Saturday, August 29, 2009
Sea World
After the long day on Tuesday it would have been a good idea to rest up a bit before taking on another big day. Did we do it? Hell, no. It was Sea World day for us and Universal day for Uncle B's family. We had to be at the parks for opening for tickets and logistical reasons. We had Uncle B's youngest and his mother-in-law with us. Noni and Popi and Jack were along too.

We started off with the stingrays. They were pretty cool. Popi fed a couple of them and they repaid him by splashing him a good one. Next we went to the area where they were feeding the dolphin. We wanted to see them before their show, Blue Horizons, started at 10:00 a.m. We found good seats for the show, but it was hot as Hades up in the stands with the air barely circulating. Sea World did good business off of us with those little hand-held battery powered fans. The dolphin show was entertaining. But it's remarkable that all the shows have been "new-ageified" or "Cirque de Soleiled." Very different from what I'd seen in the past.

We planned to try to catch the Shamu show, Believe, next. That meant we had half an hour to hike all the way across the park and secure good seats. Popi and I were the advance crew. Noni caught up with us. Next to arrive were M and Emma, who needed a snack along the way. At the last possible minute MIL and Little J arrived. The Shamu show did not disappoint. Even with the new-agey trappings it was still quite a spectacle.

We headed to the Arctic building next. Now you have to wait in line to even get in the building. Ridiculous. But I really wanted Emma to see the polar bears. We saw one bear sleeping. Boo. Last time we were there we saw one swimming underwater. I had hoped to see that again. We also saw beluga whales and something else which I've already forgotten.

From there it was time to give the baby a break. We headed to the baby center and decided to have our packed lunch then too. This is where my day went all to hell. Someone had a meltdown, and it wasn't one of the kids. Everyone's been there, and don't say you haven't. But it was ugly. Still, we pressed on. I refused to let it keep me from seeing the penguins.

Emma, M and I went on to see the sharks, the penguins and the seals. We also saw the Clyde and Seamore show with the sea lions and otters. That was a hoot. There were 3000 of us packed in that stadium in the afternoon heat. They had a mime entertain the crowd for 15 minutes before the show started. Believe it or not he was probably the highlight. That doesn't mean the show wasn't great, it was just that he was damned funny poking fun at people arriving.

We knocked off around 3:30 p.m. again and headed back. The rest of that evening was unremarkable other than the fact that I finally got to actually rest.

Flamingos again.


This photo was taken by Aunt K's mom. I hope they don't mind my using a few of hers in these posts. She got some good shots.


This was half the set from the dolphin show. You can barely see a high-diver in the middle of the picture.


You can see the sweat dripping down her face.


Shamu plotting to remove the guy's head. I'm pretty sure.


Hey-O! Meet Shamu!


Uncle Monkey got something stuck to his legs while standing in line for the Arctic building.


Emma with an unidentified mascot.


The penguins.


A baby seal nursing on his mama. Awww.

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Written at 12:06 PM by Highlandgal.
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