Our very last stop on our trip around the world with Semester at Sea wound up being a place with which I am very familiar: Florida. I spent my Spring Breaks growing up at my parents’ condo in Orlando and many a summer laying by the pool at Sandestin in the Panhandle. I’ve been to [...]
Expecto Patronum: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter
February 2, 2011 By 64 Comments
Driving 11 hours down to Florida for a mere attraction in a theme park—then turning around after a weekend and driving right back—may sound insane to some people, but those Muggles clearly haven’t experienced the magic of Harry Potter. From the time my mom, sister and I were in Orlando on vacation in 2009 and [...]
Living the High Life in Orlando
January 19, 2011 By 28 Comments
In 2009, I vacationed in Orlando. In 2010, when it was time to pick a spot for a long weekend escape, I chose the same. When people ask me “where does a travel writer vacation?” they’re shocked to learn the answer. But I’ll be frank: I will love those parks until the day I die. [...]
Photo Friday: Self-Indulgent Family Portraits
August 7, 2009 By 26 Comments
Prior to our family vacation to Orlando, my mom called saying she wanted to get some professional photos taken of all of us, considering we haven’t had family portraits since we were still members of First Baptist Church in the early 90′s. (She also wanted some “engagement shots” of SVV and me, though don’t worry, [...]
Orlando, Adult-Style
July 15, 2009 By 22 Comments
When I told friends and other bloggers in Florida I was going to Orlando for one reason and one reason alone—to do the parks—they reacted like I had just said I was going to cut off seven fingers then take up playing the violin just because. Who, over the age of 12 actually enjoys the [...]
Photo Friday: Cocoa Beach, Florida
July 2, 2009 By 26 Comments
On our last night in Orlando last week, there was a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral. None of us would have had the slightest clue were it not for my dorky fiance who scours a dozen or so space sites a day because he’s a space geek like that. So we packed up the Lumpmobile—our [...]
It’s a Small World*
June 29, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I think this video from our trip to Magic Kingdom last week requires little explanation. Magic Kingdom 2009 from krysleigh on Vimeo. And in case our extreme cheesiness wasn’t already glaringly obvious, we entered yet another contest—67 Days of Smiles, which ends today and, if we were to win, would land us in Florida for [...]
Photo Friday: Magic Kingdom, Florida
June 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I often get asked, “where does the girl who travels all over the world go for vacation?” Well, I have an answer for you: Disney World, of course! (Not the answer you hoped for expected, huh?) My parents have owned a timeshare right near the parks since I was a wee thing, and we haven’t [...]
Tour de USA
May 20, 2009 By Leave a Comment
The second my last deadline for guidebook number three this year rolled around on May 1, I was on an eastbound plane for NYC. In fact, in a two-week period, my big toe stepped foot in five states—California, New York, Tennessee, Alabama and Florida—and for once, not a bit of it was work-related. So it’s [...]
A Day Late and a Dollar Short
May 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I had no overwhelming desire to write an ooshy-gushy post about my mom yesterday, because a) she knows how much I love her without it, b) I did that last year and, well, my feelings still hold true! and c) for the first time in years we’re actually in the same geographical locale to celebrate [...]
