I've read in stupid pregnancy books (I think they're all pretty stupid) and been told by friends that we should go on a Babymoon. Definition - your last honeymoon before the baby comes and ruins your love life. We decided the Okefenokee Swamp would be the perfect place to go over New Year's weekend! What? You don't think a swamp is romantic? We thought it was. Plus, it was the last of the Seven Wonders of Georgia that we hadn't seen!
We arrived at sunset on Saturday afternoon.
Prego shot at 29 weeks
Beautiful sunset
Our cute little cabin.
It was tiny but not too rustic. My one priority was it had to have a modern bathroom!
The next day, New Year's Day, we went hiking...
And biking...
Greg was smart and brought his road bike. I had to rent an old lady's bike...it was awesome!
The Chesser Family Homestead - The Chesser family settled this island in the swamp in the 1800s and lived there up until the 1960s. This is sand in the front yard, used to help prevent fires from burning down the house. They also kept it well-raked so they could see animal tracks leading up to the house...especially snake tracks.
Their modernized bathroom
A baby alligator. It was so hard to spot the alligators because of the black swamp water which is apparently comprised of tannic acid. EVERYTHING reflects in the water!
Another baby alligator
And the third sibling. It's to the left of the pine cone.
This is the first alligator we spotted. Actually, we looked and looked and never could find it, but luckily a red-neck, alligator-hunting, swamp dweller drove up and pointed it out for us. I really wish we had gotten a picture of him.
See how hard they are to spot! This was on our bike ride around Chesser Island, and he was just on the other side of the canal hanging out.
That evening we took a Sunset Boat Tour. Here was an alligator sunning himself on the bank.
Our tour guide Chip owns Okefenokee Adventures on the east side of the swamp. He knew everything, and he loves, loves, loves swamps!
The Canal on the East Side
Can you see the alligator? It's in the water, with its snout pointing out.
A yellow-bellied slider turtle
Chip drove us right up to this alligator and parked. I believe it was a she, and she is always in this spot.
He pointed out the alligator trails in the prairie. By the way, did you know that swamps have prairies? We didn't.
While Chip was taking our picture, the alligator started hissing at us! But she never moved, so we didn't either.
Greg loved Chip...he was thoroughly entertained.
These are carniverous Pitcher Plants. The bugs walk into the plant's mouth and find they can't get out.
Birds foraging - the little white ones are ibis (and the black one is an immature ibis), the taller white one is an egret, and right behind the egret is a blue heron.
Sunset in the prairie
Greg got to jump on the "trembling earth", which is the translation of Okefenokee.
Cute Greg!
The next day we went to the west side of the swamp (Stephen Foster National Park) and went canoeing on the Suwanee Canal. Unfortunately a cold front blew in over night and our 78 degree weather left us in freezing in the 50s.
Canoeing up the canal towards Minnie's Lake
Our snazzy canoe
This is how we pictured a swamp looking with the big cypress trees!
Official verdict: Okefenokee Swamp is AWESOME!
And...the swamp is the perfect place for a Babymoon!
