January 16, 2006

ok, so I just blogged for an hour and it disappeared, vanished, didn't post...it's gone Here I go again...

My vacation to Florida was great! Steve and I left ont he 11th and returned the 15th.

Wednesday (11th) we got up at 0430 to make a 0645 flt to Tampa. We saw the sun rise from the plane which was really cool. When we got to Tampa, the air was clean and fresh, it was sunny and about 70 degrees. His dad and step-mom, Nancy picked us up. On our way "home" we stopped a t a rest stop where I checked out the plant life that I had never seen before, I also thought it was really neat there were geckos in the bushes. When we got closer to Nokomis, we had lunch at Frankie's, a small restaurant and headed home to unpack. The main reason for our visit not waiting till Feb, when Steve usually goes to Florida is that his Uncle Dwayne is in the fourth stage of cancer. He has been sick for a while so I was surprised when we got to his house. He looked pretty good for having been sick so long. After our visit, Steve and skated down to the beach and laid out for a bit. His dad had a baseball game that evening so we went to watch. Steve caught a tree frog, it was so cute! After the game, we went to Bogey's for dinner.

Thursday(12th) we got up early and headed for Busch Gardens. Ont he way we stopped at Bob Evan's for breakfast. It was a beautiful day, about 80 degrees, blue sky very few clouds and the sun was so warm. Steve and I went on a few roller coasters ( I was surprised I did it). The first one, the Python was ok. The second however, Montu, was a bit too much for me, I didnt enjoy it much. The third, Gwazi I thin it was called...was hell. I hated every second of it. It was really cool there though. I loved seeing the animals bit really enjoyed the landscaping. Palm trees are so beautiful. We all had a great time.

Friday(13th)we slept in a bit and had fresh picked oranges for breakfast. Steve's dad was at his ball game so we waited for him to get home then went to get lunch. We ate at Dimitri's (relatives of the Dimitri's in Dearborn) which is an all you can eat buffet. After lunch we dropped off Steve's dad and went shopping. That evening, we went to the Eagles club where his parents are members. They go there for a fish fry every friday night. There was a band, "The FOG" (Four Old Guys) which was ok, they played 60's and 70's stuff. Keep in mind that nearly everyone in the town is half dead, they're so old. It was very entertaining to see the old people "get down." It was a good time.

Saturday(14th) it was a little chilly, the sun was bright as could be though. We went to Jungle Gardens. I held two large parrots and hand fed flamingos. That was a pretty unique expierence. After Jungle Gardens, we went to another all you can eat buffet, Sweet Tomatoes. That food was great. I over-stuffed myself and was miserable, but it tasted good! When we got home, I went into a food coma for two hours and we hung out around the house the rest of the evening.

Sunday(15th) we got up, had fresh picked oranges for breakfast again. Actually we had them everyday. I started getting our stuff together for the trip home. We went down to the Jetty and walked on the beach. I couldn't believe how close the pelicans would get to people! I sat next to one for about 15 min. We walked down the beach and saw a huge jelly fish washed up in the sand. We lef the beach and went to Dwayne's for a while then headed to the Groves for ice cream. We went home, gathered our things and headed out. We had lunch/dinner at yet another all you can eat place, CiCi's. From there we went to the airport. Everything went smoothly and after what seemes like the longest plane ride ever, we were back in the cold.

It was such a great vacation and there are tons of pics to help remember it. I can't wait till next year!