May 5 – “The Great Alligator Hunt”

I had an amazing view at breakfast yesterday.  No, not of Chris sleeping soundly in bed, although that has been a beauty to behold for almost 47 years now.  It struck me that where I sit at the breakfast table pretty much faced due east.  And not just that.  My view from the breakfast table at the house we are staying at was one of the rolling hills of the neighboring golf course and the grove of trees at the other side.  And the sun rises across all that splendor, flanked by two of the tallest trees in the grove, kind of like a football exploding through the uprights in a game-winning field goal.  OK.  OK.  So I’m pretty terrible at the football metaphors.  But it really is a gorgeous view.  Looking at it again now, in fact.

 

There were no games scheduled today.  That was for the express purpose of allowing families to enjoy what they could in the Florida sun.  Well, that and the possibility of rainout games, which didn’t happen.  Our family decided on a real adventure.  An alligator boat tour.  Well, more like a Great Alligator Hunt.  And the first part of the hunt involved actually finding the place.  It was near a state park, but once we turned into what we thought was the right road … wow.  And we though the Louisiana swamp tour was off the beaten track.  Our first turn led us to a dead-end amidst a raggedy, run-down collection of trailers.  No water in sight, though.  We backed out and back-tracked and finally came to a little store.  Christina asked for directions inside, but they were really not all that helpful.  So we tried again.  This time, as the directions came up on what was rapidly becoming an unreliable Siri, we realized that our earlier turn into the trailer parks was simply one street too soon.  Phew.  We made it.

 

The boat only held six people at a time, and one of the other team members and his mom were coming as well, so we split up into two groups.  One group went to the nearby state park.  It boasted an observation tower with a view of Lake Kissimmee.  That, by the way, means “Long Water,” not “Gimme a smooch,” as you might have been led to believe.  Our group didn’t see any wildlife in the park, aside from the shaggy-haired, bearded one who was power washing the picnic tables.  The boys did enjoy climbing on the big tree roots, though. 

 

Now the alligator boat ride was a bit of a different story.  For one, if you ever choose this particular tour, and if they offer you a pair of ear muffs … take them.  Unlike the airboat we went on in the Southern Everglades, this boat was LOUD.  On the plus side, though … the guy drove fast.  That was pretty fun.  On the way we saw a black critter moving through the water.  Definitely not a gator, though.  Christina asked the guide, “What is that animal right there?”  He looked at her for a long moment, then finally answered, “Cow.”  Seems there is a huge island on which love lots of cows.  This fella was just taking a stroll through the gator infested waters to feast on the particularly succulent goodies that grow in the water.  Didn’t seem real smart to me.

 

At one of the stops we saw a whole batch of baby alligators.  The guide grabbed a long stick he had with a claw at the end and grabbed one of them.  He advised us at that point to stay away from the side of the boat.  Mama might be lurking nearby (The other group got to see Mama, so they weren’t able to nab one of her kids in her presence).  Once inside, he showed us how to hold the little critter and then offered to pass it around.  I obliged him right away.  It took some doing, but Josiah finally screwed up his courage and took it from me.  Alligator man.  No one else wanted the privilege, so I plopped it back into its swampy homeland. 

 

Along the way we saw several fairly young gators lolling in the warm waters.  On the way back in we saw a monster, though.  10-12 feet long.  Keep your hands and feet in the boat, please.  One of my favorite sights was the perched bald eagle.  We could see his head very clearly, and when he took flight, it was really majestic.  He wasn’t the only one we saw, either.  We also saw a wild turkey, quite a few egrets, several birds that I didn’t recognize, and more than a few great blue herons.  The guide told us that the herons in particular love to eat the baby alligators. 

 

And speaking of eating alligators, our next stop was lunch.  And the only stipulation was … they had to serve alligator bites.  The gift shop operator told us the hot spot where all the locals eat.  The restaurant even had a little canal surrounding it with little alligators swimming around in it.  “Gator Bites on the hoof,” I suppose.  Along with the gator bite appetizer, I also had some fried shrimp.  Chris had shrimp quesadillas.  Oh, and I had a slice of key lime pie to go.  After all, it is Florida.  My personal tradition must continue.

 

Romans 8:26 says, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.”

 

Father, thank you for our little taste of family time.  Thank you for the wildlife we got to experience and the beautiful sunrises.  Amen.