George and I drove into Collier-Seminole State park and knew right away it was a park best explored on a kayak or canoe. It is within one of the largest mangrove swamps in the world. If we did not have Casey with us we may have considered renting a vessel to paddle around in but I was way too nervous to bring Casey on the water, especially in south Florida.

We did walk around the park and stop to admire the Bay City Walking Dredge which was pivotal in the construction of the Tamami Trail. I loved reading the history of the dredge and the two men, Meece Ellis and Earl Ivey, that ran the machine night and day to get the job done. They did a job no one else was willing to do and it changed the functionality of that whole area.

Before you visit, make sure you check out the parks website for all of the up-to-date park information: https://www.floridastateparks.org/parks-and-trails/collier-seminole-state-park