Photo TR: UO, WDW, St. Pete, etc.

dandaman · Mar 18, 2007

…In other words, I had no idea what forum to put this under!

Here’s the synopsis: Canadians have their March Break off for the second week of the month. I’d never been on a March vacation in my 16 years on this earth, but my luck changed this time around. Basically, we were going on a college tour for my sister (who, by the way, will now OFFICIALLY attend said Florida college!), and the rest of the trip was just extra. But boy, what an extra it was! St. Petersburg, Downtown Disney, and the best part: a full-fledged vacation at Universal Orlando!

Since I know you’re all itching to see some pics (you have no idea what you’re getting yourself into), I might as well start.

Day 1: Waffles ’n OJ

We all must never lose sight of one thing… that it was all started by a House.

This marks the first, and certainly not last, Waffle House I’ve experienced. And my first Patty Melt, but I got a waffle too, which is more like paradise regained…

Wazzup Atlanta!

It’s not the rides that scare me, per se… it’s those eerie guys who look like they shouldn’t be in public as is. :lookaroun

This can only mean one thing…

…FREE ORANGE JUICE!

A few short hours later, we arrived in Tampa for the night… and I arrived to a taunting sight over the rooftops.

*sigh*…

If you really want to see me spend a day here, go find my August 2006 TR. Stop livin’ in the past, man.

dandaman · Mar 18, 2007

Day 2: The Old College Try

As mentioned before, the trip was solely for visiting that college.

…WAS. :lookaroun

But first… here’s a blurry pic of our hotel. Some of you might remember it from last year’s trip.

Yep… still there! :lol:

I wanted to run over there… but the traffic light suggested otherwise.

Just because a lot of people on here can’t seem to get enough of random Disney billboards…

Hello, city with bad morning traffic!

About 5 minutes after taking this, we crossed the Tampa Bay bridge (or, at least the I-275 one). No pics unfortunately, but let me tell you… the bay area looks a LOT smaller on the TripTik.

dandaman · Mar 18, 2007

All right, then… here’s that as-yet-unnamed college.

Eckerd College is just on the far south side of St. Petersburg. This article will tell a bit more:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eckerd_College

Many students here want to major in Environmental Studies, sis included. Certainly this school looks to be the best around!

One of the main buildings…

Just playin’ around with the camera…

The chapel hosts many different religious services throughout the week, which I think is very neat.

No idea what this is…

Random shiny birds…

You could pretty much use the same caption as the Waffle House photo… only with slightly less Waffle and more paradise.

dandaman · Mar 18, 2007

Well, of course I had to take a sun-through-palm-leaves shot.

dandaman · Mar 18, 2007

I half-expected my sister to have written that…

Apparently Eckerd has the best college sailing program (or something to that extent), second only to the Naval Academy.

The best part of the tour: free orange soda!

That wraps it up from Eckerd College. Though their programs wouldn’t really appeal to me… I think now I want to go to school here. :lookaroun

dandaman · Mar 18, 2007

After the tour (sometime around lunch), the family decided to explore the rest of the city. This next part was probably the most surprising part of the trip… I never even knew it existed.

The St. Pete Pier: Home to the best darned restaurant view in the world!

I’d never been to this side of Florida before… simply stunning.

And now, a word from our sponsor.

“This Photo TR is brought to you in part by the new AT&T: Raising the bar.”

Pelicans: Given the chance, they WILL peck your eyes out.

The city itself is also really beautiful.

Glass elevators are always cool, right?

dandaman · Mar 18, 2007

Basically, the Pier is a 5-story tourist attraction. There’s lots of typical specialty shopping, with a few other things, like a winery, two restaurants, and even an aquarium.

Hey Bonny!

Here’s the view from the top, which also happens to be home to a really good restaurant. I know you can’t really screw up bacon cheeseburgers, but somehow they improved it to a whole new level. Awesome.

Oh, yeah, and there’s some water, too.

Some random airport, which made me a little on edge every time a jet came THIS close to the building.

Some famous St. Pete hotel.

There lies Tampa, WAY out across the bay…

Y’know, it almost pains me to know that this will be my sister’s home for the next 4 years or so.

I’m not jealous… *twitch*

Wonder how much the big red pirate ship goes for…

See? Glass elevators are good for something!

dandaman · Mar 18, 2007

Our next location may be a bit subtle…

I forget where we are.

…Never mind!

Looks like he’s rushing off to find more bubbles

Apparently, my forecasting screen test wasn’t impressive… they killed the lights before I had a chance to broadcast.

I’m H20 intolerant…

dandaman · Mar 18, 2007

We left the area shortly after. I highly recommend a visit to anyone on that side of the coast… or, inevitably, in a certain area of Lake Buena Vista.

Speaking of which…

WOOHOO!

There I am… falling to my doom.

Curse you, WDWMagic Pinball!

“Hollywood Tower Hotel: Use right lane”

Try as I might, I haven’t gone to either of the water parks since 2003!

Hello, Sunny Circus!

I wonder where we stayed the night…

We found a good room rate on MouseSavers, and decided to try it, partially because it’s the only DTD hotel we hadn’t stayed at yet.

dandaman · Mar 18, 2007

So here’s the view from our *first* room…

A few things were wrong with the room (door broken, etc.), so Grosvenor offered to upgrade us to a much better room.

A millisecond of hesitation later, we were out the door and up the tower, to our new living quarters.

I can’t tell… Do you think this is a better view?

Marketplace…

West Side…

And just in case you weren’t blinded before:

Only difference is, this one has SSE, therefore making it infinite times better.

dandaman · Mar 18, 2007

Downtown time!

They must have put these up within the past few months… (Look closely, and you should figure out where they are.)

Chocolatey-ness

They had some sort of (Russian? German?) dancers performing…

All he needs is one of those distorted maniacal laughs.

“Darn my lack of arms! The knife keeps cutting my cheeks!”

Nice display

Good…

…Better.

dandaman · Mar 18, 2007

Looks like the Earl’s still offering hot roast beef smoothies!

I‘d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a merry Christmas!

Hey, just in case I forget to say it within the next 9 months or so.

My final picture of the night (and today’s update, since my fingers are falling off) somehow looked better when I managed to screw it up!

:wave:

tigsmom · Mar 18, 2007

We just got back last night and it looks like we were so close to each other! :lol:

We went to the Columbia Restaurant at the St Pete Pier on Sunday! :slurp: And the views from there are amazing!
We wanted to stop by the Aquarium too, but some of us weren't feeling so well. The Hotel looks like The Vinoy, very niiice. And we loved the pirate ship! :lol:

We were in Tampa on Monday visiting the UT campus, also a nice place.

Then we headed to WDW from the 14th to the 17th.

Uponastar · Mar 18, 2007

Great job as usual, Daniel!
Looking forward to the rest!

dandaman · Mar 18, 2007

tigsmom said:
We just got back last night and it looks like we were so close to each other! :lol:

We went to the Columbia Restaurant at the St Pete Pier on Sunday! :slurp: And the views from there are amazing!
We wanted to stop by the Aquarium too, but some of us weren't feeling so well. The Hotel looks like The Vinoy, very niiice. And we loved the pirate ship! :lol:

We were in Tampa on Monday visiting the UT campus, also a nice place.

Then we headed to WDW from the 14th to the 17th.

The entire St. Pete experience was Monday for us, with the exception of arriving Sunday night in Tampa. :lol:

I don't think it was the Columbia, but it was the one at the very top.

EDIT: It was Cha Cha Coconut's.

MommytoMJM · Mar 18, 2007

Love the MJ sign Danny!

popsicletrees · Mar 18, 2007

dandaman said:

I ate up there a few years ago. The view was better than the food though.

SpongeScott · Mar 18, 2007

Nice pictures--good job! BTW, the airport you mentioned is the Albert Whitted Airport. http://www.stpete.org/air.htm

Disnut · Mar 18, 2007

Nice TR. Can't wait for the rest.:sohappy:

dandaman · Mar 18, 2007

SpongeScott said:
Nice pictures--good job! BTW, the airport you mentioned is the Albert Whitted Airport. http://www.stpete.org/air.htm

Looks pretty much like the "official" St. Pete airport. :lol:

It was kind of unnerving to have those jets screaming by when you're so high up next to the railing. :lookaroun

Photo TR: UO, WDW, St. Pete, etc.

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