Gator Wrestling Anyone?

Once we returned from air boat ride we followed the signs to the gator wrestling pit. This was in a different place from the old pit where I saw J Mark do his performance.

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The new pit had a cover so if the rain started only the wrestler would get wet. The audience would stay nice and dry. There were tip boxes placed along the fence.

We had a lady wrestler that I’d never seen before. I don’t think she was ever on the Gator Boys show but I could be wrong. I may have missed an episode or two.

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She did the usual tricks, nothing new. After the show you could have your picture taken with a baby alligator.

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I have to admit to feeling a bit let down. My last visit has so much emotion attached to it because J Mark passed away after I’d seen his show. As a result this visit left me feeling kind of flat. I would have liked to see one of the show’s principal’s make an appearance. But that was not to be on this day.

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The air boat ride was good, especially with the iguana at the end but I’ve been spoiled by going out on the smaller 6 person air boats. Now the big Holiday Park boats don’t have the same thrill as before.

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All I can say is they do good work, rescuing alligators and deserve support. I’m sure I’ll  continue to keep them on my South Florida activity list.

Return to Everglades Holiday Park

The rain finally let up on Tuesday….sort of. It was still gray and overcast but I was scheduled for the Everglades tour. A big double Decker bus worked it’s way down Ocean Drive and stopped right in front of the Crescent Resort. My ride had arrived.

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I climbed to the open air top deck but the ride was only to the ticket office.   When it was my turn I was directed to a smaller van operated by “Luis”. When we finally headed out he had a full load. It was a good thing we were in the van too . The skies opened up and it began to pour!

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Just before we reached Everglades Holiday Park the rain stopped. It was still very overcast but at least it wasn’t raining. Even if it started to rain again, the airboats at Holiday Park as covered.

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Our pictures were taken as we stood inline and then it was time to board.

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I passed the time waiting getting a kick out of the local grackle. They were into everything!

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After a brief safely talk we were on our way.

The first thing I spotted was an Anhinga, the “snake bird” of the Everglades. They call it that because of its long neck.

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Next up were the cormorants perched on the warning sign.

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With no sun, alligators were in short supply. We only saw one.

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But we had fun with a family of Purple Gallinule.

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These funny birds walk on top of the vegetation.

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We had a whole family join us including a pretty young chick.

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On the way back to the dock we spotted a huge iguana perched in the trees.

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He was a beautiful specimen on the one hand, but kind of depressing on the other as this is an invasive species. Along with pythons they are wreaking havoc on the native animals of the Everglades.

 

New Tags

I’m so excited. (Believe me it doesn’t take much). I started using custom luggage tags a couple of years ago and they have made spotting my luggage easy and they are great conversation starters.

My first tag was of Rocky. The picture wasn’t great. I was still getting the hang of creating these little gems.

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Then I upgraded to a better picture. Rocky doesn’t look very happy , does he. He hates when I pull the luggage out.

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I’ve got more luggage now so I needed more tags so I’ve added some of Buddy.

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The finished product has my name and cell # so if my luggage does get lost I can be contacted and reunited.

Aren’t they cute. I just love them! Can’t wait to get the new order!

Art deco

Diamond Resorts Crescent Resort on South Beach is  located in the heart of the Art Deco district from 6th Street to 23rd Street. This is where one of the largest collections of Art Deco architecture in the world can be found, making for one of the most unique city skylines in the country.

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Ocean Drive is lined with Art Deco boutique hotels overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and Lummus Park. Originally constructed in the 1930s after the stock market collapse, you’ll notice that these hotels take up relatively small plots of land—they’re not the sweeping resorts that Carl Fisher previously erected overlooking Biscayne Bay or that Morris Lapidus would go on to design further up the beach—and many are only three to four stories tall. This was done intentionally because if the buildings had any more floors, they’d require elevators and be much more expensive to construct.

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The Crescent has an elevator. Its tiny! When I first arrived I watched another couple struggle to get their luggage and themselves into the tiny space. It didn’t work they had to split up . The husband went up with the luggage and the wife followed when the elevator came back down with the remaining small bags.

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I explored the elevator near the end of my stay. It takes you all the way to the rooftop on the 4th floor. That could have been a nice space if there had been chairs set out but the roof was just an empty, unused area. you could look to the roofs on either side and see tables, chairs umbrellas and guests lounging but not on our roof. At least not yet. Maybe in the future.

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I used the high vantage point to try to get some pictures of a parasailer as they passed by off South Beach.

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Its A Blizzard Out There

Yesterday an unprecedented storm struck much of the east coast reaching blizzard conditions in many areas. Washington DC, Pennsylvania and NYC reported record snow fall. As the storm progressed northward it wound it’s way through Connecticut into Southeastern Massachusetts. Falmouth, Cape Cod, Plymouth were some of the communities most hard hit but I’m happy to report that in my little corner of the world the storm was just a snow storm.

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And I’m also happy to say that my condo folks were right on top of the clean up.

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Not everyone was upset about the snow.

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Enjoy your day everyone!

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