On August 23, 2022, we went to Florida and it was the most epic experience ever. Now, we had gone to Ohio before, but Florida was a lot better. Let me tell you about it.
It all started off on the 23rd. I woke up at 1:30 am and I was really excited. Our flight was at 6:00, but as the airport recommended being there 3 hours early. By 2:00 everyone was awake (My aunt, uncle, mom and dad). As our luggage had been packed, and we checked in online, we were feeling pretty good. At 2:20, everyone was ready and freshened up, including me.
As I was the only one who loved to travel in my family, I asked my dad if we could get out early. Apparently, we did, and when we got to the airport, we dropped our luggage off, except for the carry-on. Then, we went to security, and I nearly fainted when we were told that we had to wait 2 hours for security to open. I spent 1 and a half hours reading, then waited the next half hour. Man, it was tedious.
Finally, after security opened, I was happy, but my mood dropped after we saw the security lady. Firstly, she was loud, which was annoying. Secondly, she made a rush, and it was unbearable. But little did I know that our troubles weren’t over yet.
Finally, after security, we went to customs. As we took some fresh blueberries with us, my mom got stuck and went through a scanner. She came out fine, just with news that they had taken the blueberries away. I bet that they would eat it.
After all that work, we just needed to find our gate. That was really easy, but the caveat was that we had to wait another half hour for our plane to start boarding. I was bored and found a little trick with the iPad that they used to order food. The iPad had google, and I could watch YouTube on them.
My mom told me that I could only watch 15 minutes, which was fine by me. But when I finished, it felt like forever. Finally, our plane started boarding, and the trip to Florida was on!
When we landed in Florida, it was 9:00, and as we had flown with Air Canada, our luggage had been delayed, and I was mad. It was delayed by 10 hours! That was just plain ridiculous.
When we stepped outside, my first thought was “Wow, it is so humid!,” and I couldn’t wait to get into an air-conditioned car. But it was pretty impressive. I could literally see the heat waves!
Finally, when we got to budget, which is like enterprise, we discovered that they were totally messed up. The car we were supposed to get in the specific parking spot was a different car. My dad wanted an apple air connection, so in the end we ended up getting a Toyota, and we own a Toyota. Exact same model, color difference.
I was really excited to go to Universal Studios and Orlando, but we had to go to Miami. I was extremely disappointed but turns out I would be glad. After we got in the car, we went to a beach. Now I was pumped, because it was nearly time to pick my luggage up! But when we got there, I tried seeing if the water would go away from my shoes, and that’s how I ended up getting my shoes and socks wet. Thankfully, it was only half an hour before we picked our luggage up.
When we drove to the airport to pick up the luggage, I was excited, because after we picked it up, we would go to the hotel, where I could watch tv. My uncle had a netflix account, so he could login to it.
We got into the airport through the exit place, although I was not happy going through there. I was not looking forward to getting a ticket on our very first day. It took a little bit of waiting, but when I spotted it, I was relieved. As soon as we got into the car, I begged my dad to go to the hotel. He agreed, and we started.
As soon as we got there, we went to our hotel room, after checking in. I guessed that we would watch TV when we got there, and I was correct. But we changed and freshened up a little.
We decided to watch Sugar rush, because it was one of my favorites, and one of the classics. When I was over at their house, my aunt, uncle and I used to watch it together. And this was when I was at a sleepover at their house. Anyways, we watched TV for about 2 hours, and when we were done, we went to sleep. It had been a long day. But little did I know the trip would become crazier.
We woke up early on the 24th. That was because we were going to board a cruise. It was like the Disney one, except there was no water park on the deck. There was only a swimming pool that was really small. When we got there, we had to park in the parking lot, and that took forever. But comparing it to the late arrivals, it was quick. It was like a luxury place. They took our baggage to our rooms, and we went to the on-board cafe for breakfast.
It turned out that there was a lot more than just a cafe. There was an ice cream machine, which had different flavors, and there were sprinkles as toppings. There were mini cakes as dessert, and sauces. It was a buffet, so I got pancakes with maple syrup, scrambled eggs, and a lot more. It was all delicious, and I was wiped out. We decided to check our rooms out, then go to the deck. Our rooms were cool, but we didn’t get the ones with windows as they were too expensive. When we went to the deck, we departed. It was pretty cool, and when I saw the pool, I begged them to go there. They said not now, and I was like ok.
When we were going back to our cabin, we saw a spa. This was shocking. There was a 180 degree panoramic view, and some relaxing chairs. We flopped down on them, and next to us was a gym. My dad fell asleep, and I drank some lemon water while relaxing. We couldn’t stay there forever, but we stayed until lunch. We were going to the Bahamas, and it would take 4 days of our trip, which would be worth it. We had lunch, then went to our cabins to watch TV. I visited my uncle and aunt’s cabin, but part of the deal was that I had to check up with my parents every now and then. That was pretty unnecessary.
When it was dinner time, we went to an indoor restaurant called Fins dining. It was impressive, and there were at least 10 birthdays going on. I thought we were near the Bahamas, but we weren’t even close. Turned out the captain decided to take the long trip when we were sleeping. There were supposed to be 12 floors, but one elevator had 14. This, we would find out, was for an arcade. I begged my dad to give me coins, but I forgot that we were in the USA. We didn’t have any US coins. But it was pretty cool. My mom, aunt and uncle had found some relaxing chairs that could kind of turn into beds. But it wasn’t designed for sleeping, but more stargazing. That was exactly what me and my dad did.
There was a lot of light pollution, so we couldn’t see much, but I saw the milky way for the first time. A little for my dad seemed like endless for me. I saw two shooting stars, and that was cool. My dad grew up on a farm, so he went stargazing every night.
We went to bed after, and watched some TV in our cabins.
August 25th was when we docked at the Bahamas. We had gone to Freeport island, so we didn’t get to see Nassau.
The first thing that I noticed was that it was sweltering hot. Nobody seemed to notice though. We had a coconut drink that was like milk, just with sugar, then headed for the middle of the city with a taxi.
In the Bahamas, we discovered that they drove on the left lane, not the right. And the steering wheel was on the right. It was a new experience, but good. We went to a beach that had a little patio, and hammocks. My dad wanted to rest, but they were occupied. Our driver waited for us, and drove someone else and came. The seats were wet, as the people sitting on it came from swimming. We headed back for the port on my request, just stopping at a market. We re-boarded the cruise, and had lunch there, and stayed for the rest of the Bahamas docking.
When we arrived back at Miami, we headed to our hotel for check-out.
Our last, funnest and best part of Florida had arrived! we had headed for Orlando, finally! After arriving at the hotel, we checked in and went straight to our room. We had dinner at a restaurant, then went to sleep.
Rafaz Anwar 