A spot of shopping...

We had another relaxed morning by the pool, soaking up the sun and enjoying the heat. It's certainly warmed up a bit now!

We'd decided to visit a shopping centre on the West Osceola Parkway, a toll road that we've started to use to get away from the dreaded I-4. Keith had been researching restaurants on the internet before we came on holiday and he'd found a place called BJ's Brewhouse which, as the name suggests, specialises in beers! Luckily we'd spotted it from the road a few days previously so we parked the car nearby and went in to have a snack and a drink before we hit the shops.

My immature pair under the BJ's sign...

We only meant to have a snack but we ended up with a couple of plates of boneless chicken wings that filled us up! The restaurant was lovely - big and airy with very friendly staff and a huge range of beers to keep Keith happy. We decided to definitely come back in the evening after we'd done some shopping and visited Seaworld.

After our lunch we walked over to a branch of JC Penney and Keith and the children did some shopping (I just looked!). Keith bought himself a pair of Levi's jeans, Sophie chose a lovely Levi's tee shirt while Mikey pushed the boat out and spent some of his holiday money on two pairs of trainers.

By now it was pretty warm but we decided to go to Seaworld despite the heat. We found our way there easily on the new roads we were using and took the Preferred Parking again so we were right outside the entrance. A lot of people were leaving even though the park was open until 10pm and it wasn't crowded at all. We went to see the new Shamu show first, One Ocean, which was as cheesy as ever. The huge killer whales made a good job of splashing the front rows but I'm still not convinced about such beautiful wild creatures being made to do circus tricks for fish.

As soon as One Ocean was over, we made our way to Wild Arctic which is right next door to the Shamu Stadium. This was a ride we'd never done before and I was looking forward to something new. It's a simulator ride in which you're on a helicopter travelling through the Arctic to a Base Station. We all had to sit in rows before a screen (Mikey and I got separated from Keith and Soph and managed a seat on the front row) but I hated it! The floor tilts and moves and we were thrown about all over the place and I felt very sick indeed, something that has never happened on any of the other simulator rides!

We stumbled off and into another part of the ride where you walk through a mock-up of the Arctic and you can see Beluga whales, a sorry looking Polar Bear and a couple of walruses.

I'm glad we'd seen Wild Arctic but it's not a ride I'd ever do again!

The crowds had certainly thinned out by now and the fierce heat had softened into early evening warmth so it was lovely to wander about and admire the beautiful flowers and trees. Seaworld is a very pretty, clean park and we saw several squirrels scampering about, picking up crumbs of food.

Manta in action!

 It was getting a bit late so we decided to head back to the restaurant for dinner. We weren't sure how to re-trace our steps, but miraculously, after we thought we'd taken a wrong turning, we found ourselves on the West Osceola Parkway and just minutes from BJ's. We were seated immediately and Keith ordered himself an eight beer sampler!

We had a fab evening at BJ's - the food was delicious and plentiful and Keith had a great time tasting all his beers. I had a glass of Hess Chardonnay which was beautiful and our waitress was very chatty and friendly. The children both ordered starters (Keith and I abstained) and then had pizzas, while I chose Shrimp pasta which could easily have fed two people! Keith had the Balsamic glazed chicken and said the mashed potato was sublime! 

We waddled off into the night after we finished eating and drinking and it was straight to bed!