I recently went on my very first trip outside of the North East. I had been down south as a child, but since I can't really remember much of anything about that, we're not going to count it.
This spring break, I decided that after working so hard this past year, and starting school up again and basically never having time for anything anymore, I deserved to take this trip. It was also my first trip without my kid coming along with me, which was an insanely hard thing. Thank goodness we live in an era where Skype is a thing!
This post is a little different from others. I'll be including pictures and blurbs about the different things that my friend and myself experienced while on this trip. I'm going to do it in a few pieces so that it's not overwhelming and insanely long to read! So, without anymore delay, here it is!
FLYING
This was my first time taking a plane as an adult. It was also my first time flying alone. Overall it was not a bad experience except for my gates constantly being changed, the world's tiniest airplanes, the dropping feeling in my stomach each time we'd slowly descend just a little bit more, turbulence, and my second flight being what I refer to as 'The Disney Flight.'
The Disney Flight was one that started in Detroit of all places. God only knows why a plane would go from Connecticut to Detroit to Florida, but that's what was cheapest for me, so whatever. We boarded sometime around 9:30 I believe, and seriously, every person on this plane is headed to Disney, based on their Mickey Mouse get up and the children all talking about it. So it's already past all of these kids bedtimes, and they're all hyped, and we're all going to crowd into this plane together for the next two hours. I had the pleasure of sitting next to a little girl and her mom who were both chatty, which was both pleasant but annoying. It was getting late, I was tired, I had spent almost all day between airports and airplanes and I just wanted to rest.
I don't know if you know this, but most small children don't have the ability to pop their ears back to normal after altitude has put them into an uncomfortable situation. Imagine my shock when I was awoken out of what was quite possibly a dead sleep to children shrieking all at once as we descended.
I've never been so happy to be in a strange place before...that strange place being the Orlando airport. I had a movie-esque meet up with my friend and travel companion, Brent, in the middle of baggage claim and it was all just a little magical and surreal and so our adventure began!
FLORIDA
Brent lives in the cute little town of Deland. It's a small college town but it's totally a place that I could imagine him living. It's all basically just one big stretch of road with little shops lining the streets and alleys. There's sort of a bohemian, artsy, hippie vibe to it that makes everyone comfortable and friendly.
This spring break, I decided that after working so hard this past year, and starting school up again and basically never having time for anything anymore, I deserved to take this trip. It was also my first trip without my kid coming along with me, which was an insanely hard thing. Thank goodness we live in an era where Skype is a thing!
This post is a little different from others. I'll be including pictures and blurbs about the different things that my friend and myself experienced while on this trip. I'm going to do it in a few pieces so that it's not overwhelming and insanely long to read! So, without anymore delay, here it is!
FLYING
This was my first time taking a plane as an adult. It was also my first time flying alone. Overall it was not a bad experience except for my gates constantly being changed, the world's tiniest airplanes, the dropping feeling in my stomach each time we'd slowly descend just a little bit more, turbulence, and my second flight being what I refer to as 'The Disney Flight.'
The Disney Flight was one that started in Detroit of all places. God only knows why a plane would go from Connecticut to Detroit to Florida, but that's what was cheapest for me, so whatever. We boarded sometime around 9:30 I believe, and seriously, every person on this plane is headed to Disney, based on their Mickey Mouse get up and the children all talking about it. So it's already past all of these kids bedtimes, and they're all hyped, and we're all going to crowd into this plane together for the next two hours. I had the pleasure of sitting next to a little girl and her mom who were both chatty, which was both pleasant but annoying. It was getting late, I was tired, I had spent almost all day between airports and airplanes and I just wanted to rest.
I don't know if you know this, but most small children don't have the ability to pop their ears back to normal after altitude has put them into an uncomfortable situation. Imagine my shock when I was awoken out of what was quite possibly a dead sleep to children shrieking all at once as we descended.
I've never been so happy to be in a strange place before...that strange place being the Orlando airport. I had a movie-esque meet up with my friend and travel companion, Brent, in the middle of baggage claim and it was all just a little magical and surreal and so our adventure began!
FLORIDA
Brent lives in the cute little town of Deland. It's a small college town but it's totally a place that I could imagine him living. It's all basically just one big stretch of road with little shops lining the streets and alleys. There's sort of a bohemian, artsy, hippie vibe to it that makes everyone comfortable and friendly.
Above is a slideshow of some of my favorite aspects of his town. Not pictured are the collectibles store that we went into and also the record store. The collectibles store was awesome. It was full of all sorts of things from the past. Some were really, really old and cool and others were things like Trolls dolls and power ranger action figures that made me feel like I was ancient since those were things I had as a kid.
The record store was really cool. They had a wide array of everything from CDs, tapes and vinyl records. The man who owns the shop has a giant German Shepard that sits behind the counter with him and who will occasionally plop down in the middle of an aisle with his chew toy. The owner was friendly and asked us to like him on Facebook and I know for a fact he's special ordered a record or two for Brent. Support your local small business!
After walking around all morning, Brent took me to the beach. He is a true gentleman in this way. He is not a fan of the beach, the ocean specifically, but he knows that I like it and that I was looking forward to it, so off we went.
It's crazy, there are things that you see and hear of coming from the North East that you don't exactly expect to be real when you're in another place. Things like an actual boardwalk that has a carnival-like deal running adjacent to the beach, giant piers (that kids hang out under), and beaches that are actually sand and then immediately water. (In CT, RI, and NH, all of the beaches have what seems to be like billions of feet of rocky, insanely hot sand before getting to the water)
We found a nice quiet place to lay down on the side of the pier since it was too cold to swim and we enjoyed a nice afternoon of reading on the beach. I also enjoyed a nice sun burn that lasted an entire week - in all fairness - I didn't even feel hot so that was a really strange occurrence.
Overall, Florida itself wasn't too bad of an experience. I got the added bonus of meeting Brent's friends and family, who were all so incredibly welcoming to me. I unfortunately did not get to see any alligators or crocodiles, BUT I did get to go to a Waffle House, which is something that I'll explain in my next post about the actual travelling involved in this trip. In the meantime, enjoy some pictures from the beach!
The record store was really cool. They had a wide array of everything from CDs, tapes and vinyl records. The man who owns the shop has a giant German Shepard that sits behind the counter with him and who will occasionally plop down in the middle of an aisle with his chew toy. The owner was friendly and asked us to like him on Facebook and I know for a fact he's special ordered a record or two for Brent. Support your local small business!
After walking around all morning, Brent took me to the beach. He is a true gentleman in this way. He is not a fan of the beach, the ocean specifically, but he knows that I like it and that I was looking forward to it, so off we went.
It's crazy, there are things that you see and hear of coming from the North East that you don't exactly expect to be real when you're in another place. Things like an actual boardwalk that has a carnival-like deal running adjacent to the beach, giant piers (that kids hang out under), and beaches that are actually sand and then immediately water. (In CT, RI, and NH, all of the beaches have what seems to be like billions of feet of rocky, insanely hot sand before getting to the water)
We found a nice quiet place to lay down on the side of the pier since it was too cold to swim and we enjoyed a nice afternoon of reading on the beach. I also enjoyed a nice sun burn that lasted an entire week - in all fairness - I didn't even feel hot so that was a really strange occurrence.
Overall, Florida itself wasn't too bad of an experience. I got the added bonus of meeting Brent's friends and family, who were all so incredibly welcoming to me. I unfortunately did not get to see any alligators or crocodiles, BUT I did get to go to a Waffle House, which is something that I'll explain in my next post about the actual travelling involved in this trip. In the meantime, enjoy some pictures from the beach!