Busch Gardens

Having heard about the world renowned roller coasters at Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay for a long time, but I never had the gut to take a ride. Then on this cloudy Sunday, just because friends insisted, I finally took all of the four major roller coasters in the park, Gwazi, Kumba, Montu and Sheikra.

Sheikra, the first dive machine roller coaster in US, is at the core of all the rides in the park. It starts by climbing at a 45 degree hill, make a U turn, then hold for 2 seconds at the very edge of the dropping point. So basically the riders in the first two rows of the train would face the ground from about 200 foot above for 2 seconds, knowing that they'll be dropped vertically any moment at a very high speed. I was in the third row, so didn't feel a thing. It is at this point, people would start to scream and cry. Then it makes its first 90-degree dive, make a loop and proceeds with its second near-vertical dive, 81-degree, into a small cave, and down to splashdown area. The whole ride lasts about 2 minutes, the first row is always in high demand, definitely recommended.

Spring Break II - Tampa

When it's spring break, you would expect an influx of students from northern states to Florida, it's either Miami beach, or Disney World in Orlando, or the southernmost point in Key West. So when you plan your trip during that period, try avoid going to those hot students spots, because you know, traffic would be bad, and students would be everywhere. So we decided we go to Dali Museum, a place students definitely would not consider for spring break. This is taken outside Dali Museum.

We got to Clearwater beach at 4pm, hardly found a parking lot. The sand is so white, but the water stinks. West Palm Beach is way better.

Spring Break I - Savannah

It's a 4 hours' drive from Gainesville FL to Savannah GA, a great place senior people to live. There is this Savannah College of Art and Design, it has buildings all over the town, and students there have quite different tastes in appearance, unlike the students I see at UF, whose styles are more or less the same. This is the famous Forsyth Park Fountain.