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jeriendhalJust got back from Florida yesterday, after coming down with Tracy to fool around in Orlando while she went to the American Library Association convention.
Thursday we headed out at the ungodly (for Tracy) hour of 5 am to BWI. Between three pieces of carry on luggage, Thomas' car seat, and Thomas himself we were hauling entirely too much stuff onto the plane. I got pulled aside by the G/e/s/t/a/p/o TSA to be patted down after my keys set off the metal detector. Tracy and I both had to pull off our shoes, which were then ignored by the TSA inspectors until we retrieved them on the other side.
The flight went better than I expected. It was Thomas' first plane ride, and we had no idea what to expect from him, but he seemed to enjoy it immensely. Tracy got mildly irritated by the three kids behind us kicking the seats, but we were more concerned about keeping an eye on Thomas to get too irritated. We landed in Orlando around 9 am, picked up our rental car, and were checked into our hotel by 10:30. Got a nice suite at the Sleep Inn, with a fridge for Tom's milk. In order to get around the TSA we went to the extreme of shipping his soymilk maker to the hotel via FedEx, and it arrived intact with no problems. We were all pretty zapped from getting up so early, so after a brief trip to get needed supplies, we napped in the afternoon and hung around the hotel that evening.
Friday I dropped Tracy off at the Orange County Convention Ctr (it's freaking HUGE) but as it turns out the festivities were actaully at the hotel complex across the street, which wasn't as bad a complication as it could have been.
Thomas and I headed down to Cape Canaveral to look around, which turned out to be a mixed bag. For starters, there are about four seperate toll roads in the Orlando area alone, and the one I traveled on to get to the Cape had no less than three toll booths that required payment udring the drive, rather than do something sensible like collect a toll on the off ramps. The Cape Canaveral complex proved fun, but it's been thuroughly Disneyfied since I last visited when I was there. Lotsa "fun and informative" shows, which were more flash than fact. Also much emphasis on NASA's moon shot triumphs, and successful (emphasis on "Successful") remote probes to the outer planets. Considerably less attention was paid to the recent shuttle tragedy, or even the Challenger explosion, though the tour bus driver that took us to view the VAB and the launch pads was a bit more honest, pointing out where the Columbia's remains were stored, and telling about how all the NASA personnel were allowed to see it up close.
High point of the tour for me was a stop off at the new facility to show off the restored Saturn V, which is displayed to good effect. It's almost impossible to describe how freaking BIG that launcher is. The only thing wrong with the display was the cafeteria attached to it, which sold the utter worst hamburgers I've eaten since my college days. But overall Tom and I had a good time, even if I doubt if the whole thing was worth the $30+ asking price for adult admission.
BTW If you do go there, don't miss the Astronaut Memorial. It's not only beautiful, it's also a darned clever bit of engineering.
Saturday Tracy was at the covention again, so after rejecting the prices at Univeral Orlando, Tom and I headed back towards the Cape to stop at the Valiant Warbirds Museum. Price to get in was only $9.95, and for that you get a guided tour from a WWII vet, and the chance to get up close and personal with birds from several eras, from WWII to the 1970's. I mean this quite literally. There is simply nothing stopping a visitor (like me) from sticking his camera up the intake of the F-14 they've got there and snapping away. It was great fun, though damnably hot that day.
Sunday was a bit of bust. Tracy developed a nasty ear infection the day before, so we blew the morning finding a doctor and getting her perscriptions filled. By the time we made it to the Magic Kingdom Tracy was feeling less than magical, and more like tired, hurting, and sweating from all the awful crowds. We cut the visit shorter than we'd intended, though Thomas at least had a good time.
Monday Tracy was feeling considerably better, and went back the convention while Tom and I tooled around Orlando. I hate to say it, but aside from Disney and the other major parks, most of Orlando tends to look like Ocean City, MD writ large. Numerous tacky tourist attractions and hideously overpriced memoribilia, though the number of putt-putt golf courses per square mile seemed a bit less than Oceanside Drive's count back home.
Tuesday we visited Disney's Animal Kingdom, and had a much better time than Sunday. Tracy was feeling better, the crowds weren't as huge, and the place had considerably more shade and water sources, cutting down the awful heat. The live animal exhibits were all rather clever, though the safari ride ventured into the realm of cheese. It was offset by some of the absolutely lovely architecture of the Asia section, giving a lovely feel of having wandered into an East Indian township, complete with ruined temples, rotting buildings, and a crazy quilt of overhead power lines.
We went straight from the park back to the airport, where security was considerably less paranoid and the flight short and pleasant (and Tom slept all the way through takeoff and landing!) Now all we have to do is get the gumption to unpack out bags and do laundry. :)
Thursday we headed out at the ungodly (for Tracy) hour of 5 am to BWI. Between three pieces of carry on luggage, Thomas' car seat, and Thomas himself we were hauling entirely too much stuff onto the plane. I got pulled aside by the G/e/s/t/a/p/o TSA to be patted down after my keys set off the metal detector. Tracy and I both had to pull off our shoes, which were then ignored by the TSA inspectors until we retrieved them on the other side.
The flight went better than I expected. It was Thomas' first plane ride, and we had no idea what to expect from him, but he seemed to enjoy it immensely. Tracy got mildly irritated by the three kids behind us kicking the seats, but we were more concerned about keeping an eye on Thomas to get too irritated. We landed in Orlando around 9 am, picked up our rental car, and were checked into our hotel by 10:30. Got a nice suite at the Sleep Inn, with a fridge for Tom's milk. In order to get around the TSA we went to the extreme of shipping his soymilk maker to the hotel via FedEx, and it arrived intact with no problems. We were all pretty zapped from getting up so early, so after a brief trip to get needed supplies, we napped in the afternoon and hung around the hotel that evening.
Friday I dropped Tracy off at the Orange County Convention Ctr (it's freaking HUGE) but as it turns out the festivities were actaully at the hotel complex across the street, which wasn't as bad a complication as it could have been.
Thomas and I headed down to Cape Canaveral to look around, which turned out to be a mixed bag. For starters, there are about four seperate toll roads in the Orlando area alone, and the one I traveled on to get to the Cape had no less than three toll booths that required payment udring the drive, rather than do something sensible like collect a toll on the off ramps. The Cape Canaveral complex proved fun, but it's been thuroughly Disneyfied since I last visited when I was there. Lotsa "fun and informative" shows, which were more flash than fact. Also much emphasis on NASA's moon shot triumphs, and successful (emphasis on "Successful") remote probes to the outer planets. Considerably less attention was paid to the recent shuttle tragedy, or even the Challenger explosion, though the tour bus driver that took us to view the VAB and the launch pads was a bit more honest, pointing out where the Columbia's remains were stored, and telling about how all the NASA personnel were allowed to see it up close.
High point of the tour for me was a stop off at the new facility to show off the restored Saturn V, which is displayed to good effect. It's almost impossible to describe how freaking BIG that launcher is. The only thing wrong with the display was the cafeteria attached to it, which sold the utter worst hamburgers I've eaten since my college days. But overall Tom and I had a good time, even if I doubt if the whole thing was worth the $30+ asking price for adult admission.
BTW If you do go there, don't miss the Astronaut Memorial. It's not only beautiful, it's also a darned clever bit of engineering.
Saturday Tracy was at the covention again, so after rejecting the prices at Univeral Orlando, Tom and I headed back towards the Cape to stop at the Valiant Warbirds Museum. Price to get in was only $9.95, and for that you get a guided tour from a WWII vet, and the chance to get up close and personal with birds from several eras, from WWII to the 1970's. I mean this quite literally. There is simply nothing stopping a visitor (like me) from sticking his camera up the intake of the F-14 they've got there and snapping away. It was great fun, though damnably hot that day.
Sunday was a bit of bust. Tracy developed a nasty ear infection the day before, so we blew the morning finding a doctor and getting her perscriptions filled. By the time we made it to the Magic Kingdom Tracy was feeling less than magical, and more like tired, hurting, and sweating from all the awful crowds. We cut the visit shorter than we'd intended, though Thomas at least had a good time.
Monday Tracy was feeling considerably better, and went back the convention while Tom and I tooled around Orlando. I hate to say it, but aside from Disney and the other major parks, most of Orlando tends to look like Ocean City, MD writ large. Numerous tacky tourist attractions and hideously overpriced memoribilia, though the number of putt-putt golf courses per square mile seemed a bit less than Oceanside Drive's count back home.
Tuesday we visited Disney's Animal Kingdom, and had a much better time than Sunday. Tracy was feeling better, the crowds weren't as huge, and the place had considerably more shade and water sources, cutting down the awful heat. The live animal exhibits were all rather clever, though the safari ride ventured into the realm of cheese. It was offset by some of the absolutely lovely architecture of the Asia section, giving a lovely feel of having wandered into an East Indian township, complete with ruined temples, rotting buildings, and a crazy quilt of overhead power lines.
We went straight from the park back to the airport, where security was considerably less paranoid and the flight short and pleasant (and Tom slept all the way through takeoff and landing!) Now all we have to do is get the gumption to unpack out bags and do laundry. :)
