Florida 2013, Part 7: New Smyrna Beach and Marine Discovery Center

When you’re staying at the beach, you do just that. The beach. I got up early and ran on the beach. I had done some other runs throughout the trip, but this was amazing. And beautiful. And amazing.

I was up before the sun and headed south along the beach. The birds (plovers?) were out digging for their clams before the sun, too. After heading south for a while, I turned around and started north again. The sun started to break over the watery horizon. When it was fully up, it reflected right back on the water making it seem like there were two fiery orbs.

These two guys cracked me up. Clearly, they had spent a grand night partying, and had passed out on the beach. By this time, there was a decent amount of foot traffic, and these guys weren’t waking up for anybody!

Footprints in the sand… Nothing to do with that lame story about how god carries the person having a hard time in life. Instead, this just means that at least three people had their running shoes laced up before me!

Sand sculpture… Proof that I was running… BAREFOOT! My first 5-miler with absolutely no shoes. I had intended to just give it a whirl for a mile or two, but it was awesome and I felt great, so I just kept going.

After I got back to the hotel, we had breakfast and went swimming. Then, it was off to the Marine Discovery Center for a cruise of the Indian River that lets into the ocean. This was quite a treat.

First – there were lots of birds. Lots and lots of birds. You can see where I’m going with this. (I should have been an ornithologist.)

Next – we didn’t have to go far to see dolphins. These dolphins actually inhabit the space between the fresh water and the salt water. They have adapted to this environment. We would have been happy with this, but we saw more and more. Sometimes swimming alone, sometimes in groups of two or three. It was so much fun.

Added bonus – manatees! Also known as sea cows, they are so dang cute. This guy got up close to our boat. The captain let us know that manatees will do this when they have been fed from the boats by tourists or locals. Then, they will approach a boat from deeper, and because they are slow swimmers, they will become injured by the propeller. So sad! Manatees don’t need people food, people!

Finally – not all boat rides are thrilling for little people, and that’s when you must get creative. Here, we see the hermit crab races. Do you have any idea how much or how fast hermit crabs walk? Not much. At all. But, hey - kept us busy!

Before bed, Meatball sent a message to Nana: “Dear Nana. I am at Costal [Coastal] Waters a hotel near the beach.” and another note to grandma "Dear Grama. I am Sam. Tooday we are going to the beach."

Florida 2013, Part 6: Move to New Smyrna

The latter part of our trip was all about the down time. We had been go, go, go, and now it was time to rest, rest, rest. We moved to New Smyrna and sat through our obligatory time share presentation. Then, we got our hotel, found some food (next door and delicious), and hit the pool.

A storm was brewing, and it had been a long day, but only Bub wanted to go to bed. So, the boys and I hit the beach in the dark and watched the lightning from 20-30 miles away. It was amazing to just sit on the beach and listen to the waves, watch the clouds back lit by the moon and the occasional lightning bolt. Heaven, in my opinion!

Florida 2013, Part 5: Disney World

This is it. The big day! Disney World, people! We were up at a relatively decent time for a change and hit the park before noon. What an efficient operation they have there when it comes to parking and shuttles! The obligatory photo at the entrance, and then the castle! I don’t think that the boys had any idea what was in store for them. Oh my gosh – what a blast!

First off – the riverboat ride. More exciting if you’re a grown up, but still fun. And, a good way to get your bearings and plan your rides. More birds that I’ll never properly identify. Here and there and around and back – a few rides, but nothing exciting. Our planning was poor for the first part of the day. So, suddenly, it was back to Downtown Disney for lunch and a stop at the Lego store. I swear, they liked the Lego store (FREE) almost more than frickin’ Disney World (decidedly NOT free)! Note to self for next vacation...

When we got back, there was an impromptu parade! Can’t beat a fun parade!

And, after our completely amazing time at Disney Studios Star Wars adventure, it was no surprise that the R2D2 mouse ears were our choices!

Another highlight was the race cars. Meatball and I actually beat Bub and Peanut, but I can promise that it wasn’t due to Meatball’s exceptional driving abilities. Instead, it was because their car was faulty.

Super great roller coaster: The gold rush train coaster thingy. In 18 years, this is the ONLY roller coaster that Bub has ridden with the exception of Puff at Lagoon. She should have stuck to Puff. In addition to the Tourette’s attack that commenced, I was convinced that she was going to have a) an anxiety attack, b) a heart attack, c) both. It was not that bad, but if Puff is your breaking point, I guess it was a bit much. The boys and I loved it. I knew that it was just going to get better from there!

Next bit of awesomeness was some Toy Story themed ride where you shoot Zorg or something like that. Whatever. It had mild spinning, lots of lights, and laser guns. It was a blast. At some point, we managed to eat our picnic dinner. We rode some high spinning spaceships, Pirates of the Carribean, and some other stuff before it was time for the electric light parade.

The parade was just as great as it was when I was ten. Everyone loved it. One of the greatest parts of the parade was looking at the faces of our boys and, frankly, every child around us. The place really is magical. Meatball and I rode the Haunted Castle ride (which was as cool as I remembered it 30 years ago), but Peanut was too scared. He and Bub waited for us outside. They caught the first part of the evening’s fireworks. Me and Meatball caught most of it.

Man – what a long day! We were all pooped, and ready to go back to the hotel. Almost at the gate, we realized that we MIGHT be able to still meet Mickey. We rushed up the steps to some building and inside as quickly as possible. We were the last people allowed in line that night. WIN!