Same Building – Different Freaky: Ripley’s Believe It or Not!

Reposted from the i.seekissimmee.com website...

Today was a day of fun and freaky as we escaped the heat and toured the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum in St. Augustine! Here you can find all kinds of oddities that vary from cool to creepy and one in a million to one of a kind. There were ancient “artifact” pieces along the way and newer designs, such as a Tim Tebow pop art created from airsoft balls. We wandered from floor to floor to look at the unique displays and experiment with some of the more interactive areas of the Museum. There was even a miniaturized version of a ferris wheel in the center of the building! As we made our way back down to the bottom, we found ourselves in the FUN part of Ripley’s Museum. Lots of visual exhibits, tricks of the eye… there were giggles and laughs abound! We exited the museum via a vortex tunnel that had us clinging to the handrails in order to escape!

Trying to find a restaurant that will suit a large family can be a bit difficult… also trying to please every palette can be fun! We ended up going to a little beachside restaurant and having chicken and shrimp fritters! Nothing like eating seafood with the scent of the ocean drifting by in the breeze. After dinner, we headed back to Ripley’s to go for a ride on the their black trains and do a Ghost Train Adventure!

The kids were both excited and nervous… not quite sure if they wanted to go to haunted sites within St. Augustine or just sit on the train and take a ride. The Ghost Tours offered by Ripley’s are so neat, and now they are getting techno-spooky! Equipped with personal EMF readers, along with one iPod per group (yep, there’s an app for that)… we were ready to start reading fields and energy and see what we could find! The tour took us to the old Hugenot cemetery and down to the fort.

Words that pop up on the EMF meter!

Our tour guides told the stories that went with the locations, answered questions and helped add a little spookiness to the fun. We even managed to snap a few spooky pictures of our own! Laurel had an apparition of a wound on her arm that wasn’t there in real life! [cue the haunted house music] The train took us back to Ripley’s, which just so happens to be a haunted mansion as well! A few of our group were a bit uneasy about actually exploring the building, so we sat it out while the rest went on ahead. On a funny note, we kept getting text messages sent to us from inside the building about how much scarier it is at night than during the day! All in all, everyone had a good time – and we thank the good folks at Ripley’s for allowing us to visit them in all their creepy and odd fun! Not wanting to drive to St. Augustine? You can always check out the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum right here in Orlando!

Up Close & Personal: Marineland

reposted from the i.seekissimmee.com website...

Today we started our “2 Days Away Staycation” in beautiful St. Augustine. One more reason I love Kissimmee, is that it’s central to so many other places, and you can do a quick getaway for a day or two to nearly anywhere in Florida. We chose St. Augustine because we love it there. History geeks that we are – what holds greater appeal than the Nation’s Oldest City? To begin our stay, we headed over to Marineland Dolphin Adventure, which recently joined forces with the Georgia Aquarium. Apparently, this fixture has been here since the early 1930’s  – something this Floridian never even knew about! The good folks at Marineland Dolphin Adventure gave us a one-on-one up close and personal tour, and I have to say, I’ve never enjoyed myself more!

Our tour guide, Meredith, who also happens to be the Education liaison [think Summer Camps, School Groups, etc.] led us to the first tank. Here we were able to meet several playful bottlenose dolphins and also learn about them via the many informative signs posted nearby. She told us about Nelly, the world’s oldest [in captivity] dolphin – who at age 59, continues to break records every day. We were able to see her “baby” and in turn, their baby… so it was neat to see the generations! We continued on past the other tanks, stopping to look and observe the many dolphins there at Marineland, before heading down below for a true “Behind the Seas” tour.

Here we were able to see other marine life in their environments, learn about feedings, safety and health of the sea creatures. The kids were particularly fond of the turtles and crabs, while Kevin and I were fascinated by the quarantine tank! Lol. Then we were led into what they call the “Event Room” – a cozy room, with historical paraphernalia that dated back to Marineland’s opening, a comfy couch, and the coolest window ever… looking right into the dolphin tank! After taking a break in the cool air, we headed back up top to really get up close and personal.

Here we met Pebbles… a playful and friendly dolphin. The kids were ecstatic at being able to feed the dolphins, and since they had no idea about the touching aspect of the “touch and feed” program there – we were totally looking forward to their reactions when it came down to the fun part! As Pebbles rolled over onto her back, the kids and I leaned down to rub her belly. All we could hear were murmurs of “coooool” and “she’s so soft” and “this is so neat” – which merely confirmed that this was the right place to go! Then we learned some tricks, like how to signal for a wave, how to ask Pebbles to do flips, and oh yeah, how to make a dolphin splash you!

We finished our tour and took home our disc full of images… did we forget to mention that a photographer will take tons of photos from your experience that you get to take with you? As most of our girls are Girl Scouts, they were all trying to plan a trip back there with their Girl Scout troop next year. For me, I’m trying to figure out a way where we can go again – as I’d never had as much fun as I did at Marineland. For visitors and locals alike – this little hidden gem is definitely my diamond in the rough!