“Paper Towns” 

My sister had begged for a summer vacation, so my parents relented and we spent a week in Orlando. 

Being the romantic and writer-type person I am I thought it was quite metaphoric to be traveling to Orlando after I had just watched Paper Towns. Alas it would be more poetic if I watched Paper Towns in Orlando, but c’est la vie. 

Margo’s words keep replaying in my head about being a paper girl in a paper town, but with all due respect to John Green I don’t think Orlando is a paper town. It’s more of a cardboard city.

So much of Orlando is built on manufactured fun: Disney World, Universal Studios, Fun Spot, etc. This time around we went to Fun Spot, where the tag line is (and I’m not kidding) “Life is Great!”.  I’m not going to lie and say that I had a terrible time there because I didn’t. The first ride we went on was called the Screamer where you sat in a seat attached to a pole that sort of rocketed you up and down. I love these kind of rides because the view at the top is always amazing. And then the ground is rushing back at you so fast. But when you get to the top again you can just take a moment to appreciate the view and a new perspective. 

I have to marvel at places like Fun Spot though. The engineering required to make all the rides work is pretty fantastic. Roller coasters are like a testament to the human need to keep pushing the limits. 

Some of the other highlights were riding the carousel and Ferris wheel. These two rides, in my opinion, are classics: a throwback to a simpler time. They were also what we ended the night with. We were racing to get to the Ferris wheel in order to catch the sunset. We didn’t make it, but by the time we got on it was dark and I got to see the city from a whole new perspective. 

If amusement parks aren’t your thing, on this trip we also ventured our to the Orlando Museum of Art. It was my first time, but I really enjoyed  myself. You can read more about that experience here. 

Overall, Orlando was a nice getaway that helped break up my summer. And also gave me the opportunity to buy some cool new threads.