Day Tripping: Options with Zonta International 2014 Convention

We're on a bit of a theme here - Day Trips!

I have a recommended day trip, Zonta have a recommended day trip - between us we can drain your wallet and your energy and leave you feeling like the over-excited 6 yr old who's had blue food colouring.

...and then we'll go on the segways, and then the horsies, and then go bass fishing, and then lunch at Chef Mickey's, and .....

Zonta International have released the Call to Convention - with all the fun options and boring stuff you have to know. Let's look at the FUN!

I have already given you multiple insights into the delights of Winter Park - what with the shopping and the little boat tour and the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum with the Tiffany Glass.This is a MUST - even if you do not do the Zonta tour - somehow get yourself to Winter Park.  If you are reading this, then you'll want to come with me. Cause my visit to Winter Park will have an extra - The Wine Room - remember this post?

The other MUST DO on the day trip list is the Kennedy Space Centre. I am yet to do a post on KSC but it is one of the unique places in the world to visit.

oh .... dang ..... it is too late at night for me .... I am supposed to avoid saying something like ..."out of this world"  or "I need my space"  or "to infinity and beyond" - source = kennedyspacecentre facebook

Bargain shopping in Orlando is definitely worth checking out. Both destinations offered by Convention are great - among the best on offer. Strangely not mentioned, there is a Prime Outlet Mall under 10 minutes away at Vineland Ave rather than the International Drive location, which is a 30 minute drive. You have to drive past the Vineland location to get to the International Drive location. Go figure.

Red dot marks the Marriott, A = Vineland Dr and B = International Dr malls.

The airboat ride doesn't really take my fancy. I have to admit I much prefer the quiet sneakiness of the kayak tour. And coming from Australia where we have plenty of man eating salt-water crocodiles, I would much prefer to go out to the Gulf and snorkle with the manatees.

far less chompy

I have to admit I am without guidance for you with regard to the other tours on offer. The art classes, airboat ride, and chocolate apple dipping are outside of my experience.

I urge you to do some of these day trips - even if you go under your own steam (and frankly I will be for Winter Park and the shopping.)  The selection on offer is a tiny fraction of all experiences and entertainment you can partake in Orlando. So if these don't take your fancy, do not fret, there will be plenty of other activities that will.

What buying a Convention trip gives you is ease of transport, meeting new people, and making new friends.  There will be plenty of like-minded ladies around you to laugh and joke with as you hone your chocolate drizzling or chat on the bus ride.

What are your plans for day tripping? What sights would you like to see?

And the high tide line rose half a metre when I got in....

So here I am in Florida, in my full body rubber suit, a million miles from home and from where anyone can ever find me, and I am hiding out in the Crystal River backwaters and springs ..... or maybe that's another story - "50 Shades Deeper: Into the Bayou".

The mighty hunter don's the appropriate clothing and shooting equipment

What mysteries lurk beneath the grey waters? Perhaps the Republicans' much feared 11% Latinos !

The first sighting! Grey rounded lumpy thing in water

Then it was time to get in and meet the dude

so here is a bit of time lapse photography - too many pictures to make for a great post, too few to make a movie ...

Out of the murky depths ...

The manatee approacheth...

With fear in his eyes, he wonders if he will have room to pass

rough and mossy - just how I like it

sidles back off into the distance

Thanks to Manatees in Paradise for the photos - Capt Stacy gets in the water with everyone and an underwater camera and snaps away.

Capt Stacy takes us to a variety of swimming spots. One is as crystal clear as a swimming pool in a glorious foresty setting.

They hang in the warm shallows for two reasons - it's where the sea grass can grow; and, despite their size, they have very little fat and need to stay warm in the sun. Unlike me. I have more blubbery insulation than a manatee! I was toasty!

The manatees are very placid and slow and practically swim head first into your boat propeller. As sharp as a box of hammers.

After 3 hours tootling about and jumping in and out of the water, we were all manatee'd out and headed back to shore. I think I had a cocktail making class to get to or something ......

And so we bade farewell to Mr Manatee with a "don't get hit by a boat on the way out", and am suddenly back in dock. Wetter but all the richer for this "once in a lifetime" experience. You certainly can't do this Australia. You have to get a permit just to get within 50 metres in Australia!

OK - so I STRONGLY recommend doing this - and doing it with Capt Stacy. There is no real physical exercise - as long as you can handle yourself floating in water and am comfortable using a snorkle. You could easily stand in most of the places we stopped.

It will be a blessed relief from the blazing June heat; it is cheap on the holiday finances; and Capt Stacy provides most things to make it easy.

How often do you get to go swimming with a manatee in the fancy schmancy housing estate waterfront canal system?!

Eye gouging - banned in most sports

Chilling out

So what are your options when it is volcano heat in June in Orlando?

For many people there is nothing more refreshing than to refresh in a cool swimming pool.

The World Centre Marriott Pool

But what if sterilised concrete and chlorine is not really your thing? What if you want to get back to nature?

No - not Cypress Cove Resort - although if you are after that "special" experience....not that there's anything wrong with that ...

I mean - let's go swimming with the manatees!

So - Aussie's - what's the difference between a dugong and manatee?

Is this better to look at than the other photo above? Not that there's anything wrong with the way a dugong looks ...

So the first thing you need to do is head for the Gulf Coast!

So you are going to need that hire car and drive west for about 2 hours to Crystal River and Springs.

Door to door - just under 2 hours - just over if you stop at the Dunkin' Donuts

 Let's take a closer look at the territory:

All those red dots are the entry point to the reserve at Kings Bay. See all the inlets and springs - that's manatee territory

This area is all deep south US territory with spanish moss and shallow swampy spots and canals. Very different to Australia and easily just as beautiful.

(source: Florida Native Plant Society)

It is in these warm, shallow, crystal clear springs that the manatees bask in the sunlight and slowly munch away on the sea grass beds. Interestingly, manatees can live in both fresh and sea water so they move up and down the creeks and out to the Gulf to find food and maintain their temperature.

As a protected species, there are a mountain of regulations around boating and fishing in manatee environment and how to interact with the manatees. All of this information is readily available from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

A good tour guide will adhere to these protections and will make sure you do too. And there are plenty such tour guides to choose from.

I went with Capt Stacy Dunn from Manatees in Paradise.

Capt Stacy runs small tours - there was only 3 of us on my tour off a small pontoon. Included in the tour was a wetsuit, flippers, snorkle and mask. I brought my towel and all snacks to keep me going! Tours cost around $50 plus gratuity.

So I'm on board, I've got my wetsuit, Capt Stacy has heaved off  and ......

.... in my next post I'll show you what we did!

Manatee mingling

You're probably all wondering when is the strange woman gonna shut up about freakin' theme parks! Even when promised something other than Disney in Orlando - it was just another theme park - AAARRGGHHH!!

Dick's house must be AWESOME!!!

Perhaps you are more the 'back to nature' type and would be interested to know that Central Florida is predominately swamp with really cool wildlife and gators!

So for the nature lovers out there I'll checking out the 'snorkling with manatees' option.

 I had to choose this video to share - it is full of the AWESOME that I imagine would be at Dick's house!

It even has a tree hugging hippy song at the end!

If you held onto your lunch and made through the song you will have noted the couple of mermaid references. Yes - the Florida manatee legend has it that in times of yore seafarers would confuse manatees for mermaids. Hmmmmm.......

Mermaid:

manatee:

mermaid:

manatee:

I suppose if you've been at sea for long enough ...............

Anyway you'll be sad to discover that I am not going snorkling with Bob of video fame. Somehow his sales pitch just didn't win me over.  Instead I'll be swimming with Capt. Stacy from Manatees in Paradise. 

The epicentre of manatee tourism is Crystal River, which is approx 2 hours drive, in a very fast car, from WDW on the west coast  of Florida - Gulf of Mexico territory - but Crystal River is in a large natural spring area, and with apparently little damage from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. 

There are a huge number of manatee tours operating out of central florida and down the Gulf coast. Just google and find the one that suits your purposes and wallet.

UPDATE: Sept 2011: I just found this awesomeness from The Family Guy:

You will not find this character at Disney