Re's Road Trips: Bucket List

Destination: Florida
Total Miles: 1,410
Total Cost: $390

Definitely one of my more expensive weekend road trips, but worth every penny spent!

So...you're wondering what in the world did I do on Saturday that would classify this trip as meeting a Bucket List item? Three words for you:

Harry Potter World.

As nerdy as it may be, I am a Potter fan. There are definitely some qualifying statements that accompany this fact, including but not limited to: these are not books that children should be allowed to read-some high levels of discernment should be learned prior to reading these, and while I have read the books and seen the movies, I believe it something that should followed with some caution.

That being said:

After an awesome concert Friday, Heidi and I headed to Tampa to meet up with my friend, Joel (you can read about that in my previous post). We had supper and slept hard in preparation for Saturday's adventures.

Joel picked us up from the motel around 9 a.m., and we headed to Orlando to meet another fellow Alto II from choir. Her husband works for Universal Studios, and we were meeting up with them so they could give us some tips for the day.

After waiting in line to get tickets, we headed into the park...I was so excited!

We headed straight for Harry Potter World, and, let me tell you, when we stepped foot into Hogsmeade and the music started playing an opening sequence from a Potter soundtrack, it was like stepping into the village itself. We took in the sights and sounds as we headed to Hogwarts for the first ride of the day.

Once inside the castle, we by-passed lines using the Single Rider. The ride
was awesome! We saw the Sorting Hat and followed Harry, Ron and Hermoine on an adventure.

After that, we meandered the parks, riding rides and eating at eateries.

The butterbeer was excellent! Kind of like a cream soda with delicious foam on top.

We did lots of waiting in lines for rides, but we had a blast catching up and people-watching.

Joel and Heidi were good sports and put up with my excitement over, well, everything.

I honestly don't think I can explain everything, so I'm posting pictures at the bottom of this post with captions. Hopefully, you will forgive my lack of words and enjoy seeing some of the fun we had.

Before heading back, we stopped at Honeydukes, a candy shop in Hogsmeade. I bought a chocolate frog while Joel purchased some Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans for us to try. We all took turns guessing the flavours...and when they say every flavour, they're not kidding. Joel got one that filled up the entire vehicle with the smell of dirt on the way back to Tampa.

Sunday, we lost an hour of sleep because of Daylight Savings, but Heidi and I hit the road in fashion with a breakfast stop at Starbucks.

We also took a side trip to my Guidinger grandparents' house in Greenville, Florida and partook of a delicious Sunday lunch. It was so good to see them and spend a little bit of time with them before heading back to Greenville, SC.

All in all, a wonderful trip. And worth every dollar!

Stay tuned for the Spring Break trip starting this Saturday.