Roadside Attractions
(Click on images to enlarge, click again to zoom.)
You may be surprised to hear this, but Florida has “tourist attractions“. Beaches, picturesque old towns, prehistoric-looking person-eating hundred-foot-long alligators, cattle(!) drives, Seminole Indian reservations (complete with authentic casinos), fishing opportunities and the ultimate in planetary entertainment – an entire world built by a Mouse!
Gini and I are both natives of The Sunshine State so we are quite familiar with these incredible spectacles. I may even still have a small stuffed orange alligator somewhere in a box in the corner of the garage which I begged for while visiting “Gatorland” when I was about six. (It surely must have some antique value by now! Just think, a genuine Florida ‘gator with sharp little teeth and claws and that little tag on its stomach “Made In China” which Dad never could explain to my young satisfaction.)
Inexplicably, most of those attractions no longer attract us. Could it be we simply don’t like that glitzy stuff? Or the hordes of people we must wade through to get to the counter selling baby ‘gators? Perhaps it’s something in our orange juice. Climate change?
What? No, it has nothing to do with growing up. I can’t believe you said that.
Not too long ago, we spent about an hour driving along an old logging road. Recent rains have filled the drainage ditches and we are enjoying our “seasonal creeks”. The land is lush and green. Flowers abound. Insects buzz around sipping nectar and try to eat each other. It was an uncharacteristically (for us) short ride. All the images in this post were taken within a few feet of the road.
We really do love sharing our state’s unique attractions with visitors. For those who wish to explore beyond the Mouse’s House, take the next exit off the expressway, turn right and enjoy a few alternative Roadside Attractions.
(Gini is still having fun with doctors and their machines. These photographs are again from May in the Green Swamp.)
Looking spiffy in her racing stripe design with wings set forward, this Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) is ready to intercept any mosquitoes who dare invade her space. (No wonder we love dragonflies!)
Bright orange flowers and narrow leaves help identify the Fewflower Milkweed (Asclepias lanceolata). Several species of Milkweed are larval hosts for Monarch, Queen and Soldier butterflies. More than a few others like its tasty nectar just fine. Oh, here’s one now – a thirsty Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos).
As wildflowers continue to bloom profusely, insects become more and more active. All those busy bugs attract bigger bugs. And they are hungry. A female Bar-winged Skimmer (Libellula axilena) waits patiently for a fast-food breakfast to fly by.
How can one not like a plant with such a cool name? Bandanna-of-the-Everglades (Canna flaccida) brightens up the swamp.
The very small flowers of the Showy Milkwort (Asemeia grandiflora) remind us of orchids.
Here there be dragons! Even really little ones. This Little Blue Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax minuscula) is among the smallest dragonfly species in North America.
What’s in a name? Bristle Thistle, Yellow Thistle, Horrid Thistle, Purple Thistle, Spiny Thistle, Bull Thistle. All are regional common names for Cirsium horridulum. In our area, we normally encounter purple thistles. When we lived in Texas, yellow seemed more prevalent. Today, Gini spied a white group. The second image shows a beetle known as a Flower Chafer (Trichiotinus species).
One of our favorite critters to encounter in spring and summer is the Hummingbird Clearwing (Hemaris thysbe). This moth is a bit larger than a Bumble Bee and loves those thistles we just mentioned.
Speaking of Bumble Bees.
Gorgeous red flowers and bright green almost fern-like leaves belong to the Trumpet Creeper (Campsis radicans). It’s not unusual for these vining beauties to climb 30 feet or more where they provide some eye-catching beauty to the tree canopy of the swamp.
Several Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) butterflies flitted just outside the car window.
A lovely morning glory species is the Noyau Vine (Merremia dissecta), also called Alamo Vine.
“Look into my eyes …” But do it from a distance. They may be mesmerizing but their owner would love to chomp through your skin. The bite of the Yellow Fly (Diachlorus ferrugatus) is painful.
Florida has much to offer for tourists and residents alike. Pick your attraction and come on down!
Enjoy your search for a natural place and come back for a visit!
Our Natural Places 
Catching up after an out of town visit with family (and a virus). I was taken by your photo of the Alamo vine flower – such intricately sculpted internals. And the white stretched petals recalled the images I saw this morning of NASA’s Advanced Composite Solar Sail flying through space, stretched to capture every photon.
Wishing Gini a continued recovery, and you both the joys of more trips along the roadside.
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Thanks for taking the time to catch up, Sam. Sure hope that virus is in your rear-view mirror.
What an interesting description of how you saw that flower. As I found NASA’s sail and compared it to the bloom, I totally see the same thing.
Gini still has a bit of a journey, but overall is doing well.
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Yep, virus is done and dusted. I was only out of commission 6 days, the vaccination is one of the miracles of modern science.
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Well, I’ve been to the mouse house once when I was 5 – no desire to see it again. Even been to Gatorland – father wouldn’t bend to my will to get one to take home. My parents actually owned a condo in Ft Myers. They were lucky enough to sell it prior to their passing as the recent hurricane did some major damage to their old condo. Like you, not really into the touristy areas preferring the more subdued nature areas to spend our time. I do have to confess, nobody told us as kids the Hummingbird Clearwing wasn’t a big nasty hornet (looked similar to our gigantic hornets). We used to kill them with a vengeance – felt bad ever since someone showed me the light. Note, I do not regret the countless summer nights smacking lightening bugs with a wiffle bat – best batting practice a little leaguer could ever get. I could put those dragon eyes on our trail and scare the hell out of everyone ha.
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From the perspective of a kid, or parents with kids, visiting something like Disney World is mandatory. I remember our own kids’ eyes brighten and widen as we got close to the place and it ended up being a really wonderful memory.
My taste in attractions just changed as our nestlings fledged into their own worlds.
No need to apologize for the crimes we may or may not have committed when we were growing up. If we got caught doing something really bad, well, I still have marks from Dad’s razor thin belt on the back of my legs. (Okay, not really. But that particular memory sure is painful.)
We shall not mention my bride’s early years of pre-entomology. Let’s just say a matchbox filled with the heads of dragonflies hidden in a seven-year old’s underwear drawer begins to achieve a strange odor after a few months causing a Mother’s nose to twitch. But – those eyes! Even then.
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Those ants crept a good distance to get to the goodies in the trumpet creeper. I’m not sure what sort of goodie the anole was chowing down on, but it looked substantial enough for a decent snack.
The Canna flaccida was a surprise. It’s quite beautiful, and it looks especially nice among those ferns. We have a similar species, also yellow: Canna glauca. I’m not so fond of the standard garden cannas, but these natives just knock me out.
Tell Gini I’m officially jealous. I’ve never found one of those thistles in white and believe me: I’ve looked. Lucky lady! The color variations in those thistles is interesting. In my area, they tend to be yellow, but farther down the coast, toward Rockport and Corpus Christi, I see pink.
When I was mentioning other orange flowers in my entry about Chapman’s orchid, I thought about this one. They’re so pretty. Naturally orange flowers are so much more appealing than the ‘commercial orange’ that’s about to overtake us in the runup to Halloween.
I’m so glad to know you’ve been out and about more recently — and proved to us here that it’s not necessary to trek deep into the woods/swamp/fields to see some truly lovely bits of nature!
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Your comment about the ants made me think of slightly revising a line from the movie “Field of Dreams”. When it comes to flowers and nectar seekers: “Grow it and they will come.”.
It is always a treat to see those big yellow flags rising above most everything in a wetland.
The white thistle was certainly a bonus. When it comes to finding neat nature stuff, I’m occasionally the lucky one. Gini is just plain good at it.
The orange milkweed plants were over three feet tall growing along a roadside drainage ditch. Beauty is where you find it.
Thank you so much for all the supportive thoughts. Hopefully, we’ll get in a few trips before our pleasant summer weather begins to wane. Oh – wait. Never mind.
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What great images, and how exciting to see a Hummingbird Clearwing. This is unique. Thanks for sharing!
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We appreciate your nice comments, Maria, and you are very welcome.
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Those Yellow Fly eyes are amazing – and scary Wally. And thanks for the Hummingbird Moth photos. I’ve been fascinated with them for a while but have never managed to actually see one.
Also, I have to confess a residual fondness for Gatorland. Watching my grandson there has been a very big delight.
Ed
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Those SHOULD be scary! The bite of that fly is not soon forgotten.
In late spring and throughout the summer, look for thistles. Hummingbird Clearwings won’t be far away.
Florida’s great tourist spots, such as Gatorland, are absolutely essential for those who are young (or, okay-I confess, those who are young at heart).
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Beautiful shots! I was going to say that clearwing was my favorite but then I got to the bottom and saw that yellow fly macro. I love back road trips.
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Thank you, Dina. Back roads have the neatest stuff!
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Hi Wally and Gini. I hope to very soon find that you are both out hand-in-hand finding new and familiar Florida goodies for us to enjoy.
Poor old Walt must be rotating fast in his resting place to see what has become of his baby. I read that the last four high-profile releases bombed at the box office, losing over $1 billion between them. ‘Viewing figures and box-office sales spell this out clearly. Audiences are growing sick of the woke slop that Disney has been serving them. They are tired with scripts that are weighed down by clunky political messaging. They are fed up with storylines being mangled to fit ‘progressive’ narratives. They are irked by Disney’s desire to lecture them instead of entertain them.’
https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/02/19/disney-a-billion-dollar-casualty-of-woke/
Not to mention the fact that the Disney parks are prohibitively expensive when my pal Andy itemised how much his treat to his grand-kids of a week in Florida cost him. If only you and Gini had been home when he rang the doorbell with his suitcase he could have saved thousands of dollars. I know you were called out urgently but were ready to find him and his family a couple of beds.
Back to important things. Over here the BBC (Biased Broadcasting Company, one of their several adjusted titles) have today completed a highly comical fawning piece on Harris, ‘how great she will be for the country, and Walz, a man dripping in authenticity.’
We have just had a rough week of winds and showers that are simply no good for man nor beast. Sue had her wonky eye lasered then ordered new specs and shades at £350 in readiness for Greece, so that’s my camera upgrade gone for a Burton. Andy has been in hospital, minor surgery, for few days so there’s no one to go ringing with until he shifts his backside.
Well what do you know? The sun is out, the grass has grown like crazy and I need to get the mower out and look like I am enjoying it.
See you soon both. Keep the faith and Make America Great Again.
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They need a name change, perhaps “Dizzy World” would be more correct. Our son in Texas was going to treat his family to a trip there last year and discovered he could buy a new house for about the cost of admission. They are enjoying the new house.
Your intrepid BBC correspondents are spot on in describing the two candidates for which no one in their party was permitted to vote. It’s the new “Democrat” way, apparently. Only puppets permitted to perform.
Happy to hear Sue may have a better-functioning eye and the new glasses will certainly come in handy for sun protection as well as discerning the small print of a taverna menu.
I have the same issue with the grass outside the window and am faced with the same dilemma as you – get to it, pretend to enjoy it. On the other hand, there is some apple pie left over. The lawn will be there tomorrow.
Good news, Our faith is strong and America remains great. Those governing the ship of state may not know a barnacle from a binnacle but the vast majority of the crew know exactly what to do with false captains.
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The beginning of the post leads us to suspect that someone has a very large cheek in which to insert a tongue. All in a day’s work for an appreciator of nature with a sense of humor.
Your excellent closeups reveal, always, the variety of small creatures in what has become the state with the third greatest number of larger creatures called people. Your mention of a chafer beetle had me speculating that the name comes from the verb chafe, but a check showed that unlike French-derived chafe, chafer is native English and means literally ‘gnawer.’
You probably saw Merremia dissecta when you lived in Texas. The common names for it on one website include some I’ve never heard: Alamo vine, bindweed, cut-leaf morning glory, mile-a-minute, noon flower, Noyau vine, snakevine, white convolvulus creeper.
And what a great colorful eyeful that closing picture provides.
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In our travels, we found most states and communities have their own “roadside attractions”. Those things made moving from one area of the country to another much more enjoyable.
That “gnawer” family of beetles certainly lives up to the name. Holy flower petals and leaf blades are left in their wake.
We did, indeed, encounter M. dissecta while in Texas. There was a favorite back road north of San Antonio where it took over an abandoned homestead each spring. Glorious blooms.
Love those flies’ eyes. The mouth parts, not so much.
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Beautiful set of images (again). The eyes of that fly, wow! You can see why it will bite you, it looks like a psycho with the psychedelic peepers.
The Pearl Crescents are stunning.
All the best to Gini for a swift recovery so you can both get out enjoy more, maybe even take in mouseland, you might have a great time!
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Appreciate your nice comments, Brian.
We visited Disney World once when our kids were small. That was enough to last us several lifetimes. At my age, I wouldn’t survive the traffic nowadays.
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The scary eyes of the Yellow fly are my favourite.
Again, all the best to Gini!
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Thank you so much. We appreciate your positive thoughts.
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Poor Gini. I hope she can emerge from the clutches of the medicos and their instruments of torture. Soon.
And love the antidote to that pain which you have so generously shared.
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She’s holding up well. The docs are beginning to realize SHE may be the expert in the room. 🙂
That antidote is being applied in ever-increasing dosages.
Wishing you could have a pain-free week. Stay cool!
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You are an amazing insect whisperer. All bees, butterflies, moths, and dragonflies simply sit still and pose for you whenever they hear your voice. I need to learn that language!
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Well, thank you, but – I cheat.
I have Gini with me and she just stands there and all those creatures are so taken with her aura they simply sit and stare.
Click! Easy-peasy.
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You two make the perfect team! 😊
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