Leisure … more than a word, it's a lifestyle

In honor of Memorial Day we have set up a very special offer for those brave men and women who serve and who have served us with pride and honor.

Go to www.FloridaLeisure.com/Military for more details.

One of the new traditions for American Idol winners is a visit to Walt Disney World and this years winner, Lee DeWyze,has already completed his first official duty in taping the “I’m going to Disney World” line for a national ad campaign. Film crews at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles captured DeWyze’s line just moments after he was announced as the winner, and the spots have started airing already.

Lee now joins David Cook and Kris Allen to become the third American Idol winner  to say it for prosperity. DeWyze’s ad features him singing “When You Wish Upon a Star” and features the exciting American Idol Experience attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios theme park. DeWyze is scheduled to appear at Hollywood Studio’s on Monday May 31st and the event will be similar to the 2009 event.

Last year the day began with a celebrity motorcade down Hollywood Boulevard, winding up in front of the American Idol Experience, where Kris Allen answered some questions from his fans and then the newest American Idol performed a crowd favorite, “Heartless.” After that  it was on to a performance of the American Idol Experience, where he appeared on stage to give the contestants some advice before they performed. To round everything off  Kris then answered questions from the media in a press conference, held in the “Sounds Dangerous” theater at Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

So, if you’re in town, why not pay a visit to Disney’s Hollywood Studio’s and see the 2010 American Idol winner?

SUMMER NIGHTS ARE MORE INTENSE AT BUSCH GARDENS IN 2010

Ride Coasters in the Dark, Stay for an Awesome Night-Time Finale

Busch Gardens is amping up the fun in 2010 during Summer Nights with MORE contemporary entertainment, MORE special effects and MORE reasons to stay and play each night from June 11 through Aug. 15. This year, the rides are even wilder and, each night, Busch Gardens goes out with a big, rock-style bang when Kinetix explodes onto the stage in Gwazi Park at 9 p.m.

Kinetix brings together live musicians, singers, dancers and artists from around the world for an original, non-stop 30-minute contemporary rock experience that delivers awesome lighting effects, modern music and high-energy performances.

Also in 2010, Busch Gardens’ world-class rides are amplified with pulsating sights and sounds to intensify each experience. Thrill rides, such as SheiKra, incorporate strobe lights, black lights, music and other special effects for an even bigger thrill. Even the carousel is amped up with a disco ball, and the Serengeti Express is aglow as it chugs around the park.

Jeff Civillico returns to Marrakesh Theater with his amazing blend of comedy, juggling, balancing, athleticism and audience participation. On July 3 and 4, catch an illuminating fireworks display at Busch Gardens.

DJs up the energy each night throughout the park, playing party songs and inviting families to dance and play along. Every Friday and Saturday night, guests can bust their most impressive moves in the Dance Challenge. The best dancers will be selected throughout Friday and Saturday nights to compete in a dance off at 7 p.m. in Desert Grill – three rounds that challenge them to a variety of dance styles. First place winners each night receive 4 tickets to Busch Gardens, Adventure Island or SeaWorld.

Park hours for Summer Nights are extended until 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and until 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Summer Nights is included with a day’s paid admission or any annual pass.

While you’re at Busch Gardens, discover all that the park has to offer this summer – day and night. That includes Sesame Street Safari of Fun, a new sunny, funny play land filled with kid-size rides, cool water fun and plenty of memorable adventures. Dip and dive through the desert on Air Grover junior coaster. Climb and play in Elmo’s Treehouse Trek. Splash and refresh in Bert and Ernie’s fun-filled water play area. Watch your Sesame Street friends in African-inspired shows. In Sesame Street Safari of Fun, imaginations run wild, and there’s fun or everyone.

Also new is Walkabout Way, where guests can encounter unique animals indigenous to the Land Down Under. Hand feed kangaroos and free-roaming wallabies in Kangaloom during scheduled feedings throughout the day. Laugh along with a kookaburra and other Australian birds in the free-flight aviary, The Kookaburra’s Nest.

Busch Gardens is just 75 minutes from your Orlando vacation home and is a very easy drive. There’s something fun for everyone, from the education side as you discover some of the animal kingdom and mix it up with some great thrilling rides. It’s a day not to miss and it’s just got better.

Bitter sweet morning here in Central Florida as Space Shuttle Atlantis has now returned to Earth for the final time. It was a fabulous sight as Atlantis and its six man crew swept in over Florida and made a picture perfect landing.

Atlantis was commissioned to be built on 29 January 1979 and it’s first flight was on 3rd October 1985. It’s first mission was just four days as it returned on 7th October. Here we are 25 years later and the mission that began on 14 May has now ended at 8.48am on 26th May 2020 some 32 missions later.

In that time Atlantis has docked with MIR on 7 occasions and with the International Space Station on 11 occasions and has spent some 294 days in space in total.It has also completed over 120 million miles

Only two shuttle missions now remain unless the Government gives the shuttle program a reprieve. Discovery is scheduled for a 16 September flight and Endeavor has a date in November that is yet to be decided.

SUMMER AT SEAWORLD ROCKS … DAY OR NIGHT

This summer at SeaWorld, the nights will be cooler and the atmosphere even hotter! SeaWorld AfterDark is transforming daytime favorites into nighttime spectacles.

SeaWorld AfterDark is showcasing the park in a whole new light, with a nighttime rock n’ roll extravaganza, a high-energy Shamu show, a hilarious sea lion show and a mystifying fireworks finale. That’s in addition to being able to experience all that’s awesome day and night, like Manta, up-close animal encounters and spectacular shows. SeaWorld AfterDark begins May 29 and continues through August 15.

Whether day or night, SeaWorld is the place to be this summer for a one-of-a-kind experience, including:

MANTA

Experience what it’s like to spin, glide, skim and fly with the largest of rays when riding Manta – by moonlight, an even more extraordinary sensation.  A seamless blend of up-close animal encounters with a head-first, face-down flying roller coaster thrill ride, Manta is an adventure only SeaWorld could create.

Shamu Rocks

Shamu Rocks is a spectacular rock ’n roll killer whale show that wows audiences of all ages.  This show is a high-energy concert of unprecedented proportions, combining awe-inspiring killer whales with a stunning light show and music from some of the hottest rock stars in the industry.

SEA LIONS TONITE

SeaWorld’s popular sea lion comedic duo takes the laughs into the night.  Hilarious hijinks ensue in this evening show as the park’s talented sea lions, otters and walrus parody other favorite SeaWorld shows and attractions.

REFLECTIONS: FIREWORKS AND FOUNTAIN SHOW FINALE

SeaWorld comes to life in a spectacular celebration of soaring fountains and dazzling fireworks.  Through the thrilling and inspirational music of SeaWorld’s most popular shows, families and friends will experience a wondrous connection that lights the night like never before.

Is something sinister going on?

Yesterday I received a couple of requests from journalists asking if I was seeing any cancellations for bookings in our vacation homes because of the oil slick problem. Have to say I found the requests more than odd considering I’m based in Orlando and the chances of any oil penetrating Central Florida, other than through spills from old vehicles, seem next to none.

Is the media now scaremongering? Are they trying to kill businesses with yet another “scare” story that stops people from traveling and taking vacations? I don’t know what to make of it.

Further, having just journeyed back from a very pleasant weekend on the Gulf Coast I can testify that there’s no oil there either. In fact, all I saw was a lot of very happy people enjoying themselves and living life to the full.

Seems to me that despite some of the reports of impending gloom (most dating back to the start of May…and here we are on 25th May) the oil isn’t affecting the wonderful beaches and resort areas on the Gulf Coast of Florida and that folks should continue with their Memorial Day plans as normal.

Living in Orlando is a wonderful way to exist but sometimes we all need a break from the ‘norm’ and we need to get away to new places and see something different. “A change is as good as a rest is a favored old proverb ” and with my eldest daughter back home from college in Kentucky we decided to get away for the weekend.

We didn’t want to simply put the car on auto pilot and head down an interstate so we set out to explore some of Florida and headed down Highway 17 down through Winter Haven, Bartow, Meade, Arcadia and numerous other small towns before reaching Punta Gorda.

The journey down 17 was interesting and showed the real Florida. On the way we saw how life used to be and still is for many people, we saw lots of eagles nests in the electricity pylons and we encountered the ‘Florida Love Bug’ in large batches that made a real mess of our car! For those not familiar with this phenomena, Florida has two ‘lovebug’ seasons; late spring and then again in late summer. Basically, the bug (also known as the honeymoon fly, kissing bug or double headedbug) comes in male and female forms and shortly after reaching maturity it spends its entire adult life coupled in copulation with its mate, hence the romantic nicknames.  After mating, the male dies and is dragged about by the female until she lays her eggs. The females can lay upto 350 eggds in debris and about 20 days later they hatch into larvae which lasts for approximately nine months. The female lifecycle is approximately three to four days.

The bugs are pretty harmless overall but become something of a nuisance to most of us. They don’t bite or sting but they do have a slightly acidic body chemistry which makes them very difficult to remove from a vehicle.

Despite this mess, it’s well worthwhile visiting some of the charming old towns like Wauchula and Haines City and it’s nice to see places that you would never see if you’re on the interstate. Each place has a unique history and Wauchula is an example of that as it has been called the ‘cucumber capital of the world’ while Haines City grew mainly because of the South Florida Railroad.

At the end of 17 is Punta Gorda, a place where the Peace River meets Charlotte Harbor, and this made a perfect place to stop for lunch. We found a lovely little restaurant overlooking the water at the Fishermen’s Villages and enjoyed a wonderful lunch… hard to imagine that this was the place that felt the brunt of Hurricane Charley, a category four hurricane, back in August 2004.

Punta Gorda was also the place of the southernmost stop on the South Florida Railroad and because of that it attracted many industries to fuel its growth. Today, it seems more of a sleepy town relying on its charm to attract tourists to visit.

From Punta Gorda we jumped on the interstate and headed further south to Marco Island. Marco Island, located on the Gulf of Mexico, is the largest barrier island within Southwest Florida’s Ten Thousand Islands and has a total area of just 17 square miles of which approximately 7 miles of it is water.

It’s a great place to relax and we found a nice hotel…yes, sometimes I do stay in them…purely for research purposes mind, called the Old Marco Inn. The Inn was built in 1883 by Captain Bill Collier on Calusa Indian grounds and today you can luxuriate in the elegant suites that now grace the property.

The Inn originally opened with 20 rooms and is one of the oldest buildings in southwest Florida. Captain Collier started to accommodate travelers with a very special “dollar a day, bring your own meat” offer.

Unfortunately the Calusa Indians are now extinct but in 1896 a Smithsonian Institution Expedition discovered the Marco Cat and numerous ceremonial masks and artifacts just a few yards from where the Inn stands. These artifacts can now be seen in the Smithsonian and are considered to be one of the most significant archaeological finds in North America.

After Captain Collier, the next owners of the Inn were the Ruppert family of beer, basketball and baseball fame. The Inn then became a sporting haven for certain clientele.

Today, if you decide to visit, you can enjoy wandering around Marco Island, have a day on the beach or splashing in the Inn’s pool, or simply chill out and relax. After a hectic day of doing very little then make sure you try out some of the great restaurants on the island… and don’t miss Bistro Soleil located at the Inn. It’s quite simply … fabulous.

Frenchman Denis Meurgue is the award winning chef and his cooking is influenced by his passionate culinary odyssey having worked in the Mediterranean, Mexico, Europe and the tropics. Be warned, the menu is mouth watering and you really will have a hard time deciding what to eat as you’ll want to sample at least three or four dishes!

After a good night’s rest we grabbed a quick breakfast at The Chef’s Express, located near the Inn, and we headed over to Cedar Bay Yacht Club where we hired a boat for a half day exploring Marco’s waterway’s. This really is the best way to see the island and see the natural beauty of this part of Florida. It’s here you can enjoy boating to tropical islands with sugar sand beaches, visit a dockside restaurant letting the tropical breeze sweep you away or relax and take in a magical sunset while watching the abundant wildlife play in a pristine environment. You can also enjoy sailing by some fabulous real estate and seeing some amazing homes.

Another restaurant we tried was Marek’s Collier House restaurant which was another of Captain Bill Collier’s homes and today is run by Peter and Penny Marek. Peter is a Triple Gold Medal Winner World Culinary Olympics and the restaurant has been voted Marco Island’s Best Fine Dining Restaurant 8 years in a row.

From there it was time for a quick nightcap at the Snook Inn for some members of the family while others retired early. The Snook Inn has been a landmark on Marco Island for over 30 years and it got its name from the abundance of snook fish right off the dock. The Snook is a casual waterfront full service restaurant with an emphasis on fun. You can dine indoors or out and you’ll also find some entertainment in the “Chickee Bar”, which is a unique area complete with thatched roof that was constructed by Native Americans. It’s a great place to enjoy a cocktail, a wine or a beer and it really does have one of the finest water views in Southwest Florida.

Our final day of the weekend was spent driving back to Orlando but we didn’t simply get on I75 and head north. If we had, the journey back to Orlando would have taken around 3.5 to 4 hours… so it’s not too far to go to get away. Instead we decided to explore the Gulf coast a little more and we drove back via Naples, and a few of the Barrier Islands such as Anna Marie Island, Siesta Key, Longboat Key, and then through Sarasota and Bradenton before heading back home.

If you’ve never done this sort of road trip before then you’ve really missed out. It’s fun to break your vacation up and even if you are staying in one of our vacation homes, you can easily journey to the Gulf Coast and to areas like Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Bradenton and Sarasota in a couple of hours. It’s not necessary to stay out overnight as it’s really very easy to enjoy a day at the beach and then head back inland for the attraction parks and everything else the Orlando area has to offer.

Talking of beaches, the Clearwater area down to Sarasota really does have some of the finest beaches that Florida has to offer. Harvard University’s geology department found the sand at Siesta Key to be 99% pure quartz. Unlike most Florida beaches that are composed of crushed shells, rocks or lava, this sand is pure white and finer in texture than most refined sugar. Quite simply amazing and the really dazzling thing is that it never feels hot.

If you’re thinking of getting married then Anna Maria Island is the place for you. It’s known as the “wedding capital of Florida” and even hosts an annual Wedding Festival. Again crystal white beaches are abundant and you’ll also enjoy discovering some of the eating holes along the way. Finally, if you happen to wander this way from May to October then watch out for sea turtles as they come ashore to nest. The sea turtles are protected and another popular visitor to Anna Marie Island are manatees who frequent the shores.

Overall a really great way to spend the weekend. The batteries feel recharged and I’m ready to go again…

Fabulous news coming from Disney’s Animal Kingdom…  we have a new baby elephant!  22-year-old elephant Donna gave birth to a 288-pound female calf late Thursday night after a 22-month gestation. Right now, baby and mom are in their backstage home, but in several weeks you can expect them to join the rest of the elephant herd on the Kilimanjaro Safaris.  The new baby hasn’t bee named yet but is the second calf for Donna, who gave birth to a female calf, Nadirah, in 2005. She is the fifth elephant born at the theme park and this birth raises the number of elephants in the Disney’s Animal Kingdom herd to thirteen, including five males and eight females.

Elephant births are among the most amazing and complicated processes in the animal world. The animal care team at Disney has worked with Donna attentively throughout the course of her pregnancy and are very optimistic for the calf’s likelihood of survival. Both Donna and her calf are doing well.

Donna became pregnant through artificial insemination in July 2008 and received extensive pre-natal care throughout her pregnancy. In addition to regular ultrasounds, veterinarians and elephant managers monitored her hormone levels on a daily basis to help them determine when she would give birth. Labor appeared imminent Thursday night and the animal care team stayed with her to provide round-the-clock care until the female calf was born around 11:30 p.m.

Other elephant’s born at Disney’s Animal Kingdom in addition to Donna’s first female calf, Nadirah are Tufani, a male, who was born in 2003; Kianga, a female, who was born in 2004; and Tsavo, the youngest male, who joined the herd in 2008. All remain on the savannah at Disney’s Animal Kingdom.

I recently came upon an article talking about some of the things we just won’t give up no matter how deep the recession bites. Some of the items on the list were interesting, some surprising and some predictable.  As we enter the weekend I thought it would be fun to find out a few more of the things folks just won’t give up but first you need to know what was on the original list.

It seems that Americans have clung dearly to some things so here are the 10 new essentials:

Portable computers. The iPad might be the latest must-have gizmo, but the power of computers transcends trendiness. Purchases of notebooks have skyrocketed over the last three years, with sales in 2010 likely to be double what they were in 2007, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. Part of the jump comes from low priced netbooks, but portable computers of all sizes are becoming ubiquitous as we socialize, communicate, shop, get our news and increasingly live our lives online. Desktop sales, meanwhile, have been on a steady decline, as mobility trumps stability.

High-speed Internet access. Lots of people may have cut back on cable TV, telephone service, and even gas and electricity usage but once you’ve got high-speed Internet access, you don’t go back. In a Pew Research Center survey from last year, high-speed Internet was one of only three things people said was more of a necessity in 2009 than in 2006. Appliances like microwaves, clothes dryers and dishwashers, by contrast, were considered less essential in 2009 than they used to be. And data from the Telecommunications Industry Association shows that the rapid increase in broadband Internet subscribers barely slowed in 2008 or 2009. By 2013, more than 90 percent of all Internet connections in the United States will be high-speed.

Smart phones. Overall sales of cell phones dipped for the first time ever in 2009. But sales of smart phones, which can handle email, browse the Internet and do a variety of other things, rose by 7 percent, according to TIA. And sales could surge by 25 percent this year, as people who have been putting off mobile upgrades finally nab the iPhone or Blackberry of their dreams. Like portable computers, smart phones have become a lifeline for the harried multitaskers we pretend we’re not.

Education. Many folks have decided they can live without their two cars, their two residences, and most other luxuries but they still insist on keeping up tuition payments for their sons or daughters. , While data doesn’t readily show how much families spend on schooling, many families say they’ve given up other things in order to protect their kids’ education, whether it’s private school or college, tutoring, enrichment programs or school-related activities. Private school enrollments fell by less than one percent from 2008 to 2010, and college enrollments have gone up over the last couple of years.

Movies. Ticket sales dipped in 2008 but bounced back in 2009, hitting a five-year high. One big reason was Avatar and other 3-D films, which accounted for 11 percent of the box office take in 2009, up from 2 percent the year before. Any box-office increase is a victory for movie theaters, which until last year had been losing viewers to home theater systems and an expanding lineup of movies on cable and the Internet. It’s a remarkable turn around for an industry that almost died in the 80’s.

TV. Amercians are spending less on entertainment but watching more TV. A recent survey by consulting firm Deloitte found that the typical American watches nearly 18 hours’ worth of shows on a home TV each week, two hours more than a year earlier. One reason might be that more unemployed people are killing time at home. But TV might also seem like a cheap alternative to sports events, concerts and DVD purchases. And hard-core TV watchers can’t be all that strapped as sales of high-definition TV sets have risen steadily right through the recession.

Music downloads. The need for mobility applies to music, too. CD sales fell by 21 percent in 2009, but downloads of singles and entire albums rose by nearly as much. The Pew Survey comparing luxuries and necessities helps explain why: More people considered an iPod a necessity in 2009 than in 2006, despite the recession.

Pets. Fido sits at the table these days. Maybe even at the head of the table. While Americans have cut spending on themselves, spending on pet food, supplies, grooming, vet care and clothing (clothing?) has been rising uninterrupted by about 5 percent per year. Industry officials attribute this to the “humanization” of pets, which in turn has led many pet owners to close the “quality of life gap” between their animals and themselves. The iWoof can’t be far behind.

Booze. Smoking less doesn’t make us entirely virtuous. Americans have backed off the high-end expensive booze, but we’re drinking enough cheap stuff to make up for it.  Beer and wine sales have inched up as well over the last few years and with bar and restaurant sales down, it tends to  suggest that more people are drinking at home …while they watch TV, probably.

Coffee. Americans have actually followed that penny-pinching advice, and cut back on the $5 daily lattes. But they’re compensating by brewing more of their own coffee. About 56 percent of American adults drink coffee, a proportion that hasn’t changed over the last few years. But a recent survey by the National Coffee Association found that 86 percent of coffee drinkers make their own at home, up from 82 percent a year earlier. And those drinking coffee made someplace else (think Starbucks) fell from 31 percent in 2009 to 26 percent in 2010. Of course, if people are drinking more booze at home, then it makes sense that they’d be dosing themselves with more coffee, too. If the economy improves, maybe we’ll need less of each.

So what else can’t you live without? What won’t you give up no matter how bad things get? Let me know… leave a comment below.

Link to original article: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-Things-We-Cant-Live-usnews-3617536316.html?x=0

Sea World sometimes attracts some criticism from animal welfare fanatics because they dare to keep captive some of the world’s most fantastic creatures. Of course, there are arguments back and forth but there can be no denying that everyone who has visited their theme parks has usually learned a great deal more about the animals and species that occupy this planet with us.

Sea World also does a great deal of fantastic work in helping the animal planet and much of it goes unnoticed. One example is what happened this Monday as Sea World’s Animal Rescue Team successfully rescued from a canal in Satellite Beach, FL an 8-foot manatee which had most likely been struck by a boat.

Currently, the female manatee is resting in Sea World’s Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation where animal care specialists are treating her with antibiotics and provided fluids for nourishment.

This year alone, the Sea World team has rescued 16 manatees and have returned 10 back to the wild. It’s quite possible that these animals wouldn’t have survived but for the positive actions of the wonderful caring people at Sea World.