Being a kid again in southwest Florida

Captain Jack’s Airboat Tours maneuvers through mangroves outside Everglades City, Fla.   ( Katherine Rodeghier/Chicago Tribune )

Gail and Peter O’Donovan of Park Ridge, Ill., check out the flora and fauna in Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples, Fla.   (Katherine Rodeghier/Chicago Tribune )

Holding a baby alligator is part of the visit at an animal sanctuary in Everglades City, Fla., for Bill, left, and Pat Siffermann of Western Springs, Ill., and Mary and Greg Constantino of Glen Ellyn, Ill.   (Katherine Rodeghier/Chicago Tribune )

Everglades City, Fla., is the Stone Crab Capital of the World. Crab claws are served in restaurants in season, mid-October to mid-May.   (Katherine Rodeghier/Chicago Tribune )

A pristine beach ranks high among the attractions in Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park, named for the area’s first homesteader and local philanthropists.   (Katherine Rodeghier/Chicago Tribune )

Alligators hide in the vegetation at Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, a wilderness area east of downtown Naples, Fla.   (Katherine Rodeghier/Chicago Tribune )

Getting lost en route to Keewaydin Island is part of the adventure for Bill Siffermann of Western Springs, Ill., and high school pals who graduated 50 years ago.   (Katherine Rodeghier/Chicago Tribune )

Pat Siffermann of Western Springs, Ill., chats up a volunteer taking visitors’ questions at Audubon Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary in Naples, Fla.   (Katherine Rodeghier/Chicago Tribune )

Airboats skim over the Florida Everglades, a vast wetland flowing from Lake Okeechobee south to the tip of Florida’s mainland. Only a fifth lies within the national park where airboats are banned.   (Katherine Rodeghier/Chicago Tribune )