Pics from Ft Lauderdale

Since Dubby hasn't gotten around to it, and I've got a few minutes this morning, I figure I'd post a couple of pictures from Fort Lauderdale. While we did a lot of stuff and enjoyed ourselves, one highlight (other than seeing Bryan and getting to meet Elise and her family) was the airboat ride into the Florida Everglades. The water was nice and high, and we skimmed out over what I'd estimate was a five mile 40-minute round-trip into the wilderness.

Airboats are noisy. They sound like propeller planes taking off. Several times, we stopped, pulled the earplugs out of our ears, and enjoyed the peace and quiet of a small lake or slough.

Once the noise died down and we'd sat quietly for a few minutes, the wildlife would come out. Yes, he's real, and yes, he's really that close to the boat. This one was a big one, about 10 feet long, I'd guess. We saw lots of smaller ones, too.

Our captain was Capt. Grits. No joke. She said it was against the law to feed the alligators, but it isn't against the law to feed the birds and fish, so she dropped a few pieces of bread in the water, and the birds and fish came over, and a minute later, the gators came over lured by the gathering of the fish and birds. Capt. Grits was a trained professional. Don't try this at home.

This is a real osprey. (Telephoto shot... he was about twenty yards away.) They are endangered and are exceptionally rare. It is a real treat to get this close to one.

Back on land, we enjoyed the little "zoo" type of exhibits they had there. Here is Elise holding a real, live, three-year-old alligator. The zoo man put the electrical tape on the mouth, "...for the alligator's protection... he doesn't know where your fingers have been..."