I just got back from my family's yearly excursion to Ormond Beach, Florida.
The same beach and the same birds every year.
What was so different about it this time that it requires a blog post???
Only the fact that we got to visit Universal Islands of Adventure.
Which is home to......
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!
Wooop Wooop!
Zonkos! Ollivanders! Filche's Emporium! Dervish and Bangs! Honeydukes! Hogsmead! And Hogwarts castle itself!
Can a 25 year old say that they were beyond stoked to walk down the road in Hogsmead and buy a butterbeer...a real life butterbeer?
I hope so, because I think I took about 200 pictures while we were there.
Let me take you on a tour :)
Our first sighting of the Hogsmead!
The Hogwarts Express! My baggage was all ready to go but I guess I just missed it! (Which is why I'm writing this blog now instead of learning magic)
Hogwarts!! Finally!!
School seal and the Entrance Hall! And I think that's Harry and Ron's room jutting off to the side!
Into the castle we go now!
Gryffindor is winning!
Moving pictures!
Look who we found in the Defense Against the Dark Arts room!
Look who else we found after saying "Sherbert Lemons"!
Our guardians were still watching over Hogsmead when we made it safely out of the castle!
After some wandering through the rest of Universal, we decided to head back over the Three Broomsticks to see what was up.
When we realized that the Hog's Head Pub was practically part of it we sidled on over for something a little stronger than butterbeer ;) Lucky we did because as soon as we'd sat down with our beers (If you ask for a Firewhiskey, they tell you that muggles can't handle it....which I deem an utter falsehood!) an afternoon thunderstorm let loose and we were "stuck" there :)
So all in all, the trip was a success!
And did I get a wand?
Only the most powerful one of all time.
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Although Harry Potter Wonderland did constitute a full day of magic, the beach and the wildlife entranced in an utterly different way:
Not too shabby of a welcome view in the first one huh?
The ever changing moods of Ormond Beach:
Not sure if these are a type of sandpiper, but they sure are cute when they run up and away from the surf!
Watching the Pelicans dive over and over and over is crazy.
This was the first year I have ever seen one of these Black Skimmers. It keeps its beak open in the surf while it flies- not sure what it was catching though!
Of course I never want to leave out Mr. Crabby who visits along with his many friends every year.
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I also had time, during the EVERY AFTERNOON thunderstorms, to finish two books. One of which I couldn't put down and the other which I found a bit childish.
Mark my words. The Divergent Triology is the next blockbuster. It's very similar in feel to The Hunger Games Triology. A world torn apart that healed in a way that worked at the time but is crumbling fast. I could not buy the second book fast enough.
This book I bought because I figured, it's by James Patterson, it can't be all bad. Even though it's a young adult novel. Which it wasn't. It was just very very easy reading and just a little too juvenile for my tastes. Not sure if I'll finish out the series or not. I would definately reccommend it for the age 7-15 range though.
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