After about three years of living in Germany for work, my time is finally up. I flew to my parents house on the 24th of December just in time to make it home for Christmas and all of the food that comes with it. But being at home for the holidays wasn't the best part of my trip, it was being able to see my daughter again for the first time in almost seven months. So with that being said, I had to have some fun times planned for the two of us.
On the 29th of December I had a friend fly to Alabama all the way from The Netherlands. It was her first trip to the states so I really wanted to make a good impression on her and where better to do it than in the south. She immediately fell in love with my family because of the southern hospitality and they're curiosity about her and her culture, but the fun had yet to begin.
On New Years Eve we took her along to a party at my aunts house on a huge piece of land out in the country where there were tons of people, tons of food and tons of fireworks. She said that in Holland it would have been called an American Party because everyone brought something to eat with them. But after tons of raw oyesters, 4-wheeler rides and many conversations, the New Year was finally here.
On the 2nd of January we packed our things in the car and hit the road for the highlight of everyones visit, Orlando Florida. I had promised my daughter months earlier that I would take her to see all of the princesses that lived at Disney World upon my return home and I wasn't about to disappoint her. After all, she had been telling everyone within a three-state radius that she was going with her daddy to Disney World.
Well five and a half hours later we arrived in Orlando and drove strait to SeaWorld where we spent hours enjoying all the the sea life that it had to offer. Sharks, turtles, alligators, penguins, dolphins, killer whales and anything else that one could imagine was there at SeaWorld. There were dolphin and diver shows, Shamu the Killer Whale shows, numerous tours and entertainment and tons of souvenir shops so you could have your physical memories to take home. It was my second time visiting the park and I loved it as much as the first time. No matter how old you are you can still be amazed at the cooperation from the dolphins and whales during the shows that took place. After the last show we proceeded to our car so that we could grab a bite to eat before checking into our hotel.
The following day we woke up early and hit the Florida Mall for shopping and breakfast. The mall itself if rather large with tons of shops for entertainment for everyone. But out of all of the stores I would have to say that the M&M store had to be our favorite. There are many different types of M&M dispensers to choose from and when you want to buy the candy to fill them up you go to the center of the store where these massive tubes line the ceiling and attach to a wall in the center where you grab bags to fill up of you're favorite kinds and colors of M&M's. I would highly recommend taking the time to visit the mall if you are ever in Orlando.
After leaving the mall we proceeded to the center of it all, Disney World.
Out of all of the parks to choose from I had to go with the Magic Kingdom because of how child friendly it is. Not only because of that but because it is also the home of the Cinderella castle. My daughter absolutely loves all of the princesses that are in the Disney films so I couldn't go to Orlando and not take her to see them. As soon as we got off of the shuttle tram at the front gate the Mickey parade was in full swing. We had perfect timing because we didn't miss any of it. Just about every Disney character was in the parade so it is a one stop shop to catch all of the ones that your child may want to see. There was music, dancing and so many beautiful floats to see as the parade passed by. My daughter sat on my shoulders screaming out the names of everyone of them that went by.
After the streets cleared from the parade we ventured out to the center of the park where the castle is located and started with our picture taking. I did make a mistake when my daughter asked me who the man was that was standing with Mickey in front of the castle, she was refering to the statue of Walt Disney. I told her who it was and when she asked me where he was I told her that he had died some time ago therefor making her cry instantly. She cried for about 15 minutes strait and only stopped when we got on our first ride. While we were there we walked all over the park but didn't get to ride too many rides due to the amount of people and the distance in between the rides. We did take the train that goes around the outskirts of the park in able to get from one side to the other at a faster pace but was still unable to enjoy as many rides as I had wished we could have.
After hours of walking around, eating, shopping and taking pictures it was getting late. There was another parade that locked us into the center of the park (not to mention some fire that caused the park employee's to block off many exit routes) delaying us from being able to get to the car. We didn't stay for the fireworks because by this time everyone was tired, it was getting cold and I wanted to beat the foot traffic to the parking lot so that it didn't take another hour trying to depart the premises. After we finally got out of there we again went to eat dinner before we started back to the hotel.
The following day we started our trip back to Alabama and made it in about six hours. It took a little longer getting through traffic on the way home and we did stop for food and to stretch our legs.
A few days later we headed back down to Florida so that my Friend could see the oceans here in the states. We arrived at Panama City beach and the weather was absolutely beautiful with temps in the high 70's. The sun was amazing and we ended up spending a few hours walking around on the beach soaking up the sun. After pulling away from the beach we headed down to the strip in search of a good restaurant to eat fresh seafood at. With it being winter time and not so many people traveling to the beach at this time of year there wasn't too many of our usual restaurants to choose from but we did stumble across a new one called the Shaggy Marlin. It was settled across the street from the beach in a cozy little building appeared to be more of a night spot than anything.
Everything was made from wood and there were a few bars located inside as well as on the decks on the outside. There was a stage for a live band and huge T.V screens throughout. We actually arrived at a bad time because it was too late for lunch but too early for dinner but the manager came out and told us that he would have the grill fired up for anything that we wanted. It was very nice of him because we were the only customers in the entire restaurant. I am glad that they were so kind as to fire up the grill because the seafood platters that we had were absolutely great and the service was just as good. After we couldn't stand to eat another bite, we said goodbye and jumped back into the car, stopped at a beach shop for some gifts and hit the road home again.
A few days later we got another adventure bug, jumped in the car and headed down to Florida once again ( what can I say, I live like 15 minutes from the state line ) to Mariana Florida. In Mariana they have the Florida Caverns, another beautiful place. I have been a few times before but it has been so long ago, I think that the last time was when I was in the sixth grade and I went with my class. I have never driven down there so after about 45 minutes and a few wrong turns we were there. It is a really cheap yet entertaining place to go if you are ever passing through the area. We went in, bought our tickets and had to wait for about 20 minutes before the next tour. Again, I think that it could be because the time of year it is but we were the only ones waiting for the tour.
I didn't mind one bit because it was at a slower pace and the volunteer tour guide seemed as if he were hired just for us. He took his time explaining the caves and pointing out the smaller things like seashell fossils, shapes and even a sharks tooth that is embeded in the rock from when Florida used to be under water many, many years ago. He was even a pretty good shot when it came to him taking pictures of us while in the cave. We were under ground for about an hour before making our way back to the surface where we exited into the woods where there are many trails that you can take to see other caves that the Native Indians used to use for shelter, hiding places and homes. It was a beautiful day so we welcomed the opportunity with open arms. We walked around for a while and seen many beautiful plants, rock formations and caves, not to mention a few wild turkeys that were wondering around.
Eventually we made our way back to the car and drove back home.
A couple of days after that I took my friend back to the airport and we said our goodbyes. I am glad that she left here with many memories and a new impression on Americans as a whole. Overall I think that she had a great experience and she vowed to return for more adventures after I get settled into California. The only thing is that I have never lived on the west coast so I will have to do tons of research before she does.
Next my daughter is going to be going home to Augusta, Georgia tomorrow. I will miss her but I have a quick stop in Kentucky for school for two months before I can get to California and find a place to live. But it won't be long before I can get her over there with me and she is already looking forward to it because I told her that we will go see Mickey again, but this time it will be at Disney Land in California.
She has already started telling everyone about it.
