Vacation Wrap Up – The Florida Chapters

I’ve been back from vacation for over awhile now and have barely shared any of it! Let’s fix that.

This particular trip included what I’ve broken up into two parts: The Florida Chapters and The Cruise Chapters

Brad and I got up very early in the morning and flew down to Tampa on Friday.

Its far too early to have to be awake. #airplaneswaitfornowoman

A photo posted by Rachel K (@probablyrachel) on Oct 10, 2014 at 12:59am PDT

We picked up our rental car at the airport then we spent the day with our friends who moved to the area in May (the lovely couple whose wedding we photographed).

Our first stop was lunch at Tijuana Flats. We were famished having not had food since 5:00am. If you have the chance to visit a Tijuana Flats, definitely do it! They make good burritos and I hear the nachos are also good. The unique thing about this restaurant is their hot sauce bar. With everything from mild to burn off your taste buds, there’s a sauce for everyone.

Then we got a tour of the range and store where our friend works. I’d say that every vacation should start with a double date at a shooting range… right?

Then we headed to Brad’s aunt and uncle’s house for a cookout, where we met up with the rest of his family.

Saturday was a Disney World day. We spent most of the day at EPCOT, some of the highlights were riding Mission Space (green not orange), Test Track and Space Ship Earth. I was a little nervous about Mission Space orange with my medical devices. I rode it 7 years ago before diabetes so if you’ve done with with an insulin pump, tell me about your experience?

Test Track is sponsored by Chevrolet so we wandered around looking at the 2015 models after the ride and they had a photo station set up with the Volt! I ended up talking with a couple about my experiences with my own Volt when they were looking at it. Fun electric car fact: Disney World offers EV charging stations.

Brad and I ventured over to the World Showcase and visited the countries that we had not seen when we went seven years ago. It was during the Food and Wine Festival so the World Showcase area was completely packed. 

We then park-hopped over to the Magic Kingdom for dinner and rode the Haunted Mansion and Space Mountain rides. By that point in the evening, it was getting dark and chilly so we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel. I did notice that it is easier to eat healthier at Disney than it used to be, but I can’t say it was easy to eat low-carb.

Sunday we had tickets to Gospel Brunch at the House of Blues Orlando in Downtown Disney. We arrived early and wandered around the area. Gospel Brunch was a wonderful experience. It was my second one ever. Again, if you get the chance, I highly recommend it.

Then we said goodbye to the family and headed down to Fort Lauderdale. The drive to Fort Lauderdale was long and frustrating because traffic was nuts and the rest stops on the Florida Turnpike were ridiculous (crowded, poor layout, confusing traffic patterns in and out, etc.). But we made it! Brad and I stayed at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina, where the Junior World Championship competition in Judo was taking place. I haven’t felt safer walking places at night than when we were walking back from dinner behind world champion judo competitors.

The next day we boarded the Oasis of the Seas. Stay tuned for the cruise chapters!