America Day 10 11 12 & 13 - Kennedy Space Station, Miami, Everglades and Orlando

DAY 10

Wow… didn’t really have time to write in Miami cause it was so full on! BUT before I reached Miami we stopped at the Kennedy Space Station.

This is kinda cool... and I don't even like space stuff!

I have to admit that I was not too excited about this because I didn’t know how into rocket ships I was. It turns out I had an awesome time though. It was amazing actually! It was kind of like a theme park. There were shows and presentations on all different Apollo missions and there was a shuttle launch simulator. That was my favorite part although it made me a little sick! Don’t think I could be an astronaut.

Space man!

From the Space Station it was onto Cocoa Beach. It was thanksgiving so we went to the pub and got a Thanksgiving plate. It was really good food which was nice cause we either haven’t been eating or have eaten junk!

Happy Thanksgiving! I give thanks to the good food and cheap drinks on the night!

We then had a few drinks at the local pub. It was hilarious when we got there this old leather looking lady with fake boobs and peroxide hair was like “It’s my birthday” and I was like “Me too” and she was like “We must be nearly the same age?” and I was like “Yeah maybe” and she was like “So you are nearly 48” and I was like “No I’m 23” then she was like “I’m only 2 and a bit times your age” and I was like “I’m going to the bathroom” JUST SAYIN’

Anyway, it was free alcohol for girls after 10… I only made it until 9 then went back to the hotel to sleep. I know it was a weak effort but I had to save myself for MIAMI!!!

Day 11 and 12

Miami is my new favorite place in the world! It is so unbelievably pretty! Really though it just reminds me of a bigger more busy version of Surfers Paradise. Still amazing though.

Ahhhh.... Welcome to Miami

The first night we got to Miami we were on a cruise boat with a free open bar. Most fun ever! I’ve learnt that American’s do not promote responsible drinking. The bar tenders kept making everyone do tequila shots! I did one and thank god I had the right frame of mind to say no to the rest! Party Boat was the best time ever though. It was only our Contiki group on the boat so we had a ball.

PARTY BOAT!!!

Just so you know dad, this is Carly, my room mate

We then went to South Beach Miami which is the trendy tourist area of Miami. We went to this club that we had arranged VIP entry into earlier and I have to admit it was pretty cool. I went and bought a drink though and it cost me $16! One girl we were with bought a bottle of water and they charged her $7. Needless to say, we did not stay in that club very long.

We went to an Irish pub down the road and bought drinks for a half reasonable price!

Just some fun from the Irish pub

I have to say that I don’t think I will have a better night out on tour as I did that night! So much fun! I paid for it the next morning though. We were supposed to go on a bike ride around Miami at 9am the next morning. Of all things I wanted to do the next day, a bike ride was the last.

I went back to bed for the whole day! It was awesome not only to catch up on sleep but to get over my hangover in one day. I did get up later that day I went to dinner in South Beach. No more drinking that night though. Just the thought of it made me gag. Did lots of SLOW WALKING that day!

After dinner we went shopping until like 11pm. Shops in America always seem to be open. It is cool. Like a K-Mart trip but it’s not JUST K-Mart. I had to buy another small carry on suitcase because I have bought too much stuff. I stupidly bought it before we had finished shopping though and had to walk around South Beach with a suitcase. Not my proudest moment.

When we decided to go home there was five of us and we all jumped in the one cab. They don’t seem to care about road rules much in places like New York and Miami! It was good though because the cab ride only cost us $5 each! WHICH is awesome too because we were like 45 minutes from South Beach! That would cost an absolute fortune if we were in Canberra.

Day 13

All rested up and recovered from Miami we were up at like 7am and had the biggest sexiest buffet in the world! The food was awesome! Then we were on the road again and off the Everglades.

Again, this is something I didn’t think I would enjoy that much. I have decided two things though, 1. Not to presume things will be boring and 2. To read through my contiki documentation because there are a lot of things included that I have idea were! Like the Everglades tour and I found out we get a limo ride with free champagne in Vegas. So excited!

Me, Keri and Renee on the Everglades tour bus

Well, the Everglades were pretty amazing. I have never seen so many Alligators in my life. They were so cool. Also I have never been so close to wild gators… I was under the impression though that they weren’t too aggressive.

LOOK... A big friendly gator!

No zoom... this is how close I was to the gator!

It was only after this photo was taken that the tour guide was telling us the stories of the alligator attacks and how a gator can leap the length of it’s body and can run up to speeds of 35 miles per hour short distance. Don’t think I would get that close to a gator in the wild again! It was a BIG gator too!

Everglades were beautiful though and it was really amazing looking out at how big it is!

Everglades are ever beautiful!

We also saw lots of birds and turtles too! They just weren’t as exciting as the gators.

After the Everglades we were back on the bus AGAIN and off the Orlando! The place we are staying in Orlando is called Old Town. It is literally like we are staying in a theme park. We walked around tonight and it is like a carnival came to town and never left. It was pretty cool and hopefully has me all ready for tomorrow!

At the Fun Spot in Old Town Orlando!

I have now encountered the hardest part of my trip yet... the biggest decision EVER! Universal Studios (which has Harry Potter World) or Disney World!? It was such a hard choice but I have settled on Universal Studios. I figured that if I am still dying to Disney it up I can go to Disneyland when I get to LA. Anyway, better get to bed! Lots of roller coasters to ride tomorrow!