Nature!

I have experienced the Florida Wilderness (AKA the swamp)! After two days of serious outdoorsy activity, let's just say I was ready for some AC and a nice long nap :)

It started on Friday, my first day of Spring Break! I got a call from some ladies from my church (who were visiting a friend in Florida) and they wanted to get together for the day. Done! We decided to meet at Sun Harvest Citrus to start our fun-filled day.

Can I say enough times how much I LOVE Florida citrus??? They were bottling fresh squeezed juice in house and you could watch the process through big picture windows. In addition to that, they had free samples of fruit and juices! The juice was all orange based (except the lemonade) and I wasn't too thrilled with any of it. I dislike oranges... But they had a free sample of tangelos and that I did enjoy. So much so that I bought a little souvenir with a brilliant plan in mind...

Ever heard of a Citra-Sipper? Me either, but it is so cool! It's basically a little straw with a screw end that you put into a fruit and drink straight from the fruit! Who bought that and some tangelos? THIS KID! I love tangelo juice :)

So as a final treat, I bought a soft serve cone of Key Lime/Chocolate swirl. Sounds weird, tastes amazing. The key lime was subtle and the chocolate reminded me of an oreo crust, yum!

After that, the ladies had planned to visit the Six Mile Cypress Slough (Pronounced "Slew"). They have a raised boardwalk so that you can walk over the swamp, pretty cool. The walk was only 1.2 miles (not six, thank goodness!) and it was pretty cool. We got to see a bunch of turtles, baby gators, birds, and even a very large wild pig! All in their natural habitat (and not in a zoo kind of way).

We left the Slough at around 4PM at which point I was SERIOUSLY ready for lunch! They picked a restaurant called Souplantation and Sweet Tomatoes. Oh, so good. It's a giant salad bar with so many toppings! They also have soup and some bakery items. All very fresh, all very tasty. I think Jessica would like it, but I also don't think they have any up north... oh well. The other cool thing about the restaurant is that you can eat it as a buffet OR you can just get one plate. I got water because I was feeling a little dehydrated, but they had some super awesome looking teas!

On to the next day! I had signed up for a free swamp walk in the Everglades National Park. I went to Goodwill the night before and picked up a $2 pair of shoes and a $5 pair of jeans. I also bought a $2 tshirt, but it turns out I didn't really need that.

So I went to the welcome center at 10 AM (I had to leave my apartment at 8:45, ugh!) and I was a little early. I was also the first person there of five who were on the schedule. They gave me a walking stick and I got to chat with some of the park staff about visiting the Slough the day before. Once everyone else arrived, our guide took us out for our walk. It was supposed to last up to 2 hours, but we got back within 1 and a half. I have a feeling it was because our group was small.

We walked across the street and out into the "plains" area. There were some animal tracks, we talked about some cool plants, and then we went into the heart of the swamp! Fun fact: In the dry season, the mosquitoes are practically non-existent because there is a little fish in the swamp that eats mosquito larvae. Thanks little fish!

For a dry season, the swamp was still pretty damp. Let's just say I'm glad I bought gross shoes. I spent the first 15 minutes of the tour laughing uncontrollably because every time I took a step my feet would sink into the mud and make a farting sound. Everyone else's feet did this too, but apparently they didn't find it as funny. I got myself under control eventually.

We did find a gator hole (Which is just a lower part of the swamp that has been dug out by gators) and the water there was ankle deep and quite cold. Other than that, just mud.

All in all quite a fun few days in the great outdoors!