You’re in alligator country: Florida’s ‘lake district’ offers a taste of the real Sunshine State – but be careful where you dip your toes…

Don’t go swimming in Florida’s “lake district”—although the alligators floating along the Harborside restaurant dock on Lake Shipp would be happy if you did.

The warning sign at the jetty also reads: ‘DO NOT FEED THE GATORS.’ But here, in Harborside, it’s the other way around. Sitting on the terrace, it doesn’t take long before we feast on the scary creatures’ plates.

The menu features alligators served two ways: as gator bites – breaded and fried tail served with a Creole remoulade – or kung pao gator – fried with red cabbage, pineapple salsa and rice. The snacks, I can tell you, are tasty little snacks, with a texture somewhere between chicken and octopus and a perfect match for a bottle of Bud.

Few tourists visit the approximately 550 lakes that make up this district, located in Polk County. It’s only 30 miles south of Orlando, but this is the real Florida, far from the hordes of vacationers who flock to theme parks.

It’s a world of pickup trucks, old-fashioned diners, gun & ammo shops and rodeos.

Almost every other house has the Stars and Stripes flying outside. Billboards contain messages in the variants ‘LIFE IS AN ACT OF GOD’ and ‘JESUS ​​​​SAVES’. All of this is quite a departure from the roller coasters and Disney characters not so far away north, and it sheds light on a side of the Sunshine State that not many people get to see.

“This is out here in the boonies,” says a local – an abbreviation of the American slang word “boondocks,” which refers to a remote rural area.

We arrive at the Ridge Island Groves farm shop, where baskets are packed with oranges, peaches and melons, and visitors can order freshly squeezed drinks. Wooden shelves are lined with large jars of orange blossom honey and cherry jam. There are bottles of hammock chili sauce available, as well as taxidermy crocodile heads with open jaws and gleaming rows of teeth on display.

Inviting danger: Tom remembers seeing alligators ‘floating along the dock’ at the Harborside restaurant on Lake Shipp (file image)

Tom reveals that Harborside, pictured, serves alligator two ways: as alligator bites or as kung pao gator. “The snacks, I can tell you, are tasty little bites,” he says

Snappy: Above is one of the signs warning of alligators in Polk County

These types of independent businesses are the norm around Polk County’s lakes, especially in the town of Lakeland, where the central Terrace Hotel is the place to stay.

It overlooks Lake Mirror and is close to the train station. Around the corner you will find small bars and restaurants often frequented by locals, dusty antique shops, bookstores, vinyl record shops and burger joints with pool tables.

Harry’s Seafood Bar & Grille, on the edge of Munn Park, is almost always busy with customers in baseball caps swapping stories and tucking into draft beer and shrimp tacos.

Baseball games flicker on screens, music plays and the good times roll by. When a neighbor hears us talking about eating alligators, he says, “There’s a shortage of meat. Suppliers to Gucci and Louis Vuitton bought some local farms and the tails are used for handbags.”

Lakeland is the most populous place in Polk County, measuring about 50 miles across, from top to bottom, with a population of 115,000. Many are students or work at Florida Southern College, which to our surprise turns out to be the city’s biggest attraction.

You might not expect a university campus to be a tourist attraction, but much of it was designed by famed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It is the largest collection of his work and there is a visitors center where his statue wears a wide-brimmed hat and holds a cane.

Outside Lakeland, just north, you can take a great day trip to the Safari Wilderness Ranch, with its ostriches, antelopes and lemurs. Another interesting stop is near the town of Lake Wales, at the Bok Tower Gardens. This extraordinary structure was built in the 1920s by an eccentric Dutch immigrant and ‘world peace advocate’ named Edward Bok. At regular intervals, bells in the special tower play cheerful tunes.

Lakeland (above) is the most populous place in Polk County, measuring about 50 miles across, from top to bottom, with a population of 115,000

Above is Florida Southern College in Lakeland, designed by famed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright

Polk County does have a theme park: a Legoland next to Lake Eloise. Yet it is very different from the one in Windsor.

This is located on the former site of Cypress Gardens, Florida’s first theme park in the 1930s, where water ski shows were once the big draw. There are still demonstrations on this crocodile-free lake, as well as attractions to enjoy and beautiful ancient gardens to explore.

It all creates a new perspective on Florida. Just watch out for alligators.