Dicovery Cove Florida
The ocean and what kinds of creatures inhabit it have always fascinated me, especially the marine mammals like the dolphins and whales. I had always wanted to ride and play with a whale or dolphin, but most of all, work in a place where I could train and study the marine mammals. Last summer one of my dreams came true.
We had already made plane reservations months in advance to go to Florida. It was my mom, my grandma, and me going on this trip. We were going down south to Stuart, Florida, to see my cousin David graduate from high school. More importantly, we needed a vacation. My mom and I also decided we would need a separate vacation from our family, so we decided to make reservations at Discovery Cove near Sea World.
The morning of the trip had finally come. And, like most trips we go on the morning of the trip was crazy. I was trying to get everything all packed up and into the car, including my mother and my grandma. Finally, about two hours before we needed to be at the airport, I was able to get all of us out the door and on our way.
Finding a parking spot at the airport is always fun. We drove around about twice and finally found one close to where the airport bus comes to pick you up. We got off the crowded bus at the US Airways ticket office; we checked our bags in and got ourselves checked in, so the worry of getting there on time was now over.
About an hour later, we were able to board the plane. It was kind of strange since this was the first time I had gotten on a plane since the plane crash on September 11, 2001. But I love to fly, so I had to ignore my worries. We settled into our seats, me at the window, my mom in the middle, and my grandma at the aisle. The plane took off about ten minutes late, as usual, and we were finally on our way. We arrived at the West Palm Beach Airport about two hours later.
When we go to Florida, it is not unusual for my aunt, Judy, to pick us up at the airport. My uncle, Roger, and my cousin, David, are usually too busy to greet us. As always, my aunt was right at the place near the security check-in waiting on us. We did our hugs and kisses and went down to the baggage claim to get our luggage.
It was lunchtime when we arrived, and we were all hungry. So we all piled up in my aunts little Neon and went into West Palm Beach and visited the Cheesecake Factory. What a restaurant! It had indoor and outdoor eating spots. We decided we would eat outside, since it wasn’t too hot. As we sat around this restaurant and caught up on our gossip, we figured out why they called it the Cheesecake Factory. I have never seen such big thick slices of cheesecake. Just looking at it made our mouths water. After we ate our lunch, we all decided to split a piece of this cheesecake. Out of the fifteen or so choices, we picked the coffee cheesecake. It might have been eight dollars, but just to bite into that cheesecake one time would have been worth the eight dollars. After we had blown up our bellies with food, we paid our bill and left.
To get rid of some of the calories we had just eaten, we decided to look around at some of the shops around the area. There were the regular stores like Gap and Old Navy, that we went and looked around in. Then we went into Blomingdale’s. This was the first time I had ever been in a Blomingdale’s, so I felt kinda like a rich girl walking around in there. We went in there and look around and gaulked at some of the outrageous prices and decided that it was less expensive to shop at the regular stores.
We left the shopping area and were on our way to my aunt’s house. It was about a two-hour drive from West Palm Beach to Stuart where my aunt lives. We pulled up to the driveway and got all of our stuff out and went into the house and got settled. That night all I could think about was the following day.
The next day I got up about 7:30a.m. very excited. My mom and I were going to drive up to Orlando, Florida. We left my aunt’s house about 8:30a.m. and started on our two and a half hour drive up the Florida Turnpike. We arrived in Orlando about 11:00am because we got a little lost. We then checked into the Comfort Inn and went to our room. We unpacked what we had brought and just took a break for about an hour. After that, I couldn’t stand it any more. We had to go to Sea World.
Our packet with Discovery Cove had a Seven-day pass to Sea World. We walked into Sea World and started off to the Dolphin Stadium. We had been to Sea World before, but we had not seen everything. The dolphin show was one of the shows we had missed. As we sat down at the stadium, the show began. To me it was the most amazing thing in the world. The dolphins did what the trainers asked them to do, which was to jump almost 30 feet in the air. It was incredible to watch. As the day progressed we decided to look at the other exhibits we didn’t get to see the last time. Around 8:00p.m. the last Shamu show was about to begin. Once again we rushed to our seats just as the show was beginning. As the lights dimmed and the smoke from the fog machines rolled, out of the water came the most incredible animal I have ever seen: the Killer Whale. From the beginning I was just fixed to the whole show. As I watched the trainers ride on the whale’s back, I wondered how they made it look so easy, it was incredible. It probably brought tears to every ones eyes just watching them move.
As Sea World was closing for the night, my mom and I were getting quite tired, so we travelled backed to the hotel. At the hotel, my mom talked to her friend, Jackie. She was going to try to meet us at Discovery Cove the next day, since we didn’t get to see her that often. By 10:00 p.m. mom and me were both in bed.
The next morning I was wide-awake by 7:30a.m. We were going to go to Discovery Cove. We got to Discovery Cove at 8:30a.m. when it opened. It did not seem crowded because they only allow about one thousand people in the park a day. We got to the counter and checked in at the front desk. There, our pictures were taken to put on our passes for us to keep through out the day. They also gave us some dolphin safe sunscreen so if it comes off in the water, it will not hurt any of the dolphins or fish.
After we cheeked in, they showed us where we could find the bathrooms, lockers, where we got our snorkelling gear, and also gave us a quick tour around the park. I was supposed to ride the dolphins at 9:30a.m. so we had to hurry. While I was putting on my wet suit, my mom went to look for Jackie.
It was finally 9:30a.m, and I went to the little cabana where they talked to every one about the dolphins. They told us how they use different training techniques and how they care for them. When they had finished talking, they put us in groups and took us down to the water. I was so excited I could hardly stand it! We got into the 70-degree water shivering. But once we all got into the water and saw the dolphins for the first time, we didn’t think about the cold anymore. It was amazing to see a dolphin so close up. We were introduced to the dolphin and were told that our dolphin’s name was Lester. I was the first one alone with Lester. The trainer took me out to the deep end and Lester followed. Out in the deep water was where I was able to really get to be close to Lester. I was able to give him a complete rub down with my hands. The body of a dolphin is soft and rubbery. After I had finished rubbing Lester, the trainer gave him the signal to go straight out of the water, and I was able to dance with him. I was dancing with a dolphin. When we were through with our dance, it was time for my ride. I held on to his dorsel fin and his side fin, and he swam me back to the group. I finally got to do what I had dreamed of. I got to ride and play with a dolphin!
The rest of the day was great. We went snorkelling through the water and saw stingrays, sharks, and other kinds of fish. It was beautiful there. But 4:00p.m. came around, and we had done everything we could do there. So we packed up our things and went back to the hotel.
That night, since Jackie had never been to Sea World, so we went back and watched a couple of shows, and then ate at the park. As we walked out of the park to our car, we were able to watch an incredible fireworks show that Sea World puts on. It was big and beautiful. All the colors and lights just brightened up the sky.
It had been a great weekend. But, unfortunately, we had to go back to my aunt’s house and go to my cousin’s graduation. As we left Orlando, all I could think about was Discovery Cove and the great adventure I had. I had fulfilled one of my dreams. I couldn’t have been happier!
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admin on November 13th, 2009 | File Under Uncategorized | - [?]