Staying in Fort Pierce and Trip to Orlando

Sunday July 18 – Saturday July 24

Sunday morning we are up before dawn for a 6 AM departure from our slip at high tide. We go to the fuel dock to wait for them & the office to open. After topping off with fuel, Steve goes to the office to check out. He comes back to the boat and explains the situation, we can pay $900 for the 10 days we have been here OR we can pay $700 and have the option to stay for a month. Now Fort Pierce is a very nice place but to say for a month, is not what we really want to do. Our original plan was to leave Ft. Pierce and go up to Cape Canaveral, and spend a few days there, renting a car to go over to Orlando for a couple of days. We walk the boat up the fuel dock pier to get out of the way of other boats getting fuel while we discuss our options. It really is not a tough choice, we can sail up to Cape Canaveral and pay another marina & drive the 45 minutes to Orlando OR just stay here (for “free”) and drive 2 hours to Orlando. We stay at Ft. Piece, but now we have to hang out at the fuel dock pier to wait until the next high tide at 1 to go back to a slip. We are in the spot of a charter fishing boat, so the dock-master says it is okay as long as we are moved by the time they come back to dock, which could cut it close with the tide. We go to a different slip one we hope is a little deeper and quieter without the fishing charter boat so close. Steve can back the boat up like a charm, and I am getting much better with using the hook to get all the bow & mid lines on but docking is still not our favorite, dropping the anchor is much preferred. We are in our new slip by 1, having lunch as we make plans for Orlando. Monday Steve works on a hatch that we had just received the part for, while I make some phone calls about rental cars, hotels & tickets for the places we want to go to in Orlando, and we dig out the duffel to pack. Tuesday at 7:30 I get picked up by Enterprise to go get our rental car, it's a cute little KIA Ria, a pretty blue that even matches my outfit (LOL). Back to the marina to pick up Steve & our bags and we are on the road by 8:45 feeling strange leaving the boat behind. Our 1st stop in Orlando is to the visitors center who I had book some of our tickets and who said they had a book with daily hotel specials we could check to find a room, they were also located between 2 of the places we would be going. They have a deal for $39.99 a night at the Econo Lodge right across the street, centrally located to where we are going and right on International Blvd with all the restaurants to choose from. We are checked in by noon, walk across the street to a restaurant for lunch, back to the room to change into our bathing suits and on our way to Wet'N Wild water park by 1:30. It is close by so by 2 we are standing in line for our 1st ride—the Black Hole. We had a blast riding all the good & fast rides BUT water parks are all about sanding in line for 30 – 40 minutes for 30 – 40 SECONDS of thrills. It took 6 hours to ride 9 rides, they were all thrills & laughs, but we learned for future reference that this park and probably others as well offer for an additional fee a “frequent flier” pass so you get a special wrist band and have your own lines where you go straight to the front. Definitely would have been worth the price if we had only known we would have avoided the lines! Back to the hotel at 8:30 for showers out to a late dinner at 9:30 at a great Thai restaurant. Wednesday we are out of the hotel at 8:15 to pick up our tickets to Epcot Center, and are walking in the gates at Epcot at 9 AM, as they open. We are there ALL day, walking to ALL the attractions and riding all the rides and yes standing in lines again, lines are not as long and the rides are a lot longer so you get to sit and relax more, plus we used the fast-pass option on a couple of rides. We have a great lunch at a French restaurant and a great dinner at a Moroccan restaurant then watch a fabulous fireworks show before leaving the park at 9:30 PM. Thursday we sleep in as check out time is 11 and my feet are very tired. We have tickets for the 6 pm Cirque Du Soleil show La Nouba that is in the downtown Disney Area that also has an AMC 24 theater. We head over there after checking out of the hotel and have lunch at a great Cuban restaurant then go check to see what movies are playing. Now Steve & I have never been to a movie theater to see a movie together. We use to get movies from Netflix & Blockbuster but never went to a movie theater. We choose the movie Inception which turns out to be a really good choice as it is a very good movie with lots of layers. After the movie just enough time for a drink at the Blues House before the Cirque show, find our seats and wait for the show to begin. Today is a day for sitting & giving my feet a break from 2 days of standing in lines and walking. I did get stuck in one little line, at downtown Disney for a balloon ride, Steve sat in the shade along the lake while I took a ride up in the tethered helium balloon after waiting in line for 20 minutes. Steve made the better choice as the ride & view were not the best. The Cirque Du Soleil show was wonderful as they always are. We are on the road driving back to Ft. Pierce by 8 PM and back home on the boat by 10 after a great little side trip. We had perfect sunshine weather all 3 days of our trip, and just in time as Fridays prediction of rain bands from tropical depression Bonnie starts to affect the Ft. Pierce area and we have rain on & off throughout the day. Which is just perfect for me to sleep in and rest up after the past 3 busy days. Steve of course has to have a project to work on, and since we live on a boat he has no problem finding a few things to do. Satuday is Steves Birthday !! and Sunday we will have been living the cruising life for 4 wonderful months!! Dinner out Saturday night to celabrate both !!

link to pictures:  http://picasaweb.google.com/103931849054358791487/Orlando?feat=directlink