JOURNAL: Gator Park, Everglades, FL

The plan was to wake up and head out early to avoid possible afternoon showers for our trip to the Everglades, but we slept in again. No worries though, and we just took our time getting out of Miami and stopped for a quick lunch before continuing on west on 41.

Our first stop was Gator Park, a small but very popular roadside attraction. There, visitors can take a guided airboat tour and also see a wildlife show. Our airboat guide was a guy who sounded like Roz from Monster's Inc (scratchy). He was very entertaining character and had a crazy-local flare. Someone asked him if they sometimes take the airboats out at night, and without hesitation, he replied "We drink at night." Ha!

The gator show was also entertaining. A large Ving-Rhames-ish guy selected a volunteer from the audience and showed her how to position her hand in the gator's mouth -- flat and tight because its jaws work like a mousetrap -- then went on to explain the "basics" of wrestle an alligator for when she was to do it. Of course, he was joking, but with him, we were never too sure.

Anyways, Gator Park wasn't huge by any accounts, but it was charming and a very effective introduction of the Florida Everglades to the passing tourist.

Pictures below, and a video of the Gator Park show at the end!

Video:

Next: Shark Valley National Park