DAY 11
SAT 21st OCT 2000
Up
around 8:00. We decide that we want to do something today but
we're not sure what. We look through a guide book of the area
that we have picked up and decide to drive to the Busch Wildlife
Sanctuary in Jupiter.
We leave at 9:00 and arrive 3 hours later. This is due to a
combination of trying to find the place and also taking the more
scenic A1A along the coast. The drive back takes half the time on
the Interstate.
The sanctuary is quite a small place but costs nothing to get in.
It is primarily there to help injured wild animals to recuperate
before being released back into the wild. We spend an interesting
hour or so looking around at Florida panthers, snakes, bobcats,
skunks and all sorts of birds including ospreys and eagles. There
is also a small forest trail to walk around.
As we drive back through Jupiter we come across the Jonathan
Dickenson State Park. There are big banners out proclaiming that
today is the parks 50th birthday and that admission is free.
(Normally it costs $3.25 per car.) We enter the park and then
drive for about 4 miles until we reach the recreation area. The
normal park activities are available including hiking trails,
bike trails, canoeing and boat trips. In addition there are all
sorts of birthday party happenings, these include people dressed
up and re-enacting various parts of Floridian history. There are
Seminole Indians, civil War Infantrymen, an 1840's settler and
Jonathon Dickinson himself, after who the park is named.
One very interesting thing is the man who is giving an indigo
dyeing demonstration. Now I know this sounds as interesting as
listening to a double glazing salesman but it is actually very
informative. For instance, did you know that indigo was a
plantation crop that, at one time was considered on a par with
silver and gold? Me neither.
Apparently they would soak the young shoots and leaves of the
indigo plant in 40 foot wide baths full of a mixture of water and
urine. The resultant concoction was then pulverised and mixed to
get air into it before being left to dry out in the sunshine.
This produced a foul smell that meant no dwelling could be built
within a quarter of a mile. The end product was a block of solid
indigo which could then be used to dye clothing, wool etc.
See how educational it can be to read one of my trip reports?
Well, if you can't have fun you might as well learn something.
The kiddies area has a selection of small creatures being handled
by people. These include a baby alligator, snakes and a
tarantula. One little girl lets the tarantula crawl over her
hand. Georgia looks on from a safe distance. Spiders and Georgia
do not get on well together.
We decide to take a canoe out as it only costs $10 for 2 hours
but when we go to pay we are told that we can't all go in one
boat. Tammy is not confident at all about going out on her own so
we give it a miss. It's a shame because the river area is really
beautiful with mangrove swamps and exotically forested areas to
paddle round.
One thing that has caught Tammy's attention is a 6 foot long cake
in the shape of a crocodile. Around 3:30 they have a ceremony to
cut it up and begin to hand out pieces to everyone. Tam is in
there, pulling small children out of the way and nudging Grannies
to one side. I fully expect her to take a running jump and land
with a big splat in the middle of the cake and wallow around in
it. Instead she settles for the largest piece she can get. By the
way, it is very nice.
A band are just setting up on the stage so we find seats right at
the front to watch them.
They kick off with 'Keep Your Hands To Yourself' by the Georgia
Satellites, one of my all time favourites, so I sit happily for
20 minutes listening to their set. As Tam says, if only I could
have a beer I would be in my element.
We leave the park at 4:30 to start our journey back and encounter
the first rain of our holiday. Just a few showers, nothing to get
worried about. I would thoroughly recommend a trip to this State
Park, we had a great time and there would still be plenty to do
even on a normal day. Why not do what we did and pop into the
Busch Wildlife Sanctuary while you are there as well?
We get back to Vero Beach around 6:00 and decide on a night in
with a couple of videos. We get out Mighty Joe Young and
Armageddon as the rentals are free for DVC members.
Next
a quick trip up the road sees us stock up on beer, coke, popcorn
and a 10 piece family meal from Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Back at the room the pig family descend on the food and munch
through it faster than a plague of locusts.
We have all seen Mighty Joe Young with the exception of Tammy.
The biggest problem is stopping Georgia from blurting out bits of
the story before they happen.
Armageddon is next. I had read a lot about this film but never
seen it. To my surprise we all thought it was great. OK, so it is
as believable as a politician at election time, and some of the
clichés are clichés of clichés (don't worry, I didn't
understand that last bit myself) but this is an action film first
and foremost. The special effects are spectacular and it races
along at a cracking pace. Bruce Willis gets to be an All American
Hero and the world is a safe place once again. Hey, if you want
Hamlet, watch Hamlet. One of the things that does get annoying is
the regularity with which foul ups occur. To quote India
'Something goes wrong and then something goes wrong and then
something goes wrong and then ....'
I've just realised that you're not getting a lot of WDW related
information during the Vero Beach section of this report so I
will try and bring it back on topic for you. Georgia was looking
a little GOOFY today, she's a CHIP off the old block. We watched
a film about outer space which could have included PLUTO and I've
just spent one and a half hours of my valuable holiday time
writing up this trip report, which really is taking the MICKEY.