97. Everglades Nat'l. Park Florida Trip from Miami to the "Royal Palm State Park" and along a road to Westlake, 8 miles from the ocean at Cape Sable. Peterson Wright, & Thompson drove car, returning same evening. Elevation almost sea level. 2:00 PM - 7:00 PM in the park. Returned after dark: Jan. 16, 1931 The first few miles, up to the state parks, were a sparsely pine and palm stand with the usual undergrowth. The second stage was flat grassland, swampy, with island hummocks of palm clusters - very beautiful and tropical looking! The third stage, as we drew nearer the sea, was mangrove thickets in standing water. Each phase covered many miles. Many small areas have been burned, purposefully, it seemed. These were brown ugly dead patches of several acres, each often times. The road is on a canal bank. The canal served as feeding ground for grebes, kingfishers, herons, fish, & many other forms of life.