Here's To 15 Great Years!
Well, 15 years ago Barry and I embarked on this little adventure of ours - and what a ride it has been! We celebrated our anniversary this week with a dream trip to Florida with the boys. (It sure is nice of the school system to have their fall break the week of our anniversary!)
Ever since we first heard of Discovery Cove we have wanted to go there, so we splurged on it this week. We spent time at the Downtown Disney marketplace and had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. We spent a day at Sea World prior to the main event of the trip. Finally, Wednesday came, and we arrived early in a lush tropical paradise right in the middle of Florida. We checked in, got our IDs, and scheduled our time to swim with the dolphins. We made our way through the breakfast buffet, which was really good and plentiful, and wandered off to get wetsuits. The boys were so cute in theirs! We got masks and snorkels and headed for the lagoon. We took some photos and waded around for a little bit, as it was almost time for our dolphin encounter.
The water in the dolphin lagoon was only 70 degrees, which was chilly even in a wetsuit! The boys were practically vibrating with excitement as we met Nate, one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever had the pleasure to meet. One at a time we got to pet him, feed him, and even kiss him! The trainer swam with us out to deep water, where Nate came along side us, and allowed us to hold his fin and get towed around back to shallow water. What a feeling!!! It was an incredible half-hour that ended much too soon. Thankfully their photographers captured the whole thing in pictures and video - which are absolutely priceless!
After that magical time with the dolphins, we decided to try snorkeling in the main lagoon. It took me a minute to get used to breathing underwater! I am also not used to my feet floating, which they did with the swim shoes on, so I kept feeling like I was going to flip forward. Barry and the boys got the hang of it immediately! Each of us had a disposable underwater camera on our wrist, and had a wonderful time snapping photos of the incredible fish! Barry came face to face with baracuda inside the shipwreck - which surprised him until he bumped the glass that separated him from all those teeth! I was swimming happily along and crested the reef to find myself swimming with stingrays that were nearly the size of a Volkswagon! (Did you know you can scream through a snorkel?) Down below us on the bottom were some nine foot sharks as well. It was absolutely incredible! There was a smaller pool filled with smaller rays, and we enjoyed letting them swim between our feet. Lunch was served in the grill, and it was delicious! You could have all you wanted of any item. I guess you could eat all day if that floated your boat! We enjoyed the meal, and went down to the aviary. We got to feed and hold so many beautiful species of birds including cuckoos! We spent a good while in there playing with our new feathered friends. Then the lazy river was calling our name. We grabbed a couple of foam noodles as they floated by in the warm water, and were swept away. It was fun to watch everybody floating happily along with their faces in the water! We went over big urns and cannons, through caverns and waterfalls, as we wound our way around the property. We ended they day watching the dolphins playing in their lagoon while we waited for the crowds at the showers to thin down. Now there is the thing about Discovery Cove..It may have been expensive, but they spared no expense on their guests. The showers were clean and had expensive shampoos and conditioners in them. There were fluffy warm towels, hairdryers, lotions, mouthwashes - you could live there!!! Reluctantly, as the sun set, we strolled up the path through the gardens and back to the car.
Bright and early we went back to Sea World. I got to do something I had always wanted to do . . . watch the divers bring up oysters. I picked one and the boys picked one. I ended up with two beautiful cream pearls that were nearly identical, which Barry had set in earrings for me. We did the things we missed on the first day, and even took in the luau that evening. They recognized all the anniversary couples, and we, believe it or not, were the ones married the longest! We were seated right at the stage, which was great when Daniel ended up going up to do the hula! The boys loved the banana bread, so our server brought them a whole plate full! It was a great ending to a great day!
The week ended way too soon, but what a wonderful anniversary it was!
Ever since we first heard of Discovery Cove we have wanted to go there, so we splurged on it this week. We spent time at the Downtown Disney marketplace and had dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. We spent a day at Sea World prior to the main event of the trip. Finally, Wednesday came, and we arrived early in a lush tropical paradise right in the middle of Florida. We checked in, got our IDs, and scheduled our time to swim with the dolphins. We made our way through the breakfast buffet, which was really good and plentiful, and wandered off to get wetsuits. The boys were so cute in theirs! We got masks and snorkels and headed for the lagoon. We took some photos and waded around for a little bit, as it was almost time for our dolphin encounter.
The water in the dolphin lagoon was only 70 degrees, which was chilly even in a wetsuit! The boys were practically vibrating with excitement as we met Nate, one of the most beautiful creatures I have ever had the pleasure to meet. One at a time we got to pet him, feed him, and even kiss him! The trainer swam with us out to deep water, where Nate came along side us, and allowed us to hold his fin and get towed around back to shallow water. What a feeling!!! It was an incredible half-hour that ended much too soon. Thankfully their photographers captured the whole thing in pictures and video - which are absolutely priceless!
After that magical time with the dolphins, we decided to try snorkeling in the main lagoon. It took me a minute to get used to breathing underwater! I am also not used to my feet floating, which they did with the swim shoes on, so I kept feeling like I was going to flip forward. Barry and the boys got the hang of it immediately! Each of us had a disposable underwater camera on our wrist, and had a wonderful time snapping photos of the incredible fish! Barry came face to face with baracuda inside the shipwreck - which surprised him until he bumped the glass that separated him from all those teeth! I was swimming happily along and crested the reef to find myself swimming with stingrays that were nearly the size of a Volkswagon! (Did you know you can scream through a snorkel?) Down below us on the bottom were some nine foot sharks as well. It was absolutely incredible! There was a smaller pool filled with smaller rays, and we enjoyed letting them swim between our feet. Lunch was served in the grill, and it was delicious! You could have all you wanted of any item. I guess you could eat all day if that floated your boat! We enjoyed the meal, and went down to the aviary. We got to feed and hold so many beautiful species of birds including cuckoos! We spent a good while in there playing with our new feathered friends. Then the lazy river was calling our name. We grabbed a couple of foam noodles as they floated by in the warm water, and were swept away. It was fun to watch everybody floating happily along with their faces in the water! We went over big urns and cannons, through caverns and waterfalls, as we wound our way around the property. We ended they day watching the dolphins playing in their lagoon while we waited for the crowds at the showers to thin down. Now there is the thing about Discovery Cove..It may have been expensive, but they spared no expense on their guests. The showers were clean and had expensive shampoos and conditioners in them. There were fluffy warm towels, hairdryers, lotions, mouthwashes - you could live there!!! Reluctantly, as the sun set, we strolled up the path through the gardens and back to the car.
Bright and early we went back to Sea World. I got to do something I had always wanted to do . . . watch the divers bring up oysters. I picked one and the boys picked one. I ended up with two beautiful cream pearls that were nearly identical, which Barry had set in earrings for me. We did the things we missed on the first day, and even took in the luau that evening. They recognized all the anniversary couples, and we, believe it or not, were the ones married the longest! We were seated right at the stage, which was great when Daniel ended up going up to do the hula! The boys loved the banana bread, so our server brought them a whole plate full! It was a great ending to a great day!
The week ended way too soon, but what a wonderful anniversary it was!
posted by Jennifer at 11:55 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home