One of the draws of Lakeland, FL that attracts nature lovers, is Lake Morton.
It is said the swans that swim there are direct descendants of the swans donated to the park by Queen Elizabeth in 1957.
I couldn’t wait to get to Lake Morton and see if the swans really were mute, or if it was just a local legend. I knew what swans sounded like, because I lived next to a lake that had been inhabited by swans. They were loud and obnoxious. They were also very territorial. You always knew when they were nesting, because they would chase you down if you got too near the lake. I wondered if the same was true with Lake Morton. I wondered which were the mute swans, because there were both white and black swans. We figured it out quickly when the black swans started chasing some unsuspecting kids. Along with swans, there were turtles, birds, and other types of wildlife at the lake. We spent nearly half a day there, until we realized how hot it had become and that I had forgotten my camera. My husband didn’t think the phone was taking very nice pictures, but I was enjoying myself. Eventually, the 100 degrees and 100% humidity was getting to us, and we had to go to the hotel where we had air conditioning. I hoped to return to Lake Morton now that we got some air conditioning, and I had my camera in hand. I wanted to have as many memories from Lakeland, FL as we could take home with us.