We left Sun City, Sunday January 9 for Fort De Soto state park
just outside of St. Petersburg, FL where we spent one week. The park is beautiful with lush tropical vegetation and fully equipped sites. Weather was a problem: high winds, rain, cold.
We did enjoy some very spectacular sunsets. Despite the weather, we did manage to do some cycling. At one point the wind was 18 mph and blowing us at a very brisk pace; coming back, we had all we could do to make headway. At another, we almost were blown off our bikes when the wind was to our side.
We did visit the new Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, which had just opened on Monday, 1/11/11. Since Dali was fascinated with numerology, this particular date with all ones was used. I asked why not 11/11/11 and was told it was too far away.
The building is on a must see list. It's built to withstand category 5 hurricanes. The exhibit areas are on the 3d floor and are in two separate galleries, open and joined in the middle. In the event of a hurricane, doors automatically shut to completely seal them. The first two floors include the restaurant and gift shop as well as an auditorium and offices. Both a stairs and an elevator take visitors to the gallery area. The glass you see is several inches thick; no two panes are identical. Below are our gift shop purchases: at left are wine glasses, right is 500 piece picture puzzle of one of Dali's paintings Hallucinogenic Toreador (1969-1970). As you can see, we've got a ways to go to finish the puzzle. This was one of the pictures our tour guide explained to us in detail. By the way, we did finish it.
At left is a scene from the St. Petersburg pier, the museum is in the background, somewhat hard to see.
In addition, the largest RV show in the country was in progress in Tampa; we went there but weren't that impressed with it, maybe because the weather was awfully cold and blustery and many of the exhibits were outside. The ones indoors were unheated and large open garage doors let the cold in. For dinner, we had delicious Florida stone crabs a number of times near the park. In that area we discovered a great German restaurant, eating swine hockse and drinking authentic German beer. We went back again to try some German pancakes for lunch. Delicious.
On Sunday the 16th we traveled to Kissimmee and stayed at the KOA. We had a premium site which included table and chairs, swing, and a fire pit. We enjoyed the fire on those cold nights, sipping on wine.
Again, the weather was cold, although for the most part it was sunny. The following Monday was heavy rain. Since our Honda's service light had gone on while at Fort De Soto, we decided to get it serviced at Coggins Honda in Orlando. That was a fascinating experience in really great customer service. Their customer lounge was large: WIFI, large screen HDTV playing the latest DVDs, coffee & sweets, and a free massage. This is what every dealership should have. Before you knew it, the Honda was ready.
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday were spent at Disney World; two days at Epcot, one each at Magic and Animal kingdoms. Lots of good dining at Epcot: Marrakesh, Germany.
I think this was the only time when I just wore a t-shirt. The other days were just too cold.
At Disney World we visited Epcot. Spent two day there. Got to try a segway . At their Innovation attraction, I visited the Raytheon "Sun of all Thrills" ride. This was simply fascinating; you got to design your own thrill ride, test it out, then ride it via a super simulation based upon your design. This URL takes you to my bobsled run design: Northern Twister
The design is made on a table computer. You have a number of parameters to adjust: speed, height, loops and curves. If the speed is too slow or too fast, the ride's hills, curves and loops cannot be negotiated and the system tells you which parameter needs to be changed. An animated test ride with a dummy is then made and if it goes well, you get a card containing the ride's parameters and then on to the simulation where you get to ride your design. You're enclosed in a chair which is on the end of a robot much like those used to build cars. A front panel is lowered enclosing you while you face the screen. The robot moves you in synch with the ride video: up, down, side ways, feeling the physical effects of the thrill ride. Man! This is great stuff. Being afraid of turning upside down, my design was conservative.
We enjoyed a nice Moroccan meal, couscous, lamb, and Moroccan wine, at the Marrakesh restaurant which included a belly dancer.
The Baskins were also in Orlando at the same time. We met them at Epcot and had an enjoyable diner at the German restaurant. I was the only one who had a stein of that wonderful German beer.
In the Animal Kingdom, we saw a performance from the Lion King and went on a safari, seeing lions, elephants, flamingos, and other typical African and Asian animals.
And, of course, we visited the Magic Kingdom.
In addition to Disney World we also saw the shows at Medieval Times and Capone's. The week there went fast, we had tickets to Sea World but didn't have time to go there. They are still good until the end of the year.
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