We are in Okeechobee, FL now at the Zachary Taylor RV park. I dropped Nan’s mom off at the Ft Lauderdale airport on Tuesday. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera with me at the time. They are prepared for high-speed pursuits at that airport. I know this because I saw a Sheriff’s car that was a Smart Car.
I assumed Zachary Taylor was the name of the owner of the RV park. Shows how much I know about history. In the 1800's they sent Taylor to this area to wipe out the remaining Indians. He thought it would be no problem. Turns out some of the escaped slaves from Georgia came down here and teamed up with the Indians. When Taylor got down here he got his butt kicked. Now every year they reenact this battle. According to the guy that told me this story, the white boys dress in blue, and then the Indians and blacks pretend to shoot them all. After the battle they get together to eat and drink.
Today we went on an airboat ride for an hour. We saw two gators, one turtle, and several birds. The one gator in the picture was about 10 feet long. In the wild they grow about one foot each year. In captivity they grow about 6 feet the first year. They used to have more gators in the area but they had to thin them out. According the airboat driver (who is the same guy that told us the story of Zachary Taylor and happens to be one of the white boys that gets shot every year during the reenactment) a guy got his arm bit off about a year ago. He was drinking with his friends. So many stories down here start with that sentence. His friends dared him to swim out in Okeechobee about a hundred yards or so. After he lost his arm he went on a national tour, and the local authorities determined there were too many gators. I think it’s terrible that these gators lost their lives because of one guys drunken stupidity. But on the other hand, gator meat is very reasonably priced down here.
I assumed Zachary Taylor was the name of the owner of the RV park. Shows how much I know about history. In the 1800's they sent Taylor to this area to wipe out the remaining Indians. He thought it would be no problem. Turns out some of the escaped slaves from Georgia came down here and teamed up with the Indians. When Taylor got down here he got his butt kicked. Now every year they reenact this battle. According to the guy that told me this story, the white boys dress in blue, and then the Indians and blacks pretend to shoot them all. After the battle they get together to eat and drink.
Today we went on an airboat ride for an hour. We saw two gators, one turtle, and several birds. The one gator in the picture was about 10 feet long. In the wild they grow about one foot each year. In captivity they grow about 6 feet the first year. They used to have more gators in the area but they had to thin them out. According the airboat driver (who is the same guy that told us the story of Zachary Taylor and happens to be one of the white boys that gets shot every year during the reenactment) a guy got his arm bit off about a year ago. He was drinking with his friends. So many stories down here start with that sentence. His friends dared him to swim out in Okeechobee about a hundred yards or so. After he lost his arm he went on a national tour, and the local authorities determined there were too many gators. I think it’s terrible that these gators lost their lives because of one guys drunken stupidity. But on the other hand, gator meat is very reasonably priced down here.
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