More color from one day in Florida...
Than from eight months in Hawaii. Aw well. I'll forever be the pale pale scandanavian.
Florida was a blast. It was nice to be back on the mainland...back in the eastern time zone. Even if the destination was Florida. Like Hawaii...it's not really a state per say. More of a tourist destination. Or a massive retirement community...
Oh but was I glad to be away from work. No phone calls. No emails. With the knowledge that when I got back, I'd probably be thrown into a clusterfuck. And I was right. But it was mostly in my co-worker's head. And her last day of the season was yesterday. So now all the drama's gone.
All of our flights arrived and landed on time. The layover in LA on the trip to Florida was probably the worst. That was mostly due to the combination of it being 5am, the $14 breakfast at Burger King and the hordes of underage cheerleaders. Gaggles. Flocks. Murders. And the realization that these teenage windbags were all headed to Orlando for some competition at Disney World. Their mothers were just as loud and obnoxious as they were. Swollen egos and loud mouths. Turns out the best behaved kids on that flight were all under the age of 6. Ross and I didn't even realize there was a 9 mos old across the aisle from us until we deplaned.
The early part of the week was mellow. Relaxing. We picked up a car at Orlando and drove the hour and a half down to his hometown. Got to meet his mother, grandmother, two sets of aunts and uncles in addition to his baby sister, her husband and one of the most adorable three year olds I've ever met.
Home cooked food. And a furry, sloppy, friendly golden retriever.
And silence.
I forgotten how quiet those small towns can be. I don't live in a particularly loud area of Honolulu...traffic and tourist wise. But the birds create a cacophony that makes it difficult to sleep in on a day off. Not so much there.
Their neighborhood was dead quiet. Aside from the occasional car driving by and the breeze stirring in the trees. And the odd ball train. We don't have those in Hawaii either. That was a welcome rumble to greet my ears.
The early part of the vacation brought with it a lot of driving around Ross' old neighborhoods and stomping grounds, a breakfast with a few friends, several dinners with his family, a trip to a farmer's market (I really have missed those) and a toga party. Yup. White sheets and all. And with it came the realization that some people have a lot of personal growth and maturity in five years. And others, such as our host, never will. Still a fun night. Despite the college age frat mentality of several of the other guests. But what else should we really have expected? It was a toga party afterall.
Monday we hit Universal...my first trip to a theme park. Islands of Adventure was first. We arrived as the park opened. And with a stroke of luck and no lines we had hit almost every ride by noon and headed over to Universal Studios.
Here the lines caught up with us. And the sadness that the world has moved on. Only ET and Jaws remain of the original rides. Back to the Future was replaced by the Simpson. We were told we were lucky...to be among the first to ride the new ride still in its technical rehearsal stage. But the posted 45 minute wait stretched into 90 minutes. And the ride left us disappointed and unfulfilled...something was lacking. Like the sense of awe and nostalgia one would expect from Universal Studios or a childhood icon like the Simpsons.
We still had a blast. Ross, his mom and I were later joined as the parks closed by his sister, brother-in-law and nephew. Dinner. Some time with the four of us 20 somethings horsing around in the pool. Bed. To wake up 5 hours later to head to the airport. And back to reality. Back to work. Back to Hawaii.
But unlike my last trip mainland...this time I returned feeling refreshed. Not flustered. Not worn down and not disappointed. It truly was a vacation. As one is meant to be. Fun. And restoring.
Florida was a blast. It was nice to be back on the mainland...back in the eastern time zone. Even if the destination was Florida. Like Hawaii...it's not really a state per say. More of a tourist destination. Or a massive retirement community...
Oh but was I glad to be away from work. No phone calls. No emails. With the knowledge that when I got back, I'd probably be thrown into a clusterfuck. And I was right. But it was mostly in my co-worker's head. And her last day of the season was yesterday. So now all the drama's gone.
All of our flights arrived and landed on time. The layover in LA on the trip to Florida was probably the worst. That was mostly due to the combination of it being 5am, the $14 breakfast at Burger King and the hordes of underage cheerleaders. Gaggles. Flocks. Murders. And the realization that these teenage windbags were all headed to Orlando for some competition at Disney World. Their mothers were just as loud and obnoxious as they were. Swollen egos and loud mouths. Turns out the best behaved kids on that flight were all under the age of 6. Ross and I didn't even realize there was a 9 mos old across the aisle from us until we deplaned.
The early part of the week was mellow. Relaxing. We picked up a car at Orlando and drove the hour and a half down to his hometown. Got to meet his mother, grandmother, two sets of aunts and uncles in addition to his baby sister, her husband and one of the most adorable three year olds I've ever met.
Home cooked food. And a furry, sloppy, friendly golden retriever.And silence.
I forgotten how quiet those small towns can be. I don't live in a particularly loud area of Honolulu...traffic and tourist wise. But the birds create a cacophony that makes it difficult to sleep in on a day off. Not so much there.
Their neighborhood was dead quiet. Aside from the occasional car driving by and the breeze stirring in the trees. And the odd ball train. We don't have those in Hawaii either. That was a welcome rumble to greet my ears.
The early part of the vacation brought with it a lot of driving around Ross' old neighborhoods and stomping grounds, a breakfast with a few friends, several dinners with his family, a trip to a farmer's market (I really have missed those) and a toga party. Yup. White sheets and all. And with it came the realization that some people have a lot of personal growth and maturity in five years. And others, such as our host, never will. Still a fun night. Despite the college age frat mentality of several of the other guests. But what else should we really have expected? It was a toga party afterall.
Monday we hit Universal...my first trip to a theme park. Islands of Adventure was first. We arrived as the park opened. And with a stroke of luck and no lines we had hit almost every ride by noon and headed over to Universal Studios.
Here the lines caught up with us. And the sadness that the world has moved on. Only ET and Jaws remain of the original rides. Back to the Future was replaced by the Simpson. We were told we were lucky...to be among the first to ride the new ride still in its technical rehearsal stage. But the posted 45 minute wait stretched into 90 minutes. And the ride left us disappointed and unfulfilled...something was lacking. Like the sense of awe and nostalgia one would expect from Universal Studios or a childhood icon like the Simpsons.
We still had a blast. Ross, his mom and I were later joined as the parks closed by his sister, brother-in-law and nephew. Dinner. Some time with the four of us 20 somethings horsing around in the pool. Bed. To wake up 5 hours later to head to the airport. And back to reality. Back to work. Back to Hawaii.
But unlike my last trip mainland...this time I returned feeling refreshed. Not flustered. Not worn down and not disappointed. It truly was a vacation. As one is meant to be. Fun. And restoring.
Labels: personal
posted by Unknown at
7:27 PM
2 Comments:
There's no Back to the Future ride anymore? Now I don't even want to go to Universal Studios. At least at MGM I can walk around knowing that Newsies was filmed there, even if they did make one of the vital Old New York streets into permanent Christmas shopping street.
Oh man, I was just listening to Newsies the other day! Weird.
I'm glad you had a fun vacation...I know what you mean about a refreshing time off. It seems like I use all my vacation time cramming in visits to family or visiting big cities. I should really think about a week at the beach...
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