When I was growing up, my favorite family vacations were to Ft. Myers, Florida. I have been trying to convince Jeff to go there but he wasn't interested. Finally, after 14 years we went! And everybody, even Jeff, loved it.
We drove. It's a long drive. So we stopped in Chattanooga, TN. Have you seen the advertisements for Ruby Falls? We fell for them and toured the caves.
Spoiler alert:
If you ever want to pay money to tour the cave and see the amazing wonder of an underground waterfall, avert your eyes from the next photo.
Yep, that's it! But they darken the cave and light it up different colors and play dramatic music too.
We made it to Ft. Myers Beach, FL late Saturday night after spending the day at Disney World. The next six days were spent exploring all the beaches along Ft. Myers and Sanibel Island.
These photos are how we spent the week.
This is in Ding Darling Wildlife Preserve on Sanibel. These are crabs. There are hundreds and hundreds of them.
Minus one.
The first alligator we saw! This is also in Ding Darling, and this one is just a baby.
Lover's Key State Park, very early in the morning.
Downtown Ft. Myers along the Caloosahatchee River.
My hair, and my girls' hair turns to frizz in that Florida humidity!
One day we went south to Big Cypress National Preserve and Everglades National Park (Just the very NW corner of it). Before we went into the park we went on a commercial air boat tour of the mangrove swamps. They had a little zoo, and Erin insisted that she wanted to "hold and hug an alligator" like was advertised on the sign.
Katie was brave too.
This guy is in Big Cypress National Preserve. There are alligators everywhere, all along the roads.
A ginormous grasshopper.
Meanwhile, back at Bonita Beach......
Our very last night in Florida. This was on Estero Island (Ft. Myers Beach) at low, low tide. There were little tidal pools with all kinds of creatures.
You are not allowed to keep any live creatures from the gulf, so don't worry- we put them all back! It is just fascinating to look at them. Nothing like this in Iowa, that's for sure.
It was an amazing week; the most relaxing vacation we have had in years! And we all had so much fun looking for sea shells that everyone wants to go back! I can't wait for the next time.
