Dave and Marsha, you just arrived at RV park right outside of Disney for two weeks. What are you going to do?
Not go to Disney World!
Weird right? But while Covid is mellowing a bit and people are going out more, we're still not comfortable being around that many people, even during Disney's slower months.
Instead, we settled for dinner, drinks and a movie (all at the movie theater) in Disney Springs on our first night in town. Disney Springs is the shopping area for those who want to buy Disney products from the source without going into the actual amusement parks.
It was a bit colder than expected for walking around after the movie but the lack of milling tourists made it the perfect time for such an outing.
I have to say, Disney does a pretty good job of making the place enjoyable to walk around.
Although it has less shopping and more restaurants which was kind of a bummer, the Universal Studio's shopping area has two mini golf courses (alien and spooky themed), and a steampunk themed chocolate emporium and restaurant with the most delicious (and tempting) chocolate desserts. No disrespect to the mouse's house, but Universal has a step up on them in that regard.
Orlando may be known for its amusement parks but it's really just a full on tourist trap for adults as well as kids which means you can find some unusual things to do here. We chose to be tourist trapped by the dinner date offering at an ice bar...in Florida...it's genius.
In what can only be described as a club that wants to feed you, dinner was provided in a "normal" dining area with a dj scratching records while you dined on some pretty tasty food and sipped your drink in a blue light environment. When you were ready, you slipped into a faux fur coat and gloves provided by the establishment and strolled into a deep freezer where everything was made of ice...except the bartender, she was quite nice.
All of it was ice - our cups, seats, table, the decorations, some of the patrons but that could have just been their personality. It was a fun and different experience, one I highly recommend if you ever have the opportunity. If there was one regret, it was the big pink fur coat was already taken so we couldn't really pimp Dave out.
Our final outing was a bit of a drive but well worth it.
The Kennedy Space Center.
Having not really been into the space program, I found the experience to beautiful, moving and awe inspiring. The stories told. The successes, the failures, the losses. It's an incredible place to learn a piece of history and the history yet to be made.
One feels so small next to the shuttles and their rockets. One wonders also what kind of seeds you need to grow a missile garden like the one standing near the entrance of the center. Hmmmmm....
One is also reminded about the importance of pop culture and how it can be integrated into the most unusual of places. Take Snoopy from the Peanuts comic strip (for those of you old enough to remember Snoopy). In the 1960s Snoopy was NASA's mascot for their spaceflight safety initiative program and Schulz, the character's creator, used his comic strip to help energize the American people about the space program.
The character's became the mascots of the1969 Apollo 10 mission with the command module named Charlie Brown and the lunar module Snoopy. It was during this time, NASA also created the Silver Snoopy award. The pin "...celebrates achievements related to mission success and human flight safety. Each silver pin given with this award, depicting astronaut Snoopy, was flown on a space shuttle mission." (from the Kennedy Space Center website)
But Snoopy's time with the space program isn't over yet as he scheduled to ride on the otherwise unmanned Artemis I mission this year. I think he might be NASA's oldest astronaut.
The things you learn in places you wouldn't expect to.
This wasn't the trip I was expecting when we first decided to stay in Orlando but then, unexpected pleasures make for wonderful memories.
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