Why Florida?, you ask?
Still the look of puzzlement. Yes, I know I live roughly 8 hours away from a perfectly good Legoland
Resort. But the friends I visited live in Florida, so there I went.
When you enter a Legoland, do not underestimate the tons of
cool stuff made of Legos. From baskets of strawberries in a café to these guys
to this guy, who actually makes noise
to this sweetie, hiding in plain sight.
You could spend all of your time wandering the park looking at
the trove of amazing Lego sculptures.
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I know! They must
change this every four to eight years! |
Legoland Florida is built on the site of the former Cypress
Gardens, Florida's first amusement park. Despite the two life size Lego Southern
Belles, the garden feels a little out of place. In addition to a Banyan tree,
you'll find these
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Cypress nubs...and trees |
And this
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Wait, what? |
And, if you're patient, this little one
That's right folks. Legoland Florida is in Alligator
Territory.
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Why would anyone want to. . .? |
The next morning, I saw a rainbow, and this nursery rhyme
came to mind:
Rainbow at night is a
sailor's delight
Rainbow at morning,
sailor take warning!
Rain came as expected. We went to Disney's Animal Kingdom anyway.
It was so beautiful, the lush foliage and the rain. A casual
glance to the right and there are birds! Not birds you would normally see. Beautiful,
shouldn't-you-be-in-a-zoo-behind-some-wire-because-you're-so-pretty-birds.
And the safari! The scripted nonsense about rickety bridges and
being lost could've been done away with. We had to STOP while a giraffe
crossed in front of the truck. We were feet away, at most several yards, from all
of the animals. Seeing them was a magnificence that needed no enhancement.
There are sections called Africa and Asia. In the latter,
ladies invite who ever will to come try some Indian dance moves. In the former,
there's an actual band. In both places people randomly dance. (I loved seeing the couple doing salsa to
Paul Simon.)
Yes, Disney is expensive. Still, spend your money at the
Tusker House Restaurant. It's a buffet with all things good and tasty. You want
samosas and plantains and jollof rice and a wicked good curry chicken? They got
you. Lox? Prime Rib? Corn dog nuggets? They got you. Lemon bars, volcano cake,
banana bread pudding, fruit cobbler, baklava, chocolate chip cookies? Don't fill
up on dinner.
Oh, but the travel wasn't all fun and games. I brought
instant oatmeal and my favorite teas so I could eat breakfast in the hotel room.
Because eating out is expensive and every hotel room has a coffee maker, right?
Apparently not. Though it could be had for an extra $10 a
night. . .
The flights were fine, despite being full. Some air travel
related musings:
There's a Jamba Juice in the Oakland Airport?! Why am I the
last one to learn about these things?
I know it's morning, but I would eat sweet potato fries from
Burger King right now.
Ooo, Pappas Burger has sweet potato fries. I must be in
Texas because they only sell ½ pound burgers.
With well cooked bacon and barbeque sauce, I can be induced
to eat a quarter pound of burger….
Um, this is Florida. Why are these in the airport shop?
When the snack box first came around, I took a bag of
pretzels. Is that all you want? The
flight attendant asked. I can have more
than one? I replied with child-like wonder. The result was this delicious
combination of sweet and salty:
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And bubbly. That's Ginger Ale in the cup. |
Have you ever had Cheese Nips? They're imitation Cheez-Its –
square, orange, and nasty. I correctly surmised shrinking them down to 100 calories and planing them into thins would not
improve their flavor.
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Yes, I ate the entire
bag. I was that hungry
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After the 100 calorie Cheese Nips, I was skeptical of the
100 calorie Chips Ahoy thins. But they are surprisingly yummy. I would eat them
again, maybe even if there was something else for me to choose.
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When in doubt, always go with Lorna Doone! Unless you can't have too much sugar |
Ah Florida. With your
too hot to handle mugginess and your cooling rain showers,
I'd visit again.