Fun at Gatorland

I don’t know why, but a visit to Gatorland really appealed to me. Gatorland has been around since 1949, long before Disney World. It’s kind of kitschy, but it turned out to be very fun. I expected to see alligators at Gatorland, but not the sheer quantity and varied types of alligators and crocodiles.

We saw several shows including one where they showed different creepy animals like this tarantula. While they showed this cottonmouth during the show, seeing a wild cottonmouth near the walkway during a swamp walk was a bit more exciting.

This show involved seeing how high an alligator will lift out of the water for food. I wouldn't want to be the ones feeding them!

One show featured this guy wresting an alligator. While I was impressed with his bravery (or stupidity) in grabbing the alligator, the hardest part was dragging this heavy gator around to position for the audience to see it from all four sides. The guy was all out of breath moving him around in the sand. Maybe they should have just put the audience on one side.

There were lots of areas displaying different types of animals like these birds and tortoises. There were also a lot of signs telling you not to stick your fingers near these birds or let children run loose where they might cross a fence. The park is safe, but if you’re stupid you can definitely be hurt.

Sandhill Cranes

Moss Park is a neat Orange County park near Orlando. The best parts are the Sandhill Cranes that live in the area. You are awoken by their very loud bird calls that sound somewhat like an elephant’s bellow. They are along the roads, on hills of sand (which is cool given their name of sandhill cranes), or are on the nearby Bird Island (again, cool).

They walk through the campgrounds where children chase them. One group started pecking on our car before John stopped them.

We saw deer, lots of squirrels, and several armadillos that were rooting in the ground.

There are also several places to fish in the park. So far John hasn't fished in Florida. Maybe soon he’ll get a fishing license.

By the way, I want to whine about the Orlando area. Everywhere you go you drive on toll roads. We spent at least $40 in tolls in a few days. Since we were towing a car at times, we had to pay double. Most places had people taking the money, but some required you to throw in 3 quarters with major fines if you didn't pay. What if you don’t have any quarters? Orlando doesn't “nickel and dime” you, it takes quarters and dollars.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas in an RV is fun. Some things are traditional while other customs are adapted. The park and several of the RV’s have decorations.

I have a very small box of ornaments that I keep for Christmas that I hang on the green curtain.

Plus, our grand-daughter Ava drew a Christmas tree for us so our presents sat beneath this tree. All presents are small and things we can use in our RV.

Happy Holidays to all!

Fort Matanzas

We did a short trip to Fort Matanzas near St Augustine. It’s not really a fort, but more like a watchtower. It was built originally in the 1500's to protect St Augustine though the existing fort was built in 1740. The coolest part is that you get there by riding a boat. Every hour the national park takes a small group of people across the water to see the fort. The rangers are available to answer questions while we wander around.

By the way, this makes the 110^th national park that we've seen (out of 436 parks, monuments, seashores, etc.).

Visiting in an RV

David is visiting from college. While the RV is spacious for 2, it’s pretty cramped for 3 people. The poor guy has to sleep on a couch and be only a few feet from his parents for 2 straight weeks. Luckily, we stayed for a few days at Jack’s house (John’s brother). This meant real beds with showers and the ability to be in separate rooms during the day not in one small RV.

John did guy things like helping his niece and nephew-in-law with their porch.

 

We next stayed for one night at Faver-Dykes State Park. It might be a nice park when it is dry, but the puddles in the road were immense making it slow going to get into and out of the park. My morning walk took me to a marsh.

Our next stop is a small campground in the area (with better roads). We have internet, cable, water, and electric so we’re all happy. It’s warm enough that I can sit outside under the awning whether it’s raining or not. Just that extra space really helps with the 3 of us here. The campground is right on a river connected to the ocean. Pretty cool looking! We hear there's some otters and alligators here, but we haven't seen anything yet.

Sights and Sounds of Florida

We’re at Tomaka State Park. There’s a long legend about Chief Tomakie, but it’s probably better to just google it to hear the story. But here’s a statue in honor of the legend.

Back in the 1700’s, this area was a big plantation owned by Richard Oswald. At the time he produced indigo, rice, molasses, rum, sugar, and oranges. He was also involved in the British side of negations after the American Revolution. To me, the park seems like living on Gilligan’s Island. I keep waiting for Gilligan, the professor, or Mary Ann to step out given all the palm trees, palmettos, oranges, etc.

The sights and sounds have been interesting. I don’t know how this woodpecker doesn’t have a headache and stiff neck muscles from the violence of his motions. I didn’t want to stand under him given all the bark that he was knocking down.

Squirrels can be quiet at times, but this one wasn't. Plus, I love how his tail twitches!

Mound, Grave, and Ruins

A disappointing stop today was at Turtle Mound. The shell midden is the 3^rd largest midden in the United States. But the problem is the mound is completely covered with trees and vines and you can only walk above it on a boardwalk. So, you can’t see how big it really is and you can just barely see some shells through the plant life. According to some info online, the mound is 50 feet tall and 600 feet long. At least the view was nice!

Our next stop had some interesting history. Back in the 1800’s, the wife of a sugar plantation owner had an affair. The depressed man, Doug Dummett, moved to this area. He ended up marrying a slave and having one boy and three girls. Due to the interracial marriage, he was ostracized yet he loved his children. His son Charles died in 1860 during a hunting accident when he was only 16 years old. The grave is supposed to be located where he died. In 1950, the town decided it was easier to split the road around the grave versus moving it so the grave sits in the middle of the road. 

Finally, I was confused about some ruins we visited. Online it says it says the ruins are a mansion, church or fort from 1770’s or earlier. The signs at the site says it was a hotel that was built in 1859. I don’t know.

Chocolate and a Light House

A fun tour today was at Angell and Phelps Chocolate Factory. It’s not a big factory, but  all the people were friendly and the free samples were tasty. We bought some of their chocolate covered chips and chocolate covered bacon. Mmmmm!

Our next stop was the Ponce de Leon Inlet Light Station. The light house has been in service since 1887 and is 175 feet high which means it is the 3^rd tallest lighthouse in the United States. Climbing the stairs was exhilarating, especially after hearing about a keeper who had a heart attack climbing the stairs back in 1919.

Great view from the top.

The site had several buildings surrounding the light house including this Fresnel lens museum.

Boonies

We’re heading to pick up David at the airport and then to the Daytona Beach area. In the meantime, we stayed at a couple of places out in the boonies. The first was in the woods near a lake. Pretty place and completely free.

The second was a place that looked like “old Florida”. Lots of palms and Spanish moss. Plus, bears have been seen in the area. I saw several bear prints near our campsite. This was only $5 a night.

In honor of Christmas, this is reindeer moss. This is about as Christmassy as Florida gets.

One of Those Days

Today seemed to be one of those days when it came to driving. First, traffic slowed and stopped for some major electrical repairs while electric wiring was run across and above the highway. Then, a car caught fire sending smoke up in the air and 2 fire trucks and the police to put it out. Traffic slowed to a crawl, of course. Then it started to rain. Finally, twice the traffic slowed for no reason that we could see. Could have been one of those effects studied on the Mythbusters where someone brakes and suddenly everyone slows down behind them. All this added 1.5 hours to our trip. We ended up driving less than we planned, but it worked out fine.

Our last couple of stops have been at Louisiana state parks with swamps (Sam Houston Jones and Tickfaw State Parks).

We didn't see any alligators, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s pretty unsettling when you see signs warning you about alligators. One of the trails had a 2^nd sign saying “There is an Alligator protecting a nest somewhere along the edge of the pond. Stay on the trail. Do not walk through the woods to the edge of the water. Alligators are very protective of their nest and young.” I was a LOT more observant during my walk after reading this!

Another hike with a warning sign ran along a river. Across from the park were very nice houses on the water. All I could picture was going down this slide into the jaws of an alligator. I’m sure if you live here, gators aren’t so scary, but I’m certainly not at that point.