I wish.

The Orlando History Center is inexpensive and awesome.  It used to be the original courthouse downtown, and still has the courtroom open for your perusal.  They often have traveling exhibits and other events you can attend.  I recently saw the Jim Henson exhibit and it was wonderful.  The permanent exhibit focuses on the early settlers of the area, their lifestyle, and the growth and expansion of central Florida.  There are fun hands-on projects for kids, too!

7.  Visit Leu Gardens!

On a cool day, or post-rain day, Leu Gardens is spectacular.  Lots of trails ribbon around the massive grounds and pass through rose gardens, historic plantation home, vegetable gardens, an old cemetery, and of course many, many plants and flowers.  It is actually quite nice, and free before noon.  There are many areas to hold a wedding, as well, so don't be surprised to see lots of brides-to-be taking pictures of the areas and notes on how to decorate.  

Notes in closing:

8. Stay hydrated, in the shade, and pick up the Orlando Weekly.  The Orlando weekly lists upcoming events in the Orlando area and is a great source for things off the beaten path.

9. Go thrift shopping.  Now.  There are plenty of old people in Florida, and as such, there are plenty of their things in awesome thrift stores throughout the area.  You can find just about anything, and in great shape!  My entire board game collection and furniture have come from thrift store visits.

10. Do not cave and go to Disney, Universal, Sea World, or anywhere on I-4. Please.  For more information on discovering central Florida and downtown Orlando, check out my friend Ashley's blog, Pulse of Central Florida.

Ok, so we're in the park now and the first stop was the Lucille Ball tribute!  It should really be the Lucy/Desi tribute, because they were together since the radio program!  He is in a lot of stuff, but it's important to know that you really needed both of them, to love either of them.  The love they had for each other was so evident- the annoying qualities that Lucy overtook in her show were only made endearing by her loving husband, Ricky, after all!  So magical. Anyway, after that we went to the Horror Make-Up Show!  Honestly, I think Universal needs a wake-up call.  The host and help were annoying and the material was dated.  However, I enjoyed the history of monster make-up in the movies and the AC was a great break from the scorching sun.

Next, we headed to an oldie, but a goodie: ET.  The wait was minimal, 10 minutes- and it is always awesome to hear ET say your name at the end.  Unless, of course, you have a name that ISN'T in their system (ahem).  That's why I pick a different name!  This way, when I wait for my name, I don't have to cry inside while mouths while nothing comes out of his mouth.  I chose 'Cheyenne,' which sort of upsets me more...how much more common is Cheyenne than Veronique!?

After that, we wandered over to the new Simpsons ride!  It was fantastic.  The wait was a bit longer, about 30 minutes- but well worth it for me.  However, I did get a bit queasy on the thing and the 3-d was phenomenal but headache inducing for me.  All in all, though, it's an instant classic and I would go on it again!  It was an annoying wait, though, because most of the line-waiting is outside- which is hell in Florida.  Good thing Kevin and I got sodas before jumping in line!

Next, we walked around a bit and decided to pass on Jaws.  Why, you ask?  Simple- that ride has so much fire-in-water, it's so effing hot.  I swear half of my eyebrows get singed every time I'm on the thing.  Also, I know this is weird, but the Jaws animatronix thing that comes out of the water actually scares me and has been known to give me nightmares.  I stay away.

At this point we were in need of some cold- so we went to the Twister ride!  You know, it's a great ride and the behind-the-scenes they show from the movie is fantastic.  Plus, who doesn't love Helen Hunt or Bill Paxton (when you can remember he's not Bill Pullman).  The wind is soo refreshing, but don't stand in the last row because that's where the rain pipes are connected and I had a constant dripping that felt good at the time- but later smelled real nasty when it dried.  The flying cow-on-a-string still gets me, too!

After that, we headed to Shrek 4-D<--- LOVE IT.  I can't even get into details other than the story is great, the animation is awesome, and the fact that the seats move makes me clap.

On our way out, we swung by Terminator to see if there was another show- and there was.  It is still awesome, and the live actors were actually pretty good.  It's kinda weird, though, seeing footage of Arnold Schwartzenegger and knowing he's a governor..!  

What is cool to find out, though, is that a new organization, the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, is working on bridging national gaps for North America and into Latin America. How? Simple, two new endeavors, listed below, are making travel much easier.  The US Passport Card, for example, is FAR easier to carry than a typical passport and fits nicely in our wallet- plus it costs less than a US Passport.  However, it is only valid for land or sea travel, so don't expect to fly to Europe on it.  The other is a Western Hemisphere driver's license, which you can read more about below.

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