Gatorland
This morning we went off to Gatorland.
It is not too far from our hotel so we got there just as it opened even after sleeping late and taking a while to get going.
This year we did NOT do the sitting on the alligator. While fun enough, it wasn’t worth the line or extra money for the same thing we did last year.
It was quite hot this year. It got up to 86 or 87 depending on which thermometer you believe. So, the gators were more active than last year when it was about 50.
So, in the “alligator jumperoo” show we actually did see some jump out of the water to get the chickens.
Of course one of the reasons is they did a gator taunting first.
I know the water is still cold. And, mid-80’s isn’t super warm for gators. But, walking up to them and smacking them with things to see if they’re ready to jump seems more risky than needed.
None of the gators went for the guys doing that. At least not until they were holding chickens.
My wife had considered doing the zip line tour above the gators. But, the fact that it was $40 and you had to do a series of 6 different jumps made her decide it wasn’t worth it.
I agree. I could see if it was one jump with a nominal fee. But, $40 and that many jumps in a row is a lot. We watched a group doing it. It took more than an hour for them to get around the course.
We saw the giant turtle feeding. I was tempted by that. But, the price per stick of carrot turned out to be $5. That’s way too much for me to pay for one carrot on a stick. Even for one peeled carrot. Or 1/4 of an apple.
I could watch others do it for no additional money.
We went to the fudge stand as required by several people. We bought enough candy that the owner of the booth gave us free lemonade to go with it.
That was very nice as it was quite hot in the sun.
We toured the outer exhibits looking at several types of crocodiles. There was one enclosure where it said there were 40 alligators and one crocodile. We spent some time trying to guess which one was the odd one out. But, then the croc walked out from behind some grass. Once we saw her, it was clear which one was different as she was a different color, size and shape. The fact she came out just as the zip line people went over made me wonder what the animals think of it.
By 1 or so we were pretty hot and tired. So, we went off to the Thai place we eat at each time we’re in Orlando. Then, back to the hotel were I took a nap.
That doesn’t sound like much, but I hate naps.
I usually only get so much sleep in a 24 hour period. If I use some for naps, I don’t get it that night when I would prefer it.
But, I haven’t slept as much as normal on vacation, so it is probably OK.
(I also fear naps because they are dangerous. I have known several people how lay down for naps and woke up dead. Bullets don’t kill people, naps do.)
Once I had slept of a morning in the sun, we went over to Publics and bought cookie making things. Then, we headed over to my cousins where my wife made cookies and I tried to get her husband’s iPhone working.
My wife had better luck with the cookies. I got some of the things synced he wanted, but not the email. That’s going to take specific account information from his ISP, that isn’t readily available at 6PM the Friday two nights before Christmas.
But, I did get him set up to load pictures, the apps he wanted and to do video conferencing with it. So, not a total loss.
We then ate cookies, had sushi and visited for a fair bit of time.
Once we got back to the hotel, I realized I left my camera there at my cousins.
So, we will stop and get it tomorrow. I could have gone back tonight, but was tired.
Some time tomorrow, probably, I will get more Gatorland photos from it instead of the very few I took with my iPhone.
Sad.
But, easily fixed in the morning.