After lunch today we tossed around several different ideas for our Sunday. Most were lazy, but one got us out of the house.
We opted for some adventure!
The last stop on Ryan’s “Tour of Ocala” Christmas present to me took us to Silver Springs Theme Park.
The park is more or less a zoo that features glass bottom boat rides that tour the surrounding springs.
We were most excited about the boat rides and hopped aboard a glass bottom boat within 10 minutes of our arrival.
The captain of the ship guided the boat around the springs as we looked through the glass at the fish and clear water.
The spring produces upwards of 500 million gallons of crystal clear water daily. We could see all the way down to the bottom of the spring the entire time, and the spring reached nearly 60 feet deep at some parts.
We also saw a lot of wildlife, including birds, fish, turtles and several gators.
That guy was big, but very uninterested in our boat. I think he’s used to the tours.
On the boat ride, the captain pointed out a palm tree shaped somewhat like a horseshoe, telling everyone that if you took a picture by the lucky horseshoe palm, you would be granted five years of good luck.
Of course we made sure to get our five years after the boat ride concluded.
Our day at the park included lots of stops to see the animals. Our favorite animal of the day was the friendly giraffe.
We were able to get surprisingly close to the guy and feed him giraffe crackers… with our mouths!
I was a little nervous to feed him a cracker out of my mouth at first, but he was very gentle and slow moving. We were even able to pet him!
We saw a lot more animals at the park before heading home.
We also attended a reptile show and learned about alligators. Did you know that there are more than three million alligators in Florida? Eek.
Dinner
Once we were done at the park, we headed home and snacked for a bit before watching some football (Ryan), reading (me) and playing frisbee outside with Sadie.
While we entertained Sadie in the backyard, dinner cooked in the oven.
Tonight’s meal included roasted Brussels sprouts and onions, broiled salmon and half of a toasted whole wheat bagel, topped with melted butter and garlic salt. (Ryan ate the other half.)
Such a good dinner!
Now my sweet tooth is begging for some peppermint hot chocolate. Off to enjoy a cup and settle in with The Night Circus.
Those of you who are also reading the book for this month’s book club, are you enjoying it so far? Are you done? Haven’t started? So far I’m hearing good things from those of you who are reporting back! And please don’t forget to send me links to your reviews if you decide to post one so I may add your link to the post that includes my review of the book on February 1.
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awww, sounds like such a good day! love that you could feed and pet the giraffe! 🙂
jealous-its snowy and cold here in nyc so I mostly stayed inside!
Wow– that’s CRAZY with the giraffe! I’d be worried I’d get a bite or some unwanted giraffe tongue action on my mouth! Glad it worked out well for you 🙂
what a fun day! love those pictures 🙂
salmon and brussels sprouts are two of my all time favorite foods… yummy dinner!
what a FUN day!! i love all the animals! i haven’t been to a zoo in ages… and a glass bottom boat ride sounds awesome! i’ve never done something like that. enjoy your evening!
It’s so weird seeing you go to all these places that I grew up going to. Glad you’re enjoying Ocala 🙂
That dinner looks awesome! Keith is such a brussels sprouts hater. He thinks they make the house stink so he isn’t keen on me making them often. Crazy man!!
Awww! That looks like a great place to visit! That is a GREAT Christmas present he gave you!
That’s so cool that you got to pet a giraffe! I think they are to coolest animals, so different with those long necks!
You are one brave woman!! I don’t think I could have fed that giraffee like that!! 😉
Feeding and petting the giraffe is cool, but I think I kind of want to hug that bear. I bet he is a great hugger and not mean or scary at all, right? *I hope I hope*
I am so jealous of the weather there! It is sleeting and chilly here and I am trying to motivate to run… also, I just stalked Ocala on the interwebs and am giggling at your move to a “small town”… my boyfriend and I just moved to a “small town”— population 9,000! hehe 🙂
Awh I want to go play and pet a giraffe now!
I just finished Night Circus and loved it!
I won’t lie, I love the zoo/other places with animals. Even though they are taken away from home, they are safe and have good care!
Awww I love the giraffe! He’s so friendly!
I absolutely adore your outfit! That vest is amazing! I wish I was having a good weekend, but having your wisdom teeth out kind of puts a damper on things. 🙁
I had salmon for dinner too! Yum!
We had a palm tree like that in our front yard! Love the giraffe, so cute!
Geez, I haven’t been to Silver Springs in at least 10 years!I celebrated my 7th or 8th birthday there! I know that they have added a lot, but I always loved the glass bottomed boat rides. 🙂
At the end of the year, you and Ryan should go to the Festival of Lights around Christmas time! From what I can remember, it is really beautiful.
i have a lot of really cute pictures of my little campers feeding the giraffe. i think that was their favorite part of the entire field trip! 🙂
Finished 3 days ago. LOVED THE BOOK! Such a great and complex story.
My mom took me on that glass bottom boat when I was a little girl. Now that I see the pic of the inside of the boat, I totally remember being on it. Had no idea Silver Springs was in Ocala.
That giraffe business would freak me out. Mostly because of that viral video of the zebra biting that girl. But they are so cute!
I think I would also be a bit freaked out letting a giraffe eat straight from my mouth! I went to Everglades National park a couple weeks ago and saw a ton of alligators, also! I’m glad you had a wonderful weekend! 🙂
Aww! I love giraffes!
I’ve been to Silver Springs Theme Park! I have a very embarasing picture of my 4th grade self in front of that tree…ohh the akward years…Looks like you had a great time! 😀
so fun! I love giraffes! They are so odd but very cute. Not a fan of the gators though!
What a cool park! I love the giraffe & the glass bottomed boats!
Also, that is a startlingly high number of gators — yikes!
I’ve actually been listening to The Night Circus via audible. I got it to entertain myself on long runs and bike rides. The readers voice is so spot on and really makes the story for me. I can’t imagine the voice I’d assume in my head (does that make sense?) would be anywhere near as thrilling as this guy. And yes, I’m loving the book so far!
Fun date! I just moved to FL a few months ago and am always looking for a random gator. I know they don’t just roam the streets, but I’ve had a few people tell me to just be careful (whatever that means!).
This is going to sound totally random (and maybe even naive) but I had no idea giraffes had tongues that long! Looks like a fun little date.. and if I lived in Florida, I don’t think I could ever get used to the alligators!
I’ve lived in FL my whole life and never knew that this place existed!! I will be checking it out for sure 🙂
Hi I have been following your blog for awhile now and you and Ryan share a lot of food. does he eat the same amount and things as you for meals or does he have like say more salmon for dinner then just what you have?!?!
Ahh I love the giraffe! I would have been afraid to feed him like that too, but what a fun experience!
I was born in south fl and spent the first 9 years of my life there, and I still, to this day, have nightmares about gators! Seeing your photos today, I’m sure to have scary dreams tonite! :). But looks like you had a very fun day!
Those giraffe pictures are hilarious!
Also, I’m about 200 pages into The Night Circus. It’s a different kind of good. I have NO idea where it’s going but I’m liking it!
Well, you can totally cross “frenching a giraffe” off of your life long goals list. Haha, just kidding. How cool!
Also, when my parents lived in FL for a couple years, there are stories of my mom running over an alligator that was in the middle of the road because she thought it was a speed bump! Haha. They’re everywhere!
Julie!!! I finally tried roasting my brussel sprouts,
Holy YUUUM! They’re so gooood!!!!
Can’t wait for lunch leftovers!
A sweet treat to end the night is always the way to go! It looks like you guys had such a fun day!
I’ve got overwhelming jealousy over mouth-feeding giraffes (wow, there’s a statement I never thought I’d make…)
Looks like you guys had a wonderful day! 🙂
That water is BEAUTIFUL! I was wondering if you could swim in it, and then I saw the gator picture!
Gators scare the crap out of me! I feel like you see them all the time!!
This is awesome! I have seen pictures where people get that close to giraffes, but they’re always in AFRICA!
That is so cool you can feed the giraffes like that!!! You and Ryan have such cute/exciting weekend plans all the time!
We had the same thing in mind for dinner. Salmon so tasty with just a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Love it!
BTW, that’s a helluv a lot of alligators!
That boat ride sounds so peaceful…gators and all. That’s so cool that you got to actually pet a giraffe! I’ve fed one before, but that was it.
I grew up in Florida and used to go to Silver Springs!! It’s probably been almost 30 years since I last went and this post brought up great memories!!
Such cool photos! I fed a cow grass the other day and I got so freaked- I thought he’d bite my hand off!
that is crazy! i totally want to feed a giraffe!!!! i think i’d be so scared though! lol! what an experience!