Being an empty nester isn’t all bad. Sometimes there are some excellent benefits to having the children fly the coop. Like me, for instance, my daughter moved to Florida. Boom! Instant vacation spot with free lodging. You can’t beat that.
Husband and I just returned from one of our journeys south. The daughter had just moved to Orlando and was minutes away from Disney and Universal…and Gatorland.
Yes, I went to Gatorland. It is an attraction that’s been there forever. Predating the “mouse”, Gatorland gets you up close and personal with the denizens of the swamp. From tiny hatchlings to a giant “big dog eating” gator, Gatorland has a gator size for everyone.
Events like the “Jumparoo”, where you can watch gators leap out of the water to snatch oven stuffer roasters from rope, draw people like flies to honey. And, I assume, provide children with nightmares for years to come.
Since it was 39,645 degrees when we were there in October, we got to see the water park filled with kids having a great time cooling off. I felt a little uncomfortable having tasty morsels of children in the water scant yards from alligators of the child eating size. But a good time was being had, so I continued to hope for diligent separation of play area and gator pond.
The white alligators were pretty cool. Their sapphire blue eyes belied the fact that were not albino, but merely a gator who sunburns easily. They also had a few crocodiles present. I presume this was for diversity purposes.
The other critter, that had a more than obvious place in the park, were the vultures. Yup. The big, black carrion chomping birds. And there were lots of them and they were annoying the local gators. My group began to attribute gangster qualities to the birds based on the behavior of specific specimens. By the time we left the observation area, we had an entire “Sopranos” episode going.
Lest you think that there is nothing else to see, there are wild cats indigenous to Florida, snakes, and a petting zoo. Wait! Before you get visions of petting alligators, the zoo has goats, cows, emus, etc. They all seem well adapted in spiteof living surrounded by natural predators. My thoughts are that they drink… a lot. Jessica, the young lady at entrance told me that many of the animals there had been hand raised by her at home. This is my daughter’s dream. She would have loved to been on Noah’s Ark.
There are flamingos there too. I have some personal feelings about flamingos. They are nature’s weirdest bird. God obviously put together the flamingo after He came up with the opium poppy. Let’s face facts: They are pink. Their knees bend backward. Their bills are upside down. And they sleep with their heads in their armpits. It doesn’t get too much weirder than that.
Like all good attractions, there are several gift shops where you can purchase actual alligator heads. I’d love to see the décor that they fit into. But the Christmas ornaments were the best! Nothing says Merry Christmas like an alligator hanging on the tree! I hope my daughter gets me an ornament as a gift this year. I’d love a swamp themed Christmas.
I had never been there before. But you have to see this place! Take a break from the glitter of Disney imagineers and settle down watching gators. It is fun, unusual and perhaps the most redneck thing you’ll ever do. But don’t forget to get a photo op by the giant gator jaw sculpture at the entrance! It’s part of the experience.