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| Judit Berty | Marta Cserepes |
Map of week 1 - Map ofweek 2 - Map of week 3
October 1, 1998
October 2, 1998
Today, we woke up after 10 a.m. We drove over to Gulfport to a local seafood restaurant and all of us ordered the house specialty, the famous crab cakes. From here we went to the Salvador Dali museum and went through the galleries with a guided tour. It was very educational, we all learned a lot about Dali and his art. After the museum we went over to the historic Don Cesar hotel and watched the sunset at the beach.
October 3, 1998
We started this day with a slow and easy shopping. We went to Good Will first than to the Tampa Bay Mall. Later we drove to Old Hyde Park, where an Arts Show was going on the main street which was closed down to car traffic. Photographers, painters and other artists were showing their art work.
October 4, 1998
We went to wonderful canoe trip, with our friends, Thomas and Frieda. It was very nice and peaceful, we experienced how Florida nature really is. At 5:30 we went to church and starting 7 p.m. we saw double feature I-Max movie (6 story high curved screen) about Mt. Everest and about the Space.
October 5, 1998
Monday morning we went to the Ringling Museum in Sarasota, here we viewed the fine collection of this famous circus-family in the Mediterranean style building. This exhibit is famous for its Rubens collection, the largest in the world. After a Chinese lunch, we went to the beach, and enjoyed the sunset. At night we stayed at the river front Ta Ki Ki motel in Fort Myers, Florida.
October 6, 1998
At 9 a.m. we were at the Edison Museum's 400 feet diameter Banyan tree, ready for the guided tour. We enjoyed the wonderful botanical garden, the residences of Edison and Henry Ford and the laboratories. We learned a lot of interesting details about the life and work of these famous people. From here we went to the Seminole Indian reservation for a short visit. By night we were at Key Largo, and finished the day with a fine sea food dinner served by e waitress from Prague.
October 7, 1998
We started our day with a short swim in our motel's pool. By 10 a.m. we were snorkeling in the warm Atlantic at the John Pennekamp Coral Reef park. Afternoon we drove to Key West through the Overseas Highway, witnessing the destructive path of Hurricane Georges. Downtown Key West we strolled through the famous bohemian quarter and enjoyed a spectacular sunset.
October 8, 1998
This morning we visited Ernst Hemingway's Museum. He lived and worked here. He created many of his famous books in this tropical villa, surrounded by lush vegetation and 55 cats. From Key West we drove to the Everglades National Park where we took a car trip and walked enjoying the beauty of this swamp world. Later today we had a short visit in Miami and Miami Beach, where we saw the unique art deco buildings lining the famous South Beach with its hotels and coffee houses.
October 9. 1998
Today, we went to see the Vizcaya in Miami. This is a beautiful Mediterranean villa built on the waterfront with a European style castle garden but with tropical plants and flowers. Other famous visitors here before us were, the Pope, President Reagan and Queen Elizabeth. Afternoon we visited the "American Venice" Fort Lauderdale where the rich and famous keep their yachts in front of their villas. After this we went to Butterfly World, where in a large aviary full of butterflies were flying around in a tropical setting with classical music in the background. At night we arrived back to Tampa.
October 10, 1998
Saturday morning we went to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. We participated on a guided tour given by a volunteer. We could go on backstage and saw all four theaters in this modern building. We stopped by at the downtown food festival too. At night we went to church, than went back to the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center to see Romeo and Juliet, performed by the Monte Carlo ballet. It was a fantastic show. Following the ballet, we walked till midnight in Ybor City, the very colorful local Cuban section of Tampa.
October 11, 1998
This morning we came to Orlando for a four day visit. We started our park hop in Animal Kingdom with an "African" safari. On a jeep-like vehicle we drove through the jungle, we saw giraffes, elephants, hypos, antelopes, zebras etc. We listened to African musicians and took an African train ride too. At dusk, we went to see the Fantasmic, MGM's brand new super show production. Mickey and the "crew" cold be seen live, and projected on a wall of water. Laser light-show and fireworks made this great show even better.
October 12, 1998
Today, we went to Disney World's EPCOT Center to see the future world and the International showcase. For example in China, we saw a movie about the beauty of China projected on a 360 degree screen surrounding us. In "Morocco" we listened to singers and dancers while walking in the bazaar. In " Paris" we got soaking wet in a true Florida tropical downpour.
October 13, 1998
Today we had a very busy day. First we went to Sea World. Among others, we saw dolphin and killer whale shows and many other interesting sea creatures. For a few hours we returned to MGM Studios where only Marta was brave enough to drop with the "faulty" elevator in the Tower of Terror. At night we went to EPCOT to see the Illuminations, the famous Disney fireworks-laser-light and sound sow.
October 14, 1998
We returned to EPCOT. In Kodak's Imagination display we saw a 3-D movie with great effects, humor and some fright. Later we saw the Energy exhibit where our rolling benches took us to a prehistoric rain forest full with prehistoric animals. In the afternoon we traveled around Disney's parks with the futuristic monorail, stopped a little while at the Polynesian resort. Than we caught the Parade in the Magic Kingdom and rode the train around the park.
October 15, 1998
We went to Splendid China in Orlando. This is a large park with miniature sized exact copies of famous places in China and the rest of Asia. All buildings are hand made, even the half mile long, 3 ft high replica of the Great Wall of China was put together with over 6 million 2 inch bricks. We returned to Tampa for the evening show of Forever Tango, a spirited, sexy occasionally acrobatic tango dancers by Argentinean dancers complemented by an Argentinean orchestra. It was a fantastic show.
October 16, 1998
This day is spent driving to Atlanta to visit Sylvia and her family. She is our childhood friend from Budapest, we will spend a few days with her.
October 17, 1998
With our wonderful friends, Sylvia and Attila we took a very scenic, 430 mile trip to the mountains of Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. The leaves were changing, the colors were wonderful. We were also very lucky with the weather, it was sunny, nice and clear.
October 18, 1998
We went to church than drove to downtown Atlanta. Stopped at the Underground, walked through the lobby of the Coca Cola museum, than went to see the CNN Headquarters where the news programs are broadcast all over the world. We visited the Olympic Park, and some other Atlanta sights, stopped at Sylvi's workplace too. In the afternoon we went to Stone Mountain park. Here is the world's largest uncovered granite mountain, on it carved the statues of Jackson, Lee and Jefferson on horseback. To illustrate the size of these statues, just the ears of the horses are over 2 m long. We took a cable car to the top of Stone Mountain, from here we had a wonderful view to Atlanta and the surrounding areas. For dinner we went to the Australian restaurant, Outback Steakhouse. Marta needed some help if she needed to use the "Sheilas" or "Bolcks" door to go to the bathroom. Today, she could navigate the restrooms in Australia with great ease. It was another great day, we are very grateful for Sylvia and Attila for their warm hospitality!
October 19, 1998
This morning we drove to Savannah, Georgia. This is a very charming European style small town, with fountain and statue decorated parks and nice villas, with tropical plants. The Clint Eastwood directed "Midnight of the Garden of Good and Evil" was shot here. By afternoon we arrived to St. Augustine, the oldest town in the United States. This is a 500 year old Spanish town. It has very nice old buildings in the Spanish Quarter and people can be seen on the cobble stone streets wearing colonial Spanish costumes.
October 20, 1998
Today we went from St. Augustine to Silver Springs. Here we took several boat
trips in the old, untouched Florida. We rode in a glass bottom boat and
watched the crystal clear water underneath us. We also saw monkeys, birds and and
many fishes. The flowers and trees gave a charming, very peaceful environment.
October 21, 1998
Shop till drop day.
October 22, 1998
Today we are in Cypress Gardens which is a true tropical paradise full
October 23, 1998
First we visited our wonderful friends, Ruth antd Ray. We had a fantastic four course feast and a pleasant chat. We shopped at the Dollar Store. Later we went over to Clearwater Beach where Marta swam with the dolphins nearby, we watched the sunset and met Madelyn for dinner at the great Italian restaurant, Ottavio's.
October 24, 1998
This morning we visited the Tampa Theatre han Marta and Judit made us a fantastic Hungarian dish, chicken paprikash. In the afternoon we went to Bally's for an aqua aerobics workout, than drove to St. Petersburg for a great open air concert by the Florida Orchestra with a beautiful fireworks at a waterfront park.
October 25, 1998
We went to Sunday morning service at the beautiful Sacred Heart church in downtown Tampa where Madelyn's daughter, Michelle got married. After some last minute shopping my sisters did some "creative" packing and we went to the Airport for a teary good-bye till we meet again next time. This was a truly perfect vacation from the first minute to the last. None of us will ever forget it.
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are not sitting home, but participating in life - Saving water but leaving lights on all the time
Walkways and bus stops are rarely used - Crossing streets during red lights - Can walk on grass
Don't take bags to shop - Don't have to use baskets in shops if few things needed
