Time for an Adventure

I’m on vacation! Woo hoo!

That’s my vacation dance.

It’s only a quick getaway (a long weekend, really), but it’s enough to have me jumping for joy. Sometimes a quick getaway is all it takes.

I’m traveling with the wonderful folks at Hilton HHonors and experiencing one of Hilton HHonors new Great Getaways with two other bloggers.

If you like what you see over the next fews days, then head on over to the Hilton HHonors Great Getaway Giveaway for your chance to win a Great Getaway of your own. Hilton HHonors is giving a Great Getaway away every couple of weeks between now and August 4th. Just click here, vote for your favorite trip, and enter your email address for your chance to win.

Each giveaway has its own theme:

• Adventure: June 24 – July 7, 2013
• Culture: July 8 – July 21, 2013
• Food/Wine: July 22 – August 4, 2013

Since we’re smack dab in the middle of the “Adventure” giveaway, we’re experiencing an adventure getaway this weekend. That adventure getaway brought us all the way to the Hilton Grand Vacations Suites at Sea World in Orlando.

I know, I traveled far for this trip. 😉 I have to give mad props to Hilton HHonors for sending a town car all the way to Tampa to bring me to Orlando.

(photo stolen from @LisaSamples)

Man, that ride goes so much faster when someone else is driving and you don’t have a dog climbing all over you. I just sat in the back of the car for an hour and a half and got some uninterrupted work done on my laptop. It was bliss.

The welcome staff at the Hilton Grand Vacations Suites at Sea World were amazing. They checked me in and politely watched my luggage as I ran to the onsite deli and ordered a turkey sandwich to bring back to my room.

p.s. AWESOME sandwich. LOVE that they had Boars Head and the sandwich was made fresh as I waited. Love that.

Once I had my sandwich, I took a golf cart to my building and walked into a room that was bigger than my first apartment.

I’m in a one bedroom suite that comes with a full kitchen

Living Room

King size bed

Jacuzzi

Humongous bathroom

and a view!

Hello, Sea World. Nice to see you.

I finished my sandwich and met the rest of the crew for our first adventure of our adventure trip: Sea World, of course!

By then the typical afternoon showers had started to roll in, but we weren’t going to let that stop us. It was a nothing a super cool poncho couldn’t handle.

My buddies for the weekend: Lisa, Meghan, Anthony, and Karissa

We started our Sea World adventure with the Behind the Scenes Tour

It was a 90 minute guided tour of what goes on behind the scenes at Sea World.

We were taken to the onsite hospital area where Sea World was currently caring for turtles, manatees, and dolphins. We also learned a little bit on what goes into rescuing these animals, caring for them, and releasing them back into the wild.

Next we hopped on the bus and headed to the shark area.

That’s where we learned there are over 400 varieties of sharks out there (they’re discovering more and more every year) and had the chance to pet a “pup.”

The cutest baby shark I’ve ever seen!

Then we moved onto the polar bear exhibit…

And met Julie the penguin.

He (yes, Julie is a he) was the sweetest.

Once the tour wrapped up, it was time to hit some rides.

I talked the gang onto Manta (one of my favorite roller coaster since you lay down) and had a blast. Maybe it’s the connection with Busch Gardens, but Sea World randomly has some pretty awesome roller coasters.

When my tummy started rumbling, we stopped at snack stand for something to nibble on. I was so happy to see the Sabra hummus cups for sale. They were ridiculously overpriced, but a way better option than a churro or butter drenched popcorn.

Shamu!!

I really wanted to ride the new Empire of the Penguins ride in Antarctica, but the wait was too long and they didn’t have a Quick Queue line set up. Boo. Maybe next time…

For dinner, we dined with the sharks at Sharks Underwater Grill in the back of the park.

This fella was definitely eyeing my plate all night.

I started with a glass of cab sav

And a really yummy garlic herb roll.

The table split a few appetizers

I ordered the catch of the day, which was a haddock served with seasonal vegetables and roasted potatoes.

The whole meal was pretty good. Nothing outrageously amazing, but pretty decent considering it’s located in the back of a theme park.

My favorite part of the meal was dessert. Obviously.

You can’t go wrong with a brownie sundae. 😉

We ended the night with a Shamu themed dance party.

And the vacation dancing continues 😉

Heyyyy sexy ladies!

No theme park night would be complete without fireworks.

And with that we called it a night. Now i’m lounged out on this big, comfy bed ready to pass the heck out. Tomorrow will be another adventure-filled day full of fun surprises – I can’t wait!

What kind of getaway would you choose? Relaxing, adventure, culture, or food?

*Hilton HHonors is covering all my expenses for this trip. As always, all opinions are my own.