An airboat ride started everything off for us back in the Everglades yesterday. It was well worth this whole trip. Especially the left turns into the wind at full speed. Nice and cool. Speaking of cool, we had a pretty nice cloud cover for most of the ride as well. Way easier to look for critters if you’re not dodging the heat. And speaking of critters, we saw several alligators swimming around, so our captain brought the boat right up next to them. I didn’t lean over the side to pet one, though. Chris wouldn’t let me. We also saw some blue herons, a purple something or other (starts with a “G”), a Florida gar, and some tilapia on the hoof, so to speak. Oh, and we checked in at the gift shop. Who should we find creeping around in there? None other than Ally Gatore (pronounced Gah toe ree). And in spite of April’s admonitions that I NOT bring this particular critter home with us (Ally is apparently not in the same category with Key West chickens), Ally is not one of the flock.
A
wildlife show of sorts was included in the price of the ticket. It started with a chance to pet a red boa
constrictor. He’s a bad guy in the
Glades. He is a foreign import who tends
to eat all the local snakes. Next he showed
off the two big gator guys lolling around on stage with him. He had to wake them up to get them to snap at
the food. Hey, it was hot. A nap sounded good to them. Finally, he came out among the audience holding
a baby gator named Snappy. I got to hold
him to (for a small $3.00 photo fee).
Don’t worry. I still have all my
fingers. The had a rubber band around
his mouth.
I
did finally get to taste alligator. Fried
alligator bites, to be exact. It was
like chicken nuggets. Good stuff. Consistency was kind of like fish, but
firmer. It tasted like I imagine white
meat chicken would tase if it was ever juicy.
Next
we stopped over at the Shark Valley Visitor Center to get another National Park
Stamp. Chris made the comment that getting
these stamp things is kind of like being in
cult. Scary. Then it was on towards Miami. Farewell, Everglades.
We
entered Miami proper in the rain. Well,
I’m not sure how proper it was. We were
actually in the slums, complete with whole buildings “decorated” with creative paintings. We just casually snapped photos like we
intended to be there. Why were we there? Well, I may or may not have inadvertently
typed in the location of the Florida Marlins’ baseball stadium. It was a massive edifice towering over the
shabbytown buildings around it. We didn’t
stick around there for long.
We
finally found US Hwy 1, our goal for this leg.
However, we were swamped with all the traffic. Couldn’t even look from side to side, so we
cut over to an interstate and headed to beautiful downtown … Stuart, Florida. Not sure where that is, but we walked across the
street to a Panera bread for some supper before settling into our brand new
hotel room. Literally, brand new. The hotel has only been open a matter of
weeks. It is very nice. Great place to end a long day.
Luke
6:45 says, “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his
heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his
heart. For the mouth speaks what the
heart is full of.”
Father,
thank you for new experiences … places and flavors and critters. Amen.
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