vacation part three.

part three . disney world
every time i go back, i'm tempted to stay. i lived in orlando and worked at disney world for three months in the fall of 2008. i had just graduated college and was not ready for the real world. so i decided to do the absolute opposite.

a tip for anyone planning a trip to disney world: DO NOT go during president's day week. especially when it also happens to coincide with mardi gras break and the daytona 500.

we did it once before and swore we'd never do it again, but my dad read the calendar wrong this year and before we figured it out, the plane tickets, hotel reservations, and rental car were all booked and paid for. smart, right? so, being the savvy disney world know-it-alls we are, we went anyway. [side note: if i had a dollar for every time i saw someone wearing a saints jersey or a random "who dat" chant broke out, i'd be a rich girl. it was amazing.]

there were a few major things we didn't get to do because the lines were simply too long or the fastpasses were gone by 30 minutes after park opening. but, we've done them before, and inevitably, we'll do them again, so no biggie.

this has probably been one of the coldest winters i've ever experienced here in the south. multiple days in a row where the temperature doesn't get above 50 degrees. [laugh all you want, northerners, but that's not normal down here!] unfortunately, southern florida was no different. but, as i've said.. i love that place. my facebook status from the last night explains it perfectly.

yep, that's right. bring it. and now, my three-part vacation recount is over. back to your regularly scheduled programming.

vacation part two.

part two . swimming with manatees
i think one of the best feelings in the entire world is crossing off a life goal. i did that last weekend. i have been in love with manatees since the very first time i ever saw one in an aquarium. i've done some research over the years, trying to find the best place to have a swimming encounter with the gentle giants, but never actually committed to it. in december, my dad surprised me by booking an excursion trip in crystal river, florida. i was probably more excited about this part of the trip than anything else. as i mentioned in my last post, it was absolutely freezing, but that wasn't going to stop me!

that morning, we woke up to 37 degree weather with about 5-10 mph winds. we boarded a tiny little boat with our captain, jake, and his son, austin. it was just us.. since no other tourists were crazy enough to brave the cold. we zoomed out to what jake called "the perfect place", stripped down, and donned our wetsuits. he promised we would be warmer in the water than we were on the boat, and i didn't believe him until i actually took the plunge. weirdly enough, he was right! now, don't get me wrong. it wasn't warm.. by any means, but i was fairly comfortable.

we could see them immediately.. these massive grey blobs swimming back and forth, occasionally sticking their adorable little noses up for air. my mom stayed in the boat with jake to help us spot them. it took a while to get one to stop and play, but every single waiting second was worth it. if you can get one that's interested, dive down and rub its belly, it will roll over onto its back and just lay there, letting you pet it. they didn't feel at all like i had imagined. if you've ever pet a dolphin, you know that they feel rubbery and slick. not manatees.. they feel like i would imagine an elephant would.. soft, wrinkly skin. some of the older, slower manatees even have algae growing on their backs.

unfortunately, lacking an underwater camera, we didn't get any great shots of the manatees, but i found oceangrant's flickr stream this morning, and wanted to share. there are some absolutely amazing shots of the gorgeous creatures.

it was a wonderful, beautiful experience, and i am just itching to do it again! maybe next time, i'll be blessed with warmer weather!

vacation part one.

every year for as long as i can remember, my parents and i have gone on vacation during the week of mardi gras. my dad is the athletic director/varsity girls' softball coach at my former highschool, so he gets the entire week off. those trips are what started my obsession with disney world, and that's usually our destination. this year, we decided to switch it up a little and do a couple more florida-touristy-things. yeah, sure. we ended the trip at the happiest place on earth.. we just can't seem to help it!

part one . sanibel island
two years ago, for my parents' anniversary, my dad took my mom to a place called sanibel island, florida. it's right off the coast of fort myers and it's supposed to have some of the best shells along the gulf coast. we flew into fort myers on thursday morning, drove to sanibel, and stayed for a day and a half. it's a beautiful place.. quaint, really. it's been preserved wonderfully, there are still tons of trees (mostly palms), lots of designated wildlife areas, and cute little houses and businesses. no chains.. just privately owned art galleries, shell shops, and restaurants. there was just one little problem.. it was freezing. you know, when i go to the beach, i expect it to be warm. instead.. we walked around like little eskimos.

but we're troopers. and i managed to get a few cool beach photography shots. enjoy :)