HARRY POTTER!

Probably the highlight of Katelyn's summer... our trip to Universal Islands of Adventure to submerge ourselves in the world of Harry Potter.  I have to admit it was quite magical... and for a die hard fan like my daughter, it was spellbinding to say the least!  When you enter Hogsmeade, you feel like you've been placed into the movie!  The town is a replica of the actual street in the movie... from the Owl Post to Honeydukes to the Three Broomsticks Cafe. Here is where we had Butterbeer, both regular and frozen - we preferred the frozen. (Hint:  Don't wait in line at the Butterbeer carts - go into the back door of the Three Broomsticks to the Hog's Head bar area - no line!)  We got a chocolate frog at Honeydukes (can't go wrong with chocolate!) as well as pumpkin juice to drink (it's like drinking pumpkin pie)!

The amount of people in this little section of the park is incredible.  When the gates open there is a mad rush to the right as people head for this section of the park.  But, of course, we were in the mix of the droves of Harry Potterites :) - you had to if you wanted to ride the Forbidden Journey and not have an hour and a half wait.  The first time we were on was ok to wait - while waiting in line you are entertained by props and scenes from the movie.  But after the first time you just want to get on the ride!  What a ride it is... you really feel as if you are flying along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione!  I thoroughly enjoyed the ride and I haven't even read all the books yet.  It just feels so real.  We ended up getting on it four times... never getting tired of it, yet two times the ride stopped in the middle (yes, stopped!).  We just had to wait until it started up again - the first time we were in front of a steam breathing dragon that "steamed" us every 10 seconds.  We were stopped so long they turned the lights on - it was pretty cool to see how the ride worked, but not cool to be harnessed in a seat suspended 12 feet in the air.  The second time it was just Katelyn and me and the ride stopped just as our car was leaning back - thank goodness it wasn't quite upside down!  No lights this time.  Not sure what went wrong either time, but it didn't stop us from riding it one last time on our last day there!

                           

The most enchanting part was when we went to the show in Olivander's Wand Shop and Katelyn got to be the "chosen one"  She got to take part in the show - a wand actually "picked" her.  She says it was similar to the scene in the first Harry Potter movie when the wand picked Harry.  She wanted to buy a wand anyway, but now she could actually buy the wand that chose her!  She was on cloud 9!

We had a great four days at Universal Islands of Adventure, returning to the Harry Potter section each day! I tried to think of a magical time in my childhood and what I remembered was when my parents took me to see John Schneider at the York Fair.  At the time, The Dukes of Hazard was my favorite and  I loved Bo Duke, so to see him in person (singing) was so exciting for me! :)  I'm sure this will be one of those times Katelyn never forgets!

Awesome place to eat in Key West!

We did a lot of toolin' around this summer.  One place I've been wanting to go for a long time was the Florida Keys.  Well this summer we went - it was the "Doug and Jess" trip (meaning no kids - we usually do that once a summer).  We had a terrific time and I know it's a place we will visit again - we couldn't get to all the cool places in one week!  I'm sure I'll have lots more posts about the Keys, but this one is about one of our favorite places to eat.

When I say a place is my favorite, nine times out of ten it's because I can see water while eating (must run in the family - right Mom and Dad?).  This place lived up to that - it was called Southernmost Beach Cafe and Bar and it's at the end of Duval Street in Key West (near the famous buoy!).  We went here once again beacause of reviews we read on Trip Advisor, but this time it was reviews about their happy hour.  

Happy hour consisted of Rum Runners (on the rocks) for $3, and then some $3 appetizers.  Well we had to try each one.  First the calamari - this is something we used to love and eat a lot, but we have both been trying to eat a lot healthier, so we've limited our intake of the squid!  Next we tried tuna sliders - very tasty!  Last, and our favorite was, as Doug called, an event.  We got our own little hibachi and cooked our food on skewers!  How fun is that?  This was the first time we ever saw anything like that!  We finished off with a red, white, and blue frozen drink!  Yum!

 

  

It's always fun sitting at the bar because it's fun talking to the bartenders - it was the Fourth of July so everyone was festive and having a good time.  At one point we saw them trying to figure out a puzzle on a Dots box and the teachers in us couldn't resist - we had to try it.  See below - can you figure it out?  We did! :)

After leaving we walked out on the pier and had an awesome view of the fireworks.  It was a perfect evening! :)



Swimming in a Cave!

Yes, that's correct - in a cave!  Thought I'd grab your interest in my first post!  This was so cool...literally!  As you swam around, the water temperature would change from freezing cold to bathtub warm.  I think the idea of swimming among stalactites and stalagmites just really excited me!  The water was so clear!

This was a cave in Bermuda at the Grotto Bay Resort (no we didn't stay here) that I heard about on Trip Advisor (one of my favorite sites for travel reviews).  There are caves that you can tour in Bermuda, but this one was more of an adventure - you had to find the resort, then find the secret entrance (actually not that hard - once you walk into the resort there is a sign for the cave).  The best part about it... it's free!  You can explore a little, but the awesome pool of water you can swim in is the coolest!