The Nurse and the Golfer: Florida

I have returned from my Florida vacation to visit Cody. We had a great time, most of which was spent on the road. We (mainly me) thought that we should see everything we could and take full advantage of our time in Florida. (who knows when we'll return!). I'll try and upload a few pictures by days. Here goes:

FRIDAY:

I made Cody wake up at 5:15 am so we could drive 1 1/2 hour to see a cruddy sunrise at a cruddy beach. Oh well. I treated him to Dunkin' Donuts to make up for it. (Thus began my obsession)

It's a tradition: toe in the Gulf at Apollo Beach

He always has to find the best shell

A view of the beach... we did see a wild dolphin so the trip wasn't a total waste

Cody had to close on Friday afternoon so I enjoyed a run in the nice weather and prepared the requested lasagna. We toured Bak Tower, the highest point in Florida. It was an incredible sight. Who knew the park closed at 6 pm?! :) We ended the night by catching a movie, which seems like a common date activity, but for long-distancers, it was a treat.

Bak Tower and MOAT!

Another view... it was a donated piece of land, which is now maintained by the state, but it is connected to Mountain Lake so any resident or member can visit

Cody and I (heads-together shot)

My 'great' photography... I thought it turned out well


Trying out a clementine... turned out it wasn't so great

I discovered it wasn't so great either

SATURDAY:
Cody had to open at the shop. I enjoyed a lazy morning then drove to pick him up from work. I got a tour of the course and met a few of the members. Later, we caught church in Orlando (a church of the Byzantine rite, whoops), stopped by a lake in downtown Orlando (was too cold to enjoy), tried out an outlet mall, then hit Universal CityWalk. The CityWalk didn't turn out quite so wonderful, but we enjoyed the views and entertainment. We ended up eating at a Thai restaurant we had spotted before entering Universal.


Head shot at the Universal CityWalk

We then headed back to Winter Haven for some game-playing with Cody's co-workers and a few friends.

SUNDAY:
Cody had to open again, so I drove him to work so that I could go to a Roman Catholic church that morning (I was able to understand much more than the previous night's service). I picked him up after work and we were treated to lunch at a member's house. Later, we found a dress shirt at the mall that we thought might work for the wedding (turns out it's a smidge too maroon-y, but hey, we only spent $5). We made a couple snacks for the game, then enjoyed the SuperBowl.

MONDAY:

Dutifully preparing our picnic lunch

Only 82 degrees at 10:00am

Our first wild gator sighting

Numerous birds enjoying the hammock

Cody with a gator in the background

Monday came very early for us. We wanted to get an early start on our drive to the Everglades; we ended up being only 15 minutes 'behind schedule' with a 6:15 departure. We grabbed some coffee (Dunkin', of course) and were off! After a couple stops (one at Okeechobee Lake), we arrived to the park at about 11:00. First, we stopped at a trail, ate our picnic lunch and set off. These next pictures are from within the park, along various trails.

The creepy congregation we spotted from the boardwalk

The lowest 'land' elevation either of us could remember seeing

Entering Mahogany Hammock

Modeling at the Marina store

Next, we drove out of the park and headed up to the northern entrance. We were too late to catch a tram around the around, but we did spot a gator that was on the trail, yikes! We then headed to Naples to try and catch the sunset. (fail.)