Bi Planes and Air Boats

Hey all!

As an unschooling family, I feel strongly that I need to show my kids all sorts of experiences/places/things to see what might create a lasting (or fleeting) interest.  Whenever we go out of town we look online for neat things to do/see. We look for anything and everything cool, from touristy stuff to historical stuff to off-the-beaten path stuff.

Since we had been to this destination before (Panama City Beach, FL) we had an idea of what was available close by. 3 years ago we did a full day consisting of an air boat tour, and a bi plane (sea plane) tour.  3 years ago Elias was 4!  He loved it then, but didn't really remember it now.

So, we decided that's what we'd do this time. We also had our teen friend with us, and we wanted her to experience some neat sights also...these fit the bill!

We headed out for the "Wild Thang" tour. Here's the air boat we rode.

Here's Elias with his headphones on. It was kinda loud.

This is the type of beautiful scenery we saw. We started off in fresh water and ended up in salt water  (with brackish in between). The little hidden "alleys" and coves made it an exciting trip. The tour guides gave us all sorts of educational information.

Even though it was starting to get cool, we still got to see an alligator. The guides told us that alligators are cold-blooded and over the winter they don't hibernate, but they go dormant. Everything slows down in their bodies and they just rest.  This little guy sure wasn't moving very fast! He just watched us approach, stayed still for a bit and then took off.

He's slowly swimming to the other side.  It's amazing how camouflaged they are both in and out of the water. I am always struck anew at God's foresight for all creatures.

After we finished that tour, we took an airplane tour.  This wasn't JUST an airplane, it's a Seaplane ! That means we took off and also landed, in water!  This was a 4 person little plane.  Let me tell you, the things we do for our kids!I used to loveto fly in small planes. I dreamed of getting my pilot's license. Now...um...not so much.

Here's the shadow of the plane on the water we just took off from! This tour took us over the marshes and bay we had just toured in the air boat....down across to the bay where we buzzed our condo! It was definitely cool!

So...look around for local places when you visit out of town....there's always likely to be something educational and maybe even once-in-a-lifetime!