Animal Kingdom

We made two trips to Animal Kingdom.   It is very different then the other Disney parks.  Not many rides and lots of nature walks, animals and fun shows.   The huge “Tree of Life” sculpture is incredible.   You could spend quite a bit of time looking at all the animal carvings that make up the trunk.

A Bugs World, a 3 D film was cute, the live performance of Lion King was beautiful and the bird show was lots of fun.  Lines were to long for Nemo and Bob road on the Everest roller coaster.   He wasn’t particularily impressed.   The days we went the weather was around 75 and it wasn’t to crowded.  We had lunch at the Yeti and Yak sit down restaurant.   We had the best mahi mahi I have ever had.

I can’t say enough about the safari. Giraffe, lions, rhino, hippo, zebra, many deer and antelope, etc. seen close up in a large jeep.  We went on it three times.  My favorite time was on the second ride when we had to stop for about 15 minutes because 5 white rhino’s were blocking the road.  It was awesome.   They are about the size of a small car and so close we could almost touch them.

The walks through the Asia and African areas to see gorillas, tigers, birds and other wild life was wonderful also. 

Enjoy the slide show and don’t forget to click on original size.

 

Fun with Friends and Boggy Creek

We were fortunate to have our friends Leslie and Pat from Minnesota visit us for several days.   We had lots of time by the pool, sat in the hot tub in the rain and lots of visiting.  We spent one afternoon at the beach in Melbourne, about 1 1/2 hours away. We spent one afternoon and evening walking around Disney Marketplace (think of a Disney outdoor shopping mall and night time fun house for the younger set, like 20 somethings).  Here is Bob having fun at the Harley store.

Had dinner at Bongos Cuban Cafe created by music superstar Gloria Estefan and her husband/producer, Emilio.  Decor was pretty fun.   Beautiful full wall mosaic of scenes from old Cuba.  We all had a Cuban entree.  Food was ok but nothing I would return for.  Leslie and I did give two thumbs up to the Vodka Martini!

Our big event was a trip out to Boggy Creek for an air boat ride. We had a 45 minute private ride.  We got very close to the birds, a racoon, gators (large and small) and even cows by the water.

Key West – Definitely a party town!!!!!!!!!

We drove to Naples to see our friends Khris and Greg.  Early in the morning we boarded this little tiny plane.  What an adventure that was.  The nose of the plane came to my head.  The pilot jumped in through the window.  It was really foggy inside and outside the plane and he used a kleenex to clean the windshield, no windshield wipers.  He said to Khris, “These little planes can be challenging.  Wish I could see better.”  We were all pretty nervous but the flight was smooth and we landed safely but very happy it was over.  The best part was it took only 40 minutes.   I’m sure glad we didn’t have to fly back on it.

Key West was like a little New Orleans.   It was nice and calm in the morning and then people just kept coming.   By night time things were really hopping.   We had a great time.  On Saturday the Spring Breakers arrived and celebrated St. Patricks day.   By noon you could hardly walk on the street.   We took the fast boat catamaran back, 3 hours.   Nice trip. More to come on Hemmingway House and the butterfly garden.  Tanya will also  give you her story about the Hemingway cats.

Click on the “View all Images” like below to see my slide show and then click on original view.  Let me know how you like the slide show.   If you like it I will do more, other wise I will just do photos.  

 

A stunning sunset.  There were many street performers along the water and they were lots of fun to watch.

Tanya talks about Key West

Fay and Bob went to a place called Key West so they could see all the special kitties with 6 toes.   A guy named Ernest Hemingway had a house on Key West and he really liked cats, especially the ones with 6 toes.  Fay told me he had 47 of them!  Here are a few pictures.  Looks to me like they have a pretty good life.  Mr. Hemmingway doesn’t live there any more but the cats do.  Did you know cats with 6 toes are called POLYDACTYL CATS?  You can see the kitties that life there with a click on this link.  Charlie Chaplin looks a little like me except his nose is darker.

The man with the hat and the beard is not Mr. Hemingway.   He is dead.

This man is the guide.  

Mr. Hemingway had a water fountain made especially for his cats.   The top is a big vase and water flows to it into a urinal laying on its side.   It came from Mr. Hemingways favorite bar Sloppy Joes.   Bob thought that was really funny.   I guess Mrs. Hemingway hated it.

The kitty in the picture above is getting fresh fish instead of Pounce treats.   I was a little lonesome while Fay and Bob were gone but I slept most of the time and when Bob came home he felt guilty because he gave me lots of Pounce treats.  They are my favorite.  Life is good!

Key West Hemingway House

I wish it had not been so long since I read Hemingways books.  I had forgotten much of his difficult life.  Yes he was a bigger then life type of guy (but he was really on 5′11) with an appetite for drink and women but he was also a gifted writer who suffered from deep depression which eventually drove him to take his own life – July 21 1899 to July 2, 1961.  I think I might have to reread “The Old Man and the Sea”.  We had a very entertaining guide.  I’m glad we went.

Below is a picture of the office he wrote from. This office was above a building beside his house and there were no steps to get to it.  He build an elevated walkway from his bedroom to the office so no one could interrupt him.  (Like a skyway). He rose at 6 a.m. and wrote his 700 words, had lunch, went boating and fishing all afternoon and then finished off the night at his favorite bar Sloppy Joes.  We had a beer at the bar, it was really a lively place even at noon.  Kenny Chesney was scheduled to make an unadvertised apperance and show on the afternoon we left.  We are very sorry we missed him.   I bet it was wild.

Key West Butterfly Garden

It seems like every place we visit holds a nice little good surprise.   On Key West it was the Butterfly Garden.  We had pretty low expectations, especially after visiting the Cypress Gardens Butterfly Garden and seeing no butterflies but this garden was magnificient.   My friend Khris really likes butterflies and has built her own butterfly garden at her home and I think she was really impressed.   While you walk through they play quiet music and there are hundreds and hundreds of butterflies of all sizes and colors around you as well as some charming little birds.  The plants are also wonderful.   I think the pictures speak for themself.  I highly recommend it. 

Should I keep doing the slide shows?   Just click on the link to see the photos. Don’t forget to click on original view when you reach the new page.

 

Putting out the trash

We learned a few things about the simple process of putting out the trash.   They collect here twice a week, MN does only once, and they don’t recycle, at least not in this area.   We couldn’t figure out why everyone had covers on their garbage cans.  We also were not familiar with the big birds flying overhead.

It only took on misadventure by a neighbor who did not have the garbage covered to realize that the big birds were vultures and they make a BIG mess when they get in the garbage.   Worse then racoons. 

Cypress Gardens a second time

We went back to Cypress Gardens for a second short visit and saw the water show again and went through the Botantical Gardens and just sat and enjoyed the topiary.  Here are some photos. Enjoy.

Computer Woes and Vista

Bob and I hate Vista.   Since we are both technology people we figured it was time to learn Vista so my new laptop has that as the operating system.  Yuk!   Besides the fact tha nothing is where I expect to find it, it isn’t faster. There is no doubt there is a lot to learn that will be helpful to both of us as we help other people but we are being baptized by fire.   The wireless went fine at first and then all of a sudden it just quit and not even the wired connection worked.  We called in help from friend Greg, cousin Steve, Microsoft and many help teams on the internet.   Finally after days Bob got it working after we restored the operating system.   Left my files thank goodness.  

 Now Bob has been working for almost two weeks to get it to update the Vista patches.   What a mess.   At least I can use it.  Here is a picture of what we call Command Central with two of the three laptops we have down here.

More to come soon

Got the wireless connection fixed and now have lots of photos and trips to tell all of you about.   Stay tuned for Cypress Gardens, Bok Gardens, Animal Kingdoma and Kennedy Space Center.  Yes, we have been busy but also relaxing, going to the health club etc.   It has been a little cooler lately.