Florida Trip (Day 1 & 2)

DAY 1

Jumping right into it I must say, I'm not a morning person, but for the adventure of going to Orlando, Florida, I could hardly get to sleep the night before departure. I imagine that most people who travel might have difficulty getting to sleep when there is a pre-trip excitement in the air. I am definitely one of those people.

I met my friend and fellow traveller, Tai, at 5:30am to check-in. Tai and I stage managed a show called The Seagull during my senior year of college and we also went to see Todrick Hall in North Carolina together. So I was keen on spending more time traveling with her.

We flew from the Norfolk International airport to the JFK in New York where we spent a few hours sipping tea and watching birds fly about, in the airport. It was common but was comical to see some feathered friends hopping around the terminal with curiosity. After a three hour layover and nearly three hour flight, we landed in Orlando, Florida.

The night before departure, I noticed on our flight information that we were leaving a day earlier, on the 26th, than our prepaid trip was planned, the 27th to the 30th. So we drove to a La Quinta Inn near the airport that we'd found online. I found it mostly amusing, but the fact that the room did smell too strongly of cleaning supplies was a bit disconcerting. That afternoon, we devoted our time to researching places in Florida and things to do while we were there and eventually began to scope out the surrounding area for somewhere to fill our hungry bellies. We chose the nearest establishment which was named Fish On Fire.

This food was at the top of the "Best Food Ever Eaten" list for Tai and I. I have nothing against alligators, but I did try some; I can't say exactly what it tasted like, but I'm glad I decided to try something new, even if it was a little out of my food comfort zone.

DAY 2

The next day, before we checked out of our little La Quinta Inn, we decided to rent a car and take a trip to St. Augustine, America's oldest city. So we checked out of the hotel, Lyfted to the airport and from there, we went to the car rental company. However, because we were both underage (by a year), some outrageous fees were placed on top of the standard price which unfortunately caused us to say goodbye to St. Augustine before we even got there.

Although the moral was feeling a little shot, we regrouped and retraced our steps to the airport, then Lyfted from there to our new hotel, the Hilton. It was such a large, beautiful establishment and Tai and I were able to sit down in the lobby and relax until check in. About an hour before check in, I stopped by a "welcome table" set up by the travel group from whom we bought our trip. There I picked up our pair of tickets for the following day's trip to Universal Studios.

In the hours preceding check in, Tai and I continued to research places to go, but this time, places on International Drive. The closer the location, the better. After we did finally check in, we dropped off our bags in our room, plopped on the beds, then explored the hotel a bit.

Since there was a meeting for us to attend later, we opted to get dinner first, both agreeing on Fuddruckers, mainly because Tai had never been to one before and it was my belief (at the time) that there were no more locally in Virginia. There is one. Hallelujah! I had a delicious Cobb Salad, Tai had her Fish Sandwich, and we split a Strawberry Milkshake.

While waiting for our Lyft, we danced in front of Fuddruckers to Nico and Vinz' "Am I Wrong" over their loudspeaker system. When we got back, we made a determined attempt to make it to the meeting, but as we were arriving, the last person was leaving, so we went back up to our room. Before long, we decided to make a trip downstairs for some gelato, but the machine in the marketplace was broken so we had to employ the aid of room service to satisfy our late night sweet tooth.

An Ending Remark

On another note, I am so happy I'm finally able to write about some travel adventures. Looking back, I wish I would've done this for my trip to North Carolina when I went to see Todrick Hall, but I think the timing is perfect right now and I am so excited to share more with you all. Click HERE for Day 3 Part 1 of my trip to Universal!

~Olivia