FIFTY STATES AWAYYesterday we made it back to the Everglades area and stayed the night. Unfortunately the driving doesn’t let up at the moment and it’s now time to drive up the west coast of Florida. We’ve enjoyed the weather and the drives, despite the length of some of them. We’ve been Gator watching since we got here as we are told that any puddle of water, provided there is enough water to fill a bath could be occupied by a Gator! We’ve both managed to spot a few in their little swampy habitats.
This morning we headed towards Tampa, another long drive for poor Ben! I have to say he has been brilliant! There’s times in the car where I jolt awake unaware that I had actually nodded off in the first place, so for him to be taking on all the driving single handedly and staying awake is quite something!
Reaching Tampa, our next stop on our Floridian adventure was of course Disney Land! Ben has spoken a lot about his wonderful family holidays and about how Disney had left a massive impression on him as a child, he still feels like it was one of the most incredible experiences he’s ever had. He was lucky enough to go a couple of times and I love listening to his stories, I can imagine how as a kid you truly belive you are meeting your hero.
We spent two days at Disney and managed to get a lot done. We visited all four of the parks: Epcot, Hollywood Studios, Disneys Magic Kingdom and the Animal Kingdom Park where we enjoyed a great Safari ride, seeing lots of animals (giraffes, rhinos, hippos)!
We also found the time to have some more hat fun!
Although I’d had a fabulous couple of days, I’d seen both Micky and Minnie mouse, Goofy and Ariel, amongst others and still not felt the Disney magic! Little did I know that 30 minutes of queuing and I would feel it and this next encounter would put me on a high for a week! Inside the sealed doors of the special area I could hear the growls, almost there but the adult in me not expecting too much. The least I’d hoped was that he would be taller than Ben. First in line, just about to round the corner. There he was, I was stunned, huge! fluffy! happy! Chewbacca! I slowly and rather nervously went over, he took hold of my hands in his ginormous paw’s! Looking into my eyes he growled, he pointed to my arm, I’m currently back in the arm brace 🙁 he growled back and forth in conversation to me! He hugged me! I couldn’t believe it! Bam! There it was me feeling like a child, believing in this person in a suit and feeling like I was his favourite visitor of the entire day!
He rounded me and Ben up, motioned to Ben about his growing beard (don’t worry Linda I am prepared to chop it off before it gets too long!) and patted him in the back, he put his arm around us both and we got the picture! I think you can see for yourselves how amazing this experience was!
We were not done with the goodies Florida had to offer just yet! We had discussed our bailing on the dolphin encounter and decided to go in a more natural direction. We booked a day trip from Tampa to Crystal Springs in a combined tour of some of Florida’s most well known animals. We were picked up from our hotel in an awesome bus! The type of bus you only get in America with massive wheels! It was exceptionally nice inside with leather seats and a TV screen. We were whisked off for a breakfast buffet, joining us were several other couples, the majority from different parts of England! It was a little odd as this is the first time since being here that we have heard other English people and the accent sounded weird! We boarded the bus and started watching a film during the short drive to our first stop of the day.
At Crystal Springs we got wet suited up and boarded a little boat, we are going snorkeling! I am a tad nervous as I haven’t done this before and am not entirely sure how I will get on with it. Arriving at our destination we got in the flipping cold water, which was rather a shock to the system! Under guided instruction we swam and snorkeled into a little taped off area. I wasn’t great at the snorkeling, and found it hard to adjust but the reason we had done this was to swim with wild manatees! 🙂
The manatees are free to come and go from this area and there are a lot of measures in place to protect them. This is apparently the only area where you are legally allowed to swim with them. We were not allowed to touch them, although a manatee came so close to Ben that whilst trying to manoeuvre himself out the way he got to touch one (he confirms to me that it felt like I imagined it would, like touching a barnacled rock). It was an amazing experience, we stayed around for ages and got to see plenty of them. The manatees have to come up for air and I ended up right in front of one when it did so, there was also a mother and her baby calf which was super cute!
Already an amazing day but it was not over yet! We boarded the bus again and was given a packed lunch to eat whilst being driven to Homossassa Park. The park is home to selection of animals including the Florida panther, eagles, a hippo called Lou (who we hear is a movie star enjoying his retirement) and manatees! We were free to explore this area by ourselves.
After a lovely wander round we boarded the bus once again to head towards our last destination before being dropped back at our hotel. The last treat of the day was an airboat ride around the swampy areas. It was a chilly ride but very much enjoyed by the both of us, we saw a number of alligators including one particularly massive one.
It was definitely an experience but little did I know that following thus we would have another great experience! Upon disembarking the boat we were given the opportunity to hold a baby alligator! It felt smoother than I thought it was going to it’s hard to describe really, maybe a bit plasticy?
Florida has been great, if a little touristy. We’ve done a number of cool things and had a great time in the sunshine. Ben has relived cherished memories and felt great appreciation for his parents for having taken him to Disney as a child. I’ve felt the magic even as a pretend adult 😛 not everything has gone to plan but that’s life and we’ve still gained holiday magic.
