After visiting Cave of the Winds, we hurried for the Maid of the Mist boat ride. There was a long queue for the ride.

After waiting about an hour in the queue, we reached the elevator which takes people down to the boat. The boat was very crowded. I wish if they didn't pack people like packing salmons to the boat. Anyway we could find a small space to stand still but it was not that comfortable.

The ride was really amazing. We could see the front view of American falls. The only way to see it, is this boat ride unless you are visiting from Canada side.

The boat passed the American fall and went under the Horseshoe fall. Basically it got lost in the mist maid by the fall. It was an amazing experience.

Though we got the tickets for the aquarium and etc (5 events altogether) we didn't have time for those. I think it is enough to buy tickets for Cave of the Winds and Maid of the Mist, if I am visiting again.

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As we spent the night in Cleveland, OH we had around 300 miles to cover yet. So after having breakfast from a McDonalds we started driving towards Niagara. It was bit rainy that day but the sky started to get brighten when we reach Niagara .

 First we found parking in Goat island. Then headed to a ticket counter thinking to visit Cave of the Winds. We got an option to buy one ticket for 5 items for a discount price. However it is good to buy this ticket only if you plan to visit all the 5 places. Otherwise it is a waste I guess.

After buying the tickets we visited Cave of the Winds. It is a wooden stair way which runs under the American Fall of Niagara.  We got yellow colored rain coats to wear. It was an amazing feeling to go under the water fall and be covered with the mist and droplets.

Whole American falls is not visible here. The stripe like fall here, is the Bridal veil falls. Cave of the Winds was a nice experience and I think anyone who is visiting Niagara should not miss this.

Then we had lunch form the Niagara fall's restaurant near Horseshoe falls and hurried to take the Maid of the Mist tour.
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We visited Niagara falls in early September, 2011. There are about 600 miles to Niagara, NY from Bloomington, IN. So we decided to spend a night on the way.

We left Bloomington around 10 a.m. This was our route via Ohio and Pennsylvania.


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We had planned to stay the night in Cleveland, OH. So there was no hurry. We stopped by the Beaver lake to have our home made lunch. The lake was nice and full of ducks and other birds. There was a beautiful bike route around the lake. However we couldn't see around the lake because only bikes and walkers could enter that route.  Hear are some pictures of the lake.

After having lunch, we headed to Cleveland to spend the night at Crown Plaza hotel.

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Bluespring caverns is an underground cave system formed by limestone. It is located somewhere near Bedford, Indiana. So it takes around 30 minutes from here, Bloomington IN.

There is a river which flows through the cave. They provide a boat tour on that underground river. The tour takes about an hour. Inside of the cave is really dark  so that you can't see an inch away from your eyes when the boat lights are off. I believe you should visit an underground cave to feel what real darkness is. I experienced the same when we visit Mammoth cave too.

Bluespring cave is not a large and interesting cave like Mammoth cave but it was nice to have a boat ride along an underground river. You can picture it like few people on a boat lightened by a lantern, crawling on a dark, mysterious underground river which flows toward centre of earth.

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Kings Island theme park is located in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. It is a 2 hr drive from where we live, Bloomington IN. We visited there in last July. General admission is normally $35 if you buy online. Otherwise it would be around $50. Kings Island is a great place to have fun. There are many thrilling rides and small rides as well. The rides I liked the most were WindSeeker and Backlot Stunt.

It was too hot since it was summer. Good thing we brought sunscreen. If you are visiting in summer I think the best option is to go for the rides in the morning and go to water park when it gets too hot. 

Water park of Kings Island (Boomrang bay) is a great place to enjoy too. You can spend hours of fun there. I really liked Tazmanian typhoon and Pipeline paradise from the water rides.

However there were certain facts I should mention about Kings Island. It is good if you can bring your own food and drinks because the price of food items and everything inside Kings Island is too much. Even the lockers cost too much. If you are planning to go for both roller coaster rides and water park then you will have to buy two lockers as the water park is located far away. Also a locker costs $15.

However we spent a great day at Kings Island and it was about 8.00 p.m when we leave the place.
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Space needle, which is considered as a major landmark, is located near Seattle Center House. The height of the needle is 184 m.

You can see a really nice view of the Seattle city and surrounding mountains from the observation deck. It was bit rainy and gloomy when we go there, but still it was a nice experience. The hardest thing was finding parking. Finally we managed to park on a roadside. Anyway it seems the needle has valet parking facility at a cost. General admission for space needle is $18.

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Dungeness Spit is a long sand spit, which is the longest natural sand spit in US. It is located in Olympic Peninsula, Washington.

There were really nice hiking trails around the spit. We followed a trail for about 30 minutes and came back as we were running out of time. It was a nice evening and was really cold there (in March). So we didn't hike the spit but spent some time in the shore seeing the sunset. However it was bit difficult to bare the fishy odor around the bay. 

It was late when we come back and we were hoping to visit Space Needle next morning.
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Our aim was to visit Dungeness spit. So we had to take a ferry as the route has to cross the sea at some point. So we chose the route via Bainbridge Island.


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So we took a ferry to Bainbridge island from Seattle, and then headed to Dungeness spit. The ferry ride was amazing. We got into the top passenger deck and took pictures of the surrounding. It was bit cold that day and was bit rainy too. So I guess we couldn't experience the real beauty but the ride was really worthy.

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We planned a 3 day visit to Seattle, WA (to brother-in-law's place) in March 2011. I had to travel alone because my husband went there day before for a conference. I could reserve a ticket for me for $520 from Priceline.com. Yes it was a relatively high price because the dates were too close when I reserve the ticket and it was a Friday evening I planned to leave on. 

So I arrived at Indianapolis airport from a Star of America shuttle ($15 one way from Bloominton, IN). Normally Star of America provides low prices than Bloomington Shuttle Service. I was hoping to arrive in Seattle by 11.00 p.m in Pacific time but I couldn't reach there till next morning because of American Airlines.

My route was Indianapolis airport to Chicago (O'Hare)
Chicago airport to Seattle


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Due to my delay we lost half of the day. So we decided to go for a Ferry ride and visit Dungeness spit after lunch.
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For the return trip we took the same route we took the other day (Trip to Florida - Day One). So no wonder it was bit boring. Of course again, it was a 17 hr drive. Nothing special happened on our way. We were able to reach our home sweet home at about 11 p.m.

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Today our target was to visit Sea World. It was really cold in the morning but it became bit warm during the day. It was about 10 a.m when we arrive there. Roller coaster and stuff were not open yet. We watched  an amazing killer whale show and a dolphin show.

Apart from the shows, there were many interesting rides including two roller coasters named Karken and Manta. We didn't dare to take those two rides though. Anyway this Journey to Atlantis thing was nice too. There was another train simulator named Wild Arctic ride. Another nice experience was the Sky Tower. It slowly lifts up the passengers deck up so that they can experience a breath taking view of the surroundings.
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Cocoa beach is located in eastern coast of Florida. We thought to visit Cocoa beach on our way back from Kennedy Space Center to our lodge in Orlando.

We had not seen the sea for about 1 1/2 years, since we left Sri Lanka. This would be a funny thing for Sri Lankan people. Anyway it was around 4 p.m when we reach the beach. The beach was so beautiful in the evening but the bad thing was, it was damn cold there. We have herd that Florida has such a nice weather and the temperature does not go down that much. However the last two days we spent in Florida was really cold but sunny.

So we couldn't spend much time there. We hurried back to the vehicle to get warm. So we arrived early at our lodge and prepared some dinner. Next day, we were willing to visit Sea World.
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The fourth day of our vacation (26th Dec 2010) was reserved for visiting Kennedy Space Center. We had bought visitor complex admission tickets online ($43 each). We had to drive about 1 hr from Orlando, FL to Kennedy Space Center.Af
 


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After the security check we entered the visitor complex. Then we were boarded on buses with all other visitors to begin the tour. So they took us to their exhibits including Saturn V. They were worth seeing but the entire tour was not exiting as we expected. We passed the NASA main building but the bus didn't stop their. The visitors are not allowed in there. We got the chance to experience a shuttle launching on a rocket simulator. It was great but not to the level we expected from NASA.

However the tour took half a day. We had lunch from a cafeteria inside and came out. I think the tour could have been really great if we got the chance to see some inside functionalities rather than exhibits. I guess it is worth to buy a ticket to see a shuttle launching at a higher price.

Though we thought it will take whole the day for the tour we got half a day left. So we decided to see Cocoa beach on our way back to our lodge.
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It was around 6.30 p.m when we arrive at Disney's Magic Kingdom from Epcot. Our main target was to see fireworks at 10 pm (It was Christmas day too). So we searched for some attractions to spend time there.

First we peeped into space mountain we gave up the idea after seeing the long queue. Then we joined the queue for Tomorrowland Speedway which looked like a speedy car track. We had to wait  about 45 min in the queue and the worst thing is, it was really disappointing. No matter how hard you push the accelerator the car doesn't increase it's speed above 5 mph, and it runs on fixed rails. I don't recommend this ride for anyone except really small kids.Next, we found a thrilling event, Splash Mountain. Well, it was thrilling and full of fun. You get up on a river boat like block and it takes you through a cave and falls down from a 5 story tall water rail with you. The fall ends in a pond (be ready to get wet). We took the ride for two times as there was no queue by that time.
Then we watched Disney's Electrical Parade while having dinner, sitting on a side of the magic kingdom main street. It was so entertaining.

Next thing was another thrilling event, the Big Thunder Mountain. It was a rail road roller coaster and yes, we had fun. Finally the time came for out big event, Fire Works !!! Everyone gathered around Cinderella Castle to watch it. So there was a big rush. The show was so beautiful and amazing.

The park was open till 1.00 a.m that day but most of the people started rushing out of the park after the show. We had to wait for Disney bus to get to the car park. Everyone was waiting for buses and then it started raining. The shelter was not sufficient at all. People started pushing around. The operators didn't manage the buses well. Buses arrived one after the other and it was not sufficient at all. Finally we walked a little distance to the mono rail and took the mono rail without waiting for buses. I see this as a little hole in Disney's nice management. Anyway we arrived at our lodge in one piece.

Our next day destination was NASA - Kennedy Space Center.
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We took a Disney bus from Animal Kingdom to Epcot and we arrived at Epcot around 12.30 p.m . Epcot park was crowded by that time. The ques were too long. I was getting a sign of cold by that time so I immediately took precautions because I didn't want to ruin my day.

So, first we reached  at Test Track but there was a 70 min queue. So we took speed passes for it (timed at 4.45) and then we thought to take a ride in Mission Space Pavilion. There was a spaceship simulator which simulates a tour from Earth to Mars. Honestly it was a good simulator. Our next target was Soarin. Gosh, we  had to wait 90 minutes in the queue. Anyway it really worthy waiting to experience this marvel . It is a hang gliding flight over California. It really takes your breath off. It was around 4.00 p.m  when we come out of Soarin. Our speed ticket to test track was timed at 4.45 p.m.  So we enjoyed a ferry ride and reached test track on time. Test track simulated a car testing and it was fun.

At about 6.00 p.m we took the mono rail from Epcot to Magic Kingdom.

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We started our Disney tour from Disney's Animal Kingdom. It was about 8.00 a.m when we got there. Our first target was Expedition Everest. It is a wood roller coaster runs on an Everest prototype. It was really a thrilling ride. Luckily the queues were still shorter because we were early I guess. Then we headed to Kali River Rapids which is a raft ride along a canal. We totally got wet from the ride. The other events we enjoyed are Dinosaur and Primeval Whirl.

There were many interesting items but we had to skip them due to our time constraint. One of them was Kilimanjaro Safari, which takes a considerable amount of time but is worth watching.

We had lunch from a restaurant in Animal kingdom and left the park around 12 noon heading Epcot. There is a transportation service provided by Disney to travel from park to park and among Disney resorts. So we took the bus to Epcot from Animal Kingdom.
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This time we wanted to start the day as early as possible because we had so many things to cover up. So we got up at about 6.30 a.m and managed to reach Disney World around 8 a.m. We had 1 day park hopper tickets we bought from eBay for $100 each.

According to our plan we were supposed to visit Disney's Animal Kingdom in the morning, Epcot in the afternoon and Disney's Magic Kingdom in the evening. (We had already visited Disney's Blizzard Beach water park, day before).We had a rough idea of the events we are going to consider. We couldn't analyze the attractions beforehand because we didn't have internet access at our lodge, Towns of Legacy Park.

Finally, our plan worked. We could visit all the parks we expected to visit and didn't miss any interesting events. Happy for the day :)
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Both my husband and I really love water sports. So our intention was to reserve a day from our vacation for Disney's Typhoon Lagoon. When we check to buy tickets we got to know that Typhoon lagoon was closed for refurbishments during our vacation. No worries!! We had another option, Disney's Blizzard Beach. Price per head was $45. The park is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

It was around 9 a.m. when we get up that day. It took another two hours to make and have the breakfast and to get ready. It was about 12.00 noon when we arrive at Blizzard beach. Too bad, we could have had more fun if we arrived earlier. Anyway after getting dressed for water fun we rented a locker to keep our stuff safe. It is really a good idea to rent a locker (available at a cost around $8) if you are carrying valuable items like cameras, wallets, etc.

Then the real fun began. The very first adventure we tried was Slush Gusher, which is one of the hardest (seconds only to Summit Plummet). It was definitely a thrilling ride. We had to join another family for Team Boat Springs ride because minimum of four person required for the raft. We screamed all the way down just for fun:) Another thrilling item was Runoff Rapids.They provide three rides. Two of them are similar and for double riders. The other one is a tunnel ride for single riders. Yes, it is the best out of three. It was really scary to scroll down in the dark. There were many other fun rides to enjoy. Apart from rides there was a wavy bay to relax while floating. Actually a day is not enough for this fun.

I wish if they could do some improvements to the park. It was really tiresome to climb the mountain after each ride to get in another ride. There was this Chair Lift as a scenic transportation option but it doesn't cover all the riding areas. Some rides had automatic raft/tube lifting feature but still the riders have to climb the mountain by foot. It would have been really cool if they had provided an option like electronic stairs to reach the top for each ride. Anyway we really enjoyed the water sports in Blizzard Beach.

We bought dinner from an Indian restaurant as we had some stuffed sandwiches which were not that good for lunch from Blizzard beach. Our next day target was to cover other Disney parks as much as possible.
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Towns of Legacy park is a housing scheme in Legacy Park complex. Agents have bought number of houses from the scheme and they rent those for tourists. We reserved a town house with three bed rooms, two and half baths, garage, kitchen and washer dryer,  at a cost of $100 per day.

The house was nicely cleaned and well organized. It was a big relief to see such a pleasant environment after a 17 hrs drive and tiresome few hours we spent to find Towns of Legacy park. It was about 3.oo a.m when we get in there and we hurried to take a bath and then to get some sleep. We knew it is actually going to be a 'nap' because we were willing to visit Disney's Blizzard Beach on next morning. However we had a good long nap :). So it was our first night in Florida and I should mention we really liked the house through out our whole stay. Most importantly it is very closed to Disney world and other attractions in Orlando, FL.

However I have to mention some negative facts too. The kitchen was full of cooking utensils but there was no cutting board or a sponge to clean dishes. Anyway it is not a big deal. Next thing is "NO Internet access", which is of course a big deal. They had mentioned that there is a place called club house where we can access Internet, in the scheme. But we never found such. So we had to stay 6 days without Internet. Apart from these facts our stay was comfortable and nice. It would have been perfect if we had Internet there.

I am posting some interior pictures of the house here.

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We were dying to get a good break after a stressful three months of studies and work. So we decided to have a 6 days vacation in Florida, which would definitely be a nice sunny place for a vacation, in December 2010.

Considering the opportunity cost we preferred driving to FL over flying. So we rented a large SUV from Enterprise. The cost ($400) was reasonable for 7 days with insurance. Well it was a 17 hrs drive from Bloomington, Indiana to Orlando, Florida. 


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True, it is a really long distance to cover up in one day but my husband and brother-in-law could manage the drive. We departed from our home at 5.30 a.m. on 23rd Dec. We bought breakfast from a McDonalds on our way.We passed Indiana, Kentucky and were able to come through Tennessee by lunch time. We had lunch from a China Buffet, from where we can get a good meal for a reasonable price.

Then we started the rest of our journey and the surrounding was becoming scenic because of Smoky mountains, TN. It took a considerable time for us to pass Georgia (GA) as it is kind of a long state. We stopped at a Subway to buy dinner and arrived in Orlando, FL around 12 midnight.

Then the real nightmare began :). We were supposed to find the housing complex called Towns of Legacy Park, which is going to be our lodge for the stay. So we followed the address appended in the payment confirmation mail. Ouch!! it led us to an office called Florida Choice and it was closed. Not a sign of a housing complex. However we managed to find the housing complex, which was few miles away depending entirely on GPS. Now what? there was not any office or someone to talk to. We were so tired and disappointed by this time. Finally we found a phone number from the confirmation mail and called the number. Someone answered and asked us to open a lock box to get the key for the house. He gave us the house number and the code to open the lock box but again, he didn't know where the lock box is located. We searched around the complex but no any sign of lock box. Then we drove back to Florida Choice office and found the lock box there. Phew...finally we could get in. It was about 4.a.m when we went to bed.

This process could have been really pleasant if they had given the necessary information beforehand (about the lock box, code, etc).
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