A Rainy Orlando Afternoon

We were gone for 10 days and it felt like we went on two different vacations. After we left the beach we drove to my Grandparent's house in Sanford, then headed into Orlando with an afternoon to kill. I am usually a big planner but I hadn't looked up much to do while we were there. I found an Oddities shop that looked cool, but when we got there it was closed (we texted the number and the guy who own sit said he had to leave town at the last minute to take an exam? haha!). Thankfully getting to the oddities shop put us in a part of town with some cool places to check out. First we went in Boom Art. 

It is a store run by artist Glen Rodgers and his wife. He entertained us by telling us tons of stories and talking about all the cool people he has worked for. His work was mostly pop culture, you know I'm into that! Everything in the shop is handmade. I found tons of stuff I would have loved to take home! I ended up with a really cute original series Star Trek trinket box.

 Oh Elvis. 

 There's Travis and Glenn. 

There were a bunch of cute old storefronts on the street, and some vintage shops. It started to POUR down rain about this time so I put the camera away. We went in one lady's shop and she was so fun to talk to! She and I both like all the same stuff apparently and she was just putting out some great vintage Christmas. And her prices were crazy! She was like "Oh those will be expensive, how about, 3 dollars?" Ha! I can handle "high" prices like that! She gave me a free Dream Pet too. Threw it in as a gift.

It turned out to be a pretty good stop. Here are Crystal and Marc expressing their feelings about the oddities shop being closed.

 Then we went looking for a coffee shop and ended up at a place called Stardust. 

Travis and I shared a pot of Earl Grey and we played a game called "Do You Look Like Your Dog". It involved convincing the other players that certain dogs and people looked a like. You earned bones. It was dumb but really funny.

 They had a real photo booth! You know, one that actually develops the photos, not just a digital printer. I haven't seen one in a long time!

 We got an actual stripe, but I forgot to take a photo of it. I should have gotten another because the first one wasn't great. But it was five bucks! While we were waiting for ours to develop I used my photobooth app in the actual booth. These turned out cute!

 While we were sitting at Stardust I put a picture up on instagram asking for suggestions for what to do in Orlando. My blog friend Katie just happened to be in the same shop, browsing her instagram feed while waiting in line and saw that I had posted that just a few minutes before. How perfect is that? She invited us over to her house to see her dogs and chickens.

 Her house was so cute! And she has the most beautiful backyard! And four dogs! Its like my dream land! She also pulled out a box of vintage photos for me to look through. What a good hostess! I love meeting people I know through blogging. You think it might be weird, but you already know so much about each other and like the same kind of stuff and it just feels like someone you have known forever. At least that has always been my experience.

 She has the coolest cabinet full of bones and specimens and just neat nature stuff. Katie, I wish we had gotten a photo together! I don't know why I didn't think of it.

 Oh my gosh I love senior dogs so much.

 Polly was rescued this year and was in awful shape when Katie picked her up. I loved seeing her running around happy and healthy (as an old blind dog can be!). Such a sweet girl.

 Katie took us to a vegan restaurant called Ethos. We loved it so much we ate there again the next night! I wish it was in Tennessee!

 I got vegan mac and cheese and peas with some "chicken" added. Oh man it was delicious. 

 And Travis had the shepard's pie. That is something he loved to get before we went vegan so I know he was excited to see it on the menu.

 We headed back to Sanford after dinner to get ready for our big day at Universal Studios! I'll be back soon to tell you all about it!