Stephanie, Nate and Anna at Universal Studios
Of course we went to Disney's Magic Kingdom and to Universal Studios. But a trip to Orlando with 4 teenagers and 6 adults looks rather different than going as a single family with young children.
Stephanie, Nate and Anna at Universal Studios
Stephanie introduced her cousins to the thrill of roller coasters: Rip Ride Rockit and the Incredible Hulk Coaster at Universal, and Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain at Disney. All of us had read the Harry Potter series and appreciated the intricacies of the created world at Universal. Disney held more nostalgic appeal. I remembered being at Disney Orlando as a young teen, for Christmas 1988. Morrie was there with his family who reminisced on earlier trips to Disney in the 1970s, 80s and more recently with Stephanie.
For Nate, as equally awe-inspiring as the coaters was the Kennedy Space Centre. We listened to NASA scientists describe plans to explore Mars and to return to the moon. We saw the launch sites of SpaceX, NASA's shuttle Atlantis and rockets from Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions. With exhibits designed to inspire, endear public funding of future missions, as well as educate, it was a fascinating day.
Wekiwa Springs State Park
It was also a delight to celebrate Christmas again in the heat. To spend a week in subtropical humidity between Ottawa snowstorms. We meandered through the Harry P. Leu Gardens, stopping to photograph succulents and magnolia trees. We took a guided boat tour on Lake Osceola in Winter Park and had a picnic next to a cypress tree, its enormous trunk climbing with epiphytes. Another day we walked through ankle deep mud at the Tibet-Butler Nature Preserve, watching for frogs.
Kayaking with alligators
Best of all was Wekiwa Springs State Park. We rented 3 little kayaks and followed the surprisingly shallow Wekiwa River past tangled palms, pines, and cypress trees. We spotted several alligators over a couple of hours, including a 5ft mother snout to snout with her 12 inch baby alligator; each staring into the others' eyes, seemingly unaware of the passing kayaks. Alligators tend to feed during the night, so kayaks were rented only during day-light hours.