Florida is full of slow drivers and killer spiders

Guess what? I'm back! I got back from 3 days of fun and sun in Orlando yesterday, to a thankfully not freezing Connecticut. From what I understand, it was downright frigid here on Thursday and Friday. I picked a good couple days to escape to the sunny south, I suppose!
I know I said I was going to blog while I was there. I didn't. (Surprise) I did, however, take pictures! (The first day. hey, don't judge! it's better than I usually do.) On Thursday, we grabbed some quick lunch and headed off to Sea world. My friend Darren is a rigger there. (A rigger, for those of you not in the biz, is the insane person that climbs up and out the beams and scaffolding to hang lights and crap high up in the air. They are responsible for the safety of those things, as they usually hang above audience members and actors, so they have to be knowledgeable about weight loads, and line stress and shit. I, personally, would never ever do this, but Darren thinks its fun. he's crazy.) Its interesting how fast you can cover a theme park when you go with someone that knows the place inside out. We hit all the good shows and exhibits, skipping the lame ones.




aww. Cute! Then I got a little drunk. did you know that Sea World is owned by Anheuser Busch? well, it is my friends. This means you get two free beers every time you go to the park. You can also do a "beer tasting" experience. Yeah. That's like 5 beers in a half hour. I was a bit tipsy when we went to see Shamu.

I think you can tell by the picture, as it is of the set, and a bird eating out of the "fish box", and not of Shamu. Anyway, after the beer and the whirlwind tour of Sea World, we needed food. Vietnamese food is really good. Just saying.
Friday was a "no rest for the weary" day. (This is the point where I stop taking pics, btw) In one day, we hit both Universal parks, took a nap, went for Sushi, went to a play, then watched a guy get a tattoo. Yeah. It was a very, very full day. the parks were nice, again, made much better by someone that really knows them - which is how we made it through two in 4 hours. Naps are always good, as is sushi. The play was interesting, and well produced. The house was super tiny - it maybe held 60 people. The guy getting the tattoo was the lighting designer, which is why he was at the play, and how we ended up watching the tattoo festivities. A little odd, but it was pretty cool.
Saturday, Darren had to work. He left me his car. (We might have know each other for 18 years, but he will never learn.) He has a standard transmission sports car. (grin) And, in case you didn't know, the roads in Florida are scary smooth. When you combine this with a sports car, and me driving, well, you have a very good possibility of speeding. I was flying down the highway, on my way to a yarn store, just dumbfounded about why everyone was driving like they were pushing the car with their feet, like the Flintstones car. So I was bobbing and weaving, and passing my way to the yarn store, when I realized that the speed limit was 55. 55! WTH?! I looked at the speedometer.
I was going ................85. oops. What do they expect with super smooth roads and me behind the wheel of a stick shift sports car? So, I told Darren that if any strange tickets show up in the mail, just let me know, cause it's most likely my fault.
I went to Sip-n-Knit on my yarn adventure. It was a really cute, user friendly, and inviting store. I'll post pics with yarny goodness tomorrow. I did find a few fun things though. food was the next order of the day, and the fancy grocery store did not disappoint. Who knew how good a tomato and avocado sandwich would be?
Sunday was all about breakfast and the airport. eh. Not much to tell there.
But, I made it back, safe and sound... not sane, but you knew that. I had a great time, got a tan, and found out at breakfast my last day that there are "only two poisonous spiders you need to watch out for. And a couple snakes. Well, and the gators." umm..... yeah.