The Rest Of Florida and Then Some

The rest of my Florida trip ended up going wonderfully! Chad let me take the ranch truck and on Thursday I drove Northwest to explore Orlando. I decided I just wanted to do free things so here are bit of my adventures:

These pictures here are at Eola Lake Park. It is located right downtown in Orlando. The picture on above is on the east side near a Chinese pagoda (to the right) and a Confederate States of America monument.


On the west side of the park there is the Walt Disney Amphitheater and more of the "down town" area such as some cathederals, the library, the Citrus Bowl arena, etc.  I didn't go to all of these sites but I saw signs or I passed some as I was driving to the lake. This picture below is on the Southside by a little fountain that I liked.

I drove about fifteen minutes North to a place called Maitland and went to the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Florida. This was just a small museum with artifacts, videos of survivors, and facts about the Holocaust. There was also a library section. It was a lot smaller than I expected but it was still cool to look around.

Now I'm one for bargains so I thought it would be cool to take a small step and see what a flea market was like. I had been to China Town in Australia and it was pretty much like that! I drove up and seriously thought I was going to get shot or mugged. There were a lot of groups of people huddled together, smoking, playing gangster music. I was a little worried but I decided to walk around the parking lot and enter into a different area of the Flea Market. There ended up being a lot of similar shops but I found a couple of things to buy. I feel that I don't really need to go to a flea market again, unless I have a specific purpose!

 

 

This next place was called Black Hammock Adventures in Oviedo, FL. This time I started driving back South over Lake Jesup to find this place. It was gorgeous. They had some gators and birds. I just enjoyed more fresh air and gorgeous scenery. This first picture here you actually see Lake Jesup behind me.

After enjoying the view I ate at the Black Hammock Restaurant and enjoyed clam chowder and mozzarella sticks! It was just s small place but really yummy :)

 This was one of the gators that they had.

 Later that afternoon I circled back down to the ranch and Dale gave me a ride on the airboat. If you haven't riden one it is different than a normal boat. You don't rely on the water. The engine in the back powers it and air pushes you :) So we started out on land and went down a ditch onto the St. John river. It was weird to get used to. As Dale started to head toward some of the greenery, I got nervous, as we smoothly glided over it my grip lightened again and I was just in awe at the coolness and the beauty around me. It was cloudy so we didn't get to see as much wildlife but it was still super cool.

Friday night Trevor and I went to Denny's for Dinner and then we went to the new Abraham Lincoln movie. It was a really good movie!




















Saturday turned out fantastic as well with Trevor and I going to the Kennedy Space Center. Everything was massive! That was the thought that kept running through my mind. Trevor had such an analytical look at everything. He cared about the why and how, while I just thought it was cool. I'm glad that we got to go together.

 The picture above here is part of the new Orion rocket they are building.

This picture is of the VAB-just to give you an idea of how big it is-when you open part of that up it is as wide as an 8-lane building!

After the Kennedy Space Center, we drove to Cocoa Beach and played for just a little bit. It was so freeing to let the waves hit me over and over again. Trevor stayed more on the beach and put his feet in while I was getting hit head on by the waves. I LOVED it. I have this connection with water that I cannot explain. I just can't get enough of it and wish that it wouldn't have been getting dark so quick.

I'm heading home now for the long Thanksgiving break. I hope that we can all serve those around us and show how grateful we are for our big and small blessings. We have so much to be grateful for and we tend to make a bigger deal about it around Thanksgiving but it is important all year-round. I'm thankful for the gospel and for the Atonement that can make us whole one small step at a time. Sometimes the steps hurt but when we hold on to our Lord he can take some of that pressure off. This is the true Church.


Sorry this post was so long but there was so much to share about the trip! :)