I'd recommend everyone visit St. Augustine, even if you must do it by land. The historic district is fairly compact and almost everything is within walking distance of everything else. The area is full of centuries-old buildings, many dating from the Spanish Colonial era. The structures' restoration and maintenance seem to have gone very well. A wide variety of restaurants are all over the place. And when you tire of historic structures, there is always Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not Emporium of the Strangely Odd. Or whatever they call themselves. Ripley's is definitely on GB's must-see list. If there's a wax museum around, we will be going there too. GB is a connoisseur of kitsch.
Myself, I shall visit once again the alligators, crocodiles and caimans residing at the Gator Farm over by St. Augustine's lighthouse and across the road. I love me some gators, and the Gator Farm has some big 'uns. When we visited there in February '12, I happened to be standing right next to one of the largest critters, and was treated to his bellow. The sound is…fascinating. If you have ever seen the film Jurassic Park, you know where the T-Rex is sniffing around the broken-down Jeep those stupid kids with the flashlight are in? Yeah, well, one of the sound effects they used for that T-Rex is a real-life alligator's bellow.
At first you don't understand where that sound you're hearing is coming from. Certainly it's from a truck on the road outside; there is no way it could be coming from an animal. Then you look at the gator's midsection and you see it huffing in & out to the point it's vibrating. Then the gator pushes himself up on his forefeet and arches his back. He parts his gator lips and slightly opens his mouth (if it's a cold day you see his steamy gator breath) and…this low pitched, hoarse, throaty, semi-gargling, powerful sound comes out. Imagine an alligator with a 2-pack-a-day smoking habit, and that sort of gives you an idea of the process.
The wildlife folks at the Gator Farm say that alligators don't bellow all the time, and they don't know why an alligator bellows at all. (Territorial declaration? Invitation to sexytime? Religious zeal?) But I had the opportunity not only to hear one start up right in front of me, but several others from around the enclosure started to answer. It is wild, man. So if you visit St. Augustine, stop by the Gator Farm and listen for a while. You might just hear something you've never heard before.
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