Florida Adventures

So after being delayed in Chicago we landed in Orlando at 1AM! Of course most of the Airport is closed at that time, so It was difficult to get anywhere. We also had to wait about 40 minutes to get a shuttle to our rental car. Thankfully, the attendant at the Rental desk felt bad that we had been waiting and upgraded our rental for free. We went from an economy to an SUV. I normally hate SUV’s, and almost turned down his offer, but figured meh, I’m on vacation. Turns out the Suzuki XL 7 we were given is a pretty nice ride, aside from the fact that it has absolutely NO Power! We nicknamed it the Wet Sponge in tribute to its acceleration and handling capabilities…

Finally on our wheels, we made our way to our Friends place, shamefully arriving at 4am, when they had to go to work the next day. We called them and told them that we would just get a hotel upon landing, but the wonderful people that they are would not hear of it. After navigating the Florida roads as best we could on next to no sleep, we were greeted by the truly wondrous sight of a Canadian flag Jack-o-lantern in their Driveway. In March!! Jay and Sherri rock like no others!


So we were settled and took Monday to chill out, get acclimatized and do some shopping, driving the Wet Sponge in the Beautiful Florida heat.

Tuesday was spent meeting another Floridian Amigo of ours and loading everyone up in the Wet Sponge for a trip to the great cheesy tourist destination called Gator Land. Gator Land was opened in 1949 and is an old school tourist trap. It is basically a huge zoo devoted to Alligators, although surprisingly Gator meat is also on the menu… Blech! It seems weird, but apparently Alligators are so prolific, that the park needs to cull their numbers and I guess this is what they do with the extras. Anyway, Alligators are cool creatures, and almost seem unreal. They hardly move and look as though they are straight out of another era in Earths History. All in all Gator Land was a Blast!

Wednesday I was able to Finally visit Kennedy Space Centre. This will get it’s own Post!

On Thursday the Floridians took us out and about in the lovely Mt Dora area near their home. There is actually no Mountain to be seen and a more a propos name for the town would be “Slight Incline Dora”, but it is pretty none the less. We went on a nature walk and then walked through a quaint shopping district populated with specialty boutiques and shops. We called it an early night since we needed to be up early to catch our plane out.

All in all it was a fantastic trip, based largely on the hospitality of our friends. We spoke of setting up an annual exchange program, where they can come and visit us in September to escape the oppressive humidity of Florida and we head south on March Break to escape the Brutal winter. I look forward to our visits with them greatly and can’t wait to welcome them back to Toronto for the Word on the Street Book Festival.