florida part 2, weekend part 2: alligators, drum circles and more food (than should be legal)

i cannot even begin to express my frustration right now. i had this amazing post finished and ready to go-thought i'd saved it (as i had hit the save button) and while i was trying to upload the pics, it told me to log out and log back in, and the bulk of the post that i had written and polished off tonight was ~poof~ grr. i will try again, but no promises as to the comparable amazingness of the first post. uf.

we were looking for a good day, and it was granted! we had chosen this day to go to mayakka state park to see the alligators and get the everglades feel without having to go to the everglades! so course, we had to fuel up for the day. that consisted of stopping in to station 400, one of the cutest little breakfast/brunch spots in sarasota, off the beaten path! adorbs. a little piece of history-this little train station had been dismantled from indiana and pieced back together in srq-and was now a little cafe! bright and chipper, this place! pretty certain shea had the fry up and i KNOW i had the huevos gringos-delicious! we stopped by whole foods for some fruit to snack on later in the day, then feeling ready to conquer the day, we were off to mayakka!

you know i did...just because i had to. they weren't like donuts. but hey, they were still pretty good!

upon arrival, we stopped at the first bridge in hopes of a first sighting. there were two people on the bridge, who came off the bridge and walked onto a little pathway because they thought they saw something. we peeked over to the area where they were heading and sure enough, there was a slight glimpse of a head in the shade under the tree, but we weren't really close enough to appreciate him/her...and at this point, there was no need to get closer, as shea is much faster than i am, so i would get eaten first. so we proceeded to the trail.

shelter first!

we opted for the 1 mile trail instead of the 20 miler-no need for a marathon today. and even on this 1 mile stretch, while it was quite pretty, there wasn't a whole lot of variety. shea was telling me about a reality show were they drop naked people into wild places and leave them to survive for X amount of time. and they had used this park for one of the shows. so as we walked, we were survivalist planning. i'm pretty sure with our plans, we could've out-survived any of them! not that i would ever do a show naked...i have this modesty thing going on. everything pretty much looked the same until we arrived at the tower. the tower was worthy. we went up the first tower and i thought that was it, but it led to a little swinging bridge-coolness, and then onto a much taller tower that overlooked the treetops. what a gorgeous view and a refreshing breeze! we got up there and began snapping photos and another couple made it up and almost immediately went back down, as the male-figure was a little woozy and uncomfortable with heights (would've been good to know before they climbed the thing, i would think...just sayin'). once we heard a multitude of voices, we decided to descend from the deck. because no one wants to share an amazing upper deck scenery with the crazies. (them, not us). i knew neither of us would throw up, but you never know about children and weak-spirited travelers.

because amazing beauty deserves to be seen...and the view from the top was gorgeous as well. ;)

and of course the picture of us taking each other's picture. duh.

suspension bridge-pretending we're like...indiana jones in the wilds of anywhere

lots of stairs, generously built and funded by lots of people, including a whole slew of peruvian kids!

we then drove to one of the great fishing areas. when we got out to the little fishing platform, we saw 2 alligators on one side, and there was a big fella on the other side, where there was a lot of fishing going on. a lot of smack talk by a young nerdy fisherman. we were so unimpressed and making our own narrative under the breath. well, for all his talk, he did hook a big mouth bass. snaps. and it was probably about a 9-12 pounder. i don't know about shea, but i was really happy to see him leave to put it in their cooler back at their campsite! but then there were the kids and such. i'm sure we were totally in the way, watching, but we wanted to get selfies with the big guy! (alligator, not fisherman)

and...when on vacation, we get what we want...there he is

 every time someone snagged a fish, we stood there silently cheering on the alligator and hoping that he would get his fill. and he did snap two good sized fish from the lines! #teamalligator. we decided he was doing the fish a favor, and if we were fish, we'd rather have him do us the favor of keeping us from being un-drowned..asphixiation by air? (idk), i mean...to be a fish and go to a frying pan? this guy was a true humanitarian...alligatortarian. (?) and shea also made the comment that she felt flying alligators would be terrifying. so...we restricted them to dragonfly wings -no eagle wings, because as soaring alligator would be much more terrifying than a flittering, fluttering alligator..singing happy music...

got it! 

there was this kid fishing next to me, and he did a foolish move, trying to be cool and get his bait near the alligator, but he crossed lines with a couple of ladies, and got his line all tangled up with one of them. she kinda' reprimanded him, he said sorry and she proceeded to try to untangle the lines. this went on for about 5 minutes and he's still standing next to me, they are about 7 feet down, and i told him to slacken the line a little bit as they were trying to untangle it and having quite a time (not a good time, mind you, they were so annoyed)...and when i told him to do that, he said, "they can just cut the line, i have other hooks and bobbers." i told him to walk over there and let them know. they were even more annoyed at that point because he coulda' told them that at the very beginning of this tangled mess! by then they had it undone. this is why i don't fish with little boys. ok, let's be real-i haven't fished in years!

and of course, you can't go to an alligator park without some guy thinking he has to tell his alligator story about getting fined for wrestling an alligator in a state park, now he knows better...#initiateeyeroll ...

on the way back to the car, we found the perfect spot for senior pics, because senior pics are for everyone- 

yes, i was terrible at posing for my real senior pics too.

we found the birdwalk and went out in search of more alligators and birds. my mom would've enjoyed this area, as she is becoming somewhat of a birdwatcher these days. there were no gators, but there were plenty of birds!

once we were finished with our alligator hunting, we set off for siesta key beach.

to me, this is perfection.hearing the roar of the ocean relaxing in part sun, part breezy shade

upon arrival, we found a little spot to set up camp (hammock and beach chairs...what else does one require? nothing.) pretty much, as soon as we arrived, the hippies began to arrive as well with their bongos, jembes, tambourines, hula hoops and flags, among other things. they began setting up and drawing a huge circle in the sand, and tourists and visitors began to set up on the outside of that circle to watch the goings on. soon enough we would see that circle grow.

growing a crowd of onlookers

 we were next to the sand volleyball court, and after settling into the hammock, some guys began playing a pick-up game of sand volleyball. so as i was napping, i kept hearing,"uh oh!" and "OHHHH!" and it never failed to make me nervous and cringe just a little thinking i was going to get smacked in the head. finally their little group dissipated and i was truly able to rest! eventually shea went off to play in the ocean for a minute and i continued in my state of comfort...um..guarding the valuables...yep that's it! when she returned, we found a bag at the picnic table that someone had left behind-maracas! when one leaves maracas behind, the only thing for the finder to do is shake those things! so, despite the fact that we did not bring our hula hoop nor our tambourine, we DID take our newly borrowed maracas to check out the drum circle crazies.

maraca-laca-serious-face, time to get down to bidness!

what we found was not shocking. although, that said, there was a girl in a wolf-skin outfit. it seemed fairly legit and somewhat disconcerting that she would be wearing it in this heat. where does one get a wolf-skin outfit? full outfit...she didn't look like a mighty warrior who could defeat a wolf in the midst of trying to save oneself...hence, my question again. where did she get this thing?

maybe she did fight the wolf, and that's why she needed the knee brace...or maybe she was smoking pot and fell down her stairs...

the drummers

somehow, the circle closed in tighter, but there was still some dancing going on.

we were trying to be stealthy in our capture of jingle-summer-santa pics...

there were a group of the hippy-folk walking around with clip boards trying to get residents to sign a medical marijuana petition.

 we walked around, observed, took some pics, danced...

the kanakuk dance...

when with locals, do as the locals do...except not the marijuana part...#dancingwiththestars

 so the video of the above picture is actually rather humorous...

when the sun set, we had to find sustenance (as if!); this led us to a little place called: EAT HERE, and we ate there. i appreciate dining with shea, as she is all about sharing. this allows us to really enjoy a variety. so we ordered the lobster/shrimp tacos, and the fancy grilled cheese. they were both delicious, but my recommendation would be the grilled cheese, simply because i was comparing value and taste of the tacos to tide tables (the one place where we do NOT share). while we were waiting for the food to arrive, shea had to get her hair in order with her thingamabob or whatchamacallit- i really don't know, and she had to go through the entire song, trying to remember its name, only to realize that it was actually in one of the scenes, not the song...

#mermaidproblems

 and after dinner, we did what all people should do...we found the nitrogen flash frozen ice cream across the street and took our yummyness for a walk down the main stretch to see the shops and restaurants. it was short. the perfect way to end a day full of adventure!

coming soon-monday adventures and miami vice!
jrob