Flash Back Friday: Florida 1996

I noticed that I had already did a Niagara Falls Flash Back a few months ago, so I found these OLDIES from 1996. This trip was taken even before I knew my current husband they were so long ago. It was still a great trip, and since it was the first scrapbook I found on this busy Friday, I snapped a few already scrapped pictures from the album. Do you remember when you had to guess what you got in your photos before they were even developed? I also was not as good about taking 1000 pictures at each destination either. In fact if I remember correctly I think I may have had more video recorded on this trip then photos....I think the stupid camera thing weigh more then 25 pounds and we lugged it through three parks. I wish I could find that footage.  That's how long ago 1996 was. But anyways, here it goes, to the best of my memory. Florida in 1996.

In 1996, I was still with my eldest children's father. My oldest son was 3,(now 20) my daughter was still under a year old (now 18). I had been blessed with a nice sum of money from my Grandmother Margret, and we decided that a trip to visit friends in Florida would be fun. We drove to Maryland and met up with Jeanine. She was living in Baltimore at the time, and while she was at work, we snuck out to Washington, DC for a few hours and went to the National Air and Space Museum. I don't have a single picture.
If I recall we left the following day and drove straight to about Georgia. Me, Jeanine, Nick and Basil (my children's father). It was a long draining trip. (Anyone who knows Basil can guess what fun that was. Add Jeanine's crazy ass, (I do love her very much) and a 3 year old to the mix and I am surprised that I was sober the entire trip. Anyways.....we made it in one piece to Florida where we connected with one of my besties Lynne and her family. Lynne was my bestie growing up, she and her family moved to Florida a few years before this trip. Here we all are!

left to right. Tim (Lynne's husband), Tyler (her son), Lynne, (her youngest son) Troy, Jeff (Lynne's brother), Me with little Nick and Jeanine.  (Basil must have been taking the picture.)

We enjoyed a day with Lynne and her family before we all packed up (minus Tim) and took a 3 hour ride to Disney World's Magic Kingdom.

 I will not get into the details of getting there, and the drama at the parks gates....but lets just say, there is a good reason that my children's father and I are NO LONGER together and leave it at that.

My favorite moments; All of Fantasy Land. Nick's happy response to Pirates of the Caribbean, and his fear in the Haunted Mansion. My personal favorite fear was The Alien ride; which is no longer there, now Stitch's Adventure or something like that, which scared the crap out of me. Least favorite; Something of Progress.

 

 

What can you say about Disney except that it never fails to entertain, and we all had a great time.

We enjoyed time with good friends, and set out for our return trip home a few days later. We stopped at Weeki Wachee Spring on our return trip. Now this is something a little different then Disney, and I was so excited to find this little gem, as I remembered it fondly from my own youth. This is the place where MERMAIDS LIVE!

(picture taken from the website)
When I was about 6 years old, my parents and I made a visit to Florida hitting the Magic Kingdom, Alligator Farms and this AMAZING place......As a child I was in awe. I think I liked this better then Disney. REAL LIVE MERMAIDS.
The worse thing about visiting a place as a kid and having such an EXPECTATION, is when your an adult what a disappointment it is when you return. Somehow, the place loss all of it's magic. This is not to say that it was still not a great time, I just think I would have been better off keeping the child eyed fantasy of the place in my mind, and actually enjoyed the second destination of the park; Silver Springs.  Quick summary of Weeki Wachee Springs....Mermaids play out a story line under water, there is a cool bird show, some marine life, and some neat nostalgia of the 1970's! I believe the place has taken on a rebuilt and possibly new ownership since my visit in 1996, so it may be very different today. Check out the website before you make any final decisions or take my opinion on it.

The bonus of Weeki Wachee Springs was with admission, you also gained free admission to Silver Springs, which was several miles North and much more enjoyable...(I don't know if there is still a split admission price).
Silver Springs is home to the glass bottom boats, and we enjoyed a tour! I loved it because of all of the animals in nature. And we got to see some fish under the boat. There is tale of monkeys, but honestly I don't remember seeing any, but we did pull over and fed some animals on the shore. For some reason I don't remember them being monkeys. Overall, that had to be my favorite part of the trip. What a nice Flashback. Sorry it wasn't more informative and descript.