Florida Trip 7/12 to 7/24/03

St Augustine – Universal Studios – Cocoa Beach – Boca Raton – Miami Beach

This trip was more the kids idea.  The parents wanted to actually to do an adventure trip in Iceland for about 10 days.  What killed that was $1000 airfares per person when I started to do the planning. (a week before we leave to Florida the airfares went to 1/2 but it was too late to change plans!)   Next we were thinking of heading out west again but the kids rebelled.  In the interest of pleasing them I asked them what they wanted to do.  My 12 year old son said he wanted to go to Universal Studios and my 15 year old daughter wanted to surf.  With this in mind we planned the following:

7/12/03: St Augustine

At 9:20 we board the cramped 40 passenger regional jet care of Delta.  These jets are fine for an hour but after that it gets a little tedious.  My seat had no cushion and there is something about pretzels for breakfast that does not cut it.  It is amazing the difference in service between the 55 minute Jet Blue flight we took to Buffalo 3 weeks ago and this 2 hour flight to Jacksonville.  More airline executives should be required to fly Jet Blue.

We arrived and upgrade our car to a premium Pontiac 4 door Monte Carlo head out of the airport hungry.   Fortunately we spot a “Sonny’s BBQ” sign on the highway with in a few minutes of the airport and we are eating like the southern locals.  Sonny’s served the best BBQ we have had in a while. The salad bar was also good having the best BBQ beans and slaw I have eaten in a while.  In the typical southern style I ordered an ice tea (unsweetened) and was handed almost a quart of the stuff.  With half gone and ready for the check I asked them to pour the remaining tea in cup to go.  They handed me at no charge another ultra super-size cup with a lid to take with me.  A great lunch feeding the 4 of us for about $20! The slow smoked meats were very good. The kids did grilled BBQ sauced chicken sandwiches. (you pick from 5 sauces and put it on yourself)  If you are into the pork, that looked good as well. Heading to St. Augustine was easy. We took I95 to Route 16 which takes you into town if you follow the A1A signs. We passed over Lion’s Bridge and continued to St. Augustine Beach to the Holiday Inn. 

The kids were bummed here as it started to thunder, lightning and rain so the afternoon of surfing was out. (we UPS’s my daughters surfboard here). Our plans were to relax and watch the kids surf on the beach this afternoon and head into town this evening but the weather changed this.  We drove to St. Augustine  to stroll around St George Street and its shops.  Parking was easy enough in the old section and the first shop was the candy -ice cream parlor for its wonderful smell and to check it out for the caramel peanut apples Maureen and Melissa like so much.  After walking nearly end to end  buying trinkets here and there we headed to St. Augustine’s newest attraction in front of the government house.  Here on Friday and Saturday at 7PM they have the changing of the guard.  You need to get here no later than 6:50 when 3 guards and a sergeant arrive.  He explains what is going on and teaches you about the Spanish uniform he is wearing and some history.  He also explains how the muskets worked.  At a couple of minutes before 7PM  a corporal and 2 other guards arrive. There is an inspection and comments and orders and then a change. The old guards fire or try to fire their muskets because it was not allowed to walk around the city with a loaded musket.  (earlier the sergeant explained how gun powder and humid damp weather did not always work and we had 2 of 3 fire)  After the firsts guards leave with their sergeant the arriving corporal says a few things to the small crowd, thanks us for attending and invites us to step up to the soldiers for pictures or questions. The other guards return for the same.    This ceremony was very nice and informative.  Very laid back compared to the spit and polish of the changing of guards in England or other countries. Here, it is done by volunteers. Also, being that it is a new attraction, the volunteers needed a little instruction on where and what to do at times.  I would put this on your list of things to see and make it a point to get to government house on the days they do it.

After leaving we picked up a Greek Dinner just south of the Holiday Inn for dinner. This was basically what can be called your New York Style diner.  For those out of N.Y. reading this, N.Y. Diners seemed to be owned by Greeks. It is is just not Greek food. There is everything from pasta, to seafood broiled and fried, to rolled and stuffed chicken and sandwiches.  There is some Greek influence on the menu and like the ones in N.Y. had good salads as main courses.  Also, these places are know for very large deserts and good prices.  We found the food good and the price for four $72 with tax and tip.

7/13: We get up and head to the buffet Breakfast at the Holiday Inn. Not bad for $6.95. My 12 year old ate pancakes free. We then headed down the road to the Ocean East Surf shop.  This is a big store with all the surfing, roller skating and clothes that go with this.  Our mission was to talk to the surf expert to see how to repair the small crack in Melissa’s board. A young guy who was a bit of a surfing expert, showed me some things about repairs  but was clueless on what to do.  It is a good thing I used to use fiberglass and material  to fix the old 66 and 67 mustang.  It was like old days and I patched it up while the daughter was getting their new “trucks” and wheels put on the skate board.  After the kids bought a skim board it was off to the beach for a couple of hours of surf, boogie board and skimming. I rented my son a boogie board and a couple of chairs for my wife and I.  I told them, they have a surf board, a boogie board and a skim board so I do not want to hear they are bored!

They took to beach and  low surf waves. My daughter was not feeling good and was having problems getting  up on it. On top of this, the water was unusually cold for this time of the year.  After being on the beach until 12 we showered up and checked out and headed to less than basic lunch at Acapulco’s across from the Castillo.  The Castillo that dominates the water front of St Augustine is impressive. It is one of 5 in the world of its type.  The others I can think of are in  Columbia and San Juan.  This is a federal park but staffed by volunteers in uniform.  We missed the ranger guided tour and strolled around ourselves.  The volunteers did go to one of the bastions to do a canon shooting exhibition. These were some of the same people who did the changing of the guard the day before.  It is interesting, historical and a little amusing. The sergeant gave orders one at a time to do things to prepare the canon for firing. The last order was the crucifix where on cue everyone bent down and did the cross over the chest as the good Catholic soldiers may have done back then to pray the canon either hit its target or did not blow up in their faces as it did during one siege in the 1700’s. After the jolting loud shot from the six  pounder, it was explained that a cannon ball could have flown 3 miles and hit the light house from the wall we were at.  That was truly impressive since no one in my family knew canons would go that far and that accurate 300 years ago.

After about an hour in the castle we hopped on the red train for a tram tour.  We did not get off as it was the last run of the day and just listened to the history and advertisements as the train stopped at many different attractions.  After this it was back to the hotel to load up our stuff and take the 90 minute drive to Universal’s Hard Rock Hotel.

Sunday Night:  We arrive after being in some near blinding storms and the traffic that came with it. It was nice to be in a 4 star hotel.  The place was nice, modern and the service was attentive.  After unpacking we walked over to Citywalk, went into a few shops and had a cheeseburger in paradise with an ice cold beer at Jimmy Buffet’s place.

7/14 Monday:  UNIVERSAL:  Up at 8AM to the buffet breakfast and off to “ride the movies” at Universal Studios.  We headed to the back of the park and did Back to the Future and Men In Black. Both were excellent and we said before we leave we would do it again.  The speed pass here and just about all the other rides is great. Where lines were 15 minutes we were 2 minutes, where they were 60 minutes we were maybe several minutes.  We saw the Ghostbuster show which was more of a cute musical revue as well as the Wild West Stunt Show which was a mix of stunts and silly humor. At the sit down shows the speed pass lets you get better seating than the mass public.  We also liked  Earthquake and Twister.  We really liked the Horror Make Up Show. It was more funny than anything else and should not be missed. Basically, we had fun here and left about 3:30 to rest back in the room and avoid the afternoon storms.  That night had dinner at the Palm Steak House at the Hard Rock. With our room key came a CD and a coupon for $20 off per table (per room). With this in mind I called down to them and told them we had 2 coupons, but to rooms.  They said they need to be two tables but would put the tables next to each other.  As dumb as it sounds, Melissa and Daniel had a table for 2 and 2 feet away from us was our table for two.  The Palm is famous for aged meats and very large portions. Maureen had a 28 oz. porterhouse, I had an 18 oz. NY Strip, Daniel had 3 double boned lamb chops while Melissa had only a salad. They shared the creamed spinach as an appetizer.  After the 3 of the 4 of us stuffed ourselves with Daniel have a triple chocolate cake and Melissa have berries we headed back to city walk to see 9:05 movie Pirates of  the Caribbean.  Great movie! We gave it 4 stars. Good acting, story  and special effects.  We got back at midnight and lights out after checking email.

Tuesday:  Island of Adventure after brunch.  This is more of an amusement park.  First we hit Spiderman. This is the best of 3 D adventure rides. (in fact we did this a total of 3 times during our stay.)  Next Melissa watched while the 3 of us did the Hulk loop de loop roller coaster.  It is almost 2 minutes of loops and twirls.  I did it because there was no large stomach-in-throat drops. You shoot up and out of a tube going 0 – 4 in 2 seconds, get inverted and roll down setting up for the first loop.  What is nice about this coaster to me is that you hit speeds of only 55mph but for most of the ride the speed is steady and it is a thrill.  I read that a Discovery Channel Survey made this the best steel coaster. I am not an expert, but it was nice.  Then we then Popeye’s  raft ride and got soaked, followed by the flume ride which only made us wet. There is a dry box for Popeye’s so I recommend you take your shoes, shirts (for guys) and hats off and put them there.  It probably would not be a bad idea to where a bathing suit or nylon shorts that dry quickly to this parked.  I hate wearing wet clothes.   We also picked a few rides here and there. We had to leave the park at 2:30 because it was raining hard but said we would come back so Daniel can do the double coaster and we can catch the other 3 rides we missed. On last note, we had lunch at Dagwood’s.  The reason being is that my daughter likes making up sandwiches. In front of the place is a 15 foot “Dagwood” but when you order the same inside the phrase “where’s the beef?” comes in mind. It was less than a ½ think of some deli meats with a slice of American cheese.

After a nap and catch up on email it was 5:30 dinner in City Walk at the Latin Quarters.  This is a very good place to eat. The service both times we were here in a period of a year was excellent. The food was also very good.  Next it was to back to Universal to do Men in Black two more times, Back to the Future again as well as Jimmy Neurons ride which was a calmer version of Back to the Future.

We called it quits in the rain after this and headed back.

Wednesday:  This morning we headed back to Islands of Adventure.  Maureen wanted to go on the Jurassic  Park ride where you fly like a bird. This ride is the only one that does not accept the speed pass.  Also, you must have children under 54” or you do not go. The lady at the entrance refused us but when I saw a man with 2 boys I asked if we can go with them as one big happy family and she said she would look the other way because as long as one person was under 54” the family can go. This ride was our longest wait of about 30 minutes where for 60 seconds or so you soar like the prehistoric birds over this part of the park. It had a nice effect to it as you swung left and right on the rail above the wings above you. Next it was double coasters for Daniel where he road them both and back to Jurassic Park for the river ride and plunge at the end.  On the way out, Maureen did a ride by herself that goes in circles and you can spin it to make it faster and we headed to the pool (except Melissa who did not want to go). Lunch at the pool was good and Maureen & I relaxed and read there  while the kids skateboarded in the parking lot  and watched.  For dinner we did at the kids request Pastimore in City Walk.  The place I rate an average and avoid next time.  Maureen and Melissa had a good Chicken Marsala, Daniel had the kids ravioli and I had dry salmon. ( I would pass on the place again)

After the dinner we walked the kids to the launch boats that take you back to the various hotels where we saw them off (or rather they told us to have fun and leave when they were on line).   Maureen & I headed to O’Brian’s dueling piano’s and large drinks for about 30 minutes. A lot of “good ole boys here”.    Then for a completely different crowd and music went to the open air dance floor and bar at Bob Marlee’s for some neat reggae. After a few dances we checked out the Jazz Club which had rock. Nice theatre setting that reminds me of the old jazz clubs. Just no jazz. We were going to the rock place called Groove but it was teenage night so we could not get in.

This was the first time we used our “city walk” passes even though they were good for the time we were there.  Treasure Island at Disney is a better place in my opinion. 

Thursday:  Cocoa Beach

We have a leisurely and late breakfast, pack up and head to Cocoa Beach.  The kids were anxious to get to the beach so we unloaded our stuff at the Hampton Inn, walked down the path to the beach and rented from a guy named Scott 2 chairs, and umbrella and a boogie board. We asked for a ½ day discount which he obliged.  The waves were thigh high with an occasional waist high one.  Melissa was able to get up on about a dozen waves and just coast in.  Later in the afternoon they died out. 

We had a nice dinner at the Lobster Shanty? Where the kids had one pounders, I had stuffed grouper and they made a grilled chicken sandwich.  We tried gator bites also.

Food was good and the service was excellent. 

After dinner we headed to the beach to catch the 7:20 launch of an Atlas rocket sending a Cablevision satellite into orbit.  We were about 6 miles down from the space center and we heard on the radio the delay was until 7:45.  (or at least we hoped).  The launch did take place at 7:45PM.  We saw a the white – yellow flame come just above the north end of the beach and we followed it up for the next 2 to 2 ½  minutes or so until it was out of site.  We heard the low thundering noise a few minutes later as the sound took a while to get to us.  If you are in the area to see a launch the best place to see it is Jetty Park. The hotel people told us that problem going here is that it can take you a couple of hours to get out of.  There is one road in and out that gets to A1A.  The rocket would have looked a bit bigger had we gone there, but the time would not have been convenient to do

Next the kids skateboarded to the famous Ron Jon Surf Shop while I walked..  This place is open 24 hours and caters to everything that has to do with surfing and beach wear.  The kids went through the store looking at everything. Melissa could not find a Ron Jon Surf shop shirt out of the 25 different types and was a little disappointed. She did get a good deal on some sex-wax (for surf boards) and stickers for the board and skate board.  They also gave the kids some Ron Jon Stickers.

Friday: The Hampton Inn gives you a “deluxe” continental breakfast which worked out nice and fast for we were off to the Kennedy Space Center 20 minutes north.  We had reserved the 10AM “close up” tour.  The standard bus tour and admission is $33. For another $20 you get to be on the bus about another 30 to 45 minutes and they take you further on the cape to get a better look at the launch pads where the shuttles take off. The Maximum Access pass is also good for the Astronaut Hall of Fame 6 miles away which we visited.  The tour was informative and many discussed the shuttle program.  There was no mention or discussion about the Columbia break up except that it is NASA’s hope to get the next “orbiter” as they call it up next April.  The up-close tour has two options. One is that it concentrates on the shuttle program and takes you close to the large assembly building (122 million sq feet) where the rockets are put together.  The other tour is more historical.  Both tours stop at the Apollo Center where you learn about the Saturn V rocket and Apollo moon missions.  There is also one of two remaining Saturn V rockets protected in the building here.  When I was here this very long rocket was left rotting outside.  It was nice to see it restored.  There were also a few films on the program. The best film was the mock take of Apollo 8.  They build the theater to look exactly how the control room was during the blast off complete with shutters rumbling behind us during the launch. The sounds and signs going off during take off were an exact simulation.  From here it was back on the bus to the visiting area. We saw one of the two IMAX movies (Space Station in 3D) and met Astronaut Jon McBride at the “Astronaut Encounter”  He piloted Challenger and took much of the movies for the “Dream’s Alive” Imax movie. There were questions asked as well as a photo opp with him. After this I headed to the Astronaut Memorial and to the full size shuttle craft near it.

From here we headed 6 miles to the Hall of Fame really to do the simulators.  The simulators are kind of hockey but a quick walk through the hall of fame was OK. If you are in a rush, one could pass on this.  Why they do not have this building in the main center is beyond me.  After this we headed back to the hotel for dinner, miniature golf and a go cart ride. (no family trip is complete with out at least one round of mini golf).

Saturday: Cocoa to Boca:

 The kids ask to be woken at 8:15 to catch the early waves but unfortunately there is only “Lake Atlantic Ocean” look at us.  It was decided to slowly get out act together, head to breakfast and get to the family place in Boca Raton and hope the waves would be better.  If nothing else, the beach there is nice and never crowded and we would not have to worry about checking out and then just rinsing off at the out door shower by the pool and changing in the bathrooms.  The drive with a 70 mph speed limit and averaging about 75 we made the drive in just under 3 hours with a 5 minute stop. We had sandwiches at Maureen and Melissa’s favorite place called Panerias and it was on the beach by 2PM minus surfboards as the water was also very calm.  The kids used their snorkels to look for shells because the visibility today and the next 3 days was very good.

Saturday night it was dinner with my cousins at JB’s on the beach in Hillsboro. Nice looking place. Food was average and the place was slammed. It seems to be a great bar for the over 35 crowd.

Sunday and Monday: these were leisurely days going to the beach and pool in Boca.

Tuesday 7:30 AM it is off to Miami Beach for a trade show for Maureen & I. The kids will stay here while my aunt and uncle watch them (or vice verse)

Tuesday:  7:30 AM To Miami Beach:

Tuesday, Wed and Thursday we worked a trade show in the Miami Beach Convention Center. The Double Tree Hotel, Surfercomber, is a fine hotel.  When you check out tell the front desk to take off the $7 per day “beach resort” fee. One day they will be busted like other hotels and get a class action suite against them.

In Miami we had dinner at Smith & Wollensky Steak House.  (The steaks were fair and the service slow). Also ate at Yucca on Lincoln. Food good, service poor unless you are Spanish.  Mango’s on the beach is always fun for a drink and a couple of dances

Friday & Saturday: hung out at the beach and pool. Saw “League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” and snuck into the pirate movie after to see it again.

Saturday evening flew home on Song Airlines the Delta low cost start up. The flight was OK and the people were better than the regular Delta crew. They sold candy and sandwiches on board.  Arrived on time and home by 10:30.