How I Spent My Spring Vacation

I've lived in North Florida for the majority of my life, but for some reason my vacation was a series of firsts....and lots of randomness. It was a nice needed break from medical school, which has become a little tiresome (more to come on that soon with a good explanation for the hiatus), and the nature-venture was a nice reminder of why someday I WILL move SOUTH and stay there. If you ever plan a north-Florida-cation this is a series of what to dos and lessons learned....

Random Day 1: With my brother and a bunch of his friends I floated down Ginny Springs...twice. While I have been to the springs once before (thanks to my favorite ACRs), they are a great introduction to just HOW AWESOME non-Miami Florida is and just how nice the sun is after hibernating through the winter. My brother has perfected his springing technique so that we have a car at the beginning and at the end of the floating area (no time wasted walking...) and are all able to fit on one, 10 person raft (which, by the way, dominated the other little baby pools and single person rides on the water). While looking at some turtles, and hoping not to find any gators, we listened to 80s music, got tan, and drank a little. You don't see views like this in CT....

Random Day 2: My mom and I woke up a little earlier than I would like to be up and we went swimming with the manatees in Crystal River. I had done this once before when I was in middle school and all that I remember was breaking the rules of the sanctuary about the roped off areas and trying to touch the manatees under the ropes. Now, however, the rules are fine-able (and actually jail-able) and I stuck to protecting those big sea-oh-so-much-cuter-than-cows. In a wet suit because the water is pretty darn chilly (and at a point my mom needed a break because it was too much for her), we went on a boat with our guide. God knows how it happened, but we were the only 2 people on our boat (compared to groups of like 20 on others), and this allowed us to basically pay normal price for a private tour. Also, because it was just us, our guide would just stop when he saw even one manatee swimming (away from the huge crowds which scared the manatees into the roped off areas) and we were able to just pet them while they ate and float alongside them. At one point I even rubbed one on the stomach and it started to turn over (like one big giant dog).

Random Day 3: I love Harry Potter. I am not a spell screaming, quidditch playing, costume wearer, but I have read every book (devoured is more like it) and seen EVERY movie (probably within a week of release). Because of this love, I was SUPER stoked to go to Harry Potter at Universal and have been waiting to go since it opened. My friend and I arrived around 10:15 am and tried to use my saved Universal tickets from the last time I went (Tip 1: if you buy multiple day passes to any of the parks, Disney included, the days never expire and you save money for the next time that you go. This is great if you ever go back, especially if you live in Florida). As it turned out, the last time that we went was in 2001, right after the park opened and before the invention bar codes for scanning tickets. At first the woman tried to tell us they weren't even tickets for the park, but after we were directed to customer service, we were legitimized, and instead, were made fun of for not coming in 10 years and for my mom being such an organized hoarder.

Following the ticket debacle, we b-lined for HP world only to get passes to "come back" to the area at 1:10 pm (yes, they have a limit of how many people can be back there at once--I think its 1000-- and its STILL SO popular--even on a Wednesday-- that they have to do this). It seemed like all morning was spent just waiting for HP, but when it was finally our turn it was pretty darn movie-set looking cool. 

The negative, of course, was the lines. The line for buying butter beer (which is NOT made in an alcoholic version--stupidly and not really in line with the books, in my opinion) was about 30 minutes and it really was just a fancy/icy butterscotch cream soda (even if it was good). The lines to get into the shops (picture waiting 30 minutes to go into the magic shop on Mainstreet USA in Disney World) were 30/45 minutes each, and I just could just NOT justify waiting to...not buy something...even if I was curious which wand "picked me". What about eating at Hogsmeade? Well sure, if you want to wait 45 minutes. Lines could have been the end of my fun at HP if it were not for my friend's genius time-saving advice: do the single rider's line at Hogwarts (HUGE tip 2). Oh yes, instead of a 90 minute line for a 10 minute simulator ride, we waited 10 minutes and were done. We even did a 5 minute "castle tour" to get to see all the hologram-y things inside the castle that we missed. That...was awesome. It is true that the park still needs to make some more rides back there (like seriously, why can't I play simulation quidditch?), but it is pretty darn cool to see up close. 

In addition, my theme park day showed me some other of my pet peeves. For example, for some reason you now have to check your purse before EVERY ride (like even ones that don't go upside down). I want to know who sued over a lost phone and made it so your crap can't just sit in the basket in front of you, but now that I know, I seriously will just wear something with big pockets and not bring a purse next time (TIP 3). This new process with finger print encoded lockers (which, by the way, did not recognize my finger print and I needed to get the attendant to break mine open) adds about another 10 minutes onto each ride's line and, for someone who was raised to skip a line whenever possible (GRANDMA? IS THAT YOU UP THERE?)...I was NOT digging it. Also, though the Simpson's ride was awesome, I began to wonder why every new ride was a simulator? Don't get me wrong...these types of rides have advanced into being pretty cool and even scary...but they get... old. I am sure they are less liability (as you aren't REALLY flipping upside down), but as a doctor who dislikes the idea of practicing defensive medicine, I am NOT excited by defensive theme-parking. And finally, WHAT HAPPENED TO NICKELODEON STUDIOS?!?! When I was a kid, I waited in line to go see the set of "What Would You Do" (featuring the ubiquitous, Mark Summers) and taste slime...and now that option does not even exist. Are kids too busy watching teen mom, so that nothing is now filmed there??! LAME. AND Depressing. This, and my love of old movies/the diner we found for lunch, only further proves that I should've been around in like the 1950s. Stuff was much nicer then.

Random Day 4: My mom is part of an adventure club and in this club they go see exotic things around where we live. With this group, we went to someone's farm house and looked at her animals. For 6 generations her family (not necessarily in FL, as that started in the 80s) has raised (and sort of saved/been a sanctuary for) exotic animals. Yes, thats right, we went to someone's farm and she had elephants, zebras, ostriches, and emus (I TOLD YOU my life was random).

I learned that Asian Elephants look a lot like wooly mammoths and are closer related to-- SHOCKER--manatees (trend...setters)...than African Elephants (look at the tusks).

I got to feed an elephant some carrots and became more excited about going to see the movie Water for Elephants (based on a great Notebook-esque period-piece book) when it comes out. 

I learned that Zebras are mean because they are evolutionarily dumb as the lowest on the food chain (taught to run away and so they do) and that their stripes are like finger-prints and completely unique. I also learned that Ostrich eggs have no cholesterol and taste like chicken eggs and pondered a new diet...

Oh, and did I mention that the elephant painted?!?! (and I quote the owner...because it "liked to" not because it was "taught to"). 

Randomness makes the heart grow fonder.