St. Petersburg

I really want to get this over with and St. Petersburg -oh sorry, it's now St.Petes (Seriously? It sounds like a bar! What's wrong with you guys? oo) wasn't THAT interesting.
We didn't know what to do the whole day, so we went for the aquarium, since I really love them.

It actually wasn't that big of a deal... Some things were quite cool though. They had these birds walking around like everywhere ... I'm not so sure if I really like this idea. I hope, they can't fly at all otherwise it means, they've cut their wings and I hate things like this.

They also had some new sharks and I've learned a new thing. Usually sharks can't breath, when they don't swim, but that doesn't go for every shark. Some can't breath without swimming ... or moving at all ... I didn't know that!

What else? Oh, right, we went here:

What do you think?? It's the Salvatore Dali museum!! It's so spooky, isn't it?? Like a jail...
I'm not a big fan of his works (Mustache guy ... had weird thoughts...) but my mom wanted to see it.

So after we went to the aquarium for me, and the museum fro me, we had to do something my dad wanted. He wished to go for an all you can eat restaurant (we still don't know why, we have those in Germany as well...) but all we got was a Chinese buffet. We have thos in Germany very often!
But it was good. I had tapioca pudding for the first time and I'll try to make it myself.

Fort Myers - Edison Museum

Yay, another entry today. Geez, I'm really working this Sunday...

Soo, I just went to our harvest fair for a short stop and it was really cute. I roe the Ferris weel and had chocolate coated grapes like Marguerite Gautier has them every day. They were good.

I didn't take many pictures and I also want my Florida posts to be over before I blog about anything else. I have some new Lolita clothes and news to share, but first I want to end my vacation story. It's almost the end!! Only St. Petes and Orlando left.

Today is Fort Myers.I don't remember much of this town. I just know, we've been there to see the Edison / Fort Museum.
Did you know Thomas Edison and Henry Ford were good friends and even lived next to each other?? Me neither! I just love history. I hope I can learn something about American history in college as well, not only European.

I was really excited about this museum, becaus it is Edison's old house with a huge park surrounding it.
You could also learn lots of things about him ... like at the end of his life, he was almost completely deaf but still enjoyed music very much and he had a big company! He holds over 1000 patentrights!
And he did not only invent things like the lightbulb or the phonograph, he also brought electrical devices like toasters or waffle irons to everybody's home (just not mine, because my parents don't want to buy one...)

So, here are the pics:

Such a beautiful interior design!! I really love this style... I hope I can have a home like this later.

This is Henry Ford.

Oh right. And because it's me, here the picture of our dinner:

Just chicken. We wanted to save some money, so we just got some fried chicken and white bread. It was really interesting but I don't need to have it again. So greasy! I should have known better, I also don't like KFC.

Key Largo and Everglades

On our way to the Everglades Nationalpark and Fort Myers we took a stop at Key Largo (largest of the keys), because the whole way north would have been too long.

I'm sure Key Largo is a lovely place with lots of great sights ... but we only had half a day left, we were going to leave the next day and our guide didn't say anything about good sights, except one, which was actually right next to our hotel! (Holiday Inn)

It's the boat African Queen from the movie Key Largo (1948) with Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. I guess it's not the very same boat, but a rebuilt, but no one cares. Actually the island had a different name first, but then Hollywood came, shot this great movie, which had worldwide success and the people thought: "Why don't we name our island like the movie, so many tourists will come?" AND BAM! Key Largo it was.
Great story, isn't it?

But other to that, we had nothing to do in Key Largo, so we spend rest of the day here:

Sadly, pools aren't big refreshment, because water temperature = outside temperature. It's like walking into a tube. But you can arrange better with the heat inside water.

The next day, we got up early to drive to Fort Myers and make a stop at Everglades to see some alligators.
My mum and I wanted to take a guided tour instead of just walking and because we're very convincing (and annoying) my dad finally agreed. Lucky him - the tour was for free and started just at our arrival, so we didn't even had to wait.
Sun was really cooking that day, there was no shade at all and we forgot suncream, so we kinda rushed it. But we did see alligators!
A lot.

Just to make sure. It's not the same one!
They also have lots of other animals like turtles and birds and frogs ... and mosquitos! Damn it, I hate them!!

But something I've learned! I've you're afraid of mosquito bites, just hang in the sun! Mosqitos dry out in the sun and that's why they only "live" in the shades.

We bought the anti mosquito spray 'Off', which must be the most deadly chemical cosh ... it really keeps them away.
German sprays DON'T HELP HERE!

Kennedy Space Center

Our first stop during our Florida trip was Cocoa Beach, which isn't THAT big of a deal and not very popular I guess (well, they do have the biggest surf shop of the world, that's pretty cool)...

But very close is Kennedy Space Center ...

I can't say, I was very interested at first, because I'm not a big astronautics fan...
But it was pretty amazing!

We started right off with a simulator, where you can "feel" a rocket launch. It's a nice idea and it's a little like you're experiencing the real thing. Of course they make a lot out of imagination.

This isn't the simulator, it's just a model nearby ... You could walk inside an check what it looks like...

There were a lot of videos and shows and stuff, that was designed justify the billions, that the US put into astronautics ... Well, I expected explanations blaming the Russians and everything, so this wasn't a big surprise ... it's getting a little boring...

They also have some 3D movies, that we had to choose from ... You can watch Transformers 3D, but it would have taken like FOREVER ... so we went for Hubble 3D and it was a great decision ... narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio it told the story of the Hubble Space Telescope, that shows the universum billions of lightyears away, cradle of stars and explained why we need it ... it was so beautiful and you should watch it, when you have the possibilty.

They currently have a Star Trek exhibition ... I'm not a fan, so not a big deal for me, but it was cute how they rebuild the controle room.

What was quite amazing was this thing:

It's the landing capsule! From a rocket, that's all what's left when the austronauts come back to earth. Three guys of girls have to fit in this ... can't imagine that!

Of course we had food as well! I'm one of the persons, who always make pictures of food ... For over 3 years now, I want to remember what I ate ... well ...

Those fries were like ... so ... good? I guess ... Well they were good, but so salty!! I'm sure it's all to get the people by drinks. Unfortunately, the cheese nachos weren't good at all ... oh, the nachos were, but the cheese! Wait, no ... not cheese - putty! Urgh.
 Infront of us were a bunch of Japanese people (I don't know, but I always meet Japanese) and the girls took like THE WHOLE MENUE!! It was really impressive ... they had Turkey legs (WHY ON EARTH can you buy turkey legs everywhere??) and one is enough for two ... but know, they also took hot dogs, nachos and Italian sausage and ... pretty much everything else.

So, that was it about Kennedy Space Center.
Here are the other interesting pictures from Cocoa Beach:

Ron Jon Surf Shop ... Biggest Surf Shop in the world ... they say.

M&Ms Coconut ... Maybe that's nothing special, but we don't have them in Germany and I've never seen them before so I had to take a picture.

My hotel room. Nothing special I guess ... Every room looked like this ... don't know why you need two king size beds everywhere.

Our car! So big ... and now about food.

Our breakfast. None of the hotels had breakfast, soooo ... we bought  bread (tipp against boredom ... try to find good, crispy wholegrain bread America), jam and some cheese and orange juice.

Dinner time! We went to Denny's and I've been there before in Japan but the menue here was (of course) different.

Well, I had the chicken, so I guess I was good. Haaa, it was really good! I don't know how they make the corn, but it's good.

Well, I think that's enough for now!! More about my trip later. :)

Souvenirs from Florida

So, everybody I finally managed to break free some time to blog ... of course I'm lying, I still have plenty of time and I'm just like really lazy.




I want to blog about all the "stations" I've passed during my Florida vacation, because it was short (two weeks only), but intense! One of the best vacations of my life!
I think I really like the USA ... I didn't think I would, but it's nice there.






To begin with, I'll show you, what I brought home. Souvenirs are always a very important part of trip to me. It helps me remember all the sweet memories, I had in a different country or with my friends and family. Only problem is ... every year I end up buying way too much!

Well, here is, what I got from my Florida trip:

Plenty, huh? It's not even all!! It's only the stuff I could find the easiest...

Spiralwise from left to right ... only Disney stuff here: Retro Minnie T-Shirt, Mickey egg shaper, Minnie and Donald ball pens, "Four Parks One World" CD, Stitch Dangler (can't believe, some people thought I'd come back without a Stitch...), Hello Kitty Dangler (but bought in Disney World), Marie notebook, Minnie keyring.

Clockwise from left to right: Key Lime cake (A very important cake in Florida ... had some there and I don't like it at all. But hey, I don't have to eat this one.), "I Need My Space" bag from Kennedy Space Center, "Failure Is Not An Option" ball pen from Kennedy Space Center, NYC Sparkle Eye Dust, earrings from MIA, false lashes glue from Ardell.

The top from left to right: Harry Potter Chocolate Frog (they actually have cards, I had Rowena Ravenclaw), Butterbeer mug, "Hot Dance of the Roaring 20s" CD (got this from the Edison house) and a brown belt.

I've made tons of pics I'm going to show your over the next few days. It really was a great trip...

Sign of Life

Hey everybody, thanks to the free Holiday Inn Wi-Fi, I can write this entry. Half of my Florida travel is already over, time is passing so fast! When I realized, I had only a week left, I was quite shocked since I feel I haven't seen enough or didn't spent enough time. I only have two nights for every city, it's not enough. I guess a three weeks trip would have been better, but who could afford it? Not me.

First, we arrived at Orlando but we weren't going to stay there. Orlando is the big finale of this trip.

So we got our car (strangely we could pick whatever car we wanted) and drove to Cocoa Beach, which is really small but it was cute. Our stay there wasn't about Cocoa or Beaches, it was all about Kennedy Space Center, which is (believe it or not) very interesting!

Don't wonder about the dots! My mom is hidden underneath. :)
You can learn all about space travel and astronauts. They also have an Imax theater (watched Hubble 3D, which was AMAZING!) and a simulator, where you can feel a shuttle start. It was great, but I think my faced formed into something new...

So, the next day, we finally got to MIAMI! Hate me ... I didn't like it very much. Maybe because I had no chance to party or meet Will Smith and stuff...

But there were a few cool things. They have this great Art Deco district in Miami Beach and a great Renaissance like villa nearby. I'll tell you about it later.

So, in Miami I went to indulge my passion. The guide book told a lot about eating fresh fish and mentioned two sushi bars, so I stopped by.

Well, what can I say. It was good, but I had better. Especially since they tried to poison me by serving shrimp shumai instead of pork, that I ordered.

They also had this cute shop:

Guys, it's Christmas decoration. It was called "Christmas in Miami" and they offer tons of this stuff. Can you believe it?

So yesterday I left Key West, which was AWESOME! I'll about it later... just check this pic and you know, I loved it.

I don't know if I'll be able to post again during this trip. Tomorrow I'll see the Everglades, then 3 other cities and thel ast 4 days Orlando. It's so stressing.

See you!