Florida Trip 2015 By: Shayak Chaudhuri
Throughout my life, I visited Florida three times: twice in Orlando, and once in Destin. But this trip was a lot more… wild than the last three. This time I visited our newest spot, Cocoa Beach, Florida!!! I will show how the plans worked out there and how much fun we spent in such an unspoiled city. Before we departed for our hotel, I first had to be picked up directly from my school and go 104 miles with my mom to Macon to pick up my sister and dad. At first, I wanted to straight fall asleep, but I couldn’t even sleep a wink during that 420 mile drive, because I was watching a few movies that Dad brought with us. Plus, we had to stop a few times along the road, so that Dad could buy us some snacks and drinks at some gas stations in case we either get hungry or thirsty. And finally, after a few hours of driving, we finally arrived at our hotel, Ocean Villas. But before we could settle down and plan out our schedule, we had to unload our bags and have a nice dinner. I couldn’t wait to see where we are going for tomorrow! In the morning of March 8, we decided to visit a wetland refuge located a few miles from our hotel, but however, we had to have breakfast first. And so we ate at McDonalds and soon we came across the wildlife refuge. While Dad and I decided to walk around the park, my sister and mom decided to go by car. Along the paths, Dad and I took some awesome photos of abundant fauna in the marshes (mine were even better): herons, cranes, storks, vultures, bald eagles, ospreys, etc. I even attempted to take snapshots of a flying caracara and 7 sub-adult alligators along with a bald eagle devouring a coot and even an armadillo! It was a very fascinating moment to step outside and experience nature in action. During nighttime, we strolled through the beach first at dusk and then we explored around the hotel area and came across a swimming pool. Boy, was that water so warm! It was perfect for a wind chill in the night. I decided to swim there tomorrow night. After having a nice dinner back at our room, it was time for a good night sleep. While Mom and Dad slept on a bed, my sister and I slept on a bed on top of a couch. March 9th has been a very jubilant time at Cocoa Beach. Early in the morning, I decided to use my camera to take some sunrise pictures as the sun rose. Plus I also snapped some photos of a few sandpipers (types of bird)and seagulls. Later, after another breakfast at McDonald’s, we drove to a seaport where we booked a 4-hour boat trip around the Banana River. For much of the time, we spent time cruising over the crystal clear waters, until suddenly our driver spotted