The first Champions Gate gator festival was held in May 2006 at, of course, Champions Gate in Davenport, which was very handy as it was near our villa at Windwood Bay and also all the other nearby villa communities on the CR54 and US27.
It was a really scorching day and we arrived mid afternoon when it was already in full swing. It was not a huge huge event but covered a field on the other side of Champions Gate Village. The local Sheriff was there controlling the parking as there was plenty of (free) parking for everyone so no hassles on that score.
There were lots of food stalls and other stalls selling all sorts of knick-knacks.
Feeling a bit peckish we decided to try some Alligator from one of the stands and picked Fishbones, a restaurant down in Haines city, as it looked the most appetizing. I had tried gator before but my partner had not. The gator was lovely, tender and as usual could be described as chickeny, we washed this down with homemade lemonade, which was just the job on such a hot day!
The irony of the Gator Fest was not unnoticed when Gatorland had brought a little Gator about a foot long, mouth taped up for people to see and hold and there was the crowd eating his relatives! I did not hold him but stroked him and was absolutely amazed at how soft it was, it was absolutely beautiful and like silk almost. My partner held him and I wondered what he gator thought as he spied the Alligator tail cowboy boots…………why Cowboy bots on such a scorching day you may be asking? All will be revealed in a moment.
Later on that day we were pleased to hear that Fish Bones had won the Gator cook off and the team whooped and yelled as they collected their prize. It was no mean feat as the majority of the team were only around 18 and had beaten of older and more experienced stalls incuding a big hotel!
Now back to the boots, the main attraction that day was the live music and a stage had been set up with local country bands performing throughout the day. We had some camping chairs and settled down for an afternoon of County music and fun in general. The highlighter of the show was a famous weatherman from the ABC network who had his own country band!
Next year we must remember to take the cooler!
It was a really scorching day and we arrived mid afternoon when it was already in full swing. It was not a huge huge event but covered a field on the other side of Champions Gate Village. The local Sheriff was there controlling the parking as there was plenty of (free) parking for everyone so no hassles on that score.
There were lots of food stalls and other stalls selling all sorts of knick-knacks.
Feeling a bit peckish we decided to try some Alligator from one of the stands and picked Fishbones, a restaurant down in Haines city, as it looked the most appetizing. I had tried gator before but my partner had not. The gator was lovely, tender and as usual could be described as chickeny, we washed this down with homemade lemonade, which was just the job on such a hot day!
The irony of the Gator Fest was not unnoticed when Gatorland had brought a little Gator about a foot long, mouth taped up for people to see and hold and there was the crowd eating his relatives! I did not hold him but stroked him and was absolutely amazed at how soft it was, it was absolutely beautiful and like silk almost. My partner held him and I wondered what he gator thought as he spied the Alligator tail cowboy boots…………why Cowboy bots on such a scorching day you may be asking? All will be revealed in a moment.
Later on that day we were pleased to hear that Fish Bones had won the Gator cook off and the team whooped and yelled as they collected their prize. It was no mean feat as the majority of the team were only around 18 and had beaten of older and more experienced stalls incuding a big hotel!
Now back to the boots, the main attraction that day was the live music and a stage had been set up with local country bands performing throughout the day. We had some camping chairs and settled down for an afternoon of County music and fun in general. The highlighter of the show was a famous weatherman from the ABC network who had his own country band!
Next year we must remember to take the cooler!