...and now for something completely different! Heard a rumour that there was something else in Florida beside theme parks...didn't believe it so thought we'd investigate further. So today, got the kids away from the plastic and glitter of theme parks and went huntin' 'gators with Cletus and Jim-Bob! Booked a tour out on Lake Cypress on an Airboat. This is now a protected wilderness area...although it does share the reserve with livestock from the 5 surrounding cattle farms who have ongoing grazing rights. It was an amazing day for it. We got to see some other parts of Florida, some rural some less salubrious as we drove for an hour to Lake Cypress. Interesting drive and worth seeing a little more of the place than just the lights, malls and traffic of Orlando. The ride on ... read more

No shoes to choose, No malls to peruse, Today the kids meet Dr Seuss.. Poor attempt, but whatever... The mild temperate clime of Florida caught us out today with a cold, cold one...high of 13 and low of 6. No rain but dreary and grey and again, cold! Hence the need to get the kids hoodies...and letting them pick meant we ended up with what you see... Today we started the Orlando theme parks and started with the twin parks of Universal Studios and Adventure Island. Only went to Adventure Island today but have three further days to share between the two parks. Scheme the parks run here is a decreasing daily rate the more days you but, the decrease is drastic and very good marketing. One day costs US$112 per adult. 4 days costs US$139 ... read more

Trivia question...name two things that the following all have in common...Adidas, Ecco, Converse, Clarks Bostonian, Hush Puppies, Journeys, Nine West, Rockport, Reebok, Salvatore Ferragamo, Skechers, Stride Rite Keds Sperry and Timberland. Yes they are all shoe shops and what they also have in common is that they are all very conveniently situated at the Orlando Premium Outlet Centre just 5 minutes easy driving from the Blue Heron Resort - where 'coincidentally' we are staying. Can you imagine Sandy's surprise at finding that 2 of Orlandos top 3 Outlet Centres are located virtually adjacent to our accomodation. Who knew? How lucky was that.... The family have new shoes... Beautiful day here in Orlando and in complete contrast to most of the time we were in San Francisco. The view from the apartment will not grow tiring as ... read more

It was worth waiting for...a truly spectacular day. Started out looking promising and then delivered in spades with blue skies and this familiar but not recently seen large yellow orb up there as well. Tried a cafe we had walked past a couple of times for breakfast - Cafe Pescatore. Another great start to the day but this place had real character to go with the good meal. A bit later on walked down to Pier 33 (about a 20 minute wander) to get the tickets for the Alcatraz excursion. Along the waterfront were good views of the Bay so finally were able, in the absence of the fog, to see the layout of the place. Both bridges could be seen clearly and in sunlight the islands looked completely different to the previous few days. Best ... read more

Today weather wise much the same...we seem to have this preoccuppation with weather so will get it out of the way early...cloudy, overcast, foggy intermittently but fine, no wind but fairly fresh... Started the day with breakfast, just for something different, and Sandy found somewhere on the internet this place called the Hollywood Cafe very near here in Fishermans Wharf. Had good reviews, easy walking distance. The title just a touch grandiose for the 'hole in the wall' cafe. Its homage to its name was a dozen or so fairly average old photographs of Clark Gable, Audrey Hepburn, Vivian Leigh, James Dean, Elvis Presley with a Sophie Loren tucked in the middle and Marlon Brando's signature Godfather shot tucked in just alongside the fridge. To further the theme they had named three of their signature specials ... read more