Are You Smarter Than A Flying Gator? (7 page)

By this time,
almost
everyone in the world knew about Gator Mikey. Not the six men on board the fishing trawler
Sea Sick,
though. They'd been fishing out on the Gulf of Mexico for the last five days and
hadn't heard any news at all during that time.

As the men busied themselves on board, Captain Jack Collins thought he saw a strange looking aircraft off the bow. As it got closer, Captain Jack yelled to his men something he never dreamed he'd
ever
say, “Flying gator off the port bow!”

Gator Mikey hit land again near Bald Point State Park on Florida's panhandle. He flew over Highway 98 and then the Apalachicola National Forest. Shortly before 5:00 p.m., Gator Mikey slowed down, dropped down to an altitude of 100 feet, and began circling two small general stores built at a crossroads.

“Hi, I'm Gator Mikey! I'm promoting the learning of history and geography in Florida.
Two egg!
This is
Two egg,
Florida! What a great name for a little town! See if you can answer this question about how Two Egg got its name. Once again, I'll make it a multiple choice question so anyone can guess. Here goes: It's believed Two Egg got its name from whom? Was it A, two children; B, a traveling salesman; or C, Walt Disney?

“I'll repeat the question and give you ten seconds to think about your answer.”

Gator Mikey repeated the question and hummed
the beginning of the song “America the Beautiful” for ten seconds.

“The correct answer is B, a traveling salesman. As the story goes, a traveling salesman who did business with the owner of the general store noticed kids coming in and trading one or two eggs for candy. He started calling the place Two Egg Town, but it eventually became just Two Egg.

“Now, if you got the question correct, you know what to yell at the count of three! Ready? 1 ... 2 ...
3!
”

“I'm smarter than a flying gator!”
about 50 people on the ground in Two Egg and millions more around the world yelled.

“That was brilliant!” said Gator Mikey. “Now, guess where I'm going next? I'll give you a hint:
Big water!”

Gator Mikey took off in a southeasterly direction at 200 miles per hour. Back at Prez's workshop, Sarabiskota charted the progress of Gator Mikey as he flew over St. Marks, then over the Gulf of Mexico, then over land again at Cedar Key.

“It's pretty obvious where he's going this time,” said Chad.

“Yup,” Kevin confirmed. “I just found out its name means
big water
in the Hitchiti Indian language.”

“Huh?” Nick said. “You guys are way ahead of me.”

“Prez, we're not too far from sunset,” Kari noted. “Do you think Gator Mikey's going to fly all night?”

“No idea,” said Prez. “If he decides to, he certainly has plenty of lights.”

Jessie giggled. “That's an understatement.”

Gator Mikey had made it to Lake Okeechobee by 7:00 p.m. As he flew low over the lake, the flying gator called out,
“okeechobee!
Lake
okeechobee
is the fourth largest natural lake that's completely within the United States. If you know any of the three natural lakes that are larger, you're way too smart! But that's not my question. The question is: Which President of the United States flew training missions over this huge lake as a pilot? Was it A, George Washington; B, George H.W. Bush, our 41st President; or C, George W. Bush, our 43rd President?”

Gator Mikey repeated the question and then hummed ten seconds of “Hail to the Chief,” the official anthem of the President of the United States.
After that, he said, “This was a tough question since both of the presidents named Bush were pilots. The correct answer is B, George H. W. Bush, the 41st President. At age 18, he was the youngest Navy pilot in World War II, and he trained over this lake in the 1940's.

“If you got the answer correct, you know exactly what to say at the count of three. 1 ... 2 ...
3!
”

“I'm smarter than a flying gator!”

“Now, guess where I'm going next? I'll give you a hint:
It's John and Mable's place!”

“Prez!” Chad exclaimed. “I think Gator Mikey's coming back to Sarasota!”

“I think you're right,” Prez replied excitedly. “Let's hustle home and get on the
Rough Rider!”

With less than half an hour remaining until sunset, Gator Mikey approached Sarasota from the East. Meanwhile, Sarabiskota raced north in Sarasota Bay in the
Rough Rider.

“Kari, do you think Gator Mikey's returning home for good?” KT asked.

“I sure hope not,” replied Kari. “This is too much fun.”

“Wow!” Nick exclaimed. “Look at all the boats headed our way.”

There were hundreds of boats around them, all going north, just like they were. Gator Mikey's clue referring to
John and Mable's place
was an easy one for Sarasota people to solve. Gator Mikey's next destination was pretty obvious. It was the Ringling Complex on Shell Beach. That's where John and Mable Ringling from the famous Ringling Circus family had built a world class art museum and a beautiful home called the Cà d'Zan.

By the time the Rough Rider got to Shell Beach, there were only about fifteen minutes until sunset. The United States Coast Guard was patrolling the water, now packed with hundreds of boats. Thousands of people waited on land near the Ringlings' house and art museum. The excitement and anticipation was unbelievable!

Finally, Gator Mikey came into view. He flew over the art museum, over the Ringlings' home, then out over all the boats floating on Sarasota Bay. At this point Gator Mikey started turning around over the water less than one hundred yards from where the
Rough Rider
was anchored. What he did next took everyone's breath away.

A loud
“Awwwwww!”
came from the crowd as Gator Mikey turned on all his lights. And what an impressive array of lights it was! Thousands of mostly orange, blue, and green lights lit up the entire night sky. There were spot lights, blinking lights, and pulsating lights. It was a light extravaganza!

Out on the
Rough Rider,
the nine teenagers cheered.

“Jessie, your ideas for the lights were obviously terrific,” Chad said.

“Just incredible!” KT added.

“It's awesome!” Nick exclaimed.

Gator Mikey slowly flew back toward the Ringlings' home. When he got within 100 yards, he suddenly dropped down to an altitude a mere 50 yards above the treetops. Still flying at a slow speed, he began circling the art museum and the Ringling home.

“
ringling!
This is the art museum and house that John and Mable
ringling
built here in Sarasota. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus had their winter quarters in Sarasota from 1927 until 1960. This was really Circus Town USA. Here's my question for you. It's a colorful question, just like my lights.

“What color was considered bad luck to the Ringling circus performers? Was it A, blue; B, orange; or C, green?

“Once again, I'll repeat the question for you and blink all my lights for ten seconds before I give the correct answer.”

After repeating the question and blinking his lights for ten seconds, Gator Mikey said, “OK. Time is up. The correct answer is C, green! At the count of three, I want
everyone
to say
let's party all night! 1 ... 2 ... 3!”

“Let's party all night!”

Gator Mikey started blinking all his lights and singing “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” only he changed the lyrics slightly:

Gator Mikey in the sky with diamonds!
Gator Mikey in the sky with diamonds!

As the whole huge crowd of people sang along, Gator Mikey turned and flew west, increasing his altitude to over 400 feet. After that, he began flying a circular, clockwise path over the entire Sarasota area.

It was spectacular! On this crystal clear night, Gator Mikey could be seen for miles. Billions watched on television throughout the world.

This whole Gator Mikey idea was supposed to be a way to promote geography and history in Florida, and it was definitely accomplishing that. Clearly, though, something even more important was happening. For at least this one day, the whole world had come together to share a common experience—a
fun
experience!

Sarabiskota watched from out on the bay before returning to Siesta Key in the dark. When they got
back home, the whole island seemed to be having a party.

As they were getting the boat back on the trailer, Nick said, “Well, I always say it never gets boring around you guys—but this may be ridiculous.”

“No doubt,” said Doc. “I just wonder if Gator Mikey has even more in store for us.”

“I sure hope so,” said Kevin.

Prez's cell phone started to ring, so he answered it.

“Hello? This is Prez.”

“Hi, Prez. This is Governor Trust.”

“Oh, hi, Governor.”

“Sounds like lots of commotion going on wherever you are. What are you doing?”

“We just got back from the Ringling Complex. Our whole neighborhood on Siesta Key seems to be having a Gator Mikey party. It's pretty amazing.”

“Tallahassee is pretty wild, too. Prez, any guesses on what's going to happen next?”

“My friends and I were just talking about that. We're literally clueless. Gator Mikey gave us no clue to help us this time.”

“Prez, if by some chance Gator Mikey leaves the Sarasota area, would you kids like to follow
him? I can make arrangements for a small private jet to be waiting for you at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport just in case.”

“That would be awesome!”

“Why don't you give me your dad's cell phone number and I'll make sure it's OK with all your parents.”

“Sure, Governor Trust.”

“Prez, whatever happens, I'd like to meet you and your friends sometime in the next few days.”

“That would be great, Governor Trust ...”

Meanwhile, at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, the President was up late watching what was transpiring with great interest. He picked up his phone and pushed one button.

“Governor Trust, this is the President.”

“Hi, Mr. President.”

“What a day you've had down there in Florida! I wish I could have witnessed it all in person. Look, the reason I'm calling ... I still have several days of vacation scheduled here. But if this Gator Mikey thing goes on, I sure would like to come to Florida and be part of it.”

“We'd love to have you, Mr. President.”

“Great! I'll talk to the Secret Service and everyone else to see if it's even feasible. I'd love to chase Gator Mikey in Air Force One for awhile. Maybe you and Sarabiskota could be my guests.”