Orlando - AGAIN!!!!!

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Waking up with dull pounding head, I checked out of the hotel and headed to the Daytona Speedway where I promised myself a tour.

Some how I ended up inside the Oval, not on the track but on the little island within it.

Watching some very dull bike racing, the rain started to pour, they stopped the racing and I headed to Orlando, where it had all begun 4 weeks ago. I choose Orlando chiefly because it is so bloody cheap.

Checking into the Quality Inn on International Drive the inevitable happened - Matercard was declined. My trustee friend over the last few weeks had reached it's limit and the frienship was at an end. After mumbling excuses, I withdrew the cash form an ATM and paid in full upfront; travelling really is all about new experiences!

My next 5 days and nights were spent in trying to cross off all the things I still hadn't done;

See a basketball game live in the stadium.
Take an airboat ride
Fire a gun
Visit Hooters


As Hooters was just across the road from my hotel, I made it a priority. I ventured over to samples some of America's finest.... beer. Predictably it was full of lonely guys, many who looked guilty that they had given the wife and kids the slip for half an hour of ogling. I sank a pitcher of beer and chatted briefly to my plastic fantasatic host Mandy before the table beside me tipped her 20 bucks to come over and chat to them instead.


On Saturday I ventured to downtown Orlando, sharing the bus with the all the workers who keep the tourist Orlando ticking. The basketball game was itself was excellent, in a Yankee Doodle Dandee way. Every time possession of the ball changed they played music over the loud speakers; Fanfares if the home side (Orlando Magics) had the ball, funeral music if the visiting side (Memphis Grizzlies) took possession.

When there was a break in play, the big screen would flash up a random couple sitting in the audience and beam their picture up on the KISS-CAM, meaning they had to perform an inpromtu kiss for the audience. This was met with the appropriate response form the crowd; cheers for the attractive young couples, groans for the ugly couples, and awws for the old retired couples.

A cab ride back to the hotel from the stadium broke my vow only to use public transport during this trip... well apart from the brand new 4 litre Jeep Cherokee I had to myself.

Next on my list was the airboat ride. It was OK, I'm glad I did it but wouldn't do it again. Boggy Creek's airboat packed 18 of us into an airboat that they promised would skim quickly across the surface of the water, in reality the bloody thing felt just like any other boat. The best part of the half hour tour was spotting a pair of Bald Eagles perched together on an old dying tree branch. Massive birds and truly American.

I never made it to the shooting range, never fired a gun. Damn.

There was an exotic car show mentioned one day on the local news, so I headed off to one of the poshest parts of Orlando; Winter Park to enjoy the spectacle. Countless Ferrari's and Porsches and even the occassional boat. A different but good afternoon rubbing shoulders with Florida's elite.

The remainder of my time in Orlando was spent enjoying the sunshine, catching up with my laundry and planning the rest of my trip.

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