Quick (or not so quick) synopsis of the weekend:
Friday:
After a nice, smooth flight and half a book (review forthcoming) I arrived in Tampa. Sat in traffic for a long time and finally reached Lakeland, FL where Jessica lives. It's a really neat little town. Lots of stuff to do and see. They have these little commune looking villages where elderly Canadians spend the winters and are lovingly called "snow birds". Interesting phenomenon. Didn't do much Friday night. We had the best sushi I have ever eaten at a restaurant named Gosh! It was delicious. Picture below of one of my rolls called the Paradise Roll. It was coconut shrimp, asparagus, cream cheese, and topped with fresh mango slices and shallots. Presented beautifully. Jessica had a caterpillar roll which can be seen here on her blog as well as her version of the weekend.
Saturday:
Saturday was great! We spent the day at Universal's Islands of Adventure. I had never been there. I have gone to Universal, but never this part. It's amazing. We started off in Seuss land, which was so cool. You really felt like you were walking through a Dr. Seuss book. Went on a couple of rides there and had our picture taken with the cat in the hat.
Another highlight was Jurassic Park's River Adventure. This was a great ride, and a wet ride. I wish that I had a scanner so that I could post our plunge into the water picture because it is classic. I have the fear of God in my face.
After Jurassic Park, we headed into a little place called heaven: Marvel Land! As soon as I walked into Marvel Land I felt like I was 5 again. It's every little boy's dream. Comic book stuff everywhere you look. Unfortunately, the only X-man that was available for pictures for me was Cyclops, my least favorite. But oh well... Made my way over to the coolest comic book store I have ever seen and picked up the Trade paperback version of Marvel 1602 written by Neil Gaiman. Good stuff.
That's the very short version of Saturday, a great day!
Sunday:
Sunday was Jroy's birthday. We started the day by touring Lakeland. The lakes there are so neat. They had beautiful swans, storks, pelicans, and geese all over the place. I wanted to take pictures, but never got around to it. The birds are all really friendly and will eat right out of your hand. I had never actually seen swans before, so this was exciting for me. They have giant swan sculptures all over Lakeland, kinda like our fish if you're from New Orleans.
After that we drove around and looked at all the Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in Lakeland. Apparently, Lakeland has the largest collection of his architecture. There's a whole neighborhood and a college done by him. He's one of my favorite architects. Not exactly what I was expecting. The architecture there was more plain than what most of his stuff is from what I saw. Still cool nonetheless.
Sunday night we went to downtown Disney. Very cool place that I wish I had more time to see. We ate at the House of Blues down there and then went to Disney Quest. Disney Quest is a five story building with virtual reality rides. I was a little disappointed in some of them, but still had alot of fun. They have a Cirque Du Soleil, La Nuba, that plays at downtown Disney year round, and I'd definitely like to go back and see it sometime.
Monday (Today):
Today was a quiet day. Just kind of hung around Jroy's apt. after the realization that I had gained 5 pounds in the four days that I was there. We ate alot of shit. Jessica's mom sent her a giant king cake from Haydel's which we ate a little more than half of. Haydel's is packing a porcelain trailer that says "Happy Mardi Gras" with their king cakes this year. That was great!
My flight home was very bumpy, but very relaxing. Had an empty seat next to me, which was nice. The flight was fairly empty which surprised me, but then again, people probably wouldn't fly into New Orleans the night before Mardi Gras. They've been here awhile. I've never flown at night. It was beautiful to see the city from the sky when we were landing. I really enjoyed it. Almost finished the book, which will probably have a review posted tomorrow. I've been reading Orson Scott Card's Treasure Box, which is great.
So that was my weekend. I had a great time and can't wait to visit again. Happy Birthday to Jroy! Thanks for putting me up. Had fun. I think I'm going to a crawfish boil at Chris and Angela's tomorrow. Not a big Mardi Gras Day fan.
Hope everyone else had a great weekend too. Glad to be back in blog land. Happy Mardi Gras everyone.
2 comments:
Welcome back! Wondered why you hadn't posted in a few days. Sounds like a wonderful trip. Glad you had a good time and make it back safely. And 'happy birthday' to your friend!
It really was a great time. I felt lost without my blog! But I'm back ;)
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