Gatorwine

We moved to Big Cypress National Preserve, just outside of Everglades National Park.

When we arrived at our campsite, we were given a lot of warnings about Bears and Panthers and of course Alligators. Oh my! Being graduates of bear school from Katmai National Park, we know the drill about how to handle food. Alligators, however, are new to us! There are warnings to not cook or eat too close to the water and pets must be leashed and stay on the campground side of the road.

We stopped at the visitor center and quickly learned that we needed reservations for the tours. Given that it’s a holiday weekend, we are on the waitlist for a couple. We will see if we can join the alligator walking tour or canoe tour. We also learned that the water levels are very low, so some activities are canceled. The airboats near Everglades City are not running because of the low water levels.

The Oasis Visitor Center did have a boardwalk right along the river. There were about a dozen alligators sunning themselves along the river bank. Far more than we saw on our swamp tour!

It was pretty warm today, in the 80s, but quite nice in the shade. So after we set up camp we spent some time sitting outside. Until the bugs started biting! As the sun went down, the temperature dropped and it is lovely.

We decided to take a walk around the campground around sunset. Amy commented about the tent camp sites, and how tent camping in alligator territory seems worse than in bear territory. We noticed some campers drinking and Greg asked what is the right drink around alligators. He then answered: Gatorwine. For those who have not seen it, Binging with Babish has an episode on YouTube where he ranks user suggestions for food combinations. One person suggested Gatorwine, a combination of Gatorade and cheap red wine. We have not tried it, so we can’t recommend it as a drink, but the episode was pretty funny. He has a follow up where he ranks different Gatorade flavors to determine which is the best in Gatorwine. We have decided that Gatorwine is an appropriate drink for the Everglades.