Week 12 - Universal Studios / Seaworld

Still in Florida for this week and most of the experiences have been more different than new, but certainly a lot of fun none the less

As with last week I'm still playing catch-up so again it's more of a picture book this week. 
Second week away in Florida and this week I have been to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Seaworld, and finally tried a root beer float.

I'm a big fan of both Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure because they cater much more to adults having much more extreme rides and better shows, whereas Disney World caters more for children and families. Islands of adventure also has one of the best roller coasters I've ever been on as well in the Hulk. 

Seaworld is also an awesome day out, since it goes far beyond the typical aquarium/zoo. Not only do you get to see the animals, watch the brilliant shows - special mention for Seamore and Clyde, but there are also some incredible rides there as well including Kraken and Manta.

Being the quintessential American drink I have wanted to try a 'float' for a while. For those that are not familiar with the concept it is essentially a drink that can be anything from iced coffee to cola with ice cream on top, the classic 'recipe' being made with 'root beer' and vanilla ice cream. As far as I can tell root beer is very similar to Dr Pepper (an unfortunate fact I wasn't aware of beforehand). However it seems that they aren't nearly as popular as I thought and trying to find one made with real ice cream rather than 'Mr Whippy' was quite a challenge.

I finally managed to try one (pictured above) when speculatively asking a waitress in a TGI Fridays if they did them. She informed me they didn't really, but she would be happy to go and make one up for me anyway since they did have both root beer and ice cream (excellent customer service - probably my favorite thing about America!).
As hinted above the root beer on its own was pretty foul, but at the point where the ice cream starts to melt into the drink it is surprisingly delicious. Worth trying at least.