I visited two of these bird-watchers' paradises during a recent jaunt to the Florida West Coast. My friend, Eileen, who retired to Naples, takes all visitors for a hike in the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, a bit of wild Florida off Route 846. Younger visitors tend to get a bit restless on the 2.25-mile trail and want to return to the mall. But Eileen can't get enough of this treasure maintained by the National Audubon Society, and I was happy to return to the subtropical wilderness I loved when I first came to Florida a half century ago. Snorkelers explore Blue Hole Spring in Ichetucknee Springs State Park.
Corkscrew is an easy hike.
You walk a smooth dry boardwalk, looking down on marshland and tangled tree roots or up at flocks of birds. The trail is punctuated with interpretive displays that tell you where you are and what you're seeing. According to our field guide, the swamp teemed with wildlife in the '40s and '50s. It isn't teeming now, but the great egrets and blue herons put on a creditable show. Seniors who are not into long hikes can take a shortcut from the Lettuce Lakes area back to the visitors' center.