My trip to Florida ended early yesterday morning when my parents dropped us off at the Orlando airport. At 5:30AM. Our plane left at 8:30AM. And yes, we needed almost all of that time to check in, get through security, and eat before we boarded. (Note to self: flying around the holidays is the worst and most expensive idea ever. Ever.)
We had a great time, though. It was the first time I had seen any member of my family in over a year. Our hometown was so different, though. It had gone from being a podunk town in central Florida to a city on the verge of something huge. The little soccer fields they built right before we left (seen below) had morphed into a full on sports complex with funding from a bigwig in California and sponsorship from Disney. Rumor has it professionals will be playing there. I will cut someone to go see David Beckham.
The dirt road leading to my grandpa's old house was suddenly a four lane road. The two lane road my parents live on was littered with cones and reflectors, as it is also about to come a four lane road. There were fast food restaurants and banks where there had been open land before. New houses had been built in subdivisions that were merely blueprints before we left. Acres of orange groves had been destroyed, which broke my heart. But the people? The people were the same. The same people we have always loved being around.
I had an epiphany: it didn't matter if I hated the place, I loved my family and my husband's friends (because I don't have friends in Florida, remember?) I don't have to live near them, they'll be there when I want or need them. I was heartbroken to leave everyone again, but so glad to be back in my own bed, in my own house, in Anchorage.
Enough with the sappy talk, let's see some pictures!
We had a great time, though. It was the first time I had seen any member of my family in over a year. Our hometown was so different, though. It had gone from being a podunk town in central Florida to a city on the verge of something huge. The little soccer fields they built right before we left (seen below) had morphed into a full on sports complex with funding from a bigwig in California and sponsorship from Disney. Rumor has it professionals will be playing there. I will cut someone to go see David Beckham.
The dirt road leading to my grandpa's old house was suddenly a four lane road. The two lane road my parents live on was littered with cones and reflectors, as it is also about to come a four lane road. There were fast food restaurants and banks where there had been open land before. New houses had been built in subdivisions that were merely blueprints before we left. Acres of orange groves had been destroyed, which broke my heart. But the people? The people were the same. The same people we have always loved being around.
I had an epiphany: it didn't matter if I hated the place, I loved my family and my husband's friends (because I don't have friends in Florida, remember?) I don't have to live near them, they'll be there when I want or need them. I was heartbroken to leave everyone again, but so glad to be back in my own bed, in my own house, in Anchorage.
Enough with the sappy talk, let's see some pictures!
Kyle and his BFF playing soccer on Christmas afternoon.
SeaWorld! Even though I had lived in central Florida for twenty years, I had never been to SeaWorld until a few days ago.
K&M do SeaWorld.
Me and baby E (my big cousin's son) getting ready to watch the sea lion & otter show. (Can I have an otter? Please?!)
The two opposite Kyle and I are my big cousins. I don't see them nearly enough. (He lives in Germany, she lives on the other side of the county, and I'm in Alaska. What can you do?) The middle one is my little sister.
Kyle skimboarding in Cocoa. It was a fantastic beach day.
Kyle skate boarding at a park right down from the beach. Can I just tell you that if I could live in Cocoa, I'd move back to Florida in a heartbeat? I would.
You may notice that I don't have any pictures of Christmas or New Year's Eve. I didn't take many on Christmas and for NYE, we watched the ball drop and ate mozzarella bites with his parents. Everyone was partying it up in Tampa and we didn't want to drive over there. Tampa kinda sucks. (Not really but...I didn't feel like being mugged that night, you know?)
No comments:
Post a Comment