~*Our Trip to Florida - Part 1*~

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

~Our Trip to Florida - Part 1~

I'm so sorry this has taken me so long to get this post written. I really didn't think it would take me that long, so I'm breaking it up into several posts.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The First Day: Thursday, January 15th, 2009

My family and I headed off to Orlando, Florida, leaving a bitter cold Pennsylvania behind! We were taken on vacation by our employers, the Swanks. I can honestly say that we work for the nicest people ever! We stayed at the Old Key West Resort...it was such a wonderful place to stay. (I also want to thank all of you who said a prayer for us as it was our first time flying. I didn't think it was too bad, dh didn't mind it, but doesn't like to sit near a window and dd LOVED it and is ready to fly again!)

This is my daughter, Emily, Me and my hubby, John. The weather was a little chilly for the first several days...it finally warmed up on Sunday to 70 some degrees, but I still had to wear my jacket.

No, I'm not actually going to ride this bike...it was bolted to the wall, but I thought it looked so sweet there along the wall.

Our first evening was spent at the Magic Kingdom. Here are some shots of the castle...it's so very pretty at night...sorry for the blurry pictures.

These next two pictures were taken while we were walking through the castle...aren't they beautiful? So sorry for the glare...I'm not that good at taking night time pictures.

We ate at the Crystal Palace...it was a yummy buffet. There were so many cute Disney characters there...Eeoyre stopped at our table for a picture.

We had a great evening our first night. We ended up only riding on one ride and that was Space Mountain. I rode it with my Dad back in 1975 and I must stay it is still very scary! Later we went to La Nouba - Cirque du Soleil on Main Street Disney...that was one fantastic show and I highly recommend it to anyone going to Disney. You have to see it to believe it! We got back to our room at 11 p.m. We were very tired, but happy.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Second Day: Friday, January 16th, 2009

The next day we got up bright and early to head to Animal Kingdom.

This is the tree of life and it is H-U-G-E! The trunk of the tree has various animals shape in it...you have to see it appreciate it!

If you look closely at the next picture you'll see that it's a woman...she was covered in folliage. She was a contortionist...it was fascinating to watch her. Let's just say that a lot of people didn't realize there was a person in there and would jump when they realized it was a human being!

The mountain peak in the background is the ride called "Expedition Everest". It's a rollercoaster. Our daughter rode on it and said it was terrifying!

My husband loved the Kilimanjaro Sararis ride...you take an open-air vehicle on an expedition through an African-style savannah where giraffes, gazelles, elephants, rhinos and lions roam freely. This was my husbands favorite ride since it was on the ground and slow-moving!

We ate at a restuarant called the Tusker House. It was all-you-care-to-enjoy carved meats, salads and desserts--all with an African touch. The food was excellent...especially the chocolate cake made with chocolate from Africa! This is a picture that I took looking up from the area where the food buffet was. It felt like you were in a village.

We went to see the show Flights of Wonder, which was about various birds...it was amazing. This bald eagle was beautiful...I wish I could have gotten a picture of her face. She turned her head just as I was taking the picture.

We had a great time at Animal Kingdom. In the evening we went to Hollywood Studios.

We didn't ride anything while we were there because we had dinner reservations ant the Brown Derby Restaurant, home of the famous Cobb Salad (it's delicious). I enjoyed this Grapefruit Cake...very yummy!