Flowers, Fish, Sandy Feet, and Tons of Fun in Florida!

A year ago, my friend Kimi moved from Idaho Falls to Florida. I told her I'd go visit her during Spud Harvest Break this year, and despite COVID precautions and restrictions, I followed through with my plans. 

I booked my roundtrip flight for the end of September this summer, but a few weeks before the departure, the flights changed, adding a 12-hour layover in Denver. I didn't want to spend the night on the floor of the airport needlessly, so I booked a different flight starting one day later, but despite getting travel insurance with my initial flight purchase, I wasn't refunded any money for their changes. The travel company credited my initial purchase, but I had to use it by the end of November--and I didn't have anywhere else I wanted to go alone (Josh isn't traveling on flights as long as masks are mandated because he struggles breathing with them on for long amounts of time), so I lost the money. 

My new flight plans included two connecting flights on October 1 from Salt Lake City to Denver, then Denver to Detroit, and finally Detroit to Orlando. I left Salmon on the evening of Wednesday, September 30, after the boys' home XC meet, and drove to my parents' home in Providence to spend the night. It was great to see them--the last time I was there was last year in December! It's probably the longest time I've ever gone without seeing them in person (they've been very cautious with family gatherings and travel due to COVID). 

My dad woke me up at dark-thirty am and drove me to the airport at the butt-crack of dawn to catch my flight at 6am. Good thing, too, I suppose--because Salt Lake had recently redone part of their airport and NO JOKE, I had to walk for about 15 minutes between the security gate and my loading gate, due to NO walking escalators being up and running. 

It was a long day of flying, and I was SO happy to see Kimi at the end of it! She'd driven to Orlando to pick me up, and I got a hotel for us to stay in Orlando that night. We went out to dinner at a restaurant near our hotel, and then went to sleep. 

The next day was a very full day--we went to both of the Universal Studios in Orlando. I'd been wanting to check out their Harry Potter world ever since I went to Universal Studios Hollywood a few years ago with the boys, and I heard it was bigger and better than the one in California. Universal Studios Orlando has Diagon Alley and its neighboring park Islands of Adventure has Hogsmeade. There's a Harry Potter train ride called Hogwarts Express that connects the two places if you get the park hopper pass, which we did. Kimi and I started in Universal Studios that morning at 9am, and switched to Islands of Adventure that afternoon and stayed there until they closed at 7. 

The park wasn't too busy, but you did have to wear your mask the whole time. We didn't go on every ride--just the ones we thought were worthwhile, since our time was limited. Kimi told me in the hotel the night before that she was pregnant, so there was a couple of rides she sat out on, and I rode alone. We started off with walking around Diagon Alley. I went on the Escape from Gringotts ride first, and it was my favorite of the day! 

I got a butterbeer in Diagon Alley and we walked around the rest of that part of the Harry Potter Wizarding World. Universal in Hollywood doesn't have a Diagon Alley, so I reveled in all the life-like sights! 

The frozen butterbeer was SO good!
We got a couple of them during the day!

The Knight Bus

Sirius Black's house

Kimi and I also went on the Jimmy Fallon 3-D Race ride, The Transformers 3-D ride, and the Despicable Me Minion Mayhem--which frustratingly kept breaking down and we were in line for nearly an hour! After lunch, we got on the Hogwarts Express to go to the Islands of Adventure side. The line for the train was even longer than the Minion ride, but it was worth it because the train ride was SOOO cool! Each compartment had a screen in place of a window, and it showed segments of what happened on the train in the movie just as if you were really on the Hogwarts Express on the way to school! And then on the window in the compartment door you could see shadows and hear cast members talking in the hall during the train ride, too. We both loved it!

My new Hogwarts mask kept sliding under my nose bc it was too big.

We started out in the Islands of Adventure theme park by going through the Harry Potter World of Hogsmeade, which is very similar to the one in California. I went on the Harry Potter Forbidden Journey ride in the castle alone. The line for Hagrid's Magical Creatures Motorbike Ride was over an hour long, and Kimi wasn't planning on riding it, so we opted to skip it, and I'd been on the Flight of the Hippogriff ride in California, so we skipped that one, too. 

We went on the Jurassic Park ride, and laughed SO hard when we both got wet, since we were in the front of the boat! Then we decided that since we were already wet, we might as well finish all the water rides! I went on the Ripsaw Falls ride alone and got DRENCHED!!! Then we went on the Popeye's Barges river run TWICE! We had so much fun on it the first time, and there was no line, so why not?!

After Ripsaw Falls

First ride on Popeye's Barge

Second ride on Popeye's Barge

We ended the day in Seuss Town, which we both enjoyed immensely!! I had no idea it was even part of the park, and I love Dr. Seuss books so much! It was a happy surprise for me! And their rides are child-friendly, so it was nice for Kimi to be able to go on everything she wanted there, too. Everything was built and decorated so cute--it naturally made me happy just being in that area of the park! We rode the Caro-Seuss-el, The Cat in the Hat, and the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train. It was the perfect way to end our day in the parks!

On our way out of the park, we walked through Universal City Walk, and I finally got a famous VooDoo donut!!

Kimi drove me back to her home in Largo that night, about an hour and 45 minutes away. The next day, Saturday, we went to some local beaches with Tari. Kimi showed me the beautiful Clearwater Beach--where the sand is so white, and the beach is long and and wide and so gorgeous! Then we went to a more private, local one called Indian Rocks Beach where we spent several hours sunbathing and soaking. The sand there was made from crushed seashells! It was so unique! We had a great time!

 

Clearwater Beach

Indian Rocks Beach

There were these advertisement barges that 
kept driving by. Interesting way to advertise!

Sunday was drizzly, so we hung out at Kimi & Preh's house that morning. We watched movies together  until we decided what to spend the day doing with the dreary weather. We decided to go to a nearby botanical garden, and then to the aquarium in Tampa Bay. The botanical garden had some beautiful plants...we got drizzled on while we were walking around, but the garden wasn't very populated, which was nice. 

What a cool banana tree!

do you see the lizard?

this one was easier to spot...

check out that cicada!

Preh went with us to the botanical gardens and the aquarium, which was nice. The aquarium was in Tampa Bay, and it was awesome! We had to wear masks the whole time we were in there, and they had us follow these footprints on the floor in order to make the foot traffic only flow one way, but I was glad we were able to go!

eels creep me out!

this lobster display was eye-catching!

These garden eels reminded me of the worms
on Sesame Street! They would disappear in the sand anytime
spectators got too close, then would slowly come back out!

You could actually touch the stingrays in 
this particular exhibit. They're so slimy!

I was really inspired from this garbage art display!

This sign on the glass cracked me up--it was meant for the
human onlookers, but it seemed like it was telling the shark
how far away to stay from the tortoise!

Pipefish are like straightened-out sea horses!

I love watching jellyfish swim!
I find them mesmerizing!

You could touch these particular jellyfish, too!

On the way back to their house from the aquarium, they drove me by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stadium since they're my favorite NFL team! There was even a game that day, but due to COVID, the attendance was extremely limited, so it wasn't too busy around the stadium. 

When we got back to Largo, we dropped off Preh at their house to take an online test, and then Kimi, Tari, and I drove south towards St. Petersburg. We drove across the impressive Sunshine Skyway Bridge, and then drove to Anna Maria Island. Kimi had never been there before. We got there around sunset, but due to the overcast sky, you couldn't see it. Since the weather was overcast, the beach was nearly totally empty. The three of us walked along it, combing it for seashells and we found some great treasures! We walked along the beach until we couldn't see anymore due to the dark. It was an incredible moment, and one of my favorite memories from my Florida trip! 

On Monday morning, Kimi drove me back to Orlando to catch my flight at 11am. I had a small layover in Phoenix, and then arrived in SLC around 4pm. I finally got to see the Grand Canyon, because we flew right over it, which was SO awesome! I'm glad I finally got a window seat on that flight!

My parents picked me up from the airport, and took me back to their house. I switched cars and drove home to Salmon that night. It was a fast trip, but a fun one! I'm glad I got to go see Kimi in Florida--I hadn't been there in almost 30 years! I look forward to going back to Florida again!

The sunset in Cache Valley on my drive back to Idaho.

My new T-shirt souvenirs from Florida