From North Carolina we flew down to Orlando, and having gotten up at 5.30am, I don't have to explain how intensely foul my mood was. A few coffees later and I think my company was probably bearable (ask jack) but this soon faded as we missed our bus from the airport. A few hours later however, having dropped bags off at the hotel and eaten copious amounts of pizza, we were on our way to Sea World.
Sea World is really great, not just because its ok to act like a child there, but also because - like every 'Brit abroad' in Florida - I unashamedly love roller coasters. In fact the first thing we did was ride the two biggest attractions, and I thoroughly enjoyed screaming and shouting profanities whilst doing so. Various other highlights included seeing turtles, manatees, a polar bear and dolphin feeding.
The next morning brought with it a thunder storm, which highlighted that Orlando is completely dependent on good weather - everything stops during thunder storms. So we waited it out like any good Brits would - in McDonald's. However the afternoon brightened up and hit temperatures around 80 degrees Fahrenheit, so we finished off the rest of Sea World. And this could only mean one thing - Shamu.
The Shamu show is like a Floridian institution; take five killer wales, teach them to dance to music, add strobe lightening and water features, and you've got yourself a show. I mean, I like sea life as much as the next person, but you really have to question why you are clapping along to a choreographed routine of a wale dancing to what sounds like the 'High School Musical' soundtrack...
Still, the rest of the afternoon was a lot of fun, even including getting soaked to the bone on a water ride (and realising the canvas shoes I wore act in a similar way to a bucket, keeping in as much water as possible...). We did actually make a bit of a cock-up in deciding to queue for two hours - TWO HOURS - to see some penguins. Granted we weren't to know that's all the ride was but it was still crazy, and made exponentially worse by our decision to buy whole turkey legs for lunch, thus having children point at us and ask their horrified parents 'what are they eating mummy?!'. Similarly the evening was defined by food, but this was much better because we hit a steak house with the best steak I've had so far in the US.
I'm currently writing this on the way back from the Kennedy Space Centre, where we spent this afternoon being reminded of how advanced the Americans are with space travel (notwithstanding the discontinuation of space missions from Florida...). It was a fun day, and I especially enjoyed the space launch simulator, which pretty much is what it says - puts you through the forces experienced by an astronaut throughout liftoff. Oh, and the Angry Birds attraction... That was brilliant (if wholly inappropriate if unaccompanied by a child).
Something I forgot to mention was that this morning, as part of the tour, we were taken to the Everglades for a propeller boat ride. The idea was that we would see some alligators, however this plan was ill conceived due to the massive thunderstorm and torrential rain that ensued whilst we were on the water. One ripped poncho later, lets just say I had little time for the tour leader's jokes about the 'sunshine state'... Hope he isn't expecting a tip...
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