NASA and Fort Lauderdale

Our trip to NASA again was of course - amazing! We allowed enough time this time to enjoy all the show’s and presentations. The tour out to the ‘Launch Pad’s’, the machines that move the rockets about, the simulator ride of a launch and one of the actual rockets laid on its side - still blows your mind!
We also were lucky enough to meet and have our photo taken with an Astronaut – Mr Jon McBride.

The night before they launched an actual Orbital Space Based Inferred System (not occupied by humans) that can detect and track missile launches world wide! It was a shame that it wasn’t scheduled on the day that we were there to see it.

We bought some Astronaut Ice Cream whilst there – very interesting! Freeze dried ice cream sandwich. Doesn’t need refrigeration, tasted like icecream, except VERY hard. Nearly broke our teeth!

Once the Kennedy Space Centre had closed we headed off down the I-95 to our next stop Fort Lauderdale. A couple of lazy days by the pool and a surprise visit from Jack! He’s missed us being around already. So nice that he can join us again down here.

Monday we went and hung out at the ‘Driftwood Beach Club’ pool, just for old times sake. We also got to see a paver/brick that we had engraved 2 years ago in the path there that leads to the beach!

A spot of shopping then back to the resort. Couldn’t do much else today as the weather didn’t allow us to. Very windy and we had a ‘Tornado’ warning in place overnight.

Today’s adventure was off to Billie’s Swamp Saffari out in the Everglades. A ‘Zoo – like’ park with air boat rides and swamp buggy tours. On the air boat we were lucky enough to see a 10 ft gator and a smaller 3  ft one. Of course at the ‘Critter show’ I was hauled out of the crowd to come and hold something that was in a box – I knew straight away it was going to be a snake! The lady before me held a big Triantula the size of the palm of her hand. I refused to hold the snake, I just couldn’t. It was a boa – constrictor. We did get to hold a small Gator though which was fun!

At night we ventured across the road from the resort to Pomano Park. It was a Harness Racing track. A fun night and I think we came home with a few $$ better off.

The boys had a round of golf this morning at the Palm Aire Country Club adjacent to where we are staying. 

Once golf was done, it was time to pack as the end of the journey had arrived. Heading home about 2 weeks early to be with Julia's dad who was having some procedures. A magnificent trip had once again mostly due to the "Driftwood Clan", helping us with great friendships and accomodation during the journey. Anne, Karin, Tom, Carol, Charlie, Jack, Bill, Millie and all the new friends we made along the way, we can't thank you enough

So, till our next journey, fingers crossed, September 2018, this is teamconnorusa signing off.

Shark fishing and golf..!

Well what an amazing day we had shark fishing. The winter weather was perfect, 85 degrees F, (about 25 Celcius).

Chairs, coolers, food, bean bag toss and great company,(Miguel ,Ally, Jack and the Connors), let the fishing begin. We fished for whiting with 3 rods and had 1 set up for shark fishing. We managed to get 2 sharks for the day, a 4ft one first off that I got to reel in, then a 6ft bull shark jack had the pleasure of dragging in after a great fight. With both sharks we took plenty of photos and sent them back into the ocean on their merry way. The bait was paddled out by kayak for the sharks but in hind sight we didn’t go that far out, so kind of scary to think these creatures are that close. I took my turn at kayaking out, great job getting out and dropping off the bait but not to good coming back in, turned over by a 5ft wave (it was probably ½ a ft if I have to be really honest) and good bye new Oakley sunglasses !!!!!!!

While there fishing we could also still see ruminates of Hurricane Matthew, pine posts sticking out of the ground all along the beach where beach houses had had there stairs cases ripped away and skip bins all over with debris in them from things washing up on the shore line. We enjoyed a drink at “Beaches” before heading home, watching a magnificent sunset while there also.

The next day had the left handers v right handers in golf (Jack and David v Jackson and Ryan) at the Marshy Creek Country Club. We won’t go into detail but lets just say David didn’t win !!!!

It was nice to meet another of Jack’s friends Ryan. He didn’t know what to expect being paired up with the 11 year old. After Jackson tee’d off straight down the middle of the fairway, and could see that this kid could actually play - he was more than happy to have Jackson on his side!! So much so that 2 days later we were back at TopGolf again in Jacksonville – Left handers V’s Right handers. Ryan quickly taking Jackson to his team again, unfortunately for them it was second place.

Dinner was spent with Bill and Millie, Jack and us at Sunset Grill to say our final Goodbye’s to Saint Augustine after a magnificent 10 days. Jack’s dog Raidar – with our suitcases at the front door, he was very sad to see us go. Word has it he sat at the front door after we left for an hour crying, we will miss our morning walks with him. We hired a car, headed south and next stop was NASA at Cape Canaveral, on our way down to Fort Lauderdale.

Off to Saint Augustines - Florida

Hired a car and enjoyed a nice 2 hour drive up the coast to Saint Augustine to stay with our friend Jack. Evidence of the recent Hurricane destruction still visable and the rebuild and clean up of roads and damaged properties and businesses continues. Saint Augustines is the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement within the borders of the continental United States. Population of the ‘greater area’ is about 70,000. So just a bit smaller than Ballarat of approx. 110,000.

A town of many a historic buildings, paved streets and an old fort. Henry Flagler, a co-founder with John D. Rockefeller of the Standard Oil Company, spent the winter of 1883 in St. Augustine and found the city charming, but considered its hotels and transportation systems inadequate. He had the idea to make St. Augustine a winter resort for wealthy Americans in the Northern States, and to bring them south he bought several short railroads and combined these in 1885 to form the Florida East Coast Railway, which opened up the Atlantic coast of Florida to development down to Miami and the Florida Keys.

We took in a local ‘trolley tour’ learning more about the quaint, old historic beauty of this lovely town. Joined by Charlie and Victoria again, who travelled up from Orlando to visit, we took in the “Nights of Lights” tour or the very busy w/end of Martin Luther King Day. A rollover from Christmas time really with all the tree’s and beach paths lit up with ‘White lights’. The kids and I also did a chocolate factory tour of Whetstone Chocolate – makers of fine boutique style chocolates. Highly recommended to do, it was very well run, with comedic tour guides and samples along the way. Jack and David did a tour of the neighbouring Distellery.

Otherwise a couple of relaxing days by the pool at Jack’s home and really enjoying being in suburbia, rather than a hotel room again. We can walk his dog, go into town and take a stroll around the old streets, find some good cafés and restaurants and just plain relaxing.

One of the days Jack took us up to Jacksonville to a place called “Top Golf”. This was a place you had to see to believe. Concept is of a normal ‘golf’ driving range (but on steroids)!! A multi – million dollar setup - three levels, approx. 30 bays on each level, 2 TV screens and a dining table for 6 people at each station. Food and beverages delivered to your table. Your golf ball is chipped and monitored to see where it goes near the targets once you tee off. A golfers dream. Well worth the experience!

We caught up with Jack’s Aunt and Uncle whilst in Saint Augustine too – Bill and Millie (more people we’ve known for years from the Driftwood). We ate out at the Salt Life Restaurant – very nice meals.

Shark Fishing – another of Jack’s adventures for us is in store tomorrow! Fishing from off the beach (yes David you DO have to walk across the SAND to throw your line in)!! 

Rest day required..!

A slower paced day was in order today. A spot of shopping at the local outlet Mall, where Jack bought some more shirts for his collection! J Jackson refuses to get his haircut and a few bargains were obtained.

It still bemuses me as to how much we pay for stuff in Australia!! I know in the long it all evens up with regards to our higher taxed items in exchange for our medicare system, but in the short term it's hard to process.....

For example;

An average style of Nike Runners in Australia – nothing less than $110. Over here in the Mall $40.

Revlon Foundation Make Up = In Australia $38. Over here in the U.S - $8.90.

Chicken breast fillets = In Australia $9 per kg (or 2.2pounds for our US readers). In the U.S $4 per kg.

The sun has gone down and we are off to the NBA – basketball! Orlando Magic V’s Houston Rockets at the Amway Centre. Best value seats in the house – great views of the entire center! Because we were up on the ROOF!! This was all we could afford but none the less the experience was really enjoyable. Before we came across we searched for a lot of games of interest to us say - New York Knicks playing the Cav’s at Maddison Square Gardens (in NYC) – lowest priced seats $200 each!! Ok, so let’s try less popular teams in lower profile area’s only $45 each. That’s more like it…!!

The next day we said ‘Good Bye’ to Jack for a few days and “Hello” to Victoria – Charlie’s other daughter. Off to Disney Hollywood Studio’s we go. A very cold and wet 13 degree Celsius (55 Fahrenheit). I didn’t think Orlando could get this cold in winter. It didn’t stop the Theme Park junkies though. A lovely day at Disney – magical, absolutely magical!! To watch our 15 year old teenager daughter who is either your best friend or the devil (with no in between of late), wait in line to meet Olaf (from Frozen) and to watch the ‘Frozen’ Disney Production with Ana and Elsa was a priceless parenting moment..!!

Sunday – a quiet day for the Connor family. A colder day to stay inside and catch up on some blogging, washing etc. A trip to the gym, pool and the spa to get rid of some accumulated kg’s/pounds. 

Next stop – The lovely “Jack’s house” in Saint Augustine Florida (approx. 1.5 hours north from Orlando). 

Orlando = Sunshine!

After having our flight delayed we finally arrived in Orlando, through customs and out to meet Charlie who was picking us up and whisking us away to Lake Nona Country Club, where he is the manager. Into our town house for the next 3 days, sit down, chat, a snack, drink, all of which there was plenty of and next thing you know its 3am. We woke to magnificent sights of the golf course, balcony views and a grateful heart that we get to experience this for the next 3 days.

Saturday we drove golf carts up to the club house and had a look around the beautiful surrounds. The boys went to the driving range and the girls went for a walk. Jackson got to ride in Justin Rose's golf cart he used in the 2014 Ryder Cup,at Gleneagles in Scotland, it was shipped back to Lake Nona after he lost a bet!!!

New Years Eve was lovely, golf in the morning, then spent the day with one of Charlie’s daughter’s Nicole and her husband Josh. We played a board game and enjoyed a nice meal. Charlie also arrived with an interesting gift, not familiar at all to the Aussies – Fireworks. Fireworks are completely banned in Australia unless you are a licensed Pyrotechnic, needless to say we had a lot of fun over the next few hours with them.

The next day was Makalea’s birthday. 15 years old. We enjoyed a beautiful breakfast up at the Country Club, followed by a light stroll around the grounds of Lake Nona. We were then witness to a helicopter touching down on the helipad, where Charlie turned to Makalea and told her it was here to pick her up – WHAT?????….!!!  

An incredibly generous arrangement from Charlie, and Christopher Bull at “The Heli Team” we are so grateful for your generosity and time to do this flight, for such a humble family who don’t take life for granted. The flight went high above Orlando, over the top of Seaworld and the Lake Nona area’s, on the return entry we were granted permission by the flight tower to fly back in ‘directly over the top of the major airport’. To be able to see the big planes taxing in on the run way below us was incredible.

At night fall we went into ‘Downtown Disney’ along with 10,000 of our closest friends (as we forgot it was a public holiday – New Year’s Day)!! We went in to see the talents of Nicole’s sister’s husband -Jordan and his buddy Isaac, who together form the amazing professional rapper duo Free Daps. The performance was engaging and very humorous, employed by Disney to perform each night.

The next day we said thank you and goodbye to the Country Club, after a quick round of golf - rubbing shoulders with the celebrity residence of Lake Nona, a bike ride and cleaning of the ‘Mansion.’ Now I know why we don’t have a big house!!

Our next stop is our Time Share accommodation on International Drive, Orlando – A shorter commute to nearby Theme Parks etc.We enjoyed a beautiful meal with Charlie and all his family on our 1st night there, at Capitol Grille. The next day we were  joined by our buddy Jack for a few days (another person we’d met  years ago at the previously mentioned Driftwood Beach House in Fort Lauderdale, the place that just keeps on giving for our family every time we visit the USA.)

Jack was our tour guide for Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure for an ‘action packed’ day of thrills and rides till we were absolutely exhausted, ‘Fast Passing’ our way onto rides, simulators and roller coasters. We covered both parks doing every “fast pass” ride in record pace, even being granted bathroom breaks this time round by Jack!!! 11 hours after beginning we made our way home to recover, ready to go again the next day, being joined by Charlie’s daughter and son in law, Nicole and Josh. 

We hadn’t done the Harry Potter rides the previous day, so that was our 1^st stop on the 2^nd day. Nicole and Josh were warned about Jacks frantic pace but they were certainly up to the challenge. 2 hours in we had accomplished our goals, so now it was time to relax the pace, explore a little more and stroll leisurely to rides even stopping for a beer or 2 as we did so.Nicole and Josh helped Jackson pick out a wand also. We had lunch out in the City Walk area, filled with restaurants, bars and gift shops, the area you must pass to get into either park. Back into the parks after that for more rides until we all got “that look” – “that look that we are all spent and are ready to go home for a rest!” We said our goodbyes to Nicole and Josh, the last time we would see them, as they were flying back to San Antonio 2 days later, after coming out to Orlando to see family and us for their Xmas/New Year break.