That's a lot of letters for a meeting name, isn't it? I thought I should include it, though, because I definitely didn't see all Orlando had to offer this trip - but I did have a great meeting! In the past, we've taken advantage of the Disney parks, which we really enjoyed. This time, I had work and the meeting - plus I didn't take my kids - so the parks will have to wait.
I flew on Spirit at the low low price of $80. It's amazing to me that airlines can charge so little sometimes. I have no problems with Spirit, as they have never let me down. The seats are a little less comfortable, and they are small, but when there's no food or drink service, I just sleep the whole time without waking up for it!
A note - on Spirit, they announced four times that you had to open your window shades for takeoff and landing. The other airlines I've been on haven't done this, but I like it because I want to see and if you don't have a window seat you have no control over this. They also announced when it might be a good time for kids to go to the bathroom, I'm guessing because there were/are always so many children on the flight.
To compare with the other airlines, obviously I love United because of my brother and the fact I can fly standby. They also have a really well-written magazine in their seatbacks! Most of them have done away with this - they all used to have them in the past. You can also bend the headrest to support your head while you're sleeping. I also like Delta, because of their comfortable seats and very chill attitude that they're not telling you what to do. On American, my flight was delayed through no fault of the airline - it was weather. However, there was no communication or announcements. They also tell you what to do all the time, before, during, and after the flight. Why do they wake you up 25 minutes before you land? Why not five? There has to be a reason, but I don't know it. I think it's surreal to look around a plane, see most people sleeping, as we're hurtling across the sky, and we all just take it for granted that this magical event is happening all day long every day.
Our meeting was at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel. Kris and I immediately changed clothes and went running around the property. We happened upon a nature trail, which was along water. We saw so many birds - hawks, plus two different kinds of herons than we see at home. Then we saw three giant, pink birds fly up from the water into a tree! I thought they were flamingoes, because my knowledge of pink birds is limited, but my friend Aimee suggested they were roseate spoonbills, which was right. We saw salamanders everywhere, but no alligators, even though there were signs everywhere warning against them.
We ate lunch outside by the pool, and I mentioned the signs about alligators to the server. He said everyone put signs like that up after the toddler was killed by an alligator on Disney property in 2016. He said, "Everyone knows you can't go near the water after dark! They just let their toddler go down to the water! Everyone knows that!"
I told him everyone probably doesn't know that. I certainly wouldn't have thought about alligators if I hadn't seen the signs. Florida is a different place.
The hotel had really nice pools and hot tubs, and it was nice and sunny. We spent the afternoon swimming. We then walked off the property. It's so interesting being in different places - the tree roots of these trees were coming out of the ground, making all the ground bumpy around them. It looked like something out of a fairy tale. We also saw a tree completely covered with thorns. Nice armor.
We walked to the Half Barrel Beer Project, and the man working and locals in the place were so friendly. We talked sports for a long time. They suggested we go to eat at Miller's Ale House, which they said had less expensive and good food. Our friend Aaron joined us, and we went there - and it was all tourists. We thought it was funny that the locals directed us to the tourist place, but it was in a district called The Pointe that was really cool. An upside down house (WonderWorks), people doing indoor skydiving (iFly - I did it once here and loved it), lots of restaurants, and good people watching. The Detroit Lions game was on and there was a huge group of Lions fans - all decked out in Lions gear - watching it. We won in the last few seconds, so that was exciting!
After meetings and work the next day, our group went to the Capital Grille, which was in the same area. The next night, we went to Delmonico's Italian Steakhouse. Both were nice and fancy steakhouses, and the kind I really only go to when I'm at a meeting.
The meeting is for all the dairy organizations, and I love it because I get to see people from all over the country. It was fascinating, especially the part where they talked about how they can look at milk at the molecular level, choose one molecule, and one subject like 'brain health', and use AI to compile all research that has ever been done on this molecule and that subject. It was milk marketing at the molecular level! Kris was elected treasurer of the United Dairy Industry Association, which is a national board of farmers that makes decisions on how national dairy checkoff promotion money is spent.
In the morning I was running back to the hotel and was in the parking lot, when I was surprised to see four giant sandhill cranes on the sidewalk in front of me. They weren't scared of me at all. I stood about three feet from them, taking pictures as they tore up the mulch, throwing it on the sidewalk as they searched for whatever they were eating. Sandhill cranes are not a popular bird among farmers, because they do a lot of crop damage. We now have them in Michigan, but they certainly aren't as tame as the ones at this resort. I like them and was happy to see them up close.
As I was standing there, a woman from the toxicology conference at our hotel stopped to watch them with me. She had an Irish accent. She commented on how amazing it is to see all the different flora and fauna when you travel to other places.
I do love a Disney park, but Orlando has a lot to offer even right in the parking lot.
