Swamp People

Okay, so I have never watched the show and did not even know the premise until this morning, but today we did our very best to be Swamp People.

I'm pretty sure we were all pretty happy to start our day a little later than the crack of dawn for once.  We slept in until 7 or so, showered, got dressed and ate breakfast in a rather leisurely manner, not having to leave the condo until 9 this morning.   Then, we drove to Boggy Creek to start our day with an airboat ride.  Unfortunately, it was rather chilly today and overcast which we learned is not terribly conducive to gator viewing as they have no reason to show themselves.  We spotted one little (for an alligator) guy though so all was not for naught.  We also saw numerous birds, including a young eagle, and eggs laid by an apple snail; Duncan had apparently read about them prior to boarding as he knew what they were when our guide was telling the rest of us about them.  We also learned that alligators become more aggressive in March and April when their mating season begins.

After the ride, Duncan, Danica and I held a small alligator;  Danica held the tail while I held the rest as she was nervous.

Then, we headed over to Gatorland.   My brother remembers our first visit there 30 years ago and was excited to go back.   Again,  if the alligators weren't enough of an attraction, the many bird species who call that swamp their home would do it.  Here, my brother took Duncan with him to partake in a gator feeding session.   I think I was more nervous than Duncan; he put on that glove and marched on up to the edge of the water to within a few feet of a few very large and hungry-looking gators and threw that meat right to them.  The face he was making when he turned around was absolutely priceless - I think the raw meat bothered him more than the alligators!  Later on, while we were watching a close encounters show, we saw a duck lay an egg in the bushes in front of our seats and before the alligator wrestling exhibition, three Detroit Tigers were getting a special tour and wrestled their own gators.  I think Robert wanted a chance to Rookie wrestle after the show but decided against it since Danica wouldn't go with him.  He also decided against ziplining over the alligators.   We all tried allowed gator nuggets though; they were sort of a cross between chicken nuggets and calamari.

On the way back to the condo, we stopped to pick up our rental car as Robert and I head to West Palm Beach and Fort Lauderdale tomorrow for a quick Bahamas cruise and some time to relax and see the ocean.  Of course it couldn't go smoothly.  We reserved a compact car, which according to the website would seat 4 adults and carry 2 large suitcases - all we would need for our few days away.  We arrive to learn that we've been upgraded as they don't have any of "our class" available; it was a BMW mini-coupe.  She assured us that it would be large enough for us as it was an upgrade - cute car but it looked like a two-seater (there was a small backseat) and didn't have room in the trunk for anything more than our backpacks.   She then wanted to charge us more for an upgrade and told me that she was being nice and that no one else would but next time we should rent a larger car as obviously a compact or economy car is not appropriate for us. Finally, after some arguing, tears, threats to call security, we left with a Volkswagen Passat.

Hopefully our next few days are uneventful and full of fun in the sun and relaxation..