Orlando--the land of many lakes

Yesterday, Jesse and I returned from our weekend trip to Orlando, FL where we got to see a friend of his get married. Although we stayed across the street from the Disney Resorts, we did not do any of the typical touristy things to do in Orlando--mainly, go to any of the Disney resorts or Sea World or whatever. We decided to go to Blue Spring State Park to see the manatees. Unforunately, the manatees had left long before we even got there, not scheduled to return until next winter. I was incredibly disappointed, of course. I had really hoped to see some manatees in their natural habitat (or at least in their winter time share). Instead, I saw a beautiful water oasis (that actually reminded me of the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland--without the animatronics. There were 5-foot long fish (which probably would've made a tasty meal), smaller fish, turtles, and possibly gators. It was gorgeous and I'm glad we went, even though we didn't see any manatees.

Florida is very flat. And it has many lakes. The natural landscape is very tropical. Orlando, I've realized, would be nothing without its tourism. It's a city totally dependent on its out-of-towners and has little appeal beyond its tourist attractions--namely Disney and Sea World and the Holy Land Experience. Yes, that's right. You can now travel back 2000 years and visit Jerusalem in Orlando!!! You can even take your picture with Jesus. Too bad we missed it.