Sunday, August 9, 2009

Orlando

Time: July 24th - 27th 2009
Place: Orlando, Florida
Company: Wife, parents, brother
Album: Click here
Highlights:

Day 0: Left Marlborough at 5 pm. Reached Airport at 6.30 pm. Jetblue from Boston to Orlando at 8 pm. Although I have been to Orlando twice, never been to airport! Bro came there to pick us up. Went to Imperial Swan and Suites resort. Pretty reasonable and nice hotel. Slept.

Day 1: Shuttle to Universal Studios. My second time. Its pretty much the same shows and rides and same the jokes! Went to Shrek (fun), Twister (boring), Return of the Mummy (real long queue), Terminator (not at all good), Fear Factor Live (interesting, respite from walking!), Jaws (one more long queue), Horror make up show(very good) etc. Gouri went to MIB and Simpson's ride too.

Returned back in the shuttle to the hotel. Went in car to the outlet mall on international drive. Then went the other way to see Slingshot up close. Had dinner at one of the many indian restaurants.

Day 2: Went with bro at airport to bid adieu. Took taxi from there to seaworld. Saw a number aquatic animals at Seaworld like dolphins, mannatee, sharks, etc. Each had underwater viewing as well. There was also a bit of rain that stopped us from moving about. Me and Gouri did a bollywood running-in-the-rain-towards-one-another for the fun of it! Then went to number of shows like Blue Horizons (too good), Sea Lion and otter show (good), Alure, the call of the ocean (too good), etc. Some of the shows and rides were closed due to inclement weather but went to Wild Arctic Ride (helicopter simulation). Long wait for the shuttle back to the hotel amidst rain. Went to indian restaurant right in front of our hotel.

Day 3: Seaworld again. Directly went to Believe show (Shamu Dolphin). After Blue Horizons, this seemed nothing. Felt rather it was hyped. Then went to a number of kid's games like carousels, small rides, boat rides, etc. Went to Pet show too, which was amazing, with a number of pets doing things on their own with no manual intervention. So the whole show was full of pets doing things! Left at 3 pm to airport. Took jetblue at 5 and reached home at 10 pm.

Wanted to go to Kennedy space center on Day 3 but rental car proved to be too expensive and so had to ditch the plan. Overall, a memorable trip.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Cape Cod

Time: July 18 2009
Place: Cape Cod
Company: Wife and parents
Album: Click here
Highlights: Left to Cape Cod at 9 am in car from Marlborough and was back by 4 pm. Went on a cruise from Hyannis. Lost my way thanks to Mapquest! (I am still surviving without GPS!) This was my second trip to Cape Cod and it was almost the same itinerary last time too, with the same cruise and same comments during the cruise. Also went to Korean war memorial and the beach behind. Pleasant place. The Bourne bridge is awesome. Esp in the morning, it felt like going into clouds and heaven as it was covered in mist.

Mt Greylock and Lake George

Time: July 12 2009
Place: Mt Greylock and Lake George
Company: Wife and parents
Album: Click here
Highlights: Went to Mt Greylock - highest peak in MA, USA. My first visit was through trek and this was my first visit in car! Nice drive from Marlborough. Then went to Lake George in NY state through smaller shorter roads. Had lunch at McDs. Lake George too was my second visit. Didnt have time for cruise. But went to Mt Prospect for a view of Lake George. Returned back late night. About 7-8 hrs of drive.