Oh, the places we can go, from New York to San Francisco… We hopped on a plane and flew to Orlando!

And, oh, what a great choice that was made by Saim and I!!

So far, in all my travels (which at the moment is not a huge list), Orlando has been, by far, my favourite spot for a vacation.I know we hear from other people how great the weather is or how fun the attractions are… well, here is another account that you can log away! And I know I seem cheesy and clichéd as I start up on our adventure to O-town, but I don’t really care. As much fun as it was to go and enjoy Florida, it’s just as much fun to re-live and re-tell the stories of mini-golfing, dodging lizards, feeding alligators, going on a forbidden journey at Hogwarts, drinking Butterbeer, and watching the miraculous birth of a baby dinosaur. But I am getting ahead of myself now.

Let’s start from the beginning … or from when our plane landed at Orlando International Airport.

Entry into Orlando, Florida

There are a couple of things that hit you in the face as you exit the airport : the weather and the palm trees.And you kind of fall in love … well at least with the palm trees. Allow me to illustrate:

Me, with dem Palm Trees! — **Me, with dem Palm Trees**

See what I mean? They are absolutely everywhere! And it’s the first thing you notice after the hot humid air slaps you in the face after you exit the airport. Yes… it is HOT in Orlando, but that much was expected. And although it was hot, it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. It was the kind of heat that you get used to after walking about for a bit.

But yes, the variety of the palm trees is so incredible that you can’t help but fall in love!!!Tall ones, short ones, fat ones, skinny ones, smooth ones, sharps ones…. it’s just wonderful!! I can go on and on about palm trees but let’s move to the first day of our trip, in which we discover lizards, gator infested Mini-Golfs, and much, much more!

Day One of Our Orlando Adventures (September 27,2014)!

The Hotel… Duh-Duh-Duh- Duuuuuuhhhhhhhh!!!! (The Best Western Orlando Gateway Hotel)

Yeah, hotel rooms are a bit of an adventure by themselves. It’s so much fun just walking into your room for the first time and discovering all the cool and exciting things scattered throughout. Our’s was pretty much standard, with beds (so,so uncomfortable), tables, chairs, t.v, fridge, microwave, a bathroom and the like. But since we were on the fifth floor, the view was breath-taking at times, with the sun bouncing off of the palm trees just right and the stacks of fluffy clouds as far as the eye can see.

And the lobby of this hotel was so beautiful, complete with tall-backed wicker chairs, potted tropical plants, and ceiling fans whirling away in the glowing golden room. Absolutely gorgeous. Interestingly enough, we spent a lot of time at the hotel recovering from the heat and our long walks … it was really relaxing.

Walking the International Drive

All settled in to our small and cozy room, we decided some exploration was in order. Our hotel was located on Universal Blvd, which intersected the another main road in the area, International Drive. This road was long and winding in both directions of the hotel. On the first day, we decided that we would take a left. Interesting street, with gift shops, restaurants and Mini-Golf courses peppered heavily along the way, with the occasional Ripley’s museum or CSI/Titanic Exhibitions.

We popped into a bunch of gift shops, all bearing the generic Disney souvenirs (key chains, pens, magnets, t-shirts, and other merchandise) and seashell decorations. But the most unique souvenirs that we saw were, well, wild. There was an over-abundance of alligator teeth, shark teeth, alligator claw key chains and back scratchers, shark lamps and whole preserved alligator display! It was a bit appalling!

We walked about for a bit until it started raining. Boy, the Florida rain brought back memories of rain in Pakistan, where we would go out and play in it, without any worries. We had, earlier on, grabbed a couple of ponchos in case of this very event. Saim and I grabbed complimentary ponchos, his being Mickey and mine, Minnie. It was soooo much fun!! We kept on walking in the rain in search of (at first) the Orlando Premium Outlets, which we couldn’t find due to lack of proper research on my part. Then we traipsed about in the rain looking for a place to eat. We found a BBQ Tonight (an Indo-Pak Restaurant) but discovered that we weren’t really that hungry at that point. Eventually, the rain let up and we ended up in front of a Mini-Golf.