Day 20: Orlando

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I haven't had access to wifi for a few days so I'm trying to catch up in McDonalds. As far as I can remember the drive from Fort Walton Beach to Orlando went without any major drama, although it was very long and boring. Our host in Apopka, very close to Orlando, is Russell Bryant, a retired history lecturer from the University of Alabama. When we arrived at Russell we quickly unpacked the car and headed out to Wekiwa Springs State Park, some nearby natural springs. Here you can swim and canoe (although we got there too late to canoe); the water is supposedly very warm at 21oC, although it felt pretty cold to us.

Back at the house, we proceeded to have the classiest evening so far. Russell made us both cocktails in cut glass flutes, and then invited us through to the kitchen and served us a three course meal - we weren't even allowed to get up and fetch the plates ourselves! Plenty of wine flowed, and after dinner we went through to the drawing room to chat about Balliol. Almost every wall of the house has some kind of painting or drawing relating to Oxford - he clearly really enjoyed his time there! By 10pm we were all starting to drift asleep, so we departed for bed. Alice slept in his great grandmother's old bed (the house used to be owned by his aunt), whilst Russell kindly vacated his room so I could sleep in his (with his teddy bear).

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