This is continue the page on our holiday in November/December this year.

Saturday 4th December.

Our son Mark had asked that if we saw a Jack Daniels tee shirt, would we get him one. He collects memorabilia from the marquee, so no problems. Could we find one, no! not one. On our travels we did see a sign for J.D, and that was up the road on the way to Tampa. We had nothing planned that day, so decided to go on the hunt for it. I found the sign over a gas station, and asked if they sold it. No, he said but turn right, and head for Hillsbourgh, and there is a shop there. So off we went. Not a sign, even if I did find Hillsbourgh Ave without getting lost. So back we came. That had taken us most of the day. We decided to have a look at a new mall near the hotel just to take up some time. There was a shop there selling country clothes,(oh boy could I have spent some money there), and Mary asked by chance did they sell J.D. tees. No problem he said just around the corner!

The mall had a cinema in it with the usual 20 screens, so we treated ourselves to the first film we had seen on the big screen in years. Shall we dance with Jennifer Lopez and Richard Gere. That was a great film, well worth seeing.

Sunday 5th December

Today we went to the Disney MGM studios. A huge place as are all the Disney places. This of course is based on the movies, and all the rides are set around films or famous people. ( the aero smith ride for example.) One ride is the "Tower of Terror". That was the only one that I wanted to go on. I waited until we had seen most of the park before having a go. The queue was massive, and after about 30 minutes I gave up. Enough, we still had things to see.

The first show was the "Beauty and the Beast" stage show. About 30 minutes long based on the cartoon film of the same name. Very good indeed. Then over to the "Indiana Jones" show. This showed how the stunt men did there jobs on the film. Then the parade, which was one of the best that I have seen. After that some more stunt shows, and a ride on a road train around the park. Nice and peaceful. Of course being Disney, we went into a stage cliff with a oil tanker above our heads. All of a sudden the tanker tipped over, exploded, and then water poured out of the cliff to put it out. Very cleverly done.

One part of the park was done up as the "streets of New York". You would think that you were there. This had been decked out in lights for the season. FIVE MILLION of them! At 6.00pm they came on and what a sight. I have put some photos on my albums. They are not very good due to the lights themselves, but do show just some of the brilliance. And then just as it could not get any better, they made it snow! What a day out.

The last show we saw was called "fantazmic". Based of course on "Fantasia", this was a typical mix of cartoons, actors, and some of the best laser show you will ever see. Hard to describe, but one of the best shows ever. A truly brilliant day out, and one to recommend.

Monday 6th December/Tuesday 7th December.

We had decided before we went away to visit Miami on this trip. So on the Monday we packed a bag, and drove the 250 miles down there. We decided to stay overnight, and eventually found a hotel not to far from the beach area. A nice quiet place just below the flight path of the airport and a main road! To describe myself getting lost in Miami would take to long....

We found the beach area in the end the next day, and a lovely area it is to. The pastel coloured hotels on Collins Avenue are very pretty. After having a look around there, we drove up the A1A that goes from Miami right up north through Florida and beyond to Ft Lauderdale. A very nice place, and the US Navy was in town enjoying the sun. Then the long drive back again. 250 miles may not sound a lot, and on the whole the roads are excellent. But they go on without a change for mile after mile, and are boring....

Wednesday 8th December.

Caught up with some washing so we did not have a pile of dirty clothes to come back to. Then over to the famous Cocoa Beach for a run. It is not much, but a lovely place to hang out, and I got one of my best "sunset" photos there, just of a few palm trees as the sun went down. Then back to Downtown Disney to see "Polar Express" at the cinema. We found that by being over 55 years old we could get in at senior rate! The film was OK but perhaps for the younger audience that would appreciate the clever effects more than we did.

Thursday 9th December.

Over to Cypruss Gardens. This was the opening day for the renewed park, and 45 million dollars had been spent on it. The gardens were spectacular, with wonderful displays. The rides were OK but, although I could have walked on any one it was that quiet, I only went on two. After all that money spent on the place, they need the youngsters to come that will spend the money. Are the rides fast enough for today's kids? I am not sure.

The ski show was great, with one of stars for the day a man of 89 years old! And still going strong. Then on to see a ice show in the theatre. Very good it was as well. We enjoyed Cypruss Gardens a lot, and would come back again.

Friday 10th December

We decided to drive up the 120 miles to St Augustine in the north for the last day. I took the road to Daytona, then the A1A again on to St Augustine. A nice run, although it took us nearly three hours to get there. If you have never heard of it, St Augustine is the oldest town in the USA. A very pretty place. We had quick look around, and then headed back, this time via the freeway as it would prove to be much quicker. In the evening we were going back to Kissimmee old town for the weekly car run. This is when 300 or so pre 1973 car drive through the town. When we got there about 8pm all the cars were on display. Nothing like the 300 I remember, and nothing like the pre 1973 cars. There are now two car runs I was told, and the big one is on a Saturday. That was it off in disgust, as there was "nothing special" to wait for.

Saturday 11th December.

That was it, the holiday was over, off home.....

Once again, the albums can be found here

MGM Studios

Cypruss Gardens

St Pete’s and Clearwater

Busch Gardens

Epcot

Gymnastics at Epcot