Category: Orlando,FL

Orlando,FL

Place 81 – Day 11: Orlando,FL – 6.5 Hour Tattoos

Kim & Curtis Hale

Up Early

We were up at a good time to get down to Orlando.

We didn’t eat any breakfast, but we stopped at IHOP on the way, and just as it started to rain, too!

Tattoos

We went from IHOP to a tattoo place. Kim, Abbie & Tom were getting tattoos today.

The tattoos went very well, and the tattoo artist was very knowledgeable, friendly and talented!

Kim and Abbie got a matching tattoo, of interlocking rings.

Kim also got a colourful elephant which has a few significant meanings to her and Abbie also got a flower.

Tom got a chinese inspired tattoo on his back which looks pretty cool.

All-in-all, we were in the tattoo parlour for 6.5 hours! We went to get a coffee briefly, mostly just to kill time, but by the time we left it was 18:00.

Vegan Dinner & A Drag Show?

We planned to go to a drag show today, but first the plan was food!

Abbie is vegetarian, so we wanted to find some food she could eat and the tattoo artist is a vegan, so she recommended some vegan places.

We went to a place right next to where the drag was located.

We aren’t going to rate this place as, being vegan, we aren’t used to the alternatives used so we don’t think it would be fair.

That being said, Curtis got something that was a vegan chicken burger with a side of mac and ‘cheese’, Kim had a ‘pulled pork’ sandwich, Maggie had another sandwich of sorts and Tom had a ‘not-dog’ chilli dog.

Neither of us were overly thrilled with the food, but that wasn’t to say, necessarily, because it was vegan, but it just wasn’t that great. Abbie and Tom both very much enjoyed their food, though and everyone said the ‘not-dogs’ were delicious.

We left here and went round the corner as it was meant to be opening time for the drag show, but it seemed very much empty…and closed!

We went to a bar just down the road, which was owned by the same people, and we found out that it was not on tonight. This was a great shame as Kim was very much looking forward to it, but we did get a refund, after the booking company were very unpleasant on the phone.

Card Games It Is Then

We drove back home and decided that we may as well play card games.

We played about 3 games in total but were all the tired and realised we had to pack, too.

Packing

We got to packing, getting most of it done in the evening.

We have everything ready and now it’s just time to sleep.

Kim’s family are heading back to England tomorrow and we are taking a long bus journey.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

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Orlando,FL

Place 81 – Day 10: Orlando,FL – Interview That Didn’t Happen

Kim & Curtis Hale

Interview & Surfing

Kim and Abbie were up early to go to the beach and do some surfing. The beach was beautiful in the morning sun.

Kim started surfing with one board, but it didn’t seem to be working so she swapped and was much better on that one!

Curtis woke up shortly after they left and had some breakfast and a coffee.

Curtis had a phone interview planned for 10:30, so he had to wait in for that.

It got to 10:40 and still no call, so he emailed but with no response.

Curtis them, oddly, recieved a voicemail even though the phone hadn’t rang at all, so Curtis tried to call back but the number was restricted. Due to this. Curtis emailed again and stated what had happened and now the interview is re-scheduled for next week and via a different system.

Return From Surfing

On the way back from surfing, Kim, Abbie and Tom stopped off at McDonald’s for some food and then went back home.

Kim and Abbie relaxed whilst Tom sorted out shipping and packaging his bike.

We eventually decided we were all hungry and wanted to go for dinner, so we found a spot and went there.

Dinner

We chose an Italian place and it seemed nice from the ratings online.

Curtis had a lasagne, Abbie & Maggie had the vegetarian lasagne, Tom had a calzone and Kim had a pizza.

The food was just ok, if not a bit below average. Some was cold and some was hot but lacking flavour. Nothing really excited us too much, except for the hot bread we got as a starter!

Pizza Vola | Orlando,FL

Rating:- 5.5/10

Final Card Games?

We played what would probably the final card games we play, with Tom picking up the win in Monopoly Deal and Abbie & Maggie winning UNO.

Busy Day Ahead

We have a long, busy, day ahead tomorrow, but fun stuff planned!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Orlando,FL

Place 81 – Day 9: Orlando,FL – Go Karting

Kim & Curtis Hale

Breakfast

We got up just as Tom was arriving back from his cycle, so we all needed some food.

We had a lack of breakfast items in the house, so we decided we would go out for breakfast on the way to go karting.

We stopped at IHOP and had some breakfast there.

Go Karting

It took a while to get to the go karting place, but we weren’t disappointed when we got there.

Watching The Briefing

This was outdoor karting and the track looked sizable and fun.

We paid for 30 minutes in 3 x 10 minute stints.

The first time out we were with a few random people but the other two was just us.

For the first 2, Tom was first followed by Curtis, but Abbie made improvements and got 2nd just ahead of Curtis on the 3rd race.

We left here incredibly sweaty but we had a lot of fun.

Orlando Kart Center | Orlando,FL

Rating:- 8.5/10

Coffee

We had to stop and get a cold drink on the way back home, so we got a Starbucks and relaxed in the cool before setting off.

Thai Green Curry

We made a Thai green curry for dinner, which didn’t look or seem right but was actually pretty tasty!

Even More Card Games

We played all the card games this evening, for a good few hours, before everyone got too tired and went to bed.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Orlando,FL

Place 81 – Day 8: Orlando,FL – 18 Hole Mini Golf

Kim & Curtis Hale

Lunch

Once we were all up and ready, we went out to play some mini golf.

The place was just 10 minutes down the road, but when we got there we were hungry, so we got a burger from the burger place that was next door, which was alright.

Mini Golf

We moved to the place next door and had a walk around to see what was there. It was like a small amusement park, with go karting, mini golf and some rides.

We decided we only wanted to play mini golf, so we paid for that and out we went.

It was incredibly hot but we had a great time! Tom won it in the end, after Kim and Abbie started very well. We got some hole in ones too!

We finished playing mini golf and all wanted a coffee or ice cream, so we found a Starbucks and headed there.

Coffee & Ice Cream

We got coffee and then went across the road for an ice cream, too.

We then drove to Goodwill so Abbie could have a look around there.

Stressful Evening Of Hockey

Curtis watched the Leafs game this evening, which was a stressful game. If the Leafs lost, they would be out of the playoffs and this is how the game ended, with a 5-1 loss. This means no more Leafs games for Curtis to watch.

Whilst Curtis was watching, everyone else watched Coco.

Card Games

We played a bit more of card games before going to bed. The sun took it out of us today.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Orlando,FL

Place 81 – Day 7: Orlando,FL – Surfin’ USA

Kim & Curtis Hale

Surfing

Kim and Abbie still really wanted to go surfing today, so they had a look at where was good to surf and rent a board.

They discovered that Cocoa Beach would be the best option and that is about a 30 minute drive from us.

We drove out to the beach and it was quite highly populated but we found a spot where no one was whilst Kim and Abbie got a surfboard.

As soon as we got to the beach, Kim and Abbie went off and into the sea to surf.

They were surfing for a good couple of hours and then came out for some light lunch and suncream and then back in again for a bit.

Portland Friends!

We saw a friend from Portland who came in on a cruise ship from New York, where she lives.

We all walked up to the pier, which was quite disappointing really, and then took a 20 minute walk to an ice cream shop where we grabbed an ice cream each.

We said goodbye to our friend, Fernada, and all got in the car and headed back home.

Tired

After we went to the shop and got back home, we’d been out for about 8 hours, so we were very tired and some of us burned!

As we were all tired, we lounged for a bit and then Abbie made a delicious stir fry.

More Card Games

We spent the remainder of the evening playing Monopoly Deal. It was the first time that Abbie, Tom & Maggie have played the game, so it took some time to show them what to do but it was a very fun evening.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Orlando,FL

Place 81 – Day 6: Orlando,FL – Easter Sunday Swim

Kim & Curtis Hale

Swim

Kim and Abbie really wanted to surf today, so they headed down the beach with Tom & Maggie to see if they could rent some surfboards.

They Got A Nice Family Photo

Unfortunately, there were no waves for surfing, so instead they just swam and the weather was perfect.

Whilst this happened, Curtis was back at the house relaxing and watching an important Leafs playoff game.

After a few hours of swimming and relaxing, a coffee was purchased and they went back to the house.

Panda Express

After Curtis finished watching hockey, we went for some dinner at Panda Express as it is quick, easy & tasty.

We all ate up and then went looking for some dessert in Waffle House, but it turns out they aren’t really a dessert waffle place so we gave up and went home.

Dramatic Card Games

We played some card games together today.

Abbie had a game which she wanted to share with us which was like spies and agents. It took us a bit to get our heads around it but really enjoyed it once we got it.

We played a few games of that and then some games of UNO before it was bed time.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Orlando,FL

Place 81 – Day 5: Orlando,FL – Kennedy Space Centre

Kim & Curtis Hale

Early Start

Ensuring we were all up for around 07:00, we got ready and bundled in the car to head towards the Kennedy Space centre.

We wanted some breakfast and Tom & Curtis were outvoted (they wanted McDonald’s) but the ladies wanted IHOP, so IHOP it was.

IHOP

We got some food at IHOP, Tom, Kim and Curtis got cooked breakfasts and Abbie & Maggie got pancakes.

We left sufficiently full and got back on the road.

IHOP

Rating:- 6.5/10

Kennedy Space Centre

We arrived at the space centre and it was rather busy.

We got in and went right to the heroes section.

This area had a short video inside followed by a really well done 3D movie relating to the heroes of American space adventure.

We saw the exact panels used by the team for one of the space missions.

After this we took a brief look around the rocket garden and then around the nature section of the exhibits.

We went for the bus tour after we finished in the nature section. We got onto the bus pretty quickly and then were on the bus for 45 minutes.

We were shown multiple things, such as the giant building which rockets are assembled in, which has the biggest doors in the world and they take 45 minutes to open!

Once side of the building was open so we could see the area inside.

We saw the SpaceX area, a few launch pads as well as other construction areas.

Once we were finished with the tour, we hopped off the bus at the Apollo/Saturn V centre for more learning!

We got into a theatre and watched a brief video regarding some history and about a specific launch.

We got to experience, with the help of real panels from the control centre, what happens during a launch.

We looked at a lot of exhibits after this, including moon rock, pods from space, spacesuits and even an unused Saturn rocket which suspended above us in the main building.

We then had a bite to eat from the cafe there and went to a film at another theatre.

We saw a video regarding the first moon landing as well as an interactive model, which was an interesting way of doing it.

We had to wait for a while for the bus but they journey only took about 10 minutes to get back.

We had one building remaining to see which was the Atlantis building.

The first section we entered, after queing for a while, was regarding repairs being carried out on the hubble telescope with thanks to the Atlantis spacecraft.

We saw the video and then behind us was the actual Atlantis spacecraft, which is huge, and it has traveled over 250million miles in space!

After this section, we went to the shuttle launch experience.

We queued for a bit again and then stood in a line waiting to board the spacecraft.

We entered a real NASA launch simulator which is used by astronauts to prepare then for flying in a rocket!

We couldn’t film or even take our phones with us, but it was an amazing thing to feel. We got to experience the angles, G-Force & bumpy ride of the space shuttle launch.

We then left the park, insanely tired, and we then took the 1 hour drive back, via the supermarket.

Dinner

We were all tired having been out for about 8 hours and we were getting hungry too.

Kim made the same dinner as yesterday and it was just as delicious.

Scrabble & Lilyhammer

We played Scrabble together, but Maggie is just far too good for any of us!

We then sat and watched an episode of Lilyhammer before heading to bed, tired.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Orlando,FL

Place 81 – Day 4: Orlando,FL – Failed Shooting Experience & A Thunderstorm

Kim & Curtis Hale

Shooting Was The Plan

We got up and chilled for a bit and then we decided we wanted to go and do some shooting as there is a place down the road.

As we started to head there, the weather became a bit bad, but it was not a problem as it was inside.

We got to the place and then they said that we have to have a hunting license to shoot there, so we didn’t bother and left without firing anything!

Doughnuts & A Thrift Shop

We decided we would go for a doughnut and coffee instead.

We sat in Dunkin’ for a bit and ate/drank and then got back in the car and went to a thrift shop down the road to have a look around.

Abbie bought some things and then we went to Walmart and got a few things we needed.

Thunderstorm

We got back at a good time as the thunderstorm then rolled in very aggressively with high winds and thunder and lightning.

Steak Salad

We had a steak salad for dinner, which Kim made.

This was with mushrooms & sweet potato too.

Once we ate it, Curtis watched the Leafs game and everyone else watched a film.

We need to be up early tomorrow for something, which should be fun.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Orlando,FL

Place 81 – Day 3: Orlando,FL – Paradise Beach

Kim & Curtis Hale

Paradise Beach

We went to paradise beach today.

The weather was a little windy today, but much more muggy, but we headed out anyway.

We took some chairs and parasoles today to keep us out of the sun for a bit.

Kim and Abbie went in the sea and then went to try and find some surfboards, but were not successful.

We left the beach and headed home for a little bit to relax and get cooled down.

Dinner

We went out to a Chinese buffet, which was just $9 each!

We each stuffed ourselves and then came back and flopped on the sofas to watch Thor:Ragnarok, and that’s how the day ended.

Another chilled day at the beach, but should be something different tomorrow.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Orlando,FL

Place 81 – Day 2: Orlando,FL – Florida Beach

Kim & Curtis Hale

Pancakes

Tom made pancakes this morning, as well as bacon, sausages & eggs.

We ate up and lazed about before we got ready.

Florida Beach

When in Florida, you have to go to a beach.

We went down the road and just found a beach somewhere, which was perfect as it wasn’t rammed.

We chilled at the beach for a few hours Kim and Abbie went in the sea and everyone got sufficiently brown.

We got a coffee whilst we were down there and Kim and Abbie looked in some shops.

We left all feeling very tired and headed back home.

Evening

We had a spinach, feta & beetroot salad for dinner and then Curtis watched the Leafs game.

We all slept at a decent time as we were tired and the both of us have colds, too.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale