4-13-10

Wow! Gainsville Florida is now my favorite town in Florida. It is home to Florida University, tons of alligators, our great friends, Star and Mitch and this fun little venue called the Laboratory. We packed the house, rocked and inspired set of Hip-Hop and enjoyed consuming beverages which were served in 500 Ml beakers. One has to be careful when drinking beakers of beer, as I found out.

And the alligators!! After a great breakfast Mitch took us to this wildlife park on the outer edge of town. We parked and hiked in amongst the drooping Spanish moss and dense vegetation. As we followed the path we came to this swampy pond that Mitch referred to as a "sink" which was basically an area where water drained in from neighboring tributaries down into the earth. The area was lush and green, with lots of water fowl feeding and swimming. As we rounded the edge of the sink, we could see alligators sunning themselves on the far side of the water. We were hoping to get a closer look at them and then Brandon spotted one near the shore on our side. We all crept slowly to the edge and peered over to look. It was incredible! An 8 footer, just floating around in the shallows, soaking up the sun and snacking on the occasional guppy that swam by. I'd never been that close to a live gator before and it was quite a treat. Many thanks again to Star and Mitch for offering their home and hospitality. Tomorrow is Jacksonville.