Well, the Florida tans have already faded, all my Honeydukes candy is gone, there are only a few remnants of love bugs stuck to our license plate and very few leftover grains of sand from Vero Beach remain in the back of the car. A blog about the Chukin's trip to Florida is past due.
The trip began after working hours on May 10th. I had taken the day off to make all necessary preparations, then I picked up Andriy at 5:00 on the dot and we immediately headed south to our destination for the evening, Clarksville TN. Our plan was to drive until 10 or 11 and then find a hotel along the interstate in the Clarksville area to crash for the night. Once we got to Clarksville, we stopped in the first hotel we saw, a Comfort Inn, where they told us they were completely sold out and everyone else probably was too. However, this negative Nancy did not discourage us. After all, we were at an exit with at least 10 different hotels/motels. Surely, something must be available. We marched right over to a Days Inn, where they said they had two rooms available. We quickly snatched one up (pleased to get a room, even one that smelled like smoke) and went right to bed.
The next day involved driving all day, taking turns every 3-4 hours. We arrived at Lake Wales, FL at around dinnertime, greeted Judi, Alex and A.J. and sat down with them for a nice meal!
The next morning, Andriy and i went off on our own and visited Bok Tower, a wonderful botanical garden in Lake Wales. If you're ever in the area and can appreciate the nature that Florida has to offer, check it out. Here are some photos from Bok Tower Gardens
On Day 2 we went to Universal Studios with Alex. Honestly though, it was all about the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We took a bunch of pictures, rode some rides, drank some butterbeer (deliiiicious!) and ate lunch in the Three Broomsticks. What could be better?
My only wish for if i go back is that either:
a.) We would be the only people there, besides the people working.
or b.) Everyone there, including myself, would be in full Hogwarts robes.
Alright, who wants to set that up for me?
On the morning of day 3, Judi was off work, so the three of us went to this place called Circle B Reserve around Lake Hancock near Lakeland, FL. It's basically a nature reserve that's located by this big lake. There are trails set up and lots of signs saying, "watch for alligators, don't mess with one or you may lose a limb." Or something like that. We saw a lot of gorgeous water birds and, yes, we saw 4 alligators (two of them were little young gators.) That was so rad.
That afternoon, we said goodbye to Judi as she prepared to fly to Texas for work, and Alex, AJ, Andriy and I headed to Vero Beach for, hopefully, a margarita on the beach and a good meal. We hit a storm just as we were arriving :( but we stopped at a place called Mulligans on the beach for a margarita anyway and some tasty food. We had a free place to stay that night on the Flight Safety campus, thanks to Dan. The next morning, the weather thankfully cleared up, we packed lunch (and beer) in our cooler, and headed to the beach where it was sunny and warm! We read our books in the sand, got a little sun burnt, played in the waves, strolled down the beach and then headed back to Lake Wales that evening. I loooooooove the beach.
The next day, Andriy and I had a desire to see Tampa Bay and the gulf coast, so he and i headed west. We drove through Tampa, didn't really see anything worth stopping for, and headed across the bay to Clearwater. The weather was gorgeous, the sand was fine and white and the town was touristy, but a nice change of pace. We would love to head back to Clearwater to stay for a week and live like a beach bum for a little while.
Well, that's it! It was a great trip! The Greenhills were great hosts and Florida treated us right! And now, i don't feel like such a lazy ass for not writing in my blog for such a long time. Score!
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