Day 106

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Obfuscator writes: We had to spend another day not seeing the shuttle launch, and we could go in several directions. The lodging around Orlando has been cheaper, so we were staying there again. We could spend the day at Orlando attractions, head to Lake Okeechobee, or we could pick a coast and head towards it. We decided that although the Orlando attractions probably wouldn't ever be as uncrowded as they would be in early December, we just didn't care to spend the $75-$100 per person to ride rides and see a theme park. That left the lake and the coasts. One of Onaxthiel's friends, M, had told us that Venice Beach was nice, and that there were shark's teeth there, so in the end, that won out as a day trip.

Venice Beach was another decent drive from us, but doable as a day trip. We scoped out a couple of beaches, and found a one hour photo pharmacy, where we got our film from yesterdays diving developed. Since I got spoiled on fine Cayman beaches at an early age, I was perhaps slightly disappointed in the quality of Venice Beach, but it was still quite nice. The water was about 69 degrees, so a bit cold at first, but pleasant enough once you got into it.

We spent most of the day looking for shells and shark's teeth along the beach, with a little bit of beach frisbee thrown in for good measure. We found a lot of cool shells, some of which we decided to keep, but alas, we found no shark's teeth. Still, it was a great day in the low 80's to be spending on the beach. In the early afternoon, just past the swimming buoys, we got to watch four dolphins swimming around and jumping. Unfortunately I was neck deep in the ocean, so no photos.

When the sun started to get low, we figured it was time to vamoose, so we headed back to Orlando, stopping for food along the way. It's worth it to mention that Orlando has basically every tourist attraction you could imagine, including an aviation museum, a dinosaur park, and even a museum about water skiing. Outstanding!

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