Coopertown is a tiny place that’s surrounded by Florida’s Everglades National Park, about 20 miles west of Miami. If you’re making the trip, you’re here for an airboat ride and a few alligator sightings — if you’re lucky. But I’m also visiting Coopertown in this episode of Dining on a Dime to try some deep-fried alligator meat and fried frog legs.
Captain Jesse Kennon is taking me on my first-ever airboat ride, hydroplaning through the Everglades’ bountiful marsh, and teaching me all about Coopertown’s almost 80-year history. I end this beautiful trip with a visit to Coopertown’s one and only restaurant, where the star of the menu is a $12 plate of fried frog legs and gator tail. The gator meat is lean and fairly firm, but not completely unlike eating chicken. For me the standout was easily the frog legs, succulent and juicy, and the kind of food you want to play with.
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