After a restful night we woke still none the wiser as to how we were gonna start the day. So much to do, but where to begin?
It was the longest we'd taken to get out of the room to date - usually we fly get out within half an hour but today being three weeks exactly we ambled about and took our time. This was the longest we'd spent in a hotel room apart from Sleeping - it was only an hour and a half but it was so nice just to put the TV on and lie in bed without getting out of it.
My family came back from two weeks in Greece yesterday evening so I Skyped my sister this morning to see how their holiday went. Despite my mischievous five year-old niece telling me that she didn't like the hotel, my sister assured me that they all had a great time. We had a bit of trouble with slow Internet at first but we managed to speak to them all in the end. It was so strange to see them but super nice - my little nephew Alfie, who's only seven, has lost one of his front teeth and thanks to modern technology we were able to see his gappy smile and not wait three months until I'm home :)
After Skyping we decided that today was the day to visit the Everglades, as the sky was cloudy from the storm yesterday. So off we set on our alligator adventure!
The Everglades was about a 30 minute drive from our hotel, and the first stop for us was an alligator park and a fan boat ride. We literally got there just in time - a fan boat had just left but came back for us when we purchased our ticket! We were given ear plugs as we boarded and were told when we'd need to put them on - and off we went!
What started off as a narrow stream-like swamp soon merged into a vast landscape of swamps. 
Sometimes the boat would go as slow as a snail so we could stand up and observe over the sides any creatures that were in the swamp, and then we';d be asked to be seated as the driver let the boat go at full speed. The fan boat lets you glide over the water and when the driver put his foot down we'd speed along and then he'd turn the boat so we were zooming along sideways - this was just as much fun as being on a roller coaster in Busch gardens!
While out on the boat we saw several alligators, one with its four tiny baby alligators (I was slightly tempted to keep one as a pet!), super cute otters bobbing about and playing in the swamps, turtles and a whole array of birds.
After the boat ride we were led to an outdoor presentation area where there was a 12-foot alligator, only separated from us by a low fence, and a guy dressed as Crocodile Dundee. Crocodile Dundee proceeded to tell us various facts about crocodiles, before he climbed over the fence, to which the crocodile opened his mouth, and then Mr Dundee put his hand in there! To my amazement the alligator didn't rip Dundee's hand off, but when Dundee touched his lower jaw with a stick the gator snapped hos jaw closed in an instant - the whole audience jumped and I let out a shriek!
If that wasn't terrifying enough right in front of my eyes, Mr Dundee then straddled the gator from behind, sat on it, and clamped its jaw with his hands. I'm not sure if this gator had been pre-drugged or not or if Mr Dundee was just totally nuts! Once he had safely climbed back over the fence, Mr Dundee proceeded to show us various creatures from inside a wooden box - one was a 4-inch scorpion - again, another shriek from me!
The highlight was when he brought out a 4-foot alligator. I surprised myself by volunteering to hold it! Granted it had a band over its jaw, but still brave for me... The secret of my braveness? I convinced myself I was simply holding an alligator handbag!
With having our sense tantalised by seeing a small part of the Everglades, we were hungry for more, so decided to go on another tour that goes deeper into the Everglades. 
This tour was on a tram (not all the Everglades is swamp, as in dry season the swamps dry up and the Everglades become more of a prairie). The tour was 2 hours long and during this time we must have seen about 20-30 wild alligators.
The park is also known for its wild panthers but we didn't spot any of these today - just a lot of birds and turtles. 
This tour was more in-depth and informative and I felt we really got our money's worth.
It's been a real adventure today. Hard to believe that this place is only an hour from Miami beach! Completely amazing experience and so glad that we did it... and didn't get eaten by an alligator!
After being in jean shorts and a vest all day it was nice to get scrubbed up for the evening. we made our way to Miami beach for 7:30pm and had dinner in Joe's Stones Crab.
The restaurant is known as a Miami institution and a must for anyone visiting. It's signature dish is the stone crab so it would have been rude not to try it, boy am I glad we did. 
Huge crab claws with the tastiest crab meat I've ever tasted, we ordered a portion of chicken too as I wasn't sure I would like the claws but wanted to give them a go....wish we hadn't ordered the chicken, as nice as it was we wanted more claws! The staff in there were super nice and helpful, we had no idea how to eat the claws but they showed us and suggested sauces and things to go with them - our bellies are now happy and full:-)
Tomorrow we are thinking we will pack up and drive to the Florida Keys, a string of islands just off the south of Florida joined by a long freeway. Not sure how long we'll stay there but they are supposed to be beautiful and highly recommended by my cousin Jay boy:-)
J&O
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