Palm Trees and Kissimee

     I'm back!
     The reason I haven't written a post for almost two weeks is a good one, I promise- I've been to Florida! Last week our Jazz Band rode a charter bus for twenty-some long and uncomfortable hours to a lovely hotel right on the east coast of the Sunshine State. Since we'd done so well in previous years at competitions, we had been asked to play at Disney World as entertainment!
     The first thing our un-showered group of kids did was run to the ocean and start wading through the waves.
     Now, I've only been to the actual ocean once before in Virginia Beach (unless you count looking off the rocky Maine shore at a whole bunch of islands) and let me tell you, I think Florida wins. The waters even in late March were almost turquoise, shells were everywhere and I absolutely loved how I could be completely comfortable, even hot, in just shorts and a tank top!
     Anyway, as soon as our rooms were ready we brought all of our things to our rooms and then enjoyed the rest of the day taking advantage of the ocean, heated pool, hot tub and showers.
     We spent the next day in one of the parks (Hollywood Studios) and then did our performance, which went well. It only lasted about a half hour, but hey, we couldn't ride all the way down just for a half hour of playing. We had to make the trip worth it, right? Right.
     So, the following two days were spent in Disney World, which was so much better than I had even anticipated. When I imagined Disney World in the weeks beforehand, I thought of little kids everywhere screaming and, you know, a regular theme park.
     Boy was I wrong.
     Now, I did see a few screaming kids (some even on leashes) but the rides were far beyond anything I could have fathomed before. At the risk of repeating myself in future posts, I will only say that you have not experienced a ride until you've been to Disney. I always had a big grin on my face after every ride- they were truly amazing! It's hard to believe that all of that stemmed from one man's idea.
     The last day of our trip (not counting the bus ride home) we went to Animal Kingdom. This was my favorite park of the three we went to (the other was Magic Kingdom). I felt like I wasn't even in Disney anymore, but instead deep within Africa and Asia- depending on which area of the park I was in. There were animal "exhibits" everywhere and birds of all kinds (from ducks to flamingoes to parrots). When you got into the heart of Africa or Asia, the park even designs all of the buildings (whether they be places to eat or just shops) to look as if you're really in a village of the continent. In all seriousness- it's way cool : )
     To give and example of how crazy our trip was- I still feel like the week was a dream. Maybe it was the impossible flatness of the land, the cow pastures in swamps or just wrapping my head around the whole Disney World concept (I was actually there!) but the entire experience was really surreal.
     I can't wait to go back!


P.S. Oh, and orange juice in Florida tastes so much better! Especially complimentary cups when you use the restrooms at the information center just over the border. ; )