Gator Grits

This past week was the NCAA women's gymnastics championships, hosted by the University of Florida in Gainesville. Their mascot is the "gator" and if you didn't know it, gators eat turtles - proof - see the photo. We went to Lake Alice, on campus, a wild life preserve where they have alligators and turtles and such roaming around in natural habitat. We just happened to be there when this little gator was chomping on a little turtle.

We did NOT eat turtle while we were in Gainesville, but we did enjoy a few southern foods.

The first day of competition we went to "The Swamp" - a well known eating establishment serving sandwiches, soups, salads and such with a fun outdoor patio and yummy beer specials on tap.

We enjoyed a lovely patio table, where Brian had the Mango Mahi Mahi sandwich, and I had the the Swamp Philly Cheese steak Sandwich, but if you read the fine print in the menu, you can substitute out the "cheese steak" for the fresh catch of the day, which happened to be Grouper. So imagine a yummy fresh grouper fillet grilled with onions, peppers, mushrooms and cheese, served in a hoagie bun - DELICIOUS!

During the meet, one fan returned to his seat with what looked to be a churro dipped in honey, and if not, it looked like a turkey leg.... it WAS a turkey leg. I had to check out the concessions for myself and see what else these crazy Floridians served at home meets. You don't have to settle for the standard hot dog, popcorn and nacho chips with cheeze-whiz at this place. UF served
"Southern Style Nachos, Turkey Legs, and Pulled Pork Sandwiches - with the pork pulled right at the concession stand.


The Crimson Club sponsored a fan lunch at TGI Friday's - and delivered a yummy spread of chicken fingers, dipping sauces, salads, and sandwiches.

Our Red Rocks defied the naysayers and easily qualified to the "Super Six" finals, but were undone there by the beam, and we settled for 6th place. Still, 6th in the country is nothing to sneeze at. Neither was the food we enjoyed during our journey to Gainesville.

GO UTES !