Gatorland's Gator Hallow

I went to Gatorland for their Gator Hallow Halloween event. Since no visit to an alligator farm would be complete without tasting gator meat, I ordered some Fried Gator Nuggets from the snack bar before tour left (it turned out Gatorland doesn't actually raise alligators for meat). I really liked the deep fried alligator, especially with hot sauce. The saying goes that gator tastes like chicken, but the truth is that it really does. In terms of taste, consistency, and look, gator tail and chicken does look a whole lot alike. Not too surprising though since reptiles and poultry aren't that far off. Chickens are a close living relative to the Tyrannosaurus Rex...

Once I finished eating my alligator, the tour started. While I was disappointed by Halloween Horror Nights at Universal this year, I was surprising pleased with Gator Hallow. For $10, they gave a really entertaining tour that was really well done. Having a tour with different guides along the way to move the story along definitely adds something to the experience that you don't get in the standard Halloween maze where you just wander through while people jump out and shout boo. Gatorland had plenty of hoards of zombies, aliens, bigfoot, and of course, gators...


I'd gladly do Gator Hallow again next year...

Cajun Food on Fat Tuesday

Happy Fat Tuesday!

In celebration of today being Fat Tuesday, the last day of Mardi Gras, I'm posting some previously unpublished Cajun food that was eaten before the existence of this blog. This is an Andouille Sausage Sandwich with peppers and onions and a plate of Shrimp Gumbo. These were eaten at Universal's Mardi Gras event, where along with the fun parade and concerts, they also set up several food stands throughout the park selling Cajun food that isn't half bad. I especially like their Jambalaya, complete with whole crawfish, but unfortunately, I don't have any pictures.

Of course, for more Cajun food in Orlando, I really liked the jambalaya and po boys from the Crooked Bayou.

To get closer to New Orleans for today's Cajun theme, I dug up some pictures of food from a trip to Memphis, TN in 2006. Here is some Alligator Gumbo that I ate at the Rum Boogie Cafe on Beale Street. From what I remember, the alligator gumbo tasted great. The problem was with the amount. What I ordered was considered a dinner, but the amount of gumbo that was actually served was kind of sad. They put a little pile of iceberg lettuce next to a cup of the gumbo and charged double the price of just a cup of gumbo alone. Eating outside at the restaurant along Beale Street was a great environment, although it didn't make up for the horribly slow service in the restaurant.