Episode CXLII: Wintering in Florida

After returning from our trip to Brazil, we had only two days of rest before heading right back to the airport for a second wedding-centered trip. This time to Orlando, Florida (I know, it's a hard life).

Once again we took some extra time to do some tourism. Day one we went to Gatorland:

It's sort of a theme park, but mostly just hundreds of alligators and crocodiles in a variety of settings. Meg loved it.

We also took a trip to a state park where wild manatees are often spotted in winter months. And spot them we did. There were a couple lazily swimming upstream when we got there, then a few minutes later they lazily swam back downstream, then a few minutes later back on upstream. If I had to pick an animal to be, the manatee would be my new choice.

[Baby manatee!]

On day two we went to a Disney park. When in Orlando, right? We chose Epcot. A very unique theme park.

Day three was the wedding. Shelby and Andrew are a couple we know from our church in Cambridge, and they had a lovely wedding in the Orlando Museum of Art.

[The wedding and reception were held right in the middle of all the art galleries]

Finally, day four we went to the Holy Land Experience. Talk about unique theme parks! They've got a mixture of bible-themed musical theater, re-creations of ancient biblical sites, and a trove of artifacts pertaining to Christian history. Here we are inspecting the empty tomb...

An amusing anecdote from our way back home- we flew out of Daytona Beach, which has such a tiny airport that when we arrived (a little early) for our afternoon flight, TSA was closed! There hadn't been any flights for the last few hours, so we had to wait in line for TSA to finish their afternoon tea time.

 

 [Meg and I and a bunch of retirees, waiting to be let in]