Journey to The Kingdom of Florida - part 5 (Orlando, Florida)

On Monday morning, around 8 AM, we thanked Kaz for his extraordinary hosting (he even paid the ticket fares in Georgia Aquarium visit) and boarded our trusted van and hopped on the interstate 75. We would continue to follow it for more than 600 kilometers until we hit Florida Turnpike which would take us into the city of Orlando.

Contrary to our expectation Atlanta was cooler than we thought it would be and one of the sliding doors of the van froze stuck. Little later as we drove on the expressway the ice melted and the door became loose with the alert light coming up on the dashboard. Deciding not to take any chance I stopped the car on the shoulder and had the door shut down properly. Not a usual event. We hopped back on the highway again and merrily drove through the Monday morning traffic, which to my relief wasn’t as bad as I feared it would be considering it was a working day. 

All of us were very elated, especially the kids who really glazed in excitement now that finally we were approaching the Disneyland. It was the longest we drove since leaving Ajax – 720 kilometers – Atlanta to Orlando. 

                                            Palm trees on the way to Orlando

 

As we advanced toward Orlando the weather got increasingly warmer and we started to see occasional glimpses of palm trees – a sure sign of warmer weather. We stopped about midway for lunch in a roadside restaurant and dined with home-style burgers and fries. The joint was quite colorful, it was sunny outside and the kids were really beaming in anticipation – everything looked exactly what we wanted it to be. I found several palm trees outside and took pictures. Back in my motherland Bangladesh I grew up with the sight of various types of palm trees and sight of these plants invariably excites me. To me they are the sure sign of warmth and good times.

We drove at full speed and did not stop any more. When we finally entered the neighborhood of Orlando it was half past four in the afternoon. 

Among other things what pleased both Mili and I were the spread out orange gardens that can be seen right from the highway. As a young kid I had visited Tripoli, Libya and visited several orange gardens with my parents. The memory of that instantly flashed before my eyes.

 

Later, as we drove into the city we found it neatly arranged with palm tree lined roads and colorful houses and buildings. In the north our houses are really bland looking. This was a pleasant change of views for all of us.

 

Disneyland is located in Kissimmee, in the outskirts of Orlando, one of the major cities of Florida. Naturally most hotels, motels and other tourist attractions have been built in the vicinity. The Universal Studios are also nearby. Among other attractions Sea World is definitely a major one. The Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway is flanked with all kind of hotels, restaurants and additional attractions. I had booked a room in Holiday Inn on the internet. Wasn’t fully sure how it would be but had to settle for something based on whatever images and information was available on their web site and the user experiences that I could pull up from many user groups. 

To all of our relief it turned out to be a gorgeous  place, quite colorful and well maintained, specious lobby, large outdoor swimming pool, even a small gym and plenty of parking spots at the rear of the building. And above all the view around the place is simply great with large trees and some palms. Our room was in the fifth floor. During check in we were informed that J and family had already arrived and the reception would inform them about our arrival. We can then get in touch with each other. As we stepped out of the elevator on the fifth floor corridor we found a rushing Tasi and her parents following her closely – all smiles. Our rooms were only a few room apart. It was simply great to see them. There’s nothing better than enjoying a great place with great friends.

  

That evening we went to visit the Ripley’s Believe It or Not in the vicinity. Though as an attraction its significance is much less than the giants that it co-lives with but it is a great place to visit. And I say great because the kids really liked it. In my mind anything that today’s video game playing kids with fast reflex and short attention span find amusing got to be worthy.  

  One of my favorites. Please read the text below to learn more about the man in this picture. 

 

A fur bearing trout (very rare)

That night after returning in hotel room I took out my planner that I created back in Toronto based on the information that I had, especially the weather related info. Once here and with the updated weather information the plan needed to be revisited. Going to the water place in a cold day would make no sense while that could work out fine in other attractions.

I had booked the hotel room for six nights. After plenty of thoughts and considering updated weather forecast this is what my final plan looked like:

Disney Magic Kingdom – Tuesday

Seaworld - Wednesday

Disney Epcot - Thursday

Disney Hollywood Studios – Friday

Seaworl Aquatica (water park) – Saturday

Disney Animal Kingdom - Sunday

The other major attractions not in my plan were (I picked Aquatica over Disney water park and considering the age of my kids – 5 and 10 -  decided Universal could be little over their head):

Disney Blizzard beach (water park)

Disney Typhoon Lagoon

Universal Studios

Universal’s Islands of Adventure

Universal Wet’n Wild

Some interesting facts about Florida:

1. Orlando attracts more visitors than any other amusement park destination in the United States.
2. The United States city with the highest rate of lightning strikes per capita is Clearwater (Dolphin Tale movie)
3. Young aviator Tony Jannus made history on January 1, 1914 when he flew the world's first scheduled passenger service airline flight from St. Petersburg's downtown yacht basin to Tampa.
4. Miami Beach pharmacist Benjamin Green invented the first suntan cream in 1944. He accomplished this development by cooking cocoa butter in a granite coffee pot on his wife's stove.

Journey to the Kingdom of Florida - Part 4 (Atlanta)

Saturday. We woke up early in the morning. Primarily because Mili had the same fate as I did the night before and was unable to get a good night's sleep. As a result she was all set to start even before it was dawn. The kids were tired and slept deeply. Yet, we decided to wake them up and get going so that we could reach our next destination before it was dark. I almost always avoid driving after dark when we are travelling away from home. Just in case something went wrong - could be with the vehicle or health related - the last thing I would want is to get stranded on a lonely stretch of the expressway. No matter how safe things looked danger can lurke from practically everywhere. There had been several case of highway murders. Don't want to sound like safety freak but it is better to be safe than to be sorry.

Like all other Super 8 motels this motel had continental breakfast as well. Nothing too grandiose. In the narrow lobby in one corner they had set up couple of small tables with several usual items like cereals, milk, muffins, eggos, coffee etc. There was a Caucatian woman attending the counter. She was a middle aged woman with a cranky attitude. Not sure exactly what she had done or didn't do but Mili was quite offended. She later mentioned to me that the lady was giving her an attitude. I personally did not feel she was mean or anything but at the same time I also knew that often Caucatians can be snubby regardless of their social stature. Mili is usually the friendliest person on earth. I kind of felt bad for her as she really looked disturbed by this. All she did was trying to get the kids a good breakfast. The woman did not have to give her the look.

When we pulled out from the motel parking lot it was little after 7 am in the morning. As I drove the van into the isolated Saturday morning expressway the kids tried to relax in their seats and get some sleep. Mili was still slightly sour from the early morning experience. I usually like to constantly chat with her when I am driving which keeps me focused. I tried to drive quietly until she warmed up to make any kind of conversation.

Our destination was Atlanta, Georgia.  One of my close friend from Dhaka university lived in the suburbs of Atlanta. Total distance to his place from Lexington motel as per google map was about 620 kilometers.  Roughly it should take us about 6 hours of driving time and an hour for lunch or washroom break. We could be in his condo apartment before 3 PM, beating the darkness by at least an hour. Solid planning. One must admit.

It was a quiet winter morning with clear roads. It had snowed here lately and the fields were covered with thick sheet of snow. As we moved at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour the white fields looked very pleasing to the eyes. Soon Mili had regained her composure and we cheerfully chatted on.

On our way we traveled through Danielle Boone National forest. This part of the landscape was very hilly with dramatic turns. It had snowed here as well and most hills were covered with white snow. In some areas we also encountered dense fog. Over all it was quite interesting. Once we entered Tennessee things gotten a little flatter. We stopped at Lake City and the kids played a little in the McDonalds’ indoor games facility. We drove through Knoxville, Chattanooga and entered Georgia. 


Some interesting facts about Knoxville:

1.In Knoxville on May 1, 1890 the first electric street car ran from Gay Street to Lake Ottossee (now Chilhowee Park).

2.Downtown Knoxville is 936 feet above sea level.

3.The soft drink Mountain Dew had its beginnings with Hartman Beverages in Knoxville in the late 1940's.

4.Knoxville Zoo is the Red Panda Capital of the World, having the greatest success in breeding and survival of baby Red Pandas.

We pushed hard and reached Atlanta in Kaz’s place around 2:30 PM. Atlanta looked very green from the outskirt. The apartment complex where Kaz lived was very nice with hills at the back drop and tall pines and Oak trees surrounding the compound. We were to stay here two nights. Our goal was to visit the Atlanta Aquarium touted as the largest in the world and the Stone mountain – a very popular and unique rock formation. Kaz’s wife and kid was away visiting Bangladesh. However he was a good cook and was determined to ensure that we did not feel the absence of the lady of the house. He cooked, baked and mashed all kind of things and offered us nothing less of a royal luncheon. The kids were very relaxed and happy realizing they won’t have to be on the road for almost two days.

Some interesting facts about Atlanta:

1. Atlanta is the fastest growing city in the United States (total population)

2. Dr. Martin Luther King started the worldwide "Civil Rights" movement here in Atlanta

3. Birth place of Coca Cola

4. The world's largest bas-relief sculpture - Georgia's Stone Mountain Park

5. The second-largest convention center in the world - the Georgia World Congress Center

6. One of only two cities in the world to be home to two Nobel Peace Prize winners. At the age of 35, Martin Luther King Jr. was the youngest man to receive the Noble Peace Prize in 1964. President Jimmy Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

7.Georgia Aquarium is the world's largest with over 8 million gallons of water

Goofs: While in Kaz's home, Mili went to the parking lot to bring back some stuff from the car. Hours later when we went down to go to the mall I found out the driver side sliding door wide open. Fortunately nothing (including the whole car) was stolen. I thanked God for one more time. This trip was really turning out to be rewarding. 




The largest mall in the Southeast America - Lenox Square is located in Atlanta. We spent the evening roaming around the mall. I hate malls no matter how big or how grandiose. As far as I am concerned they are the most boring place on earth. Mili had a great time though. She bought little but checked out a lot - just like most specimen of her gender.

We visited the Georgia Aquarium the  next morning. It is advertised as the world's largest aquarium. Since it had opened several years ago I had made a note to visit it. Being an aquarium enthusiast it was a must see for me. 

The Georgia aquarium was a true blast. We have been in other aquariums but this was a really wonderful experience in every sense. The kids loved it (and they usually hate everything). I thought the coral reef with the extremely colorful fishes was out of the world. Anybody who is visiting that particular part of the world should make some time to visit this place. 
 

Stony Mountain Park was the other local attraction that we visited later in the afternoon. This is a popular destination for the local people as the park has many different type of activities for all ages.  

It also has the world's largest bas-relief (is a sort of sculpture where the sculpture has less depth behind the faces or figures than the actual faces or figures would have, when measured). There is a cable car to carry people between ground and the top of the mountain. Kaz took Mili and the kids in the cable car while I opted out for the walking trail that went up the mountain. It is about 900 feet tall and the walk to the top is a very nice and scenic one, not extremely difficult but at the same time provided me with enough work out. The view was definitely worth the extra work. 
 

Journey to the Kingdom of Florida - Part 3 (Lexington, KY)

Even though the motel room in Windsor was very nice and Mili and the kids slept like babies, I barely got any. This is not unusual for me. Often when I am on the road I am excited and possibly a little worried about how everything would go – both of those can be factored in to explain the unexpected disturbance in my sleep pattern. Anyway, our plan was to start early so that we could take plenty of breaks on the way and still reach our next destination before it got dark. We woke up at 6:30 next morning. Helped ourselves with the continental breakfast offered free by the motel and hopped in the car around 7:30.

Goofs: Mili left her purse with all of our passports along with her credit cards, bank cards etc. into it on the breakfast bar in the motel. The young man who was working in the reception rushed to stop us as we were about to drive off the parking lot and handed over the purse. Relieved I thanked God for blessing me with such an excellent weapon in my arsenal to embarrass Mili. It usually always went in her favor. With our passports back and safe we were on our way to Lexington, KY – our next stop.

The border to USA was supposed to be only a few kilometers away from the motel. However, my GPS took me in a Merry-go-round trip. After circling the same route twice I shut it off and took couple of wrong turns to hit the right spot – the U.S.A. border post. 

Since moving to Canada we have gone through the border posts between the two countries several times. Most went without any issues. A few didn’t. Once we were sent inside for a special interview. Once a young female Canadian border post agent got really nasty with me on my way back to Canada, rightfully so, because I forgot to take my Canadian papers with me. Anyway, this time around things didn’t go very badly. The border patrol was a middle aged man with clear British accent. Here’s how the conversation went:

BP: What is your country of citizenship?

I: Orlando, Florida.

BP: I asked - what is your country of citizenship.

I: Oh! Canada.

BP: All of yours?

I: Yes.

BP: Where are you heading?

I: Orlando, Florida.

BP: How do you plan to get there?

I: Driving, of course.

BP: Driving? Hmmm. (He gave me this strange look) Do you know where you are

       going to stay?

I: Holiday Inn, Kissimme. (That’s where the Disney Land is located)

BP: (He nodded, satisfied) How many kids?

I: Two.

[I unlocked the sliding door which he opened and made a brief conversation with

the kids.]

BP: How much money you are taking?

I: 300.

BP: (Baffled) You gonna need much more than that, you know, right?

I: We’ll use credit card.

BP: You already made all the arrangements?

I: Yes sir!

He gave me another strange look, nodded, frowned, thought, then returned the passports. We were allowed to go.

We took Interstate I-75 and sped toward south. This freeway runs through America from north to south. We would take it through Michigan to Ohio and then Kentucky. The expressway brought back the memory of my first accident, years ago. I was studying in the Oakland University, Rochester, about 30 minutes away from Detroit. It was clear winter morning and I was taking my roommate to see a car that he wanted to purchase. I had received my license only a month ago and was yet to drive on an expressway. That day for the first time in my life I headed for I-75. I could only go halfway down the ramp to the expressway before hitting black ice (difficult to see ice formation), my car spun two times around its axis and was thrown into the ditch next to the ramp. I was unharmed but my roommate got a large cut. That accident had made my life much more difficult than it was as I had only liability auto insurance. My car was totaled.  

Here are some quick facts about Detroit (one of the largest cities and metropolitan in USA):

1. Motor city of USA with three major motor companies: General Motors, Chrysler and Ford

2. In 1909, Wayne County built the first mile of concrete highway in the world on Woodward Avenue between Six and Seven Mile roads. Until then, a surfaced road was gravel, and often a horse was employed to pull a car out of the muddy muck

3. Going on air in August 20, 1920, 8MK, later renamed WWJ, is believed to be the first station to broadcast regular news reports.

4. The J. W. Westcott II docks just South of The Ambassador Bridge along the western shore of the Detroit River is America’s only floating ZIP Code [48222]. Delivering over 100 years of “mail-by-the-pail”.

5. Detroit is built over an enormous salt bed. 1,200 feet below the city surface, salt mines spread over 1,400 acres and have more than 50 miles of roads.This salt bed spreads over 170,000 square miles under Michigan, Ontario, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia. Some estimates suggest that there is enough salt in the Metro Detroit underground to last 70 million years.

 After driving for an hour we stopped at a gas station so that I could take a quick leak. Upon my return from the bathroom I found Mili all excited. Soon I learned that she could not find my passport (the agent had returned them to her). After some nervous moment she pulled my passport up from the gap between her seat and the car door. Whew!

 

Another major city that we touched on our way was Cincinnati, Ohio. Third-largest city of Ohio it is home to two major sports teams, the Cincinnati Reds and the Cincinnati Bengals

As we approached Lexington the landscape became quite a bit hilly. It looked really beautiful as the rolling hills were covered with white snow. It had been snowing lightly but the roads were clear.

Lexington is in the transition area between a humid continental climate and a humid subtropical climate. Summers are hot and humid, and winters are moderately cold with mild periods.

 

A few facts about Lexington:

1. Lexington is known as the "Horse Capital of the World," and is home to the Kentucky Horse Park, Keeneland race course, the Red Mile race course.
2. Not only were both Abraham Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson Davis born in Kentucky (less than one year and 100 miles apart), but both had spent time in Lexington. Davis attended Transylvania University in 1823 and 1824. Lincoln's wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, was born and raised in Lexington; the couple visited the city several times after their marriage in 1842.

The Super 8 motel where we boarded here was not as good as the one in Windsor. We watched the movie Narnia 3 D in the Movie Theater which was only 3 miles away from the motel. It was a big theater. We were only 6 people in the theater at the beginning of the movie, later another 7 people joined. Kids like movie theaters full of people. They were slightly disappointed. The movie itself was no good. Later we stopped by at KFC in the downtown area. Not a big city. We were the only people eating in. We ordered a festive feat deal. Good amount of food. I ate up to my throat and there was still plenty of food left. 

Another goof: While coercing ever reluctant Farheen to eat her food Mili pointed at a police officer and said, “Eat or the teacher will give you a ticket”. Zakeem and I teased her all the way to Florida about it.