Florida 2018: Day 8 - Orlando
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Friday, July 27, 2018: We got our van out of the public garage and left Westwinds Inn before dawn. |
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So long, Key West! |
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We had enjoyed great weather during our visit, but the weather report showed that the rain might be moving in after we left. |
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We got to enjoy the sunrise as we made our way back northeast along the Overseas Highway. |
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We were old pros at this ice vending machine thing, so we loaded up our coolers again. Best invention ever. |
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While the sun was breaking through partly cloudy skies in the direction we were heading, ... |
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... there were thunderstorms brewing over the ocean. |
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Back on Key Largo, we finally took a photo of the thing we called the hurricane-proof tower. It served as an easily visible landmark even when we were on the boat in John Pennekamp State Park. No hurricane will ever blow this mighty tower over. |
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Noooooo! This bridge is the portal to the regular world and we didn't want to leave the Keys behind. |
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But leave we must, because we have much more to see and do. |
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Ever since a Top Golf went up right outside Tom's work office window, we are compelled to photograph them every time we see one. |
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We went past a Carnival Cruises building. You know how every time you hear about a drunken cruise ship passenger, it's pretty much always on a Carnival cruise? The poor people who work here probably have to deal with crap like that on a regular basis. |
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We grabbed some McDonald's for a late breakfast just before heading inland to the land of no fast food. |
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Near South Bay stands the abandoned shell of Gatorland, which was so interesting that we had to go back and drive by it again for a photo. In the 1960s, it used to look like this. Read more about it on this site. |
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We saw some crop dusters flying by and then saw an airport where more were parked. |
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We stopped along the edge of Lake Okeechobee at Canal Point Recreation Area. |
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We had a little visitor on the windshield for a few minutes before moving on. |
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We passed banana trees ... |
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... and fields of sugar cane. |
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We saw the Port Mayaca Lock and Dam ... |
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... and the St. Lucie Canal that leads away from it. |
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In this photo, you can see the rim canal running alongside the edge of the lake. |
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We passed this freshly-born colt who was still a little unsure of how his legs worked. |
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Debbie was committed to find a photo that featured cows, herons, and palm trees, and finally got one. You don't see a combination like this back in Wisconsin, that's for sure. |
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In case we were still unsure if all those long silver fish in the water were barracudas, this oversized barracuda statue convinced us. |
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We passed a ranch of some sort that had camels and zebras, but no photographic proof exists, nor have we been able to figure out what it was. |
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We passed the not-so-thriving metropolis of Yeehaw Junction. |
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It has clearly seen better days. |
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We got back on the tollroad and used our shiny Sunpass which still hadn't charged any tolls yet. We later learned that they had well over a hundred million transactions backlogged, so their vendor was in big trouble. |
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The rest stops on the tollway are quite lovely. |
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We made it to Walt Disney World shortly before 3:00 PM, ... |
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... and headed straight to the gorgeous Disney Springs Orange Garage. |
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In we go, past the Splitsville bowling alley, ... |
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... turning right at the AMC Disney Springs 24 theater. |
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We had to stop at the Candy Cauldron ... |
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... to peer into the window at the elaborately-decorated candy apples. |
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The Star Wars Galactic Outpost offered a make-your-own-light-saber station. |
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It was filled with the most enticing Star Wars LEGO models, but Tom's head was not turned. |
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We passed the Coca-Cola Store with a promise to return later. |
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We were heading to D-Luxe Burgers for dinner, ... |
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... so we could eat on their outdoor terrace (shown on the left here), ... |
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... and have this view. Our friends Brian and Ann had both posted photos from this location in the previous month, so we added a Disney Springs stop to our vacation itinerary just to take in this scenery. |
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We placed our tracker on the center of our table as instructed, and moments later, our s'mores shake was brought to us. |
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It was joined moments later by fries and burgers. Yum! |
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Ann told us to check out the Ganachery so we looked down this street first, ... |
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... then turned around and found it this way instead. |
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There it is! |
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Some girls had just purchased a Disney-themed s'more and were photographing it next to the ad for it outside the store. |
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The store was filled with many adorable Disney-themed chocolate pops ... |
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... and the prettiest little chocolates you've ever seen, but with overstuffed bellies and another hour of heat ahead of us, we didn't dare buy anything. |
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We crossed a bridge that separates the suspiciously clear water of the almost-real-looking springs area from the dark water of the nearby lagoon. |
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We went to the Coca-Cola Store and headed up to the Rooftop Beverage Bar. We intended to have a sampler tray of international flavors, but we were much too full to do it. |
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Instead, we looked around for a moment, ... |
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... and checked out the view. |
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We took the ramp that circles the outside of the building from the third floor to the second. The wallpaper along the walls was fantastic. |
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Enjoy it with us. |
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At previous World of Coca-Cola stores we've visited, sometimes there is a single commemorative bottle you can either buy or receive as part of a tour. The gift shop on the second floor had a huge display of collectible 2016, 2017, and 2018 red bottles, ... |
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... plus this overwhelming display of other designs. Debbie managed to not lose her mind and just bought a single Orlando bottle, plus a piece of Coca-Cola cake. |
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We continued to take the ramp down to the first floor, ... |
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... marveling at even more cool Coca-Cola-themed wallpaper. |
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We passed a huge Disney building marked, "Casting," which is a pretty great way of renaming HR. |
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As we approached our hotel, the rain started up. In other words, when we no longer needed it to be sunny, it wasn't. Our weather luck is absolutely amazing. |
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We were staying at the Renaissance Resort Orlando SeaWorld, which is right across the way from SeaWorld, as the name implies. |
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We had booked a room for free using airline miles, and then were surprised with an upgrade to this huge suite. |
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The only strange thing about it is that the king size bed was a Murphy bed, which means that it can be folded up into the wall and hidden, so it had a bit of a hide-a-bed feel to it. The room was clearly more geared toward use as a corporate hospitality suite or meeting room. |
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After being in a tiny Key West hotel room the size of a closet, it was nice to have lots of room to spread out. |
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Here's the interior of the huge building. |
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A cocktail reception was being held in the atrium. The three-piece band was playing Disney songs, since it's Orlando, after all. |
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The skies cleared up but we had already decided not to ever leave our suite. |
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Tom's work laptop had died the night before, so he took advantage of the downtime to work on restoring it. Besides, it isn't a Bundlings vacation without at least one photo of Tom having to work. Traditions are important. |
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Pretty sunset. |
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Instead of another meal, we snacked in our room and opened the piece of Coca-Cola cake we had purchased earlier. |
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After dark, a thunderstorm rolled in so Debbie got out the camera. |
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Nailed it! Lucky timing produced this shot. |
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Finally, Debbie took the very last dose of her shingles medication. After taking two pills three times a day for ten days, it was good to finally be done. Her shingles rash was clearing up nicely by now but we'll spare you another photo of it. |
Copyright © Deborah Schilling/Thomas Bundy