A visit to the jungle

The Jungle Queen riverboat cruise has been operating in Ft. Lauderdale since 1935.  Due to its many canals and rivers, Ft. Lauderdale has the nickname "Venice of America".  This boat tour takes you along some of those rivers as the narrator points out the homes of some of Florida's rich and famous. It was interesting to see how many of these amazing, huge homes were unoccupied.  We even saw a $220 million yacht.  Kyle and I think we should give up our jobs and just be the caretakers of some of these properties.

The afternoon cruise takes you to a tiny "island" where they have a small zoo and an alligator wrestling show.  The man who wrestled the alligators was funny (he had to entertain the crowd) but he also explained how the Seminole Indians used to hunt alligators and brought them back to the camp where they would be kept in a pit until the people were ready to cook the meat.  This way, they had fresh food.  They needed to develop a technique to capture and bring the alligators back alive. When settlers came they paid the Seminoles to watch and learn their methods, and the alligator wrestling shows were born.

Grace held the baby alligator and Nana held a parrot.  Brave girls!

And, then, they drove the boat back!  (not really, but it was a cute photo)