Vizcaya - Beautiful Miami Mansion

Right in the heart of Miami, on Biscayne Bay, is a beautiful mansion and gardens from the early 1900's.  Vizcaya, built and owned by James Deering, president of International Harvester.

It used to have 180 acres of land and canals.  It was intended to look like a old Italian mansion.  It had canals throughout the property with gondolas, but most of the land has been sold off so the property would be more affordable to maintain.  We visited in the morning and it was hot and a little humid. I recommend visiting in the fall or winter so you can really enjoy the gardens.  

You are greeted by these fountain aqueducts and a cool tree shaded path.  When we went, admission was $12 and the audio guide was $3.  They are currently doing work on the interior courtyard skylight of the mansion, but it doesn't interfere with the tour or the beauty. 

There are many garden rooms and that is why I loved the gardens so much. They were a realistic size.  You could imagine a party or family gathering within them.  Each had characteristics and landscaping that was visually appealing.

On Biscayne Bay, there is this wonderful barge.  It is so creative and original.  It has a Venice feel and gondolas used to take people back and forth from the dock.  Not very far, but you wouldn't want to swim it.  The water is full of sea grass and algae even though the water is moving.  On a hot day like the day we visited, it smelled just a little, but not enough to ruin the ambience.  

Michael and Delaney

The grounds are very picturesque.  There are couples there taking engagement and wedding photos.  

Katie

Such a beautiful location.  It had such character.

It is definitely my favorite home and gardens that I've ever visited.  The garden didn't have a lot of flowers (at least not in bloom that I saw), but if was so beautifully designed and so intimate, I loved it.  

I liked it better than Hearst Castle or the Mansions in Newport, Rhode Island.  It wasn't the biggest or most opulent, but it was the one that felt real to me.  It I were able to have a garden like this, it would be a dream come true. 

There were lots of garden rooms with cozy gazebos and a beautiful Casino tucked away for reading and listening to music. 

This was the two story casino and it was at the top of the garden with a beautiful circular patio in front of it.  I could imagine a wedding or party there. 

I loved the worn look of all the stone.  It had a casually formal look which I love.

There are no pictures allowed in the house, but the way it was designed was amazing.  It was just the right size, not overwhelming big, but not cramped in any way.  It was furnished with antiques gathered throughout Europe in the Empire and a heavy Spanish style (I'm not a fan of heavy Spanish style).  It was air conditioned, so you could escape the heat.  For being built in 1915, it had all the latest equipment: refrigeration, dumbwaiter, elevator, electricity and more. 

If you ever go to Miami, this is a must see!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure

First glimpse of Hogwarts

 My girls grew up reading Harry Potter.  I remember reading the first couple of books out loud because Delaney was too little to read the books by herself and I wanted her to experience the books along with her sisters.  Needless to say, they are all addicted to Harry Potter books and movies, they've read and seen them all.  They have favorite characters and know all the details of the stories and the world that Harry Potter lives in.  A visit to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter was in order.  Alyssa visited last year and was able to give us some good advice when we visited this time.

 We were astounded and impressed at the size, detail and comprehensiveness of this world.

 I think this guy stood here on purpose to get in our picture.  He would not move.

 As you enter the grounds of the school (the big ride) you are welcomed by these pillars with these great statues.  At night, writing appears on the pillars as if by magic. 

 We were very fortunate that the lines were very short on the day we went.  We had to wait a total of 20-25 minutes.  You wait in a line that snakes back and forth in the conservatory and then you enter the castle.  Loved this statue.  You can't really see Delaney and Katie, I had a hard time getting photos in the castle.  If I turned on my flash, I got the girls, but not the background and if I left the flash off, I got the object but not the girls.  There was a lot of holograms and they did not photograph well.

 HH was impressed by the overall look of the castle.  They did a fantastic job.

 The paintings came to life and the subjects moved and talked.  It was fantastic.  Because the line was short, we didn't get to spend much time in here, it is very entertaining.

 The girls in front of the sorting hat.

The ride moves you all around, upside down, backwards etc.  You also go between a movie type of atmosphere and then go throught parts of the castle.  Alyssa warned me that it would make me sick and told me to take a dramamine before I rode it (a little tip my sister in law, Cindy, told us about).  I have to admit that I had to close my eyes on about 70% of the ride,  anything that followed Harry on his broom and involved plunging downward.  I still felt slightly sick after for about 20 minutes and so did HH, who didn't close his eyes.  The kids loved it, they did not feel sick.  Earlier in the day, I was talking to a woman who's son was thrown up on during the ride.  I'm glad I did it, even though I had my eyes closed on most of it, but I wouldn't do it again. 

 After the ride, we headed over to Hogsmeade to take a look around.  The book came to life in the little town.

 The girls got a pic with the conductor of the Hogwarts Express.  

 The kids went on another roll a coaster called the Dragon Challenge or something like that.  No way was I going on it. 

 We were surprised that the park closed at 9, so we went back and got some pics of the castle lit at night and finally the line was short enough to try some 

 Butterbeer.

I got the frozen kind and I loved it.  Very butterscotchy.  It was a refreshing drink for the hot evening.  Katie got the regular and liked it more than the frozen.  These little babies were expensive, I think about $12.50 each in the souvenir mug, about $7.50 in a regular glass.  I loved it and drank all mine.  The girls could only drink about 1/2 of theirs - little to sweet in large doses was the comment. 

These are the kind of pics I have to put up with.  

All the shops were represented, it was just hard to get pictures of them without a bazillion people in them.  

I was very impressed with the real life representation of the book and the details were amazing.  I loved it, but I recommend it for older kids and not really little kids, unless they can handle some out of control roller coasters!

Day One - The Magic Kingdom

 Entering the Magic Kingdom

Whenever I talk about the Magic Kingdom, I say Disneyworld.  Well, Disneyworld refers to all the Disney parks and The Magic Kingdom is one of them.  We noticed that The Magic Kingdom did not have a Matterhorn, Indiana Jones or Star Tours.  Indiana Jones and Star Tours are at other Disney parks within Disneyworld.  I have to say I like Disneyland better, but I enjoyed the differences between the parks.  I did like The Magic Kingdom's Jungle Cruise more, it was longer and different, but the same!

 Katie found this little button as soon as she sat down on the tram.  How appropriate!

 To get to The Magic Kingdom, you have to board a ferry and cross a lake (that took three years to dredge) or you can take the Monorail.  Michael is excited!

 The Magic Kingdom comes into view.

 In front of the train station.  I had 4 different people take this picture.  I took theirs first and got the pic with the whole train station, I asked them to do the same for me and none of them did.  

 I took this pic because Disneyland does not have a Theater on Main Street that looks like this.  It's very pretty.

 The Castle

The back of the castle.  There is a restaurant here and you need to make reservations 6 months out.  I'm sure it's awesome.

We really lucked out and there was hardly anyone at the park on the Thursday we went.  We didn't wait longer than 10 minutes for any ride.  It did get really hot about noon, so we went back to our hotel and came back later when it had cooled off some.

 This is Liberty Square.  Disneyland does not have Liberty Square, but they have New Orleans Square.

I felt The Magic Kingdom had a lot of prop buildings and not a lot of substance.  Every inch of Disneyland is used.  

 The first ride was Splash Mountain, at ten in the morning it was a welcome relief from the heat.  

Katie was our navigator.

A lot of Fantasyland was under construction. I think they are building a "Cars" land like California Adventure.  

The Haunted Mansion

It was also different inside.  There is a longer lead up to what would be the beginning of the one in Disneyland and there were small changes that were cool.  At the end of the ride, the ghosts sit with you, on top of the doom buggy and sometimes your face is changed to a ghostly face.  Fun!

 Having a little fun.

We stayed and watched the Electric Light Parade at 11:00.  It was a shortened version of the original.  As I was watching it, I realized that a lot of the kids would not know who any of the characters were except the princesses and Peter Pan. The parade's focus is older characters.  I would love to see an updated version with Belle, Ariel, characters from Cars etc, but still keep the older ones in for a bit of nostalgia.

There is, of course, so much to see and I couldn't capture everything.  I tried to get pics of some of the things that were different, plus when it is so hot, it is hard to get the family to cooperate for pics.  It was a fun day and we enjoyed the park.

Wyndham Grand Orlando Resort Bonnet Creek - Disneyworld

Wyndham Grand Resort Bonnet Creek

All pics are from the website.

Wow!  What a resort!  We were so happy with this beautiful, chic hotel.  It was conveniently located next to everything!  It was literally a five minute drive to any park and Downtown Disney.  The grounds and hotel were well maintained, the service was awesome, the price was incredible and it was quiet. 

The hotel lobby was chic and comfortable.  Lots of space to relax and enjoy a cup of coffee or ice cold water.  

 I loved this chic, cozy nook.

 This little coffee bar was a Starbucks and very convenient in the morning. 

Our room had a king sized bed, a pull out couch and

 bunk beds tucked away in a little cozy nook.  (above pic shows double beds)

 The resort had two pools, this is the main pool.  It had a nice little restaurant and a view of the lake.  There was also a kiddie pool with a huge pirate ship.  Every night we could see the fireworks from Epcot right on the other side of the lake.

I definitely recommend this property to families and also to couples.  It was awesome.