Gator Bites!

On the very last day of our Florida holiday, before packing up and leaving for the airport, we distracted ourselves with a visit to Gatorland which, as one might guess, is dedicated to Florida’s famous alligators. Its one of the smaller attractions in Kissimmee and is well priced too at around $15 for a ticket (compare […]

On the very last day of our Florida holiday, before packing up and leaving for the airport, we distracted ourselves with a visit to Gatorland  which, as one might guess, is dedicated to Florida’s famous alligators. Its one of the smaller attractions in Kissimmee and is well priced too at around $15 for a ticket (compare that to $90 to see Mickey Mouse!). I like that the real Florida shines through here – a little rough around the edges, faded neon colours, red necked gator wrestlers and authentic(ish) Floridian cuisine.

After an entertaining gator wrestling show we decided it was lunch time…

How could I not have the gator nuggets?! They were actually pretty tasty, a bit like fishy chicken… with a spicy bread crumb coating.

I was attracted to the advert for ‘A Complete Florida Experience’, which apparently is achieved by eating boiled peanuts. We asked for them at the counter and were asked if we would like to try them first, assuming this as a warning that they may not be to everyone’s tastes, I accepted samples of both the regular and Cajun flavours. They came out in their shells, rather hot and wet, and tasted a little like salty kidney beans. To me they were worth tasting, but since there were so many things to be eaten, I decided against a whole portion and thanked them very much for the sample.

Before we left we took a good look around the gift shop. I didn’t think I would get through customs with a real alligator head, so settled on a chocolate alligator instead…