Chilly morning! did a small water tank fill... the water was kind sulphur smelling when we had showers and did laundry (all our bedding now has a kind of sulphur smell, doh... so much for washing it all!). We were packed up by 11:30am after some Orlando research and putting on our Edisto Beach and Jekyll Island stickers onto the rig side panel.
Said goodbye to the beautiful Jekyll Island and its fancy gates and palms. Drove Hwy 17 to the GA82 West and onto the GA177S heading for Florida's state line. Amelia and I had looked at the website for Okefenokee Swamp and were quite interested in checking it out. So we put it on the itinerary (not much of a detour to Jacksonville where we had secured a night stay with the Kindred Kitten Rescue through Harvest Hosts.
Lots of alligator crossing signs as we drove down into Okefenokee Swamplands. We checked in at the front gate and decided to splurge and do the swamp boat tour while we were there for an extra bit of money. We were just in time to have a look around and then get on the 2pm boat tour, 3pm train ride and 4pm nature talk.
Waiting at the dock, we met Joe... one of the tour guides... a real character who'd been working there for many many years. He had all kinds of jokes and comments to share. He was taking the next tour out after ours, having just come in on a tour. On our boat tour with Clara, a young lovely biologist from Mississippi, we had the boat to ourselves for the 2pm tour. She took us through the narrow swamps weaving through the Okefenokee and we saw baby gators on the side of the banks right away. Super cute little 1.5 year olds judging by the side of their snouts... measure from their eyes to the bump of the nostrils...for each 1" they are about 1" and grow about a foot a year for the first 5-6 years. This was probably one of Sally's babies, as Sally governed the territory we were in. We also saw a couple of Sally's gator nests... large piles of mud and pine needles. Clara was super sweet and sometimes a little flustered with her information and clearly had a spiel that she used on tours, but tried to also make it personal for us since we were the only ones on the boat. Kids could not believe when she scooped a clear jug of swamp tea looking water and drank some. She had neat information also about the peat underneath releasing methane gas and that you could light the bubbles on fire. We also saw a snake on the boat ride. The kids learned it was going through a "blue phase" because the eyes had a bluish tinge covering them as its body prepared to shed its skin.
We thanked Clara for her tour, and then hustled over to the train ride tour which took us on a little open bench train around a small portion of the swamplands. The main old steam train engine was in the barn having a rest so she'd be ready for the November and December days where they had a lights display through the swamp. We could peek at the engine as we passed by the barn... very cute and old fashioned little relic.
While on the train ride, a lady accidentally dropped her phone off the side of the tracks and our guide had to stop the train and hop off to retrieve it. The lady was so apologetic and embarrassed. Sounds like it happens often because our guide said at the beginning of the tour that if anyone drops anything, it's no problem and to just let her know and she'd stop the train and get it. Jonathan was giggling a bit and thought it was pretty funny that the woman dropped her phone and was kinda making fun a bit behind her back. This gave me a fit of giggles when seconds later he flipped his sunglasses off the side of the train by accident and was too embarrassed to ask the train driver to stop to get them. Karma, haha!! Take that, JT.
We stopped along the route to look at an old pioneering type log home that had a few relics in it. Most things looked kind of like they found some old stuff and put it in there for effect without too much consideration of trying for a particular time period or authenticity. The highlight of the stop were definitely Barbie and Ken, the Guinea hogs. Boy were they funny... looked like someone pumped them up with a bike pump to the point of almost exploding. Very cute in an ugly sort of way. Amelia and Ollie found them very amusing.
As soon as the train ride was done, we walked across to the reptile Ambassador area where we could see very large alligators in various large enclosures. We were told about "Crazy" who fought and killed off any other gators that came into his area. We figured he was off on his own now. Neat to the the large gators relatively close up.
Heading into the Nature Centre, we looked at the various dated exhibits as we walked the hall to the little "auditorium". There was a window viewing area with an old looking bear having a nap in the trees right by the window in its enclosure.
The Nature talk was awesome and a highlight for the kiddos. The young woman that gave the talk/presentation was so great and knowledgable. There were probably less than 20 people seated for the talk, which made for lots of room. The first ambassador she took out of the tubs on the stage was Cornelia the corn snake. Amelia LOVED this snake! Cornelia was about 30 years old! Very gentle and calm when she was walked around on the guide's arm so everyone could see her up close and give Cornelia a pet. Amelia decided then and there that she wants a cornsnake as a pet.
The next little guy to come out for introductions was a very cute little 2ft baby gator. He was really cool and we all enjoyed giving him a little pet too when he came around for a closer look. I didn't realize that gators had webbed feet only at the back, and the digging claws at the front.
The last stop was another small information centre with some dated but pretty interesting displays. Just looked like someone took great care in the 1950's to set it up and then it hadn't been updated much since then. Kinda had its own unique retro charm though.
Stopped in the gift shop and chose a sticker for the rig. Kids loved looking through all the gator related toys there too. They also had a massive gator skeleton in a display case showing the bony spines that they have in their skin along their backs. Very cool.
Leaving around 5pm as they closed up, and having enjoyed our Okefenokee Swamp visit very much, we were back on the Hwy 1 south headed for Florida. Within half an hour we saw the WELCOME TO FLORIDA highway sign!
By 6pm we were in Jacksonville, FL pulling into the beautiful property of Kindred Kitten Rescue, owned by Marvin and Kristine. A large driveway, with modest white house and adjacent guest house... gated swimming pool in the back with outdoor kitchen and an expanse of property behind with beautiful old live oak trees neighbouring onto a farm with friendly cows and a donkey named Taffy.
Kristina and Marvin were SO lovely! Kristina was super chatty and excited we had arrived and was eager to show us around their newly renovated guest house that was soon to be set up on AirBnB as a means to generate income for their passion, the cat rescue. We got every detail described. Marvin followed calmly and quietly behind, super sweet energy. Ollie had his eyes on the awesome '80's arcade table game they had in the guest suite and was especially happy when Kristine told him she "would not be at all mad if y'all wanted to play it later, not at all mad!" with a singsong grin. They also offered for the kiddos to have an evening swim in their lit up pool tonight (sun disappearing very quickly).
We went inside to see the kitties. They had a couple of twin tabbies named Chewie (Chewbacca) and Yoda, and another little dark tabbie named Anikin. Upstairs in the foster kitty rooms they had two new scardy sweet ferals who cowered in the corner, and a lovely regal orange and white long haired cat named Samson who was looking for a home now that he was socialized and healthy. Our favourite was Oakely the brown tabby kitten... about 4months? Lively and silly and enjoyed playing with the cat toy Kristina brought out for the kids to play with her.
After the kitty introductions, we went back to the rig and the kids and I went for a swim in the pool. It was dark by then and they liked the lights as well as the huge unicorn floatie. It was not heated and so it was a brief swim for me, haha. Kids lasted longer for sure and Jonathan came dressed to swim but didn't bother going in. We dried off and Ollie played some arcade games before dinner - simple pasta tonight. no fuss. Marvin had popped over briefly to be sure we were not tucking into bed, as Kristina was making us some s'mores! This lady sure loves hosting guests. Very sweet. She walked across the driveway with a plate full of massive s'mores she had cooked over the stove because it was too cold for a fire. We invited her into the rig to sit and chat and she talked our ears off with fun stories and a little bit about what she'd been up to leading up to starting the cat rescue. A dynamic lady for sure!
