lake many times between Port Mayaka (on the Eastern shore) and Moore Haven (on the Western shore) while transversing the state through the Okeechobee Waterway between Port St. Lucie and Ft. Myers. The depth of the Northern area of the lake would not accommodate my boat's 4' 6" draft.





Okee-Tantie Campground

Okee-Tantie Campground lies right on the shore of the Kissimmii river. This would be a great place to camp if you have a boat, as the marina with slips to rent is next door. I was told, however, that the utilities are somewhat unreliable since the last huricane came through. I'll have to check this out more thoroughly before coming back with the boat.





Birds guarding the bridge

I called an eye clinic here in Okeechobee and scheduled an appointment for Dodie to have her eye checked. The doctor examined her eye and found an extremely bad scratch on her cornia. He perscribed some medication for her and felt that it should be better within a few days. We immediately had the perscription filled at a CVS pharmacy down the street and I dropped the first dose into her eye in their parking lot. We felt that the sooner she started the medication, the sooner it would heal. Within a few hours, she told me it was feeling better, so hopefully, it will work.



Dinner & Play

 Tonight I was invited to a dinner and murder/mystery performance. The players performed amongst the audience and interacted with us throughout the night. Several of us were pulled into the performance. I was shot at one point, but fortunately, I was allowed to live to see another day. I was not the murdered victom, thank goodness. As always in a performance like this, the most unlikely character was the murderer. The dinner was exceptionally good, and so was the wine. It was a great evening. 





Some of the actors in tonight's performance

Tomorrow morning I will be taking the Hummer and driving back to Ft. Lauderdale to pick up the jet boat. Hopefully, Dodie's eye will be well enough by Sunday for her to follow me back to Lakeland while I drive the motor home with the boat in tow.