Snookums had found Gatorland on the ‘Net before we’d left and we just couldn’t resist. It’s an old-school roadside attraction with lots of animals and things to do. Here Snookums feeds a llama.
Snookums, me, and flamingos.
The gators are, of course, the main attraction. They’ve got a massive big penned in area with dozens of them. You can buy hot dogs to throw into the water and watch them snap up. I was amused by all the signs warning parents to keep an eye on their kids.
Gatorland has several different shows a day, including “Gator Wrasslin'”. This guy hauled a pissed off gator out of the water, jumped on its back, and proceeded to teach us all about it.
And here’s the fun bit. We’d paid an extra $10 each to participate in “Adventure Hour.” This means we got to go inside the fence at the breeding marsh and chuck pieces of steak at the gators from THREE FEET AWAY. We’d been told that the gators were trained for movie work and wouldn’t come any closer or, you know, eat us. It was still pretty scary.
Seriously, they’re RIGHT BEHIND US.
Another show that I particularly enjoyed was the “Gator Jumparoo”, where chickens were dangled over the water for gators to snap at.
Don’t try this at home, kids!
We enjoyed the “Swamp Walk,” which showed off Florida’s native plantlife.
What does a hungry man need after a day of gator wrasslin’? A steaming platter of gator nuggets, of course! (Kinda tastes like fishy chicken.)
Finally it was time to leave Florida and head back North. We flew into Chicago where we were met by my cousin Jenny and her partner Dave, who promptly whisked us off to…
Wrigley Field! It was my first time ever sitting in the bleachers. What a gorgeous spring day in Chicago.
Ahhh, Miller Lite and cheap hot dogs. There’s Kel, Snookums, me, Sal, and Dave. How great was it to see some of my Weasels!?
Senor Hotdog! Too bad I can’t even remember what bar we were in. That’s Jenny, Sal, Hotdog, Snook, and me.
The next day, Jenny and Dave took us on a tour of Chicago’s north shore. How pretty! Here were are with Lake Michigan.
At this point, Snookums and I parted ways. He headed home to Australia, while I went back to Indiana for a few more days with my Mom. Then I headed to LA to stay with my sister…
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