Royal St. Cloud

It feels like we are in St. Andrews.

A mother crane nesting.

So many cranes - at one point we saw 15 all together.

A beautiful hawk - kept flying over us at one hole. We wondered if there was a nest nearby.

They  weren't even afraid of us!

John called us to show that this bird was in his line of sight for hitting his ball. It wasn't interested in moving - we wondered if there was a nest.

The boys just loved this sign!

An alligator sunning by the water.

The Upro was great to have and I loved the bracket that I bought - it allows you to share it with the other person in the cart.

Today we played at Royal St. Cloud!  What a fun course.  This is a links style course that is full of wildlife.  We saw so many Cranes - at one point in time 15 all together, turtles, alligators, hawks and all sorts of birds.  We had such a fun day.  It was like we were at a zoo with all the animals around us.  The course was very reasonably priced - only $30 for the round.   It was definately a great deal for the money.  We just loved the course.  We did a bit of shopping after at the Outlet mall and now we're packing up.  We'll be on the road early tomorrow as we have to drop off the house key before driving to the course.  We're golfing at Bella Calina which is suppose to be an amazing course.  I'm looking forward to another fun round!!

Apple Snail

The pink pods on the grasses are the eggs of the Apple Snail.

While on our airboat ride, we were educated about the Apple Snail.  Captain Harold found two snails - once for each of us to have.  These are eaten by the bird (we can't remeber the name) that nests in the Everglades. They are almost extinct with only about 75 left (the birds).

The Apple Snail - isn't it big.

Spirit of the Swamp Boat Tours



Cyprus knees

Apple Snail - as large as an Apple and favoured by certain birds in Florida.

Our first of many alligators.. We saw large and small.

An Eagle guarding the next

Captain John and first mate Grace.

Such a motley crew.

Captain Ralph and first mate Grace.

It was amazing to drive "anywhere" with the boat.

Swamp Chickens

We each wore headsets to talk to each other during the ride.

We decided to take an Airboat ride through the everglades in the Kissimmee area.  What a great idea that turned out to be.  We went for an hour tour and saw lots of alligators, birds, turtles and wild flowers. We learned alot about the area and really enjoyed our ride.  Our guide was Captain Harold and he was a true Floridian.  He told us all about hunting squirels, hogs and the like.  It added to our adventure.  It was a great afternoon to be out in the airboat.  At top speed the boat can go approximately 75 miles an hour.  It was quite the trip.

Oh what a beautiful day

We were up with the birds (or maybe before the birds).... Our tee time was 8:00 but we were able to get off by 7:30.  It was beautiful weather again today and nice and warm. I think it went to 80F which was awesome!  It did get a bit more humid, but we're not complaining.

36 holes

It was "HOT" today.  The morning started off beautiful and we knew that this was a good sign.  The weather was going to be warm.  We golfed at Crooked Cat this morning (Orlando National) and had a nice relaxing round.  It wasn't busy so we were lucky.  We had an awesome time.  After such a fun round we decided to a replay and played Panther Lake in the afternoon.  It was very hot while we played but sure was a lot of fun. 

For dinner we enjoyed Leftovers.... Never thought I would say that they could taste so good, but after a day out in the fresh air, we were ready to eat a horse! 

Tomorrow, we're off to Metro West in the morning and then will be taking an Airboat ride in the afternoon.  I can't wait. It should be lots of fun.

Psssssst - Ian Polter look alikes

We were off early this morning.  It looked like it was going to be another beautiful day.  John dropped Grace and I off by the front door to pay for our golf and then meet them at the car.  When we got there, they had changed into new golf clothes. We laughed so hard... this was going to be a fun day!