At The Harry Potter Theme Park



Photo by Judy Kroh

My husband and I and our friends, Judy and CB, went to Universal in Orlando yesterday to see the Harry Potter theme park. To use Harry's words: it was brilliant!

You enter into Hogsmead Village and the first thing you see is the train station complete with the Hogwart's Express.

The village is lined with shops from the book:  Honeyduke's candy store, Dervish and Bangles book store and Olivander's wand shop among others. All the buildings have high peaked rooves with tall dormers that are covered with snow which I wish was real as Orlando hit a record high of 92 degress that day!  

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean

(I chose not to try these because I was afraid I would get a vomit flavored one.)

We ate lunch at the Three Broomsticks which also included the Hog's Head Pub. Judy let me sample her pumpkin juice (similar to a spiced cider) and I drank a Butter Beer that tasted like a butterscoth cream soda topped with a frothy cream; both were delicious.

Looming over the village is Hogwart's Castle, set high on a rocky hill. The line to the castle snaked up the hill then into a side yard and on to a queue maze that zig zagged through the Herbology greenhouse before finally entering the castle.

***Spoiler Alert ***
(stop here if you don't want to know more about the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey ride)
Inside the castle we walked through Dumbledore's office where a hologram image of Dumbledore (the later one) welcomed us to Hogwarts and then through Professor Binn's classroom (History of Hogwarts) where Harry, Ron and Hermione warned us to keep moving or be bored to death. In the corriders, the portraits talked to us about Harry and what was going on with Voldemort. Finally we were seated on the ride in seats that hung from a track and left our feet dangling. A holographic image of Hermione casts a spell on us so we can fly and off we go, following Ron and Harry through the castle and grounds of Hogwarts, through the Quidditch Pitch and into the forbidden forest where we were spat on by spiders, pursued by dementors and deatheaters only to escape into the whomping willow until Harry rescued us and flew us back to the castle where we were greeted in the Great Hall by the cheering students. Whew!
***End Spoiler Alert ***

We loved the ride so much we went back again late in the day when we could practically walk right in. Brilliant! 


There were two other rides in the village:

Photo by Judy Kroh

Flight of the Hippogriff was a regular roller coaster that flew us around curves and over hills in an area decorated with Hagrid's cottage and a Hippogriff nest.






Dragon Challenge which was a double roller coaster where you hang from the track (feet dangling) and get flipped around a lot. I opted to watch the bags while the rest rode. Mike and Judy both felt a little dizzy/disoreinted for a bit after the ride.

Another Bahamas Cruise

Pre-Cruise: Miami and South Beach
    I just got back from my third cruise of the year and my second to the Bahamas. As you may recall I cruised on Carnival to the Bahamas in June with my Mother, sisters and niece. This time I was on Royal Caribbean with my husband and friends. The cruise left from Miami on Monday so we went down a few days early and spent the weekend on Miami Beach which is the barrier island off of Miami.

    Specfically we were at the south end of the island which is called South Beach. South Beach is crowded with hotels and buildings from the 1920-30's and is a gem of art deco architecture. Our hotel was the Essex House which is one block off the ocean on Collins Avenue (also known as A1A, the scenic highway that runs along Florida's Atlantic coast). Our friends had the curved room on the top floor right in the center. We were in the room just to the left of them.

 

Essex House Porch                                       Lobby Fireplace 



The street along the ocean is Ocean Boulevard and is lined on one side with art deco hotels, shops and restaurants and on the other side with a park and beach.

                          





South Beach by day 
                                                                

South Beach at night

    On Monday we boarded our cruise ship, Majesty of the Seas. The port is located on a causeway between Miami and Miami Beach and is busy with both cargo and cruise ships. There were two other ships in port that day.

One of the ships was the Norwegian Sky which used to be based in Honolulu and called the Pride of Aloha. I sailed the Hawaiian islands twice on it, once with my husband and once with my Mother, sister and her husband. It was nice to see it again.

 Norwegian Sky

This is our ship, the Majesty of the Seas.

We sailed out at sunset with spectacular views of Miami and Miami Beach.

First Stop: Key West 
   On Tuesday morning we woke up in port at Key West. We were not docked at Mallory Sqaure (again - see my June cruise) but were close enough that it was an easy walk.  

We boarded the Old Town Trolley (again) and stopped at the Hemmingway House. The weather was still unseasonably hot for Key West but there was a breeze and the fans were working. It was also not as crowded so the tour was more interesting. While waiting for the tour to start we were petting a pretty gray six-toed cat. I was just about to take Judy's picture with the cat when he suddenly reached out and scratched her! So much for the friendly cats.

The Hemingway House in Key West Florida was home to Ernest Hemingway from 1931 to 1939. He lived there with his second wife, Pauline, and their two sons.

The in-ground pool (the first in Key West) was installed by Pauline while he was on an African safari. It cost $20,000 (2-1/2 times the cost of the house). When he came home he got angry and threw a penny onto the ground telling her she may as well take his last cent. She did and had the penny encased in the cement deck of the pool. She was proud that of Hemingway's four wives, she was the only one who got his last cent.

Hemingway's writing studio was located in a separate building that had once been the kitchen for the house. Hemingway would write in the morning, fish in the afternoon and go drinking with his buddies in the evening. After the divorce in 1939, he moved to Cuba and Pauline stayed in the house until her death in 1961.

   Next stop was the southern most point where we still had to wait in line for a photo op with the buoy but we also walked around the area and went in the Southernmost House and the beach near it.
  Last stop was Sloppy Joe's Bar where we tasted the key lime pie and listened to a good band. After a little shopping we made it back to the ship and watched as we pulled away from Key West.

Next Stops: Bahamas

Our first port of call in the Bahamas was Nassau. We pulled into port after noon and stayed until close to midnight. It rained on and off this day but it did not affect us much since we took a city tour in a van that ended at the Atlantis reosrt. We had plenty of time to walk around Atlantis looking at the lobby, shops, casino and grounds. We took a water taxi back to the pier during a rain storm but it stopped raining before we had to get off the ferry.

The grounds and ocean side of the Atlantis resort.

One of the beautiful glass sculptures at Atlantis.

The next day we went to Coco Cay which is a private island owned by Royal Caribbean. There were beaches around half the island and a protected cove. We rented floating mats and spent most of the day laying on our tummies looking at fish and coral in the clear water. The staff from the ship put out a BBQ buffet. The weather was overcast in the morning but sunny in the afternoon.





Our last night on ship

 End of October Cruise

    It's Monday morning and the weather has been beautiful the last few days - cool in the mornings and warm in the afternoons. I'm feeling really good because my college football team, the Kentucky Wildcats, had a big win on Saturday. They beat their conference rivals and 10th ranked South Carolina. It was the first time ever that they beat their coach, Steve Spurier, after 17 losses going back to the days when he was the head coach at Florida. He's an arrogant kind of guy (and a good coach) so it felt especially good to beat him finally.
     The last several weeks I have been looking all over for a pair of cropped pants, my favorite pair. Initially I thought they were in the wash but I did all the laundry and no sign of them. Then I thought maybe they got mixed up in the closets and were with my husband's clothes but I looked several times and couldn't find them. Then I thought maybe I'd left them somewhere on one of our trips so I sent messages to see if I left them behind and even checked the camper with no luck. Then I decided to do some house cleaning which included the guest bedroom. This is the room that we use to pack and unpack for trips and we keep a sheet over the bed to keep the bed spread from getting dirty from our luggage. I decided to wash the sheet since it'd been a while. Guest what I found under the sheet . . . it was my cropped pants of course (and a pair of shorts). Now I doubt very much I would have covered up clothes with the sheet but who knows; there's only one other person who could of done it but we all know he is perfect. 'Nuff said. 

    It's another Saturday morning and looks to be a very nice day. The temperatures at night are cool but it's been getting into or near 80 during the day which I think is just perfect. Lots of sun because we are still in a drought. We got 1/10th of an inch of rain the other day and that was higher than the total for the month of September. Everything is very dry and the leaves are turning color.
   This week has been a medical week. On Monday I had my annual physical where I got a flu shot. I've been getting flu shots for the last several years and they seem to be working (knock on wood) as I have not caught a flu although I can still manage to get a cold every winter. He sent me home with a test collection kit (if you know what I mean) which I have not started on yet.
   On Tuesday we went to the International Travel Clinic in preparation for our trip to India. We got polio booster shots, typhoid vaccine and the first of a series of hepatitus vaccines. They gave us prescriptions for malaria pills and for an antibiotic in case we catch "Dehli Belly" while we are in India. We start the malaria pills before we leave and take them while we are there and a week after we get back. My husband filled his prescription but I haven't decided if I am going to take them or not. The doctor said the risk is low and we can take measures to lower our risk by wearing insect repellant and treating our clothes with a chemical called permethin (which my husband immediately went out to purchase). We also watched a movie about staying safe while traveling. It was mostly about food, water and sun exposure and we had already heard or read all the same tips but the more info the better.
    It was recommended that I go back to my regular doctor for a tetanus shot (the insurance is better). Since I cannot remember if I had or was vaccinated for chickenpox, I had to get a test for that. I may have to get two more shots if the test comes back negative. So I was back in the doctor's office on Thursday.
   On Friday I went in for my annual mammogram (those are so much fun - ugh!) and they found a few things (which is not unusual since I have lots and lots of cysts) so they also did an ultrasound. Now I have to go see my surgeon on Monday (yes, I have a regular relationship with my surgeon). He may want to aspirate or biopsy some of the spots. I have a family history of breast cancer and many risk factors (like being overweight) so they are pretty careful to check things out.
   Now we have "yellow cards" which is an International Certificate of Vaccination as approved by the World Health Organization. I feel like such a world traveler!

Mike's Project of the Week

(Actually this was last week's project, I just didn't get it posted until now.)

    If you live in an area where asphalt driveways are the norm (as opposed to concrete) you have a periodic task of sealing the driveway. The asphalt invariably cracks over the years and gets washed out by the sun so you have to put a thin layer of protectant over the driveway. We always purchase a higher end sealant that is supposed to last for 7-10 years but it seems that after 3-4 years my husband decides it's time to do it again. Fortunately the weather has been very pleasant the last few weeks (although little rain) so it was a nice day to be out on the black driveway.

    We've found that it goes fastest if one person pours while the other one spreads. Since the buckets are very heavy, my husband gets the job of pouring. He helps some with the spreading but soon has to open the next bucket and get it stirred so it is ready to pour. I gave him the job of taking some pictures while I was spreading. I managed to get a few pictures of him when I got ahead of his pouring.



Our garage door faces our back yard so the driveway goes past the garage and there is a large pad to turn and pull into the garage. Of course our garage is full of all kinds of other things so we use the pad to park our cars. It took us about 3 hours to seal the whole driveway and parking pad. We used 6 buckets of sealcote plus a little more of a seventh. Since the sealcote has a short shelf life, we took the last bucket to Mike's Mother's house and sealed part of her driveway. I thought we should have gone ahead and bought more to do the whole driveway but he said that can wait until the spring and another project of the week.



Before



After



    Today is a Monday. I can be home writing in my blog instead of working. Life is good! Louisville schools have a holiday today so I have my niece staying at my house. Here she is raiding my refrigerator. She says I have healthy foods.
   I have been working on putting together a cruise vacation with my Mother and her family. My Mother, who is in her 80's, along with her two sisters, me and my two sisters and six (so far) of our cousins have booked our cabins. The cruise leaves from New Orleans so we are planning to go a few days early to spend some time there. Then we cruise to Mexico, Belize and Honduras.

    My husband, who retired last year, finally got out his retirement gift, a Sony MP3 Walkman. He figured out how to download music to it and spent the bulk of the last three days downloading music from our CD collection.
This is what he is doing now: sleeping in the recliner with the dog with his headphones on. He says he can't hear me when his headphones are on so either he has them up way too loud or he found a convenient excuse to tune me out!