All right peeps, its time to share a recap of our trip with you. We got to spend a week in Jereme's old stomping grounds of Tampa and Orlando, doing touristy things. We got to go to Sea World, Busch Garden, The Florida Aquarium, and The Titanic Museum. We also got to see friends and family. While I was there, I got to pet/touch dolphins, sharks, manta and sting rays, live starfish, coral, and sea anemones. It was literally the coolest thing ever. Both parks were also just starting to put up their Christmas decor and I am so so glad I got to see that. It was such a blessing to get to do this. I am so so thankful to the Lord for this trip.
Sea World
Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to go to Sea World. I had an obsession with dolphins (Flipper was one of my favorite movies), and I heard that you could swim with them there. It was too cold to swim with them, but I did get to pet them. It was not at all what I expected. I expected them to feel so smooth and slimy, but they were more course and not slimy at all. I got to see the little penguin in the wet suit and it was so stinking cute. (If you don't know about it, there are two videos HERE. Look it up. It is the neatest thing.) I also got to meet Guy Harvey and that was totally unexpected. He had just completed a new mural at the park and it is AMAZING!! Me being an art lover, you know that was right up my alley.
The park was everything I hoped it would be and I was blown away by how well the animals were actually cared for. I was expecting the worst when one of the shows didn't go as planned, but even when the animals weren't co-operating they were so patient with them. It was neat to get to see how they act in those situations. I felt so bad for the poor guy running that particular show. He said "as you can see, these are live animals, and they have their own personalities. Some days they are moody just like people. Today is one of those days that I just want to start over and try again." It was actually more enter ning to see the mess ups to me. Ha. The Mako and the Log ride were my favs by the way.
Busch Garden
I don't even know where to start with Busch Garden. If you ever get the chance to go, do it. It is so stinkin awesome. Everything about the park is beautiful. The rides are great. The animal areas were too. Every inch of the park was manicured. From the parking lot to the bathrooms, every ounce was so well maintained and I LOVE THAT. Seriously, it was so nice to have super clean bathrooms always just a corner away.
I got to hold birds and see so many adorable animals. I was dumbfounded by how nice and "real-life like" each habitat felt. I definitely didn't feel sorry for any of the animals there. I was, however, blown away by the size of all of the animals. They were all so much larger than I expected. I don't know why I thought they were all so much smaller. I felt the same way at Sea World. Pictures and tv documentaries don't do them justice. I even got to feed a baby kangaroo. Their newest ride, the Cheetah Hunt, was by far the best and smoothest coaster I have ever been on. Hands down, it was my favorite one. If you go, do not pass this one up.
Florida Aquarium
The Florida Aquarium is one of Jereme's favorite places "in the world", so he says. (I posted my outfit from this day HERE if you are interested.) It really was such a cool place. It was great too because we got to meet some of his childhood friends there to walk through with us. They felt more like family than friends to be honest. I just loved them all.
I got to pet a shark and sharks, sting and manta rays, starfish, and sea anemones there. Let me just tell you, that nothing felt like what I expected. Starfish feel super rough almost like they could cut you. I expected them to be spongy. Each one of the tank was so beautiful. I could go there every day.
Misc.
When we weren't at the parks, we definitely weren't standing idle. Every moment we that we were awake, we were doing something. We made a pit stop at my personal favorite place ever: Cabana Bay Beach Resort. (If you ever go to Universal Studios, STAY THERE. You won't be disappointed.) We spent our honeymoon there two years ago and I kid you not, you could make a vacation just out of the resort. We went to the Titanic Museum. We went to to Top Golf (I don't even like golf but that was fun). We got to see one of the houses that Jermo grew up in, and we also got to visit my Mother and her boyfriend and Jereme's grandparents as well. I also want to add that I got to go to the absolute most coolest McDonald's ever. It was two story, had an arcade, a desert bar and touch screen ordering menus. WHAT?! We also made a stop at the SPoT Skate park of Tampa. Jereme was sad that he didn't have a board with him.
The Titanic museum was so cool. We got to touch a piece of the actual titanic. They also had an ice berg there that you could touch. We managed to slide into one of the guided tours and I am so glad we did. We got tickets to see if we were actual passengers on the ship, whether or not we would have survived. Jereme and I both died, as did my husband on my ticket. It was a chilling eye opening experience. I only wish that we could have taken pictures inside. I would love to be able to share that with you.
“May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans!”