#36- Go to Harry Potter World

When I found out that Universal Studios in Orlando was opening a Harry Potter World, I freaked. I joined their mailing list, getting constant updates on the progress of building, their opening and specials. I am a huge Harry Potter fan and was one of those kids that read the whole book through in the matter of a day without putting it down for a second.

My friend Jessica suggested doing a Universal Studios Day and I was finally going to get my shot to see this enchanting world that I have been dying to see since before it even opened. So Jess, along with Nick and Nicholas, headed to Orlando for a day of Wizarding World magic.

I cannot tell you the amount of excitement I had as we approached. It was everything I could've hoped it would be. Just seeing all of the details put into it and how accurate it was to the way I pictured it was amazing. I asked one of the workers if the castle was true to size and she laughed at me, but it seemed so real in my head.

We stood in line for the Forbidden Journey of Harry Potter for over an hour and a half and I was praying that it would be worth it. It was SO worth it. It was a roller coaster combined with a digital stimulator. It was amazing. I wanted to go again but the line was just way too long.

After the ride we headed down to Hogsmeade. We bought some butterbeer and it was delicious. You could only have a few sips though as it was very sweet. I went into Honey Duke's candy shop and bought a chocolate frog AND Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Jelly Beans.

We proceeded to try the different flavored jelly beans which consisted of flavors such as cinnamon, cherry and lemon but also included some disgusting flavors such as dirt, soap and the worst, rotten egg.

We enjoyed the rest of the day throughout the park but Harry Potter World was the highlight for me! Like a kid in a candy shop... literally :)



Another highlight of the day was when I got iced in the middle of the park by my dear friend, Nick. I struggled through the chug, but don't worry, I got him back later that night in the middle of Margaritaville :)

#54- Do a Pub Crawl

When people think pub crawl, they think of something organized, but when my best friend Holly and her boyfriend Brett came into town, we took things into our own hands.

While enjoying a lovely dinner at Sunset Grill down by Cresent Beach, Holly and I decided that tonight would be the night for our pub crawl. We decided, like every pub crawl, we needed some rules...

1) You must have at least one drink at every bar we go to
2) We have to find at least one pirate and take a picture with them
3) We must find at least one recruit to bring along with us
4) We must play Photohunt at every bar that has it and get a high score
5) We must take a picture at every bar. No man left behind.

Now out of all these five rules, we were able to keep 4 of them. Unfortunately we got a little too distracted to play Photohunt at all of the bars but did get the high scores at the first!

Here is the list of the bars we hit:
Sunset Grill
JP Henley's


A1A Aleworks

White Lion PIRATES!

No Name Bar

Mill Top Tavern

Rhett's

Scarlett O'Hara's


By the end of the night, we had made a few friends and had a few too many drinks. We toured most of the bars of downtown St. Augustine. Though my mother would probably not approve of the amount of alcohol consumed throughout the night, we had a blast. And this is one of the reasons I am in love with Saint Augustine. Another successful night :)

#28- Purchase a Star Registry

This is kind of like #14-Send a Message in a Bottle, very romantic. To think that there are millions of stars in the sky and you have one, it's yours, is a beautiful concept.

Now I know that the whole 'naming a star' thing is pretty much a scam and there is no official 'Star Registry' but I found a pretty cool website called Name a Star Live. I checked it out and it looked as legit as possible.

I chose a random star in the Sagittarius constellation, as I am a Sagittarius, and I dedicated it to my mom. After I purchased the star, they sent me a star map as well as a certificate with all the information.

Here is the certificate

And the star chart

I will forever have a star in the sky that I can find and remember this project as well as my beautiful mother :)

#55- Airboat Ride on the Everglades

Another benefit of travelling down to Miramar is that it is right on the Everglades! The day after the bridal shower, Jessica and another friend, Nick decided to cross off this exciting one!

We drove a few minutes away from Jess' house and arrived at Everglades Holiday Park, known for their airboat rides. Now I have always seen these airboats on TV or movies, but I have never actually seen one in real life. I always thought that they have just a few people on it, but our airboat could fit 25! We got our number and waited in the heat until our airboat arrived to take us out.

Now the night before had been a little brutal to us with the bridal shower and all, and a few of us (cough, Nick, cough) were feeling a bit queasy. The boat got there and we took group pictures before we loaded up. Here is ours:



We put Nick on the end of our row so that in case of an emergency, the side of the boat was available to him. we had a great captain named Hernando. He was extremely energetic and seemed to truly love his job.



I was sure to ask Captain Hernando if I was going to see any alligators and he assured me that I would see quite a few. I got very excited. The only time I have ever seen alligators in person was when I went to the Alligator Farm (#5) so I was ready to see me some gators!

We got on our way and I was searching ferociously to spot something. I didn't really get to see anything until we got out into the open water and then I saw it.... those two little eyes in the water.



This is one of the creepiest things to me because all of these alligators all you can really see is their noses and eyes. You have no idea how big they are but Hernando said if you measure from their eyes to their nose that however many inches that is you can calculate into feet.

The airboat ride was a blast and we got to see some pretty cool wildlife. We also got back to shore just in time to beat an incoming storm! This was another fun one and I got to see some things I have never seen before!

Thanks to Jess and Nick for coming with me and being troopers in the heat :)

#57- Do a Ride Along with a Police Officer

I just got back from a lovely weekend in Miramar, Florida for one of my best friends bridal showers. I was lucky enough to be able to cross off two big things, one being a ride along with a police officer.

Jessica is one of my best friends who went to Flagler with me and during her last year at Flagler, she simultaneously went to the police academy as well. She is now a police officer down in Miramar and is pretty bad ass.

During my stay down there, Jessica took me on a ride along. She showed me all the neat stuff in her car, told me some pretty crazy stories and drove me around to show me what it was like to live the life of a cop.

I also had the pleasure of meeting a few of Jessica's police friends and those girls can kick some serious ass. I have a lot of respect for those women who seemingly live in a "man's world".

Here are some pictures: