Florida Trip (Day 3, Part 2)

DAY 3 (continued)

At King's Cross station, we upgraded our ticket to a "park-to-park" pass, then took the Hogwarts Express from Platform 9 3/4 to Hogsmeade, another location in Harry Potter World.

This place enthralled me and I now hold fond memories of trying my first Butterbeer and Pumpkin Juice there. After trying the Butterbeer, a non-alcoholic beverage, I declared that I would never attempt to make a copycat at home off of Pinterest or anywhere online because I did not want to ruin the experience I had in Hogsmeade. It was THAT good!

Tai went to see a show, The Eighth Voyage of Sinbad, and I agreed to meet her there after I saw Hogwarts, the Harry Potter castle. On my short walk to it, I saw the Owl Post, another Ollivanders, and Tomes and Scrolls, but when I walked around the corner, there it was in all of it's gigantic glory. I was incredulous at the sight of it and must've spent the better part of five minutes just looking at it.

I stopped in at Honeydukes and made my choice between Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and a Chocolate Frog; I chose the beans. I did then go find out where Tai was, but instead of staying for the performance, which was more theatrical than the street acts in the Universal Studios park, I went back to Hogsmeade to walk around more. I briefly visited The Three Broomsticks and took more pictures. When I left, rain had slowly started sprinkling and it continued on like that for the rest of the day into the night.

Tai and I met up again, this time to go to Seuss Landing, where we took a spin on a good 'ol Caro-Seuss-el, after which, Tai rode the Incredible Hulk coaster. Then we both experienced the Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man 3D ride, which was pretty darn cool and worth the line wait. At this point, it was seven o' clock, so we decided to use our last hour before the park's closing time to shop for souvenirs.

After we had officially left the park, we decided to go to the Toothsome Chocolate Emporium for dessert and because there was an hour wait, I took a stroll around CityWalk to finish souvenir shopping, something I failed to finish while in the park. Quite a bit of time later, Tai and I got to taste the amazing food that came out of the Chocolate Emporium kitchen. I ordered a Margherita flatbread and while Tai tried the fried zucchini. We also got some milkshakes, Tai, a Red Velvet, which had an entire red velvet cupcake on the top and I, the Dulce de Leche, which was truly delicious.

And although we had planned to go to a karaoke bar, we were completely bushed. I remember getting back to the hotel that night, unpacking my backpack, and getting under the covers. I don't remember falling asleep and I have never before fallen asleep faster.

Click HERE for Day 4!

~Olivia