Fill you guys in on the Hotel Hamby (very LONG)

[TC]

Well reality has set in. The temperature is up to 32 and 1inch of snow and it is still coming down. So Now I guess it is time to fill you guys in

I had a plane ticket I had to use, I was unsure where to go, I had considered several places but wanted a warm place so I picked Orlando. I emailed Dewayne and asked about what all there was to do in the area. Well he offered the Hotel Hamby at a very good rate (VERY GOOD RATE) So on the 10th I flew into Orlando. I got a rental convertible and took off to Hotel Hamby. I walk in and the first thing I see is Framed Gold / Platinum cd’s from Casting Crowns, Mercy Me and Third day(totally awesome). He was able to get me a discount on a Universal Studios ticket. I was able to meet Leanne and we all went to Universal on Saturday and Sunday. We saw a few good shows, A new one with 3D holograms of the Characters. There were a lot of rides like the Hulk that were fun but I really liked the rides that were rides as well as CGI stuff as well. I liked the mummy but my favorite had to be Spiderman. Totally cool

I am an old school Rocker and I love seeing things from the rockers. So we went to the Hard Rock Live and I was blown away, the on Sunday we went to the Kitchen at the Hard Rock Hotel Sunday morning and had breakfast there. We also sort of did a private tour, looking at all of the things on display. Again I was in total awe. I was like a child at Christmas; my eyes were as big as Frisbees. Being a photog, I took pictures of everything. I said at that time it would be so cool to stay there. Dewayne said they give a Fla resident discount. So he said that might be an option.

Well Monday I was off to Daytona, When I got there they were doing testing so I was able to see several drivers and their cars make laps. I toured the speedway and decided to take the “RIDE A LONG” They were not really doing the ride along but one big wheel had made a deal for some of his workers. He allowed me to go with his group. We did a get up to speed lap and four laps that were at a speed of 168-170 mph. I got to feel what it was like to be in the draft, pass another car and be in the front of the draft and then the back car in the draft. It was very cool. They also had an IMAX film as close up looks at last years winning car. My Room was right on the Beach, It was so cool to look out over the ocean at night and hear the wave’s crash. It was a great view in the morning the sun coming up over the ocean.

I then went on to Titusville and the Kennedy Space Center. I took the long tour. I was able to see the pad from which the Shuttle’s were launched. I was with in a few miles. They were telling how there were several Eagles nest on the property, and they were saying up on the left was a nest that they believe to be over 50 years old and as they were showing it a Bald Eagle flew up and landed on a pole right beside it. We were told that they believe that Eagle to be over 40 years old. The nest they said was a little larger than a king size bed, and was about 7 feet deep. During all of the hurricanes that they have had in the area that nest was still undamaged. The last one a few years ago that did a lot of damage to Daytona Speedway and still that nest was un damaged. I was there Tuesday and Wednesday. They had 2 IMAX movies, A simulator of a shuttle launch as well as simulators on landing the shuttle. I crashed and burned on my first turn but I landed the next three with record scores for the day. After I left there I went on to Gator land and I also took an Air boat ride. They were ok but there were not that many gators and they looked like they were drugged. On the air boat I was hoping to see a lot of wild animals and birds but there were not many. I think that the weather had been a lot cooler than normal and that might have been the reason. The low was in the high thirties on Tuesday night.

Well I headed back to the Hotel Hamby Wednesday and played a trivia game but we will not discuss who won that game. So Thursday was the big day I was going to stay in the Hard Rock Hotel. I got my room around 11am it was very nice and had a nice view. Words can not express how cool it really was. I then headed back to the park to take more pictures. Well I went into the Hard Rock Live and started taking pictures. There was no one sitting on the second floor so I thought I was being cool and slipped up the stairs and started taking pictures. It was not like I was hiding, how could they miss my flash going off every few seconds. I was working my way around the second floor when I was approached by one of the workers. I asked if it was a problem that I was there and he said no, and then went on to take me into a few rooms I did not know existed. In the main areas they had more from the more well know stars from the 60- 90’s. He open and an Elvis Room that had things from the 50’s to his death (if you believe he is really dead… but we won’t go into that ) Stuff from Bill Haley, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis era. I had a 2 gig card. I actually had to go to my room and download the card and then go back. I was able to watch my Cards beat Marquette and go into the pool and hot tub on Thursday night. It is so cool they have speakers IN THE POOL… you can hear music under the water… Gotta get some of those…

While there on Thursday I thought I saw someone famous. I thought I saw Billy Gibbions from ZZ Top. But I thought nah that was not him. Well On my way out of Friday I asked one of the bellmen about who they had seen that was famous, he named a few and said “that ZZ Top guy was here yesterday” well I still didn’t believe him but yesterday I saw on the news a blurb about him and he was wearing the same hat and coat I saw him in so I guess it was him.

Well all in all I had a remarkable time, I even had a close friend from TC that live about 30 miles away give me a call and he was on the way there, so I was able to see them before I left. Some of the low points were I only got in the ocean up to my waist.. it was just too cold. I did not get into any pool until Thursday night, again too cool. One other bad thing was I had gotten a convertible but I was not able to drive it much with the top down too cold or it was raining. But that happens. The temperature change was drastic when I left the Ville it had been in the 50’s for a few days, got to Orlando and it was not that much warmer. But when I came back to the Ville it was in the teens… BIG SHOCK. But a great time…

I just wanted to thank Dewayne and Leanne for the great time, It was something I will not soon forget

This is how you know you are getting old, It takes you almost a week to recover from your vacation. I was supposed to come back to work yesterday but I overslept so I just took one more day.

When I get a chance I will post a few pics

[DeWayneTN]

I love living down here - when people come in to take vacations, you just go with 'em. Wish I could have joined you for everything. Tony did everything you'd want to do in just a few days - I was impressed - driving race cars, floating in space, hanging at the Hard Rock Hotel, doing an airboat ride, seeing celebrities, tackling Spider-Man and the Mummy! It was a great week. I wrote a little about it on my blog. Thanks for visiting!