The whole fortnight has been meticulously planned (this is a by-product of having a teacher in the family) and Monday was supposed to be Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter, something we’ve all been getting very excited about visiting. However, last week one of our gang was at work and told that their New York office would be shut on Monday as it is Memorial Day. Hmm, we thought, will this affect us? I did the sensible thing and asked the experts on here, and had a fairly resounding “DON’T DO IT” response, so Monday was quickly re-designated a pool/shopping day.
We spent the morning by the pool, and I’m ashamed to say I spent the majority of the time writing parts one and two of these reports and editing the photos. The kids were split between serious sunbathing and serious pool using. Mrs Dad’s Taxi read and had cold drinks brought to her on demand!
After some lunch by the pool we headed for The Florida Mall. We considered popping into Costco to get a fridge full of bottled water, but it looked closed so we drove past. As I was the only one of us to think about bringing a Costco card with us, we were dubious about them letting all 11 of us in anyway. So, once at The Florida Mall, we arranged a rendezvous point, the large sweet shop (OK, candy store) in the centre of the mall, and went our separate ways. The kids then did their collective best to sort out the American economy by bringing in lots of $$$s. I bought a new wallet and some sunglasses. During our browsing we realised that the sweet shop was now a construction site, and I expect in due course something new will emerge in its place, but currently there’s just a pile of scaffold and fencing. Amazingly all the kids had worked out that this was where the meeting place was supposed to be, so we met up and set off in search of dinner. Driving along the South Orange Blossom Trail we spotted a Denny’s, and I’d love to say it was great, but I’m afraid under-staffed would be a better description. They couldn’t cope with 11 of us. Eventually we had (nearly) all eaten, and we decided ordering desserts may just break the chef, so we quit whilst ahead and called it a day.
Next day was Tuesday 29th May 2012, also known as our Silver Wedding Anniversary. This was the driving force behind our insane plan to bring 11 of us to Florida. And can you guess what we all got for Christmas?
Our anniversary day was spent at Discovery Cove, our favourite place. We were checking in at 9am, and soon tucking into the quite impressive breakfast. Unfortunately, before we’d even finished our breakfasts, the rain started. It was a very overcast day, but we picked out a long row of sunbeds on the beach with a couple of umbrellas to keep all our stuff, and ourselves, dry. A weatherman would describe our day as “scattered showers, some heavy” I suppose. When we were all in the warm water milling around, the rain was barely noticeable, but relaxing on a sunbed wasn’t really possible – for a start the sunbeds were wet for the majority of the time. Thankfully, Discovery Cove do provide unlimited clean fluffy towels, so if a towel did get soaked by a sudden downpour, it was no hassle to swap it for a fresh one.
Discovery Cove is an all-inclusive day, so lunch was included, and the choice was impressive. I struggled to choose, but decided on the teriyaki chicken and rice, with an amazing chocolate brownie for dessert, washed down with a beer. Later I spotted people who had done mix n’ match with their meals, like chicken breast strips with hotdog ! Maybe I should have been more adventurous (or cheeky).
We had a wander around the aviary, and had very little luck tempting the birds down to the little feeding pot they give you, but one little bird was fascinated by our sky blue shirts, and was happily hopping from one to the other of our shoulders, ignoring everyone else.
I'm referring to the bird on my left shoulder, incidentally !
The big kids had a dolphin swim booked for mid afternoon, and amazingly the rain stopped and it brightened up a bit. The 8 of them were a group on their own, and they met two dolphins; Stella, who was quite young and still in training, and Dixie who was about 30 and knew the ropes.
I’d like to say this is Stella:
And this is George with Dixie:
But I’m afraid that they both look like the same aquatic mammal to me, so I’m not really sure I got that right.
The dolphin swim is over far too quickly, as anyone who has experienced this will tell you. The resident photographers had performed their magic though, and captured the highlights for us all to keep forever.
So, back in the water, and it starts raining again. George and Jade encountered an underwater photographer whilst in the fresh water pool.
Sadly, about 4.30 the sky goes black, the palms begin to lean in the wind, and there is a call of “Code Purple”. The pools are evacuated just before the lightning is seen in the distance, and a thousand people head for the showers! Georgia is concerned for the dolphins – what if lightning hits their pool? I assure her that the palms are much more likely to attract the lightning, and point out the SeaWorld tower next door which must have a meaty lightning conductor, far more tempting to Thor’s arrows than a pool at ground level. Well, why do we have to get out then? Fair point, I change the subject quickly!
We shower, eventually, and once dressed and all reconvened we collect the photos and the girls hit the gift shop. The most popular item being sold appears to be heavy fleecy hoodies, mainly because everyone turned up this morning in t-shirts and shorts and it’s now like a typical day in Manchester.
The night is young, so we aim the bus at Mall at Millenia for a browse and a snack in the food court. Mrs Dad’s Taxi and I wander into a club – certainly it’s dark, despite the impressive lighting rig, and the music is loud, and pretty good, to my old ear. I have a bit of a dance, but no-one else seems to be dancing, they’re just standing around near endless closely-packed rails of clothes. We give up, and leave. It was called Hollister, I give it ‘til the end of the year.
And so, despite the poor weather, our Silver Wedding Anniversary was a lovely day, and as we headed for the villa the sky brightened and it looked like tomorrow should bring some sunshine.
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