Paddling with alligators

Last weekend, we drove down to Wilmington, North Carolina, where I lived for several years as a little kid. My first memories occurred there, and my parents have plenty of cute/funny stories about things I did when we lived there. One of those, um, legends, occurred at Greenfield Park, a city park that looks kind of like a fancy swamp. See above. Greenfield Park is a very nice park, with a playground, lots of walking/running trails, and a lake that you won't want to swim in . . . but you can rent a paddle boat or canoe (we rented a paddle boat!) However, be warned:

We saw three alligators while paddling, but didn't get close enough to take photos. OK, the truth is, we did get closer that I would ever want to come to an alligator. But I didn't want to rock the boat by reaching into my pants pocket to get my phone, thinking that the extra movement might result in the loss of a treasured limb. Or something.

After our time at Greenfield Park, we headed down the to Riverfront, which you can read about in the next entry.