linda.s
21-10-2004, 02:04
Day 11
Alarm goes off at 4am........ Sigh! I've only managed a couple of hours kip, as I am always worried that I won't wake to the alarm, so I only doze - daft eh? Slowly manage to rouse hubby and kids, and we all sit silently eating a bit of breakfast orange juice and coffee. We certainly don't look happy to be off on a fabulous trip today! Make it to the Howard Johnson hotel on the 192 by about 5.25am, complete with packed lunch and drinks, as we have no idea what the tour company will be offering us on the way. We are early, as we are not due to be picked up until 6am, but better to be there than miss it! Our other 2 sets of friends all arrive by 5.40am, so we are now waiting, together with a growing car park of other participants....... Big coach arrives at 5.45, and is swiftly followed by a smaller 14 seater coach. We are all asked to pack our non-essential (for the day) luggage onto the big coach, and head towards the doors to get on, when we hear the 3 surnames of our party being called out.... Apparently, as we are a party of 12, they have decided to give us our own tour guide and coach, and we are going on the mini-bus! Simon, our English driver was a really nice guy, working towards his green card. He has been in Florida for a few years, started as a holiday rep, and married another holiday rep who has an American father, so hopefully he'll be able to stay! Our coach was really comfy, and had dvd player and screens installed, so we sat and watched about 5 films over the next 2 days - You really must see 'The first 50 dates' (I think!) starring Drew Barrymore - was very funny! Once we got started, we finally found out our itinary. Today we are off to the Gator and snake farm, then off to the Bayside Hotel at Key Largo to chill in the pool or sea before the big BBQ that night. We arrived at the farm by about 11.15, ready for an 11.50am sir boat ride. Our guide on the ride was great, and very informative about the flora & fauna in the surrounding waterways. We saw plenty of gators, and some lovely soft backed turtles, they were cute! Once we had cleared the local area, he told us to hang onto our hats, and we were off! Many high speed 360 degree turns later, we were all drenched, but happy, and we poodled back to the farm ready for the gator and snake show. This was very educational, and we enjoyed watching the handler with the gators and snakes. We all got to hold a baby gator (with it's mouth taped!) and an albino snake that would have perished in the wild. We then had time to look at the growing pens, and the wildlife trail before heading off to the hotel. The hotel was basic but functional. 2 English sized double beds per room, and a small bathroom, but the showers were good, it was clean, and the aircon worked, although noisy! We got our cases from the now returned large coach, and settled into the rooms. Within a few mins, we were ready to explore, and the view from the beach was stunning. My son and one of the other boys went swimming in the sea, we all watched! I then excused myself to return for a shower, and get ready for the barbie! Once we were all ready, we popped over to the chemist to get some bug repellant, as they are supposed to be vicious here, then we went to the liquor store for booze for the BBQ. There is a cocktail bar on the beach, but apparently it's very expensive, so we were advised to buy our own. 24 bottles of beer (3 men!!) 1 bottle of Tia Maria for me, and a bottle of Vodka for another mum, the last mum doesn't drink - we needed someone sober! BBQ was ready by 6.30pm, and we sat at tables on the beach, eating steaks, sausages, chicken, burgers etc until we were stuffed! Then, Simon called out our son's name..... He was made to climb on a table, and everyone there had to sing Happy Birthday, then he was presented with a huge chocolate birthday cake, he was really thrilled! It was wonderful, sitting there at dusk, watching the sun slowly slip beneath the horizon....... Stunning. Once the sun had set, the men realised that the 24 bottles of beer
Alarm goes off at 4am........ Sigh! I've only managed a couple of hours kip, as I am always worried that I won't wake to the alarm, so I only doze - daft eh? Slowly manage to rouse hubby and kids, and we all sit silently eating a bit of breakfast orange juice and coffee. We certainly don't look happy to be off on a fabulous trip today! Make it to the Howard Johnson hotel on the 192 by about 5.25am, complete with packed lunch and drinks, as we have no idea what the tour company will be offering us on the way. We are early, as we are not due to be picked up until 6am, but better to be there than miss it! Our other 2 sets of friends all arrive by 5.40am, so we are now waiting, together with a growing car park of other participants....... Big coach arrives at 5.45, and is swiftly followed by a smaller 14 seater coach. We are all asked to pack our non-essential (for the day) luggage onto the big coach, and head towards the doors to get on, when we hear the 3 surnames of our party being called out.... Apparently, as we are a party of 12, they have decided to give us our own tour guide and coach, and we are going on the mini-bus! Simon, our English driver was a really nice guy, working towards his green card. He has been in Florida for a few years, started as a holiday rep, and married another holiday rep who has an American father, so hopefully he'll be able to stay! Our coach was really comfy, and had dvd player and screens installed, so we sat and watched about 5 films over the next 2 days - You really must see 'The first 50 dates' (I think!) starring Drew Barrymore - was very funny! Once we got started, we finally found out our itinary. Today we are off to the Gator and snake farm, then off to the Bayside Hotel at Key Largo to chill in the pool or sea before the big BBQ that night. We arrived at the farm by about 11.15, ready for an 11.50am sir boat ride. Our guide on the ride was great, and very informative about the flora & fauna in the surrounding waterways. We saw plenty of gators, and some lovely soft backed turtles, they were cute! Once we had cleared the local area, he told us to hang onto our hats, and we were off! Many high speed 360 degree turns later, we were all drenched, but happy, and we poodled back to the farm ready for the gator and snake show. This was very educational, and we enjoyed watching the handler with the gators and snakes. We all got to hold a baby gator (with it's mouth taped!) and an albino snake that would have perished in the wild. We then had time to look at the growing pens, and the wildlife trail before heading off to the hotel. The hotel was basic but functional. 2 English sized double beds per room, and a small bathroom, but the showers were good, it was clean, and the aircon worked, although noisy! We got our cases from the now returned large coach, and settled into the rooms. Within a few mins, we were ready to explore, and the view from the beach was stunning. My son and one of the other boys went swimming in the sea, we all watched! I then excused myself to return for a shower, and get ready for the barbie! Once we were all ready, we popped over to the chemist to get some bug repellant, as they are supposed to be vicious here, then we went to the liquor store for booze for the BBQ. There is a cocktail bar on the beach, but apparently it's very expensive, so we were advised to buy our own. 24 bottles of beer (3 men!!) 1 bottle of Tia Maria for me, and a bottle of Vodka for another mum, the last mum doesn't drink - we needed someone sober! BBQ was ready by 6.30pm, and we sat at tables on the beach, eating steaks, sausages, chicken, burgers etc until we were stuffed! Then, Simon called out our son's name..... He was made to climb on a table, and everyone there had to sing Happy Birthday, then he was presented with a huge chocolate birthday cake, he was really thrilled! It was wonderful, sitting there at dusk, watching the sun slowly slip beneath the horizon....... Stunning. Once the sun had set, the men realised that the 24 bottles of beer