Gloria in Excelsis Deo: Beach Vacation Day 7

On Tuesday, we said farewell to Chris' parents, then Chris took the kids down to the pool while I did some housecleaning. After flopping around watching television, eating lunch, shopping for groceries, and having Quiet Time, we hopped in the car with the intent to go somewhere, anywhere interesting, but with no plan. After driving around the island for a while, we paid the $6 toll to enter the Sea Pines Resort section of the island, curious to see that community. The gate keeper handed us a brochure and the Alligator and Wildlife Boat Tours at the Sea Pines Forest Preserve caught our eyes.

Now, keep in mind that I have had a 'thing' about alligators since I was a wee girl. I had an elementary school friend who moved to our community from Florida, where I learned alligators reside, along with mosquitoes the size of small birds, in unbearable humidity. I decided then and there that I would never set foot in Florida, nor would I ever live in the South at all.

Tell God your plans . . .

A week before this vacation, our neighbor who lent us his beach condo walked over with some brochures. He was giving instructions on how to walk to the beach and he said, "You walk between two ponds on your way to the beach, but there are no alligators in them."

I paused cooking our dinner and asked with a tight voice, "There are no alligators? Where are there alligators?"

The neighbor and Chris both stared at me, they both knowing that Hilton Head is what some people (me) might describe as infested with alligators.

And I would be taking my four small precious children--AKA alligator appetizers--right to their territory. I spent some days reading about what is quaintly referred to as Alligator Awareness for Hilton Head Island. I was reassured that many ponds and waterways with gators living in them have signs posted. But, still, don't let children or pets near any fresh water because "alligators are lightening quick."

Tense smile as I prayed that none of us fell in the water or were eaten by alligators

It should be considered simply reasonable the fear I feel of alligators, but I confess I am outright phobic of water. So, I must be growing in peace a lot considering I'm the one who first suggested we go on the tour. I admit, though, my heart was full of tension for the entire hour, and I barked commands every time a kid so much as leaned slightly out of the boat. I think I should win some kind of acting prize for my smile in the above photo.

Fascinating fact: The slender blue herons do a great deal to keep the gator population down because these birds eat four out of five baby gators (before they grow to 12 inches). Bass fish are the other biggest predator of baby gators. Who knew?!

There were no life preservers offered in the boat, but, hey, I figure if one of us fell in, we'd be eaten momentarily by one of the more than 50 alligators currently living in the preserve. [EDIT: I wrote this post for scheduled publication the subsequent morning and went to bed. Then I woke up at four in the morning, as if out of a fog, thinking, "I didn't insist they wear life jackets? Was I out of my mind?!" I couldn't fall back asleep and lay there for an hour and a half chiding myself. If one of the children had fallen over the edge of the boat, which is pretty easy to do, they would have just bobbed there in a life jacket and been scooped up in a few seconds, just like the sunglasses that fell in (see story below). Or, without a jacket, they would have promptly sunk into the opaque water and it would have been a very different story. I think I was so pumped full of adrenaline to get over my own fear of boats and water that I set aside all common sense!]

"Two Girls Wrangle Alligator While Father Sits Idly By"

The above frightening photo is of our girls playing with a preserved head from a dead alligator, but it sure looks live and real, doesn't it? And, really, doesn't it seem plausible that our Mary could grow up to be an alligator wrestler some day?

Margaret watching an alligator

We saw about six alligators on our tour. The tour guide said there are currently 20-25 adults (over six feet), 20-25 juveniles (under six feet), and some babies within the Sea Pines Forest Preserve, which I read is about 605 acres large. Nick the Australian tour guide assured us that alligators are greatly misunderstood, are on record as killing only 18 humans since the 1940s, and that, if an alligator attacks a human, the human was doing something 'stupid.' I was slightly reassured until every time I'd see again one of those prehistoric monster-like creatures floating a few feet away.

John and Mary with an alligator

Writing this travel journal, my mind can now hardly wrap my mind around the fact that (1) I went on a boat along with all my loved ones most precious to me in this world (2) on open water (even more terrifying than a pool) (3) in which we sat maybe 18 inches above the murky water (4) which was infested with alligators and (5) I was the initiator of this bright idea.

It is possible I've sat in too much sun on this vacation and have temporarily lost my faculties!

Cormorant birds and turtles on a dead tree

There were humorous moments, such as when the baby grabbed the three-year-old's sunglasses and threw them in the water. I remarked how fortunate we were that he didn't grab Chris' cell phone, sitting right next to the sunglasses, and throw that in!

A nice gentleman on the boat reached his hand into the water and grabbed the glasses, much to the relief of the teary preschooler. We all were that much more perplexed when a few minutes later, that same three-year-old threw her own sunglasses across the boat and they fell into the water again! She was so stunned, she confessed through her tears that she didn't realize that if she threw her glasses, they'd go into the water. The same nice gentleman retrieved them and I put them away.

And for my nursing mother-friends . . . we mothers sometimes get a kick out of keeping track of the weirdest places we've nursed our babies. Before now, I think my weirdest place was in the dental chair during my own exam (in order to assuage my wailing newborn who wouldn't stop crying for the entire exam) . . . but now I have to say that the weirdest place I have nursed a baby is on a boat in waterways infested with alligators. I wasn't really keen on nursing a 15-month-old in such close quarters with strangers, and without a nursing cover because I hadn't even brought my purse, but Joseph started out by signing FOOD repeatedly (and I had failed to pack any snacks or water bottles), then he fussed louder and began signing NURSING and smacking me. Then he began throwing a tantrum and was threatening to become so loud that the other patrons couldn't hear our tour guide. And I was stuck on this boat for the next hour and, you know, surrounded by alligators, so a Mama's gotta do what a Mama's gotta do. And now I can add this fun location to my Weird List!

The largest alligator we saw was 6-7 feet, but there are gators up to 12 feet long on the preserve.

After we survived the boat tour, we drove over to the much more sedate Gregg Russell Harbour Town Playground.

This was the most inventive, pleasant, aesthetically beautiful, and calming playground I've ever seen . . . kudos to the designers!

Margaret on the loggerhead turtle

The only alligator to be found at Harbour Town Playground is this statue.

Margaret on the seesaw

Our kids up high, of course

Chris was shopping for a souvenir and I had to step away a few feet to take Margaret to the facilities and, when I returned, where were our children? Way up high, of course! Mary showed John how to scramble about six feet up a sheer face of the faux tree to get the top.