Sunday, October 10th

Sunday was Everglades day. I've been to Florida a million times, both with family and for work, yet I've never been to the Florida Everglades. I always think of that old cartoon that featured raccoons that lived in the Florida Everglades, even though I can't remember what the name of the show is anymore.

We drove dead west from the hotel and after about an hour (?) we reached the Everglades Safari Park. We did the whole tourist thing. Rode the airboat, piloted by a fun driver, who fed us the mandatory lines that tourists like to hear, including tell us upfront that we're not guaranteed to see any alligators. Of course he knew this wasn't true, and chances were high that we'd see at least one, since he was bringing us to an area that the park had created so that the alligators would lay their eggs there, meaning that we would see momma alligator for sure. But it's all about managing expectations =)

The airboat was fun. It's really noisy, but it goes pretty fast! I tried to take some pics of the wake from the airboat when he was skidding through turns; I hope the pics turned out. It was really neat to see the reflection of the sun and sky through the swamp, cause we were going fast enough that the reeds and vegetation in the swamp would be a blur, replaced with the reflection off the water. Have a feeling those pics didn't turn out so good...

Seeing a wild alligator was pretty cool. She must have been used to the airboats and tons of gawking people with cameras, cause she was pretty much posing for us. Was great for me, I have issues focusing, but she was swimming slowly enough that I think I got some decent shots.

On the way back to the dock, we were able to spot some more alligators hiding behind vegetation, which was really cool. Getting off the airboat, we went to the alligator show where they taught us about alligators, and what to do if you ever ran into one. The key tip was stay as big as possible. If you crouch down, the alligator will think you are a little rodent, and that you're edible. If you stay standing up, it will think that you're way bigger than they are, and thus will leave you alone.

After the show, I held a baby alligator. It was SOOOO cute! Of course, it had a muzzle on, but it had these cute eyes, and was looking around much like a human baby, all confused and in awe, trying to figure out why there were a bunch of people staring at it! The baby was about 3 months old. Holding it on it's underside explained to me why people like killing alligators -- their bellies are extremely soft! Of course this is in stark contrast to the top part of the alligator, which is very hard and durable.

We wandered around the rest of the park, and looked at the many many alligators doing what they do best -- sleep. Great for pics, except that they tended to blend into their surroundings quite well. And I don't think I ever saw a flash of teeth - that would have taken too much energy on their part.

Left the Everglades and headed to Coral Gables. This is another area that is very posh and wealthy. Primarily, we wanted to drive through and gawk at all the houses and the monuments. We had to get to the airport soon anyway, so we had lunch there as well.

I called Daniel (and woke him from being on-call the night before!) and he came out to meet us at lunch. Was really good to see an old friend again. We grew up together at church ever since we were kids, but his family moved to the States ten years ago.


After lunch, we went to the airport, and flew home. ILC went to CT, and me, IW, and AC to TO. Got to TO, had to call Ga can get her to bring me a jacket, it was only 8 degrees out!

Thus ends our vacation. Will need to post the pics when I finally get mine developed, and get a hold of everyone else's digipics.