UNIVERSAL STUDIOS ORLANDO
Basically we went there for the sole purpose of going to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The line just to get into that part of the park was 2 hours long at 11 a.m. so we held off and went to some other areas of the park until the line cleared out around 2. And let me just say, every single minute I spent waiting in line to get into rides, shops, bathrooms, whatever – TOTALLY WORTH IT!! Hogsmeade was adorable and all of the shops were a great mix of attraction and retail. The wait for the Dragon Challenge rollercoaster was only 10 minutes the whole time, and of course was made much easier by the fact that the line wound through dungeons and the Champions’ Tent on the way to the ride. There was a cute little family-friendly rollercoaster based on Hagrid teaching you how to train hippogriffs, and that was a nice way for me to warm up to the bigger rides. By far the best of all though was the “Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey” ride. We had a 90 minute wait, and most of that time was standing in a line that wound back and forth outside the castle and in fact was diverted out of the Wizarding World section of the park in order to make the line longer. However, once we got into Hogwarts Castle it was so cool to hear and see the portraits talking to each other, standing in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom watching a hologram of Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and feeling some kind of fake snow that “Hermione” made fall. (That was like the coolest thing ever – it was just like snow but I don’t think they can make fake snow in Orlando in July so I have no idea how they did it.) Finally we got to the ride, which was a kind of simulator, where you are strapped into your seat and moved through the castle while all around you TV screens show you flying around the castle avoiding a dragon, complete with having head blasted at you when the dragon breathes fire in your direction. Terrifying and awesome and worth it in every way. The food was good, the rides were good, and everything was pretty accurate – no complaints from me! The lines of course were long but to be fair it’s Universal Studios in the summer time, and the park had only been open for a week.
So that was my day of Harry Potter nerd paradise. I highly recommend it and I’m looking forward to going back in the off-season in a few years when there aren’t any lines.
So after that we stayed in a Knights Inn whore-tel near the Café Risque (“We Bare It All”) in Williston, FL because the campground we tried was creepy and totally deserted. Headed out around 11 this morning and now we just got off the highway in Tallahassee! We’re going to a pub to watch the U.S.-Ghana World Cup game – I’m taking bets on who Dre will be rooting for. Haha.
Well we’re about 3 miles from the bar so I’m going to sign off for now and start getting pumped for the game!
Sorry I didn’t post for a while – lots of things to do and enjoy and not as much driving as usual. I’ll be better about it for the next few days since we’re doing more driving, although I’m not totally sure when we’ll have wireless again. But never fear, I’m still here! And feel free to Facebook me or text me if you find yourself going through Katie withdrawal (I know it’s a common problem, maybe I can get you a prescription for methadone or something haha.)
GO USA!!
Yours in Wandering,
Katie
Showing posts with label Florida. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Florida. Show all posts
Monday, June 28, 2010
Actual Post About West Palm and Miami
Alright readers, I’m now sitting in the car about 30 miles from Tallahassee, so I finally have time to fill you in on all the fun happenings from this leg of the trip. We had the awesome opportunity to stay with our friend Josh from A.U., whose parents have a house near West Palm Beach. It was really really great of them to host us for 5 days, and between that, them taking us, Josh, and another visiting friend Christina, out to dinner, insisting that we take snacks with us for the road, and Josh taking us out to see the town and Miami, we are so grateful for the Diamond family’s hospitality.
SO on to the events… when we got to Josh’s, he and Christina welcomed us with cold Coronas, which was like the coolest most perfect way to arrive anywhere ever. That night we went to Clematis St. in downtown West Palm to a rum bar, where we drank what was basically rum jungle juice and listened to a live reggae band. Very chill and relaxing.
The next day was our Miami day, and we ended up getting there around 5:30 or 6 I think. We had some happy hour margaritas at an “Irish pub” named Finnigans (the only Irish thing about it was its name, but it was right on the beach and we sat outside on wicker love seats, so I’m not complaining). We hung out on the beach for a little bit, maybe an hour or so, and then headed BACK to that Irish place for more drinks and a little food. The sun went down and we started the night in earnest, walking down the strip and stopping for drinks at a few places, including one called Wet Willies which basically only served slushies. However, the best place we went, by far, was Mangoes. It’s a little hard to explain but imagine a salsa club mixed with European techno, with a stage with professional dancers performing and sometimes singing, and all the girls basically wearing nothing. I don’t know if that’s a good way to explain it but I had SO much fun, even though their vodka sodas were $11 – their rail was Grey Goose. Bienvenido a Miami. Haha. We went back to the beach as soon as it opened at 5 a.m., went swimming, and fell asleep on the beach until about 6:30, when we left. All in all, a GREAT awesome fun night in Miami.
The rest of the week we went to the pool in Josh’s neighborhood, hung out at his house, went out with him and his friends and Friday morning left at 6 a.m. to go to...
(to be continued...)
SO on to the events… when we got to Josh’s, he and Christina welcomed us with cold Coronas, which was like the coolest most perfect way to arrive anywhere ever. That night we went to Clematis St. in downtown West Palm to a rum bar, where we drank what was basically rum jungle juice and listened to a live reggae band. Very chill and relaxing.
The next day was our Miami day, and we ended up getting there around 5:30 or 6 I think. We had some happy hour margaritas at an “Irish pub” named Finnigans (the only Irish thing about it was its name, but it was right on the beach and we sat outside on wicker love seats, so I’m not complaining). We hung out on the beach for a little bit, maybe an hour or so, and then headed BACK to that Irish place for more drinks and a little food. The sun went down and we started the night in earnest, walking down the strip and stopping for drinks at a few places, including one called Wet Willies which basically only served slushies. However, the best place we went, by far, was Mangoes. It’s a little hard to explain but imagine a salsa club mixed with European techno, with a stage with professional dancers performing and sometimes singing, and all the girls basically wearing nothing. I don’t know if that’s a good way to explain it but I had SO much fun, even though their vodka sodas were $11 – their rail was Grey Goose. Bienvenido a Miami. Haha. We went back to the beach as soon as it opened at 5 a.m., went swimming, and fell asleep on the beach until about 6:30, when we left. All in all, a GREAT awesome fun night in Miami.
The rest of the week we went to the pool in Josh’s neighborhood, hung out at his house, went out with him and his friends and Friday morning left at 6 a.m. to go to...
(to be continued...)
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
On the Road Again...
So I never thought that a 2-day journey in the car could be so fun and easy! My last post was written about an hour or so south of Nashville while I was in the car, at about 2 p.m. on Sunday, and we made it to West Palm Beach, FL around 6 yesterday (Monday). Sunday was a lot of driving and sleeping, and then around 8:30 we started to look for a place to bed down for the night. Our problem was that all of the state parks in souther GA were all $25-$28 per night, which was wayyyy more than we had expected (the parks I looked at in TN and KY were all like...$12 a night). Finally we decided to ask if an RV park also had camping (which it did). Unfortunately it was also expensive at $20 for the night, but when we asked the lady if she knew of any truck stops nearby on the interstate, she reminded us that we really didn't want to be sleeping at a truck stop in southern Georgia. Good point, lady. So we camped there and ended up being really happy with it - we cooked dinner on my Coleman stove (before we remembered that we didn't have a spatula, tongs, forks, or a pasta drainer, all things we needed to make and eat this food), we set up my tent and hung out in it for a while, and then Dre slept on the air mattress in the truck while I had some nice bonding time with my tent.
Yesterday we got up and got out around 9:30 and drove until about 3, when we got really excited to stop and see the Kennedy Space Center Museum. Definitely did not realize until we got there that it was going to cost $41. So we said screw that, I'm saving my money for Harry Potter. Apparently we would rather be involved with fake characters from childrens' novels than real people going to space. You really shouldn't be surprised. Haha. So we headed back to the highway and got to our friend Josh's house in West Palm, had some pizza and headed out to a rum bar downtown around 11. We heard a cool live dub step band (I don't really know what that means but it was kind of reggae-ish), and then when they closed around 1:30 we headed to another place until about 3. Yes, the bars here close at 3 a.m. on weekdays. Holy crap.
This brings me up to now, while we're trying to figure out what to do for the day (yes I do realize that it's already 1 p.m.) and drinking lots of coffee.
Make sure you watch the U.S. vs Algeria World Cup game tomorrow morning at 9:30! We'll be watching it here!
And now I think we're off to Miami Beach for the day! I hope you are all having fun and not totally jealous of me being here on this awesome beach vacation! Be sure to check out gringanomad.blogspot.com for Dre's version of events!
Yours in Wandering,
Katie
Yesterday we got up and got out around 9:30 and drove until about 3, when we got really excited to stop and see the Kennedy Space Center Museum. Definitely did not realize until we got there that it was going to cost $41. So we said screw that, I'm saving my money for Harry Potter. Apparently we would rather be involved with fake characters from childrens' novels than real people going to space. You really shouldn't be surprised. Haha. So we headed back to the highway and got to our friend Josh's house in West Palm, had some pizza and headed out to a rum bar downtown around 11. We heard a cool live dub step band (I don't really know what that means but it was kind of reggae-ish), and then when they closed around 1:30 we headed to another place until about 3. Yes, the bars here close at 3 a.m. on weekdays. Holy crap.
This brings me up to now, while we're trying to figure out what to do for the day (yes I do realize that it's already 1 p.m.) and drinking lots of coffee.
Make sure you watch the U.S. vs Algeria World Cup game tomorrow morning at 9:30! We'll be watching it here!
And now I think we're off to Miami Beach for the day! I hope you are all having fun and not totally jealous of me being here on this awesome beach vacation! Be sure to check out gringanomad.blogspot.com for Dre's version of events!
Yours in Wandering,
Katie
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