Canada and USA Trip 2011 - Part 4, Days 11 to 15

Day 11 - June 7, 2011

Having reduced our stay in Washington DC to just a day in order to accommodate an extra day in New York, we needed to both make an early start, and stay focussed on the must sees. From Radhika and my perspective, the key objective in Washington DC was to show Avinash parts of the Smithsonian museums, especially the Natural History Museum and the Air & Space Museum. Given the location of these Museums on either side of the National Mall, we concluded that we would also be able to take in the key sites in DC while visiting these museums.

We succeeded in our first objective by making an early start. We walked down from our hotel to the Natural History Museum, catching a quick glimpse of the White House and the Capitol on our way. However, the great weather we had experienced in NYC had vanished, and it was extremely hot, which made the walk to the museum extremely strenuous. The heat plus the stress of all the travelling so far took it's toll on Amma, who was in no position to enjoy the Natural History Museum, and hence she chose to spend most of our time in the Museum resting at the cafeteria.

The Natural History museum had several stunning exhibits, including a Right Whale suspended over one of the Halls (as an aside, the exhibit explained the origin of the name - Right Whale, it was because whale hunters found this slow, easy to get, oil rich whale, the "right" whale to hunt), a massive stuffed elephant in the Central Rotunda, and a fabulous section on dinosaurs. Avi was of course thrilled to see all of this, and also showed a surprisingly high degree of interest in both the exhibits on mammals (Simba has been his great favourite on this trip), and in a section which showed how palaeontologists excavated fossils.

We then walked across the Washington Mall, and took Taj Mahal style photos of us with our hands over the the Washington Monument (an Egyptian Obelisk), and the Capitol building. While there, Avi's Eagle Eyes spotted a Carousel, and shortly thereafter, he and Radhika were on it. After the ride, we went across to the restaurant at the main building of the Smithsonian (which is shaped like a Castle) for lunch. After lunch, Renuka accompanied Amma back to the hotel, while the rest of us went to the Air and Space museum, which once again was superlative. All of us were enthralled by the sight of some of the greatest flying machines ever built. There were also superbly designed exhibits which explained the principles behind powered flight, and I was impressed by the opportunities that kids with an interest in science have in the US.

We attended a small workshop at the museum that explained how things fly. The presenter was asking questions to the audience and one of them was who made the first plane.. We were amazed that the little master hit a shot in the air to claim it was Wright Brothers. Further, she asked if the audience has seen it, our guy very confidently says " Yes" and all of us were surprised how could he have seen it! Then he says "he has seen it on the I-Pad.. We wewre quite impressed...

After looking at the Apollo Mission Command module, the Wright Flyer, and the cockpit of a Boeing 747, we headed for the IMAX theatre at the museum to watch a fabulous 3D film on the Hubble Space telescope.

By this time, it had cooled down, and hence we decided to walk to the Washington Monument, where we were joined by Renu and Amma, who seemed refreshed after a bit of rest.

A very cute incident occurred while we were returning from the monument.. Avi has been quite impressed with the water taps kept at various places to quench the thirst.. He would love to go play with them.. On one such occasion, an elderly lady was trying unsuccessfully to operate a neighbouring tap. Our guy tells her "Turn the wheel right and left like a steering wheel and press it hard like a horn" She does it and lo! Water comes.. (Proud mother writing this:)

After spending some time there, we decided to walk towards the White House. To our disappointment, we found our way blocked by security barriers a good distance from the building, and we had to use Radhika's high zoom lens to get even half way decent pictures of the structure. We then ended the day with dinner at yet another Indian restaurant (albeit one with terrible service.)

Day 12 - June 8, 2011

The next morning, we rose early and headed for Washington's Reagan National Airport. Our flight to Orlando was on time, and the process of collecting the hired car was smooth. As we walked towards the car parking, I set the new Garmin GPS with the address of our villa, and then handed it over to Radhika. We managed to get all the luggage, car seat and the 6 passengers into the Dodge Grand Caravan without too much difficulty (very impressive). I adjusted the mirrors and seat to a comfortable pension, ensured that the volume on the Garmin was at a audible level, and then started my first stint of driving on the "wrong" side of the road. I promptly managed to miss one of the turns suggested by the physical directions the villa owner gave us, and a right turn that the Garmin asked me to take. But the Garmin swiftly recalculated our route and started guiding us through relatively built up parts of Orlando. It then took us to a major highway, the Interstate 4, and asked us to drive in an easterly direction for 19 miles. This did seem very long relative to what had been indicated  in the directions our landlord had given, but I did not dwell on that and kept following the directions given.

Gradually, I got used to driving the heavy car, which seemed to sway like a boat as it took the curves. However, once we completed this stretch, the Garmin asked us to drive for a further 32 miles east, and it was then that Radhika and I both realised that something was amiss. I realized that the villa was to the South West of Orlando, and not to the North East as we had been going. At Radhika's urging, I pulled out of the road at the next exit, and into a nearby Petrol Pump to ask for directions. A quick conversation with the shop attendant, and also resetting the GPS revealed that we had indeed been going in the direction opposite to our villa.

It was almost 3 by now, and we were all very hungry. Fortunately, Radhika had packed some pasta and pizza at the airport, and we wolfed this down hungrily. After that, we were on our way, and needed to travel 32  miles down the I 4 West to reach the exit on Vineland Road, which led to the Ira Johnson highway, and then to our villa.

 

I had been somewhat apprehensive about renting a villa on the Internet, but the passcode I had been provided worked, and the villa proved to be larger, and better than I had imagined based on the photos I had seen. The hall was beautifully done, there were 5 bed rooms including a kids one done up in a Winnie the Pooh theme and equipped with several Disney toys. Avi was delighted with his room, and promptly climbed to the upper deck of the bunk bed (though he did not know how to get down). The pool was quite large and the kitchen too was well equipped.

After sometime settling down at the villa, Radhika, Renuka and I decided to go to the Wal-mart that lay at the junction of the Ira Johnson Highway, and the road leading towards our villa layout. After a brief attempt at navigating without a GPS, I asked the Garmin to take me to Wal-mart. It showed 4 stores, one of which (surprisingly not the nearest) was on the Ira Johnson Highway. I chose that one, and was led to a Sam's Club warehouse on the other side of the Highway. I then searched again, and picked the second closest Wal-mart, which was on Vineland Road. To my surprise, I found myself going further from the villa. The Wal-mart was very well equipped, with a large supply of Garlic Naan, Kitchens of India food, and other essentials. We spent a large time shopping there, before heading home. We also purchased three day Disney passes for all of us over there. As we found out later, my picking the "wrong" Wal-mart was a blessing in disguise, as the one closer to our house was not as well stocked with Indian stuff. At 10 at night, Radhika the chief cook of the day started preparing food - pulav.. She later said she thought she made it for the following day as well but we were so hungry that, nothing was left over for the next day.

Day 13 - June 9, 2011

The next morning, we headed for Magic Kingdom. This time there were no hiccups in the directions, and we pulled into the Magic Kingdom lot fairly quickly. The size of the lot was amazing, and there is a road train service to take people from the parking lot to the gates of Magic Kingdom. From the gates, there were two options to get to the main park, a monorail ride, or a boat ride across a lake. I would have picked the monorail for speed, but it was down and hence we got into the queue for the boat ride. 

In the distance, we could see the magical sight of the Cinderella Castle rising in the distance. We soon reached the main park, grabbed a map, and started planning which rides we should focus on. We had not even reached the first ride when Avi spotted Winnie and Tigger signing autographs. It took some effort to stop him from heading directly for them and to fall into line (or at least let Radhika and Others stand in line while Avi explored a model of Winnie's house).

Disney has a system called Fastpass, which is a free electronic queueing system that they deploy on select rides. Renu and Appu were aware of this thanks to their Euro Disney visit last year, and hence we were quick to exploit it. The system worked quite well, letting us enjoy the less crowded rides such as Dumbo the Flying elephant, while waiting for more popular rides such as some of the fancy roller coasters, or the Winnie the Pooh ride. Avi enjoyed all of them, and even went for his first large roller coaster ride (which I skipped). Apart from the rides, Magic Kingdom has a number of parades Including the Follow Your  Dreams parade in the afternoon and the Disney Electric parade in the night.

The overall experience was truly magical, with the only dampeners being the searing heat whenever the sun was out, and the lack of vegetarian food. Fortunately for us, the sun was mostly behind clouds and the heat was therefore manageable. We had been warned that Disney is not the best place in the world for vegetarians, and hence had packed food for Amma, Appa and Avi from home. However, most of the outlets had absolutely no veg food (even veg sandwiches were out of stock), and we had to survive on pastries, muffins and ice cream and a couple of veggie burgers that we found at one place. The day ended with a dazzling fireworks display at 10pm. It had been a wonderful day, but we were dead tired by the end of it and hence we decided to take the next day off, and go to Animal Kingdom on June 11.

Day 14 - June 10, 2011

We spent the morning at home in the villa, and had a good time in the swimming pool and the villa's spa. After a great lunch, we headed out for an Outlet Mall, where luxury brands are sold at discounted prices. We spent almost 4 hours at the mall, with Radhika buying up almost all of the Ann Taylor shop.

Day 15 - June 11, 2011

The next day, we headed for Animal Kingdom. This time we were well prepared, having carried enough food for both lunch and dinner. We started by going for a walk through a forest like environment, where we got to see a variety of birds, Fish, hippos under water, gorillas et al.  While the animals themselves were not very different from those in a good zoo like that in Singapore, they had taken great care to make the entire place look like it was out of Africa.

We then went for a "safari" in a jeep, with the driver providing a true out of Africa running commentary. After lunch, we walked across to a section based on the Indian forests, and saw a bird show, very similar to the One at Jurong in Singapore. We then saw a broadway style show based on Finding Nemo, which was very enjoyable.

Next we went for a water ride called Kali River rapids, which ended with all of us getting soaked. Giving the searing heat, we were relieved with that, and decided to go for another round. As we were walking back to the entrance of the ride, we saw some kids soaking themselves in a fountain, and Avi promptly went to join them, unfortunately without removing his shoes. with Avi completely soaked, we went for a second round of the Kali River ride, getting wet again.

After this, we got Avi changed into fresh clothes, and headed for a short production based on songs from the Lion King. The grand finale was the opportunity for Avi and everybody else to meet and be photographed with the entire Disney gang - Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Donald et al. We had yet another great day, but this time, it had been even hotter than on the Thursday when we went to Magic Kingdom. It was only when we reached the car once again, that we realised that Avi's shoes were still soaked. We quickly got rid of the shoes, and dried his feet, but he had been wet for several hours, which was to have its consequences on the next day.