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Today was our trip to the Everglades. We have always been the first of the tour groups to be picked up so we get a good seat and we get to check things out when we are picking everyone else up. A much shorter trip today, it only took about 35 minutes to get to Gator Park. To think that Miami and up a lot of places up to Orlando is all built on swamp is bizarre and closer to the Everglades National Park they put fencing over the storm water drains and fencing at their back yards which lead in to the streams to keep the alligators out. Anyway it started with an airboat ride, as we were coasting away from the park we seen our first alligator just cruising on past. We think they obviously are attracted to the boat, probably with the guys feeding them when tourists are not around, but it was still good to see them. After we were away from the park they put it into full gear and we were cruising along, every now and then doing a few little turns. It was pretty awesome, so we seen a few birds, turtles and another alligator on the way back called Lilly. They warn you not to put your hands in the water and also not to make sudden moves. I can understand why because you are really really close to the water and they come up close to the boat so I guess if they wanted to they could easily get a hold of you, although they are more docile than our crocodiles so it was all pretty safe.
After the ride there was an alligator show where you could touch the alligator. It was pretty good, they had about 3 different sizes but with the largest being in the pen.
After the show it was off to the gift shop and restaurant where Andrew had an alligator burger. I tried a bit of it and it kind of takes of fish except with a different texture, Andrew quite liked it.
The trip back was quick and we got dropped off down at South Beach and the firstplace we went to was the Miami Ink shop where they film the show. Miami Ink is now a retail shop for their merchandise and the new tattoo studio is now a few shops down the road. It was quite weird to be there actually, kind of did not feel real in a way, like wow this is where their shop is and where they film the show but it is just an ordinary street with other shops around.
After leaving there we headed off to Ocean Drive for the biggest cocktail I have ever seen. We first saw these on our first day here when the shuttle drove down the street and we seen heaps of people drinking them. OMG just check out the pics - so Andrew had a strawberry margarita and I had a Miami Vice which was a Pina Colada and a Strawberry Daiquiri combined……….it was freakin awesome. So you buy one and you get one free, are you friggin kidding me. It took me ages to finish mine, Andrew being a lovely husband, took one for the team and helped me finish it. I left him to pay so I could go across the road and take some pics of some squirrels and he comes back with two massive plastic cups of our second one for takeaway. You can walk the streets drinking them as long as they are in an open plastic cup……..OMG again I could not finish it.
The place with the cocktails is just a few doors down from Gianni Versace's home so we stopped by there and then we took a walk along the beach and the boardwalk (walking off the drinks…………….lol). It was a long walk and then we decided to keep walking back to our hotel which was about 8kms. It sounded like a good idea at the time but in the humidity and after that huge drink I was regretting it before we even got half way but we kept going and made it back. If Andrew was a bit tipsy from his drinks he sure was pretty sober by the time we got back…………lol
So today is our last day in Miami, tomorrow we head off to Orlando for a pretty packed week of tours and sightseeing. I would definitely come back to Miami and stay down at South Beach, we didn't get a chance to experience a lot of South Beach and Downtown Miami so would definitely come back again.
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