Evening star., 1937-02-14
SUMMER RETURNS
IN FLORIDA TRIP.
Beautiful Sun.Bathed Cities
Offer Variety of Attrac-
tions for Visitors.
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(Continued From Eighth Page)
trees down the center flanked by the
gigantic hotels on one side and Bay
Front Park on the other, is one of the
outstanding thoroughfares in this
country.
The air-minded visitor in Miami
will want to visit the Pan-American
Airways base, where the great clipper
ships take off for Rio. Buenos Aires
or Caracas as casually as the 8:15
leaves the suburbs for the city. He
probably will take ride over the city
In the sightseeing blimp.
Coral Gables, the adjoining BOOM
built city, really has reason for bear
ing that name. At the main entrances
Of the town are great gabled gate
ways built of the native coral stone.
Some of the houses are constructed
Of the same material, but the majors
tty are of the pseudo-S Spanish type.
This suburb attained enough growth
during the boom to emerge as a very
beautiful city.
Ou EUSc VI LNcTSiducSs
Just west of Coral Gables is the
Everglades. A few scattered and very
dreary looking houses extend into the
swamps along the Tamiami Trail, but
after passing them there is nothing
ahead but emptiness. However, the
Miami skyline can be seen for many
miles into these desolate expanses.
Contrary to popular belief, the east
ern half of the Everglades is treeless.
Nothing grows there but tall marsh
grass and small bushes. A glance
across these glades reminds one of
the arid, treeless spaces on the great
plains OF Texas or Kansas, but closer
examination reveals that the grass is
standing in water. The land is as fiat
as the surface of lake. The trail
was built on the ridge Of dirt that
remained when the Tamiami Drain
age Canal was dug. It follows the
canal all the way across. About 80
miles into the Everglades one sees
occasional clusters or hummocks of
fan leaf palms. Then for many miles
continue weird open forest of
dwarfed and bleached cypress trees,
but never does the vegetation assume
the form of a thick, dense jungle.
These faStneSseS are a veritable
birds paradise. Huge vultures con-
tinually soar in great circles over
head or perch in the miniature trees.
These marshy reaches abound in her.
ons, cranes, f1amingoes, ducks, geese
and innumerable other species. As
one speeds along this trail thousands
OF these birds fly up from the quag-
mireS and soar overhead in great,
dense clouds. This whole territory
teens with life. The air, the trees,
the water and the ground are literally
alive with birds, insects, animals and
fish.
Seminole Village Seen.
In the proposed Everglades National
Park on spots where the land rises
above the water level are several Semi
mole Indian villages. Their communal
buildings consist merely of supporting
poles and thatched roofs with a crude
floor or platform foot above the
ground. The houses have no side
walls. There is usually wall or
stockade around each village and the
red men charge an admission fee to
enter. They live in their primitive
but dirty style much as they did before
the white men drove them into the
swamps during the Seminole Indian
wars. All Seminoles wear their orig
inal-style shirts or jackets of hort-
zontal stripes, but Of late the men
wear factory-made trousers beneath
them. The women wear their long,
straight hair arched high over their
heads as Japanese women do.
Florida's west coast is lined with
beautiful white sand and beaches
The gulf is ideal for swimming, for
their is no surf st. Petersburg is the
greatest resort city on the gulf shore.
It is the favorite Winter haven for
middle-aged Northerners and Mid
westerners who have experienced all
the frost and cold they cared for in
their youth. The streets are lined
with benches which are usually occu-
pied by respectable. middle-class old
folk dreaming, chatting and basking
in the sun. The long municipal
recreation pier is a popular spot for
fishing, dancing and various enter
tainments. The wild pelicans that fire.
quent the pier will eat out of ones
hand as pigeons do in a city park.
Also Gay City.
st. Petersburg also caters to youth,
for it is as gay and brilliant as Miami
and has most of the recreational at
fractions of the latter city.
Tampa, commercial city and sea-
port, should be visited because of its
Ybor City, the Cuban and Latin
American quarter. This district Is
distinctive because Of its darkroom
plexioned inhabitants, overhanging
balconies, cigar factories and Spanish
restaurants.
controversial Florida Ship Canal may
be seen near Ocala. Another attrac-
ton here is Silver Springs, that
subterranean river which emerges in
the middle of park and flows away
to the sea. From the glass-bottom
boats one can see how the land drops
straight down more than so feet in
the form of an underwater bluff.
There is great hole in this bluff,
bigger than the double doors on
fire engine house, through which the
underground river comes forth as oH%
fof the greatest springs in the world.
There are many other giant springs
nearby, which also feed the river.
The water is crystal clear and the sun
light reveals many beautiful speci-
mems Of fish and marine plants.
Roads Arched by Trees.
The central part of Florida is at
tractive because of the innumerable
lakes and ponds, spacious, hvable
cities and the citrus groves. There
are many resort hotels on the inland
lakes and waterways that are the
equals of those on the coasts. Many
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