Paddle day 3 Dec 16

We had called Rich and Linda to see if they could play on Tuesday and they could not make it on that short notice. So Suzette and I decided that we would go to Phillippi Estate Park, launch and head up river until we had enough. The paddling guide for this trail is here.

Phillippi Estate Park canoe and kayak launch

Condo's along the creek

Once under the US41, Tamiami Trail, bridge we went to a little bay on the north where the Phillippi Creek Villiage is located. The sun glare of the white buildings washed out the digital photo so all you get to see is the dock area at the restaurant. The food is excellent here and the crowds attest to that.

Dock at Phillippi Creek Village Restaurant

We continued up river a couple of miles to the first bridge we came to. We later found out that we had made the Proctor road bridge. We drifted and paddled back to the park and decided to go on out to the ICW. We saw a number of shore birds as well as Osprey. We were surprised to come across the raccon, below, having his lunch. He didn't seem the least bit concerned that I was drifting closer and closer for a picture. Of course I was using our Hero water proof camera and it doesn't have zoom so this is the best I could get.

Raccoon feeding along Phillippi Cree.

Once we were on the ICW we headed south toward Stickney Point road bridge. We go to wondering if we could find the canal that goes behind our friends estate. As luck and good navigation would have it we found the canal entrance. We paddled on down toward the estate and were called to by a neighbor. We talked a little about the kayaks and we told her we knew the owners. We had a very enjoyable visit before heading back to the park.

The estate on Sanford