Crowley Natural & Cultural History Museum of Sarasota, FL

This was an amazingly fun field trip for the kids and I. We drove in totally not knowing what to expect...well honestly, I was expecting a traditional museum and maybe a little zoo-like area. I was wrong! This place has a nice little shop with very affordable toys and snacks, several pioneer era homestead cabins that are set up as if they were still lived in, and hiking trails and a lovely little boardwalk.

I really need to start bringing bug spray with me on all of the field trips, but luckily the mosquitos weren't ~too~ terrible this time. First, a quick stop at the playground, then we pet some bunnies, then a 500 lb pig named Squirt, then tromped through the mud and water to see the children's loop.

It had rained quite a lot over the previous few days but luckily we don't mind getting a little dirty! The kids loved the sculptures, zip line, the cows that crossed our path, and the huge rope spider web! Then we started off down the boardwalk into the swamp. It was absolutely beautiful. After almost 1/2 mile, I found the baby alligators. All 3 kids had walked right past them! :) After we stopped and were talking amongst ourselves for a bit, some of them started to call for their mama and it was really fun to see in real life. We've seen them so many times on t.v., it was such a different experience to really SEE them. The kids were all pretty tired of walking by the time we got back to the shop and then the car.