Going to Florida

The day after school got out, my family got up bright and early to drive to the airport. We stayed in the airport waiting for our plane for what seemed like forever, when finally they announced the flight to Atlanta, Georgia. That was our first flight, and we were boarding it!

The plane was quiet except for the sounds of soft footsteps and adjusting in seats. I looked intently to find where I was to sit. Ha! I got a window seat… my favorite place to sit. With my family in the seats next to me and on other rows, I couldn’t wait for this plane to take off.

The pilot announced how long the flight would be, and the attendants showed us what to do in an emergency. Then before I knew it, we were taking off into the bright blue sky. We floated and glided in and out of the clouds. My sister and I marveled at the beauty of the skies.

The flight was supposed to be four to five hours, but it was over way too fast. The pilot stated the weather and to turn off all of the electronics and that we would be landing soon.

Even though I was sad to leave the plane, landing is one of my favorite parts and I looked forward to it. Everyone gave a slight “Woah!” here and there as the plane would drop and then be stable again. Then, it was suddenly over.

We ate a quick lunch and got ready for our next flight. The wait was almost longer than our past flight it seemed! But in a few hours, we were boarded onto our final flight to get to our destination, Florida.

This flight was quicker, only an hour long; but I enjoyed every minute of it. The drinks and snacks, the magazines, and the beautiful views out the window… it was all amazing. After 45 minutes of the flight, we were told that we were going to land. I was a little sad, but I knew that I would be in a totally different place, and that there was much to explore.

Florida was so different than I had imagined it. I have really never seen so many trees in my life, and there were no mountains. My family was pretty surprised at that too!

We drove to the condo we were staying at and grabbed our luggage. We opened the door, and unpacked. Our Florida vacation had finally begun.

We lounged for a day or two, enjoying the warm sun and the refreshing pool. We also watched some movies together! But we’d lounged for enough, time for some activities!

For three days, we went to Disney World. All I can say to that is Woo-hoo! They don’t call it the happiest place on earth for nothing! The first day we went to the Magic Kingdom. We got on a lot of rides, and had the time of our lives!

The second day, we went to the Animal Kingdom. That had a lot of fun rides too! We rode roller coasters and went on a safari.

On the roller coasters, I could feel the adrenalin rush as our train would climb slowly to the top of a steep hill. I could almost taste the excitement rushing with us. I felt the wind run past me like it was late for something important. I felt my stomach go into my throat as the train dropped us. I felt so happy, that I couldn’t possibly be any happier.

The third day we went to Hollywood Studios. We went on the Tower of Terror, The Rockin’ Roller Coaster, and we saw a lot of shows! We watched in awe as we walked around and I finally knew where I was. This was Florida! Right then I knew that I was there with my family, in the happiest place on earth.

So after those three intense and fun days of Disney Land, we decided to lie low for a day. We watched some more movies, read some books, and just laughed with each other.

After that great day, we did another amazing activity. We went kayaking.

We hopped out of our rented car, and slapped on some sunscreen. Let me tell you now that spray sunscreen is NOT the type of sunscreen to use when you really need it.

We got in our kayaks, and the instructor told us how to paddle, how to turn, and how to stop. Then we followed him.

After about a half hour, my arms got tired, but I didn’t give up. My sister and I put our feet up on the top of the kayak, and embraced the warm sun. Now that we had slowed down, time to speed back up!

Finally we went to our destination; a beautiful spot where the water was deep. So deep, that there were manatees swimming in it. We got to see the manatees poke their heads up for a quick sharp breath, and then slip back under. We were allowed to pet the manatees, but they were so fast that it was hard to!

Manatees weren’t the only living things in the waters. There were fish, water snakes in the trees, and sting rays.

Kayaking was one of the most fun experiences I’ve ever had! It was so fun, and I’d like to do it again sometime! Of course, I’ll have to get my arms in shape first (they were REALLY sore afterwards) but kayaking again would be worth some of the pain that my arms might go through to get in shape.

After our great Florida adventure, it was time to go home. We had had lots of fun, but we were ready to go back.

We waited for our plane for an extremely long time, when they announced that our flight was canceled. Our plane broke! We were thinking we might have to sleep in the airport again, (we had to sleep in the airport once before due to bad weather while trying to leave New York… wow we have bad luck!) but luckily they had a ticket for us for three hotel rooms for free!

We got dropped of at the Hilton Hotel (our rental car was already returned since we thought we were leaving) and we got to our rooms.

My two sisters and I had one room, my parents had another room, and my two brothers had another room. Each room had two queen sized beds, so we all slept comfortably. We ordered delivery pizza, and watched a movie before we all went to bed.

As quick as a flash, our night was over. Wake up call from the hotel staff came to us at 4:30 A.M.! We had to get to the airport early if we wanted to make our flight to Atlanta.

This time, we actually made it on the flight with no delay (thank goodness) and made it safely to Atlanta.

Our layover in Atlanta was a few hours, so we looked at the shops and got some food while we waited. After the few hours we spent in the Atlanta airport, our flight to Salt Lake City, was boarding.

As the plane took off, I looked out the window. This was goodbye to Florida, and hello to home. But I was ready. Even though Florida was absolutely amazing…

There’s no place like home.