Is Orlando Awesome?

Welcome to Paradise.

I grew up in a town on the Atlantic Ocean named for a pirate.  In the summer we would make the arduous journey to Cape Cod to the town where the Pilgrims landed.  I never liked that town and haven't been back, truth be told - if I lived there in 1620 I would have been on the Native Americans' team and tried to send those Pilgrims back to The Netherlands (if you were thinking "back to England" you went to a bad elementary school).

So it surprised me when I swam in the Gulf of Mexico in my 30s.  I thought Florida was theme parks around Orlando and Orange groves.  Boy was I wrong, I became a "Gulf Guy" couldn't have be happier.  The water is warmer than the summer ocean temp in my hometown.  Which is why I came here, but now that our son is nine, we love Orlando.

But, we ARE NOT a Disney Family.

Our son has been there and thought the lines were ridiculous, the rides were boring and there is way more fun stuff to do.  That's what is great about Orlando, theme parks are just a small part of it.  In Orlando, we have gone indoor skydiving, indoor skateboarding, multiple animal encounters and of course wakeboarding.

So yeah, Orlando is awesome what ever you like, even if it's not theme parks ;-)


Stretching before a trip to Orlando...






     

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