Savannah National Wildlife Refuge

On our return trip stop in Savannah, we went to the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge in Hardeeville, S.C.

There's a 4-mile wildlife drive in this refuge and lots of birds and alligators can be seen in the water and shore.

It was a very cold day so the few alligators we saw weren't very active.

Chris about missed this guy floating in the water./All photos by Christopher Brooke

Do not reprint or use without permission.

We did see lots of birds though.

Park rangers said we could get out and walk along the levees in the park, but we didn't do that. We just stuck to the road and drove around taking photos of what wildlife we did see.

Oh, and fishing is allowed. Here's a couple of men (way in the distance) braving the cold and pending rain:

The refuge is former rice fields that are now used as freshwater wetlands for wildlife. Driving around the refuge you can still see water control structures, which are used to control the water.

Although it was cold and windy, it was a nice refuge to visit.

You can reach the refuge from Savannah by driving north of U.S. 17 for 7 miles.

Lake Kissimmee State Park

One of the coolest places we visited in Florida was Lake Kissimmee State Park.

Well, actually, I probably think it's cool because we saw two armadillos. I squealed when I saw the first one. Really. I did.

All photos by Christopher Brooke/Do not use photos or reprint them without permission.

And it's not because armadillo is the mascot of the community college I attended. It was just so cute . . . well, sort of.

We walked along a trail at the park that was pretty much flooded. We tried to keep to the side of the trail as much as possible, but by the time we got back to the car, our feet were pretty much soaked.

This is the trail, not a creek. It was flooded from recent rains.

Most of the trail meanders through open grassland, perfect for birds and, obviously, armadillos.

Before looping back around, the trail follows along a section of the Everglades. We could hear air boats out on the water, although we couldn't see them.

I know it's hard to see, but the Everglades can bee seen in the back.

In the water we saw ducks and various herons and other water birds. No alligators though. I guess we weren't close enough to view them.

The park also has campsites, playgrounds and picnic tables at the park, but we didn't take advantage of any of them.

Orchids

I'm proud to announce that I've seen my first wild orchids!

Here's a showy orchis that Chris snapped:

All photos by E.A. Seagraves or Christopher Brooke/Do not use without permission.

Gorgeous, huh?

For over a week we kept an eye on the beauty, waiting for it to bloom. I've always wanted to see a lady slipper but I was frightened that a mid-April frost claimed it and ruined my chances for seeing one. Luckily it survived.

Chris and I tried several shots before we could finally snap this lady slipper. I'm proud to say this is my very own wildflower shot. Chris was jealous, but not for long. I reminded him that he gets to take all kinds of beautiful flower photos and should be happy that I actually caught one on camera.

Here's some of the beauties Chris has taken recently. The first three are trilliums and the last is a wild dwarf iris: