'Gators on the Shore

This is as close as I've come to Miami -- Myakka River State Park in Sarasota. I visit my parents once a year in Sarasota, and we've been to the park three or four times. It took these pictures from the tour boat circa 2002. The boat used a 1975 Cadillac engine, and it went no faster than 5 mph.
The lake was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, a program of the New Deal.
I didn't get any pictures of the vultures. Vultures languish on the picnic tables near the gift shop. They hover above the trees.
In the bottom photo, that's my mom's white hat.