How I Spent My Spring Break (or the Great Florida Road Trip): Universal's Islands of Adventure

I've been itching to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter ever since I heard that it was being created. I knew that it would be unlikely for me to make a trip to Orlando just to go there, so I figured now was a good time to go. Raisin Bread thought it was a good idea as well even though he isn't a Harry Potter fan.

It's too bad that the only real reason anyone seems to go to Islands of Adventure is to visit Harry Potter. It makes for an insanely crowded experience. I felt like I was back at home trying to get on the Metro. Not extremely pleasant. But as the crazy Harry Potter fan that I am (I would pre-order the UK versions on Amazon so I could read the books as they were intended), I loved being able to walk through Hogsmeade and wander the halls of Hogwarts.

By the time we go into the park, it was time for lunch. That meant a meal at the Three Broomsticks, which had a surprisingly short line. I ordered a glass of Butterbeer and the shepherd's pie. The Butterbeer was magical! Now, I wish I had ordered a glass of frozen Butterbeer later on in the day.

After lunch, we made our way slowly towards Hogwarts Castle to ride Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Such a cool ride!

We spent the rest of our time in this part of the park wandering around. We caught some of the Frog Choir.

I love signs so I couldn't help taking a picture of every sign in Hogsmeade (and a snowman). 

We also went into a number of the boutiques like Honeydukes and the Owl Post. Again, loved being able to see these places come to life!

Then we said goodbye to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. One thing that I noticed and wanted to pass on to others who might visit was that the lines for the Butterbeer carts were insane. Butterbeer is also sold at The Hogs Head Pub. When I went inside, there was a line of about seven people while the carts were about 30 people deep. So poke your head into the Hogs Head before getting into line at a cart!

The rest of our day was spent at Seuss Landing. Neither of us feel good enough to ride roller coasters anymore so riding cute kiddy rides sounded like a great alternative. It was a nice juxtaposition: one series of books from my childhood and another set from my adulthood, both come to life. 

And while we might be old, we can still be a couple of goofballs.

We found a spot in Seuss Landing to get on our smartphones again and booked a hotel in Tampa for the next two nights. We left Orlando behind and visited a Sweet Tomatoes on the road to Tampa before hitting the sack.

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Week in Review (April 1 to 7, 2013)

I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I think spring may have finally arrived in DC. That makes me happy. The fact that I have three weeks left of graduate school makes me even more happy.

I finally got out of my post-vacation rut and put my workouts back into high gear.

Monday: 30 minutes at-home yoga
Tuesday: 4.3 mile run + 30 minutes at-home yoga
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 3.28 mile run
Friday: rest
Saturday: rest
Sunday: Cherry Blossom 10 miler

On Friday after work, I went to the National Building Museum to pick up my race packet for the Cherry Blossom 10 miler (race recap will be up later this week). Raisin Bread agreed to meet up with me afterwards for happy hour at The Source. I have been dying to go here for a long time and I am glad that we were finally able to.

They have a great happy hour deal in their lounge, where you can get any three items from their izakaya menu for $22.

We ordered the pork belly bao buns, yaki udon, a negi-hama roll and king crab roll, shrimp dumplings and carrot cake. I thought all of the dishes were good but I'm not sure I think they are worth their non-happy hour prices.

On the way home, we came across this square with lots of magnolia blossoms. So pretty.

The rest of the weekend involved filing our taxes, me doing lots of research for my last school project and of course, a great run.

Have a great SPRING week!

The Source
575 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20565

How I Spent My Spring Break (or the Great Florida Road Trip): Miami, not Belize

Back in June of last year, Raisin Bread and I started planning our spring break. We had a bunch of miles to use and decided on BELIZE!! I've always wanted to snorkel the Belize Barrier Reef and visit the Mayan pyramids. I spent months planning out our itinerary, researching hotels and tours, and have been counting down to my last spring break, probably since the beginning of winter, since this trip promised a warmer climate than here in DC.

I put my magical packing abilities to good use and managed to fit all of these things into the backpack and pink bag. We would be taking local transportation to get from one part of the country to the other and also across the border into Guatemala so I didn't want to be burdened with a lot of luggage.

I went to the travel doctor and got my script for an anti-malarial and was super prepared for an exciting trip.

We flew out of DC and arrived for an overnight in Miami before we would head to Belize City the next morning. Only thing is that this isn't what happened. We made it to Miami but Raisin Bread had a bad reaction to the anti-malarials, he called the doctor...We thought we could still go to Belize so we went to the airport and went through security before deciding that it wasn't going to happen. And to make a long story short, we decided stay in Miami instead of leaving the country. We found ourselves flying by the seat of our pants. We took the train to the rental car center, looked prices up on Kayak and picked up a car and decided to book it for a little over a week since we didn't know how long we would be staying in Florida.

By this time, we were frustrated, disappointed and hungry. Did I mention there were tears? Versailles was nearby so we decided to grab breakfast there and do some planning. Good thing they have place mats! And good thing we have smartphones!

 While we were planning I enjoyed the best Cubano that I've ever had.

Back to planning, we decided to get a lot of driving out of the way so we would be heading north. We drove for about three and a half hours before becoming exhausted, so we decided to rest our heads in Orlando that night (by booking a hotel on our phones).

There wasn't much time to do anything besides eat and sleep so we went to Sushiology on International drive for some cheap sushi. That sounds wrong, doesn't it? The portions were small but the food was quite good. Then it was bedtime, after a loooong and crazy day.

As a preview, this is the route that we wound up taking around Florida.

Those who know me well know that I am a planner and I always like to be prepared as much as possible, but with all things, travel sometimes doesn't go as planned and you have to make decisions based on what you have and know (like in business!) This trip would have been pretty annoying if we didn't have our phones, and I was stuck with a wardrobe of fit for the jungle and without any accessories. I probably looked pretty ridiculous for much of the trip. But we still managed to have a fun and spontaneous trip. I wasn't going to let my vacation from work and school go to waste!

Can't wait to tell you about the rest of the adventure.

Versailles
3555 SW 8th Street
Miami, FL 33135

Sushiology
6400 International Drive #130
Orlando, FL 32819

Question: Have you ever had a trip go not according to plan? 

Disney's Princess Half Marathon 2013 Race Report

Well, I did it! Not as well as I had hoped, however. My goal was to finish under 3 hours, including an allowance to stop for photos. Didn't happen. It just wasn't my day. First of all, Aunt Flow decided to pay me a visit on Saturday, which meant Sunday was awful. Secondly, it was hot, hot, hot and humid. I've been training in 40 degree weather, so I guess I wasn't prepared for how the weather would affect my body. 

Oh well, at least, I have lots of room for improvement!

Rebecca and I started our morning at 3:30 am and got changed super fast in order to board the bus to Epcot. We made our way to the Race Retreat. I wanted to make a potty break so I did that first, only to have my corral called as I was standing in line. We were able to snap a few pictures before I grabbed two bananas and a water bottle, said good bye to the sis and headed out to the corrals. It was on the walk to the corrals that I realized my mistake. There were port-a-potties everywhere, and I still had an hour before the start time. Definitely could have taken my time at the Race Retreat! Ugh, not cool. 

This race is huge and makes for a very crowded walk to the corrals, not to mention a very crowded half marathon course. 

Photo credit: Cruising Goddess

Made it to corral C. Now what? 

Stretch and self-portraits before my corral was off at 5:49 am!

The fairy godmother and fireworks sent off each wave.

Since I knew I had to stop for the bathroom, I decided not to stop for any character photos unless the line was really short. So I didn't take a picture with the pirates. Arr.

Photo credit: Cruising Goddess

Made it to Mile 1, only 12.1 to go!

Still dark out, but almost to the Magic Kingdom!

My first character stop was with Lightening McQueen. No line here. 

And here's Cinderella's castle! The part leading up to the castle was so motivating. There were tons of spectators along Main Street to keep us going.

There were photographers along the course so I borrowed the next two photos. This is what I pretend to look like when I'm running a half marathon.

And apparently, this is what I actually look like! Haha!

 I ran into a few more friendly faces before the home stretch!

Finish line, here I come! The last two miles were rough. Curse you, hills! Net time: 3:07:47. Ouch. I placed 13,617 out of 21,235. That's a lot of ladies. 

I made it back to the Race Retreat for breakfast and then headed back to the hotel room to wash up. 

That was the end of my trip! I had a few hours to nap and pack before I took the Magical Express back to the airport. What a wonderful weekend! Can't wait for Dumbo Double Dare in September!

Here are my split times from my Nike running app:

Mile 1: 12:04

Mile 2: 10:53

Mile 3: 10:00

Mile 4: 13:03

Mile 5: 12:22

Mile 6: 14:51

Mile 7: 11:24

Mile 8: 13:55

Mile 9: 11:28

Mile 10: 10:04

Mile 11: 21:17

Mile 12: 17:50

Mile 13: 9:48

As you can see, I was all over the place. Average pace: 13:34. I'm not sure what I was doing during miles 11 and 12, but I hope the Disneyland Half will be an improvement! I didn't run a perfect race, but I think my first bling was still well-earned! 

If you missed my other Princess Half Trip Report posts, check them out: 
- Wilderness Lodge and Fit for a Princess Expo 
- Hollywood Studios and Pasta in the Park Party 
- Animal Kingdom
- Magic Kingdom

Week in Review (March 25 to 31, 2013)

You may have noticed that I haven't done a weekly update in some weeks. I must confess that this is due mostly to the fact that I gave myself an extended rest that was entirely unintentional.

After the Princess Half Marathon (race recap will be up tomorrow), I sort of fell off the wagon. Now I'm kicking myself for it because in five days, I have to run my first 10 miler! Ugh, what did I do?

Graduate school is winding down for me, which means more time to do other things.

Saturday was the first beautiful day we have had in many many weeks. I think there has been one sunny day since we returned from Florida. That meant we had to spend some time outdoors this weekend. I really wanted to ride my bike to the National Mall but Raisin Bread's bike is no longer operational and he has not purchased a new one yet, so we had to take the Metro.

Where were we headed? The Kite Festival! This annual event is part of the Cherry Blossom Festival, but our weather has been so screwed up that there are no cherry blossoms yet, although a lot of tourists seemed to think the blooming magnolias were cherry blossoms and had no problem taking photos of them.

We stayed out for only a bit because we both had things to work on, taxes for me!

We tried out a new place for dinner: The Curious Grape in Shirlington. It was yummy! I had the Brussels sprout salad and half gnocchi and half penne.

On Sunday, we spent the majority of the day driving, waiting and having Easter brunch with family. For me, Easter doesn't have any meaning other than being a time when awesome chocolate candy is available that can't be found at other times of the year. I guess it has become a sort of Thanksgiving in the springtime now that I don't live in LA, as it seems that people here are very much into spending Easter with family.

We went to the Friendly Farm in the Maryland country. I don't know if it was because of the number of families having Easter brunch but the place seriously smelled like nursing home. Despite the smell, my fried chicken was still delish. The portion was a half chicken, which seems unnecessary.

 Have a great week!

The Curious Grape
2900 South Quincy Street
Arlington, VA 22206

Friendly Farm Restaurant
17434 Foreston Road
Upperco, MD 21155

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Disney's Princess Half Marathon Trip Report: Magic Kingdom

With only a few hours left in the day to spend at the parks, I knew I had to see the new Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom before I left WDW, even if that meant only looking at it. The rides had ridiculously long waits, it was super crowded and it was getting extremely hot outside, so we went and saw but were unable to partake. Sad.

So we saw Under the Sea with The Little Mermaid...

and Eric's Castle. 

For some reason, the bumbling LeFou was always a memorable character for me, so I love how he is portrayed in this statue in front of Gaston's Tavern.

We took a quick peek into the Tavern. Beauty and the Beast remains one of my favorite Disney films. 

 We also saw the Beast's castle in the distance.

We did get to visit one attraction in the old part of Fantasyland - Mickey's PhilharMagic, where Donald makes a mess as usual.

We took some more castle photos for good measure. 

Then made our way back to Wilderness Lodge via boat. 

Photo credit: CruisingGoddess

We ate an early dinner at Wilderness Lodge's Whispering Canyon Cafe. I was trying to keep on the light side since we were eating so early and going to bed so early, so I just had the potato leek soup and arugula salad with a pomegranate lemonade. 

We washed up and went to bed around 8 pm for a 3:30 am wake up time the next morning! 

If you missed my other Princess Half Trip Report posts, check them out: 
- Wilderness Lodge and Fit for a Princess Expo 
- Hollywood Studios and Pasta in the Park Party 
- Animal Kingdom