Our New Year's Eve Trip to Orlando

I am FINALLY getting around to blogging about John and I's trip to Orlando at the beginning of the year. We had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed the warm weather Florida had to offer. For the entire vacation, we stayed at Derek and Brandy's house. John and Derek met at college and have been best friends ever since. Here is Derek and Brandy's house:

And here is Derek and Brandy:

They were very gracious hosts. We enjoyed having them around not only for the great company, but because they got to show us around Orlando. They particularly enjoyed taking us out to eat:

And out to eat again...

And out to eat some more...

By the end of the trip, our taste buds were feeling very well pleased, but our waistlines were feeling rather larger. It's hard to feel guilty when the food is just sooooo delicious! Plus, what's a vacation for if you can't indulge a little bit? When we weren't feeding our faces, we were entertaining ourselves with the best Orlando had to offer. First we went shopping!

 

Although we were the ones excited to shop in the big city, Derek and Brandy ended up buying a lot more items than us. I guess they needed an excuse to go shopping! The next stop on the vacation train was the Animal Kingdom!

 

 

Derek's Aunt Pam used to work for Disney and was able to get us into the park for free! Thanks Derek for having such great connections!!!

 

 

 



 

We particularly enjoyed taking pictures on Derek's new fancy camera. Check out this great picture of a gorilla eating his own poo!

 

 



 Next stop on the vacation train was attending the Capitol One Bowl. John was pretty excited when his favorite team was scheduled to play their bowl game in Orlando the same week that we had already scheduled to be there! Derek and I humored him by wearing our Nebraska paraphernalia.

 

 

The next stop was my personal favorite. It had been years and years since I had been to a Sea World. We had a great time! Their two roller coasters, Manta and The Kraken, are not for the weak- kneed. Their many wildlife shows are fun for all ages.  

 

 

 

We had fun feeding the Sting Rays. You put shrimp between your fingers, place your hand at the bottom of the pool, and wait for a Ray to swim by and suck the shrimp away from your hand.

 

 

We decided to spend our last day in Orlando at Daytona Beach. We were prepared with towels and swimming suits in hand ready to spread out and enjoy the sunshine.

 

 

However, we were greeted with cool weather and blowing winds- not ideal for lounging on the beach. We ended up just eating at Joe's Crab Shack, walking along the beach, and cruising the shops. We had fun browsing and making fun of the white-trash themed shops and attractions!



 

We are grateful for the opportunity we had to take a vacation together to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. We are also grateful for wonderful friends who make great efforts to stay in touch. May our next vacation be just as fun and rewarding.