Gator Huntin’ at Cypress Gardens

We were lucky enough to have Mom Mom come visit us for a long weekend.  Now, there isn’t much around here she hasn’t done with us.  That’s one of the things I love about the Lowcountry is there is a TON of things to do!  So, even though we have taken her out before, we decided to head out to Cypress Gardens for the day on Saturday.  Even though the temperature had dropped back down to the 50′s (last week they were in the 80′s!), we bundled up and packed a picnic lunch.We love Cypress Gardens.  And I’m not even getting paid to say that!  Although its a bit of a drive out there, they have a ton to do for the whole family.  They have an aquarium with fish, crocodiles, turtles and snakes, and an outdoor pen with some VERY large alligators.  Jayna’s favorite part of Cypress Gardens is the butterfly garden.  And on Saturday, they had cute little birds (full sized, supposedly) wandering around too!We had a picnic lunch and listened to the bluegrass music.  Jayna was fascinated by the lady playing the “bass” bucket!Obviously Cypress Gardens is named for all of the Cypress trees there.  They grow in the swamp, and their roots and “knees” stick out of the water and the soft land.  It’s just beautiful.  Jayna says that the Cypress “knees” remind her of the stalagmites that we saw in Luray Caverns.But my favorite part of Cypress Gardens is the swamp boat tours.  You can pay to get a guided one, but we prefer to paddle ourselves for free!  (Mommy disclaimer: Yes, I know I have Amelia in the carrier backwards….but I figured she would be happier and less squirmy in the carrier facing out, so she could see.  I was wrong though….she wanted out altogether, and screamed for the entire boat ride!)Every time we’ve been there we’ve managed to see at least a couple of gators in the swamp.  We’ve gotten really good at spotting them amongst the logs, lily pads and Cypress Knees.But, thanks to Amelia’s wailing, this was the only gator we saw this time!