Day 3 started extremely early for me (5:00am), but not as early as Day 4 will (4:00am). Reason for today’s early start? I wanted to catch the sunrise that I missed yesterday. And boy was it worth it!! I first set my alarm for 5:00 because I had no idea what time sunrise was. I didn’t leave my hotel room until about 5:50 or so. I took my breakfast and tea with me and had it while I was waiting for the sun to fully rise. I wasn’t the only one on the beach, and with each minute more and more people came to appreciate God’s miracle of a sunrise on the ocean. I looked for some shells while I was waiting and waded in the water. I saw some interesting wildlife: seagulls, crabs, and a jellyfish. I also saw some boats & picked up some shells. Today was my last morning at the beach….
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| Sunrise on Cocoa Beach |
After the awesome sunrise, I went back to the hotel room & packed up. I noticed my laptop wasn’t fully charged, so while it was doing that I ate breakfast at IHOP. Then, I headed myself out on the open road toward one of the outlet malls. I know traveling alone must seem like such a sad & boring thing to you, but let me tell you my Top Five Reasons for Traveling Alone (in no particular order):
- 1. You don’t have to fight with anyone over the music selection in the car.
- 2. No one is in the hotel bathroom when you really need to go.
- 3. You can go where YOU want, WHEN you want
- 4. If you decide to backtrack, no one groans but you.
- 5. Cheaper meals. Need I say more?
There are other reasons, of course. Those are just the ones that come to mind. The outlet mall I visited is across the road from Universal Studios. I’ve been to a few outlet malls before, but none as big as this one. Fortunately, all the stores I wanted to shop in were located pretty close together: Fossil, Gap Outlet, Disney. I got my brother’s Christmas all taken care of for this year (and no, I didn’t buy him things at any of the above stores). J
Next, I went to Universal Studios. I’d been there before, so I knew where to eat and what to see. First, I went to CityWalk. They have a Fossil store there too, and some other neat stores. Then I made my way to the Universal Studios section since it was the section that had the least interesting stuff to me (always leave the interesting stuff for last). I had lunch at Lombard’s Landing, which serves great seafood. They have a very neat restaurant, and I was starting to get overheated again. In fact, the waitress gave me a to-go cup full of water (bless her heart). As I left Universal Studios, I even caught the attention of a nice worker named Joe who kindly let me stand in his fan for about 20 minutes. Turns out, he was originally from Boston (one of my to-visit places) and had lived in Louisville for a time.
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| Welcome to Universal Studios! |
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| Lombard's Landing |
Next, I headed past the Hard Rock Café and on to Islands of Adventure. Here is where I planned on spending most of my time. Since I wanted to spend the most time in Seuss Landing, I started with the opposite side and walked all the way around Islands of Adventure. By the time I got to Toon Landing, I was so hot and tired that I seriously considered going home. I finally got cooled off in Jurassic Park and spent some time in the A/C with my feet propped up at a table. I was most excited to see the next section, Harry Potter, but by the time I made it around to that part I was REALLY overheated and had to stop at Three Broomsticks for some butterbeer and strawberry-peanut butter ice cream. That did the trick for me.
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| This is what I was thinking in Toon Landing |
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| Hogwarts |
Seuss Landing was my last stop at Islands of Adventure. Since I’m doing my classroom in Dr. Seuss this year, I took tons of pictures and bought tons of souvenirs. I loved walking through the truffula trees and seeing the Lorax. I think he’s my favorite, next to the Grinch. I also rode on this train that takes you above Seuss Landing so you can see everything clearly. I didn’t take pictures from here, but enjoyed the experience all the same.
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| Neat eating place |
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| Awesome gift shop |
The afternoon was well-spent at Universal Studios (other than getting too hot). Not only did I buy some things for my classroom, but I got several Christmas & birthday presents bought. I left Universal at around 7:00pm and headed to my hotel by the airport. I stopped at Panera Bread for supper (if I wasn’t so exhausted I would’ve went back to Joe’s Crab Shack). I spent the evening trying to reconfigure my suitcase to fit all my purchases and headed to bed early…4:00am was going to come around very quick.
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