Orlando - January 2007
Our first day was quite low-key as we recovered from the jet lag and Jeff and Loren went in to work. After a lazy morning (and Paul probably taking a few calls), we went out to get some lunch and then drove over to visit Liz (another person I know from Eckerd who I also lived with in Boston).
Golf
On Saturday Jeff and Paul went to play golf while the 'women- folk' stayed in and made cookies. I was hoping that Ailsa might be a bit more helpful, but she didn't seem that interested in measuring out the flour that day. Jeff had some golf clubs that his father had given him years ago, but had never used (as he usually played with his dad who had a few sets that he'd bring). Alas, it was discovered after they headed out that the set of clubs was an amalgamation of lots of clubs - ladies clubs, and even a junior putter.....what the other couple must have thought that was playing with them. Paul also learned that in Florida, when your ball goes into some bushes, you don't go looking for it. Soooooo the boys played till they lost all of their balls. It might not have been the most textbook of golf games, but it sure was one of the most memorable. I think that was the night that Loren made some great German food - mmmm bratwurst.....
Brunch
On Sunday we had brunch with Loren's sister (Megan) and her boyfriend before we headed over to the Orlando Science Centre (Paul used Jeff's office to check his e-mail and print some stuff up). We picked up some necessary supplies and I went to work on doing a tex-mex feast (I still can't believe I forgot about the tamales that I'd bought).
SeaWorld
On Monday we headed off for a day at SeaWorld. Paul saw from his morning e-mail on press clippings that he'd been quoted in the Irish Times - his first quote in that publication. It was suggested that to celebrate he should use an Irish accent all day. It was just a suggestion...At least we got to hear a bit of his bad '1950s' movie Irish accent (okay, it isn't that bad).
Paul had a conference call set up for 10 am, so while he took the call Jeff, Loren and I had a wander around with Ailsa. We signed Paul and Jeff up for 'beer school' in the hospitality area. It used to have a sign up called beer school, but they've changed the name to something much more bland and corporate sounding. It still means that they guys get to drink various free beers while sitting on leather sofas and being waited on by pretty girls. Ahhhh marketing in action.
As a special treat, Jeff, Loren and I went on a special 'dolphin nursery' tour. They only allowed people 10 and up, so Paul offered to stay with Ailsa. After a 30 minute talk, we got to have about 30 minutes in small groups (just the 3 of us) with one of the dolphin trainers. During this time we got to touch, feed and give the dolphins signals for various behaviours. It was a blast (I'll see if I can get some photos from Jeff and Loren). I did ask if there was ever an age at which female dolphins stop having offspring (we were in the dolphin nursery after all...and I did do that ovulation study at UCL for my Master's thesis....and I am pregnant...) and one of the trainers said "No". The oldest dolphin he'd working with when pregnant with 43 years old.
Ailsa seemed very interested in the Dolphin exhibit, and got to touch a sting ray. She was a bit more interested in running down the slope of the Artic exhibit hallway than looking at the Narwhal, etc. We planned on catching the last Shamu show of the day (5:45) a bit late for her, but it worked with our schedule. Ailsa was mesmerized. It is just a shame that we only had the one day in the park. I can see why people with kids like to have the multi-day passes - you just can't move around as quickly with kids.
The Shamu show was really good, but quite schmaltzy in its delivery. There was a video showing a young boy carving a wooden necklace charm into the shape of a whale fin....and that this boy grew up to be a trainer....Then a girl was plucked from the audience and given 'the necklace' and told to follow her dreams....and in the middle of the show, a trainer spoke for a few minutes about how lucky she was to have achieved her dream of working with these amazing creatures, (and we should pursue our dreams). We had a long conversation trying to decide what proportion of the audience liked the schmatz (I guess about 20%) and how it would be great if they were to introduce a schmaltz free show (perhaps once a day - the last show of the day). Paul and Jeff imagined what a Terry Gilliam inspired Shamu show might look like, while I wondered what some London theatre people might do with it; Edward Hall (whose Rose Rage - 5 1/2 hours of Henry VI - is still one of my favourite productions; and I still wish that Paul could also have seen their Midsummer's Night Dream), Simon McBurney (head of Complicite theatre company, I think I've seen at least 4 of their productions, including The Elephant Vanishes performed in Japanese - as the book was originally in Japanese - with subtitles), and Kenneth Branagh (whose The Play What I Wrote proves he can do comedy for mass appeal).
After SeaWorld it was time for the 1980s version of Trivial Pursuit....with pizza (with at least one 'manly all meat pizza' at that)
The teams were boys versus girls; and I must say that it was quite hard. I mean, how many 10 year olds watch the news (for the early 80s stuff)...and Paul had Jeff on his team who is a ringer for any film related questions (and most of the TV questions). I did tell Jeff that if he got a film question wrong he was going to have to do a silly dance....and he did get a Ghostbusters question wrong (John Belushi was originally meant for the Bill Murray role).
The girls team kept finding 'fault' with the questions and trying to look ahead to get a good question for the boys (yes, I think some people call that cheating)...What do you expect when Paul and Jeff get a question about which denomination of currency was changed from paper money to coin (the pound). So, technically, I think it was a draw. Let's just leave it at that.
Pub Quiz
Tuesday was a mellow day, shopping in Winter Park and having lunch with Loren. Paul found a great suit at John Craig (and they were able to get it altered in time as well)...we had to save our energy for the pub quiz later in the evening.
Jeff's dad watch Ailsa (well, he really watched a movie while she quietly slept in the next room) while we went to a pub quiz. Megan's boyfriend had reserved the table for us. Paul and I looked at each other when the table we were shown to had Blair written on it (we thought it was our team name), but it turns out it was just the last name of Megan's boyfriend. We went through a few team names before deciding on the Kew Gardeners. Unfortunately the sound system wasn't that good, so we usually had to go through a few readings of a question to fully understand it. Therefore, when the announcer did a few bonus questions - for the first team to shout out the answer to get a point - we were to late, even though we knew the answers! We tried to argue for extra points. While one bonus question was looking for Wallis Simpson, Paul told the waitress what hunting lodge she and King Edward VIII met at (Borough House, Leicestershire - on the Hill), as well as the fact that, had Churchill been prime minister at that time he probably would not have had to abdicate....we didn't get any extra points....I think the bonus points were what cost us the number one slot.
Final Days
On Wednesday we headed out to see Paul's aunt and uncle in Largo and came back late on Thursday night. Another lazy day on Friday followed by a wonderful dinner out at Jeff and Loren's favourite restaurant (while Jeff's parents watched Ailsa) before we had to get up early to get our flight to Atlanta. We didn't get to fly direct to Orlando as we were using our air miles...but at least we got to have a long lunch with my mom in Atanta.
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Liz's daughter 'Bebe' (Beatrice) |
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Ailsa watching the dolphins |
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Ailsa wasn't as intrigued by the slow moving manatee |
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Ailsa getting to touch a sting ray. |
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Paul and the sea lion |
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An older girl stood next to the wall to get her photo taken, so Ailsa decided to go and stand next to her, bless. |
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Loren and Jeff (looking a bit tired). |
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Sleepy Ailsa - awwww....better wake up in time for Shamu. |
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Ailsa and her 'make it so' pose that she uses so often |
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What do you expect, we're on holiday |
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Why am I squinting? |
| The Shamu Show | |
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Oooo - the concentration |
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Yipee!!! |
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The Pub Quiz Team: The Kew Gardeners |
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Seeing my mom in Atlanta in between our flights home |