As someone who is accustomed to traveling frequently, this year has felt a bit strange and different. Rather than focus on the ways things have changed, we’ve been trying to embrace new ways to enjoy our lives that are safe, fun, and close to home. These little adventures have added wonderful experiences that we never would have discovered otherwise, with our latest adventure being a staycation. Not only did it give us vacation vibes, it’s something we can do anytime and a great way to support local businesses. We call that a win win win!
Yo estaba acostumbrada a viajar frecuentemente, pero este año ha sido muy diferente. Para no enfocarnos en las negativas de nuestra situación, hemos buscado nuevas maneras de entretenernos que fueran seguras, divertidas y cerca a casa. Estas aventuritas nos han permitido descubrir experiencias que no hubiéramos notado de otra manera. Nuestra aventura más reciente fue una “staycation”; una mezcla de comodidad local, novedad viajera y apoyo a nuestra comunidad.
We started our staycation after Tyler finished up his work for the day, checking into the Courtyard by Marriott Orlando Lake Mary and were greeted with such a warm welcome by the staff. With proper precautions in place such as plexiglass, sanitizer, contactless check in/out, we were able to instantly relax and feel like our first staycation experience would be in capable hands. As we drove up, we noticed that the property location was extremely convenient, with a little shopping plaza across the street from us full of restaurant options, bars (for when things open back up), and convenience stores for anything else you may need.
Nuestra “staycation” comenzó cuando Tyler, terminó su trabajo virtual del día y manejamos a el Courtyard de Marriott Orlando Lake Mary. Entrando al estacionamiento, notamos la conveniencia de restaurantes y bares (cuando vuelvan a abrir) justo al lado de la propiedad. Entrando al vestíbulo, los empleados nos atendieron con todas las precauciones necesarias para la pandemia. Todos tenían máscaras y habían vidrios de “plexiglass” entre nosotros y la atendiente.
We knew our room was up on the third floor with a balcony view, which we were excited to see, but what we weren’t expecting was what was waiting for us upon our arrival.
Nos dieron nuestro cuarto en el tercer piso con balcón mirando sobre la piscina, pero no nos esperábamos la sorpresa que encontramos.
The hotel really went above and beyond to make sure we were greeted with the warmest of welcomes. Our room was decorated with rose petals, chilled champagne, and a lovely tablecloth complete with a bouquet of roses for our romantic dinner later in the evening. We spent some time unpacking, relaxing, and enjoying the pool before sunset. Freddy the balloon dog floatie came along with us from home for a bit of R&R.
El hotel se superó con el cuarto que nos dio. Habían pétalos de rosas, champán helada y una mesa hecha para nuestra cena romántica. Desempacamos después de relajarnos un ratito y bajamos a la piscina. Freddy, el perro inflable, se juntó a disfrutar el agua al sol de Florida.
After sunset, we decided to check out Heathrow Square across the street for a place we would walk to and order take out. We settled on Samurai Sushi, which had a good selection of vegetarian rolls and gluten free rolls (we know, we’re a tough bunch to take to dinner).
Al atardecer, fuimos a Heathrow Square a decidir qué íbamos a cenar. Escogimos Samurai Sushi, ya que teníamos un vegetariano y una que era intolerante al gluten (créeme, ya se que somos una pareja difícil de nutrir).
Date night started with dinner out on the balcony. With our Rosé, our roses, and the accompaniment of fairy lights that we had brought from home, our cosy night was off to a great start. We had the loveliest time eating, drinking, laughing, and staring out over the balcony view. It’s been a while since we have had an occasion to get dressed up and go on a more traditional date night.
Nuestra cita comenzó con cena en el balcón. Acompañados con rosas y Rosé (además de unas lucecitas que traje yo), nuestra noche tuvo un gran comienzo. Comimos, tomamos, y nos divertimos hablando con la vista del balcón. Creanme cuando les digo que no habíamos tenido la oportunidad de vestirnos y salir en varios meses. Había sido un buen rato desde que teníamos la oportunidad de vestirnos bien.
Keeping with our 2020 tradition, after dinner we changed into our pajamas and began our game night on the bed. We love playing board games and throughout the course of the year we’ve been expanding our two player games. On this night we brought along Mysterium and snuggled in for the night. We ended our evening watching Netflix.
Como eras nuestra nueva tradición, después de la cena nos pusimos nuestros pijamas y jugamos un juego. Durante el curso del año, hemos expandido nuestra colección de juegos de mesa. Esta noche, jugamos Mysterium y nos acurrucamos. Terminamos la noche abrazados y viendo Netflix.
In the morning after a good night’s rest, we woke up to gluten free and vegetarian breakfast options provided to us by the hotel, which again made us feel like they were really catering to our needs. We had a spread including gluten free blueberry muffins, fresh fruit, juice, veggie scramble, and a veggie breakfast sandwich.
La mañana siguiente, nos comimos los muffins (gluten-free!) y sandwiches vegetarianos. Otra vez notamos como el hotel anticipó nuestras necesidades.
After breakfast, we packed up the car excited for our day at the Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens. Being located so conveniently, it was a short drive from the hotel to the zoo. We barely had enough time to talk about the animals we were most excited about seeing before we arrived. I was most excited about seeing and feeding the giraffes and he was excited about interacting with the llamas.
Después del desayuno, empacamos el carro y salimos a visitar el Zoológico de Central Florida y Jardín Botánico. Estaba cerca al hotel y llegamos en un cuarto de hora. Yo quería darle de comer a la jirafa y él quería andar con las llamas.
When we arrived, we saw lots of information to guests about mask requirements for all guests over age 13, social distancing advisories, and that the zoo was taking every step possible to keep its guests safe, including limiting the number of park guests and advanced online ticket purchases. After a quick use of hand sanitizer, we ran over to the Barnyard Buddies to feed the goats and llamas. We met this one llama that was such an energetic goofball, and quickly became Tyler’s new best friend. We had lots of laughs watching the little kids interact with the animals. As a precaution, hand sanitizer and soap were readily available prior to and after touching the animals.
Entrando al zoológico, habían varias advertencias de las nuevas reglas por la pandemia. Las máscaras eran mandatorias y nos dieron “hand sanitizer” personal al darnos los tiquets. Nuestra primera parada fue a “Barnyard Buddies” a darle de comer a las cabras y llamas. Tyler conoció un nuevo amigo y yo le di de comer a todas las cabritas que se me acercaban.
We then hurried over to the giraffe encounters, because I was too excited to wait any longer. I’ve fed giraffes once before and it was an incredible feeling. Giraffes are quirky creatures with so much personality and a black tongue, feeding them is always a fun experience. As we were waiting for our turn, a little kid holding out the lettuce for a disinterested adult giraffe caught the eye of the baby giraffe who snatched it out of the little kid’s hand. Everyone who saw laughed as the little kid was beyond excited by the experience.
Luego caminamos al lado al “encuentro de las jirafas”, donde los dos le dimos de comer a unos estos animales majestuosos. No te esperarías la personalidad que percibes en estos animales. Son tiernos y caprichosos al mismo tiempo, y tuve el chance de ver una de las jirafas más pequeñas entrometerse y robarse la comida de su mamá.
Afterwards, we wandered the rest of the zoo grounds, enjoying the botanical gardens placed throughout the park on our way to visit various animals. The Central Florida Zoo has more than 350 animals, and everything from tortoises, native animals like the Florida black bear and alligator, and an endangered rhinoceros for you to enjoy. We even saw some big cats like the leopard and jaguar. We had such a blast learning and seeing so many varieties of animals.
Luego seguimos andando por los caminos del zoológico, disfrutando los jardines botánicos y los animales, nativos y extranjeros. El Zoológico de Central Florida carga más de 350 animales, entre lagartos y osos nativos a la región a animales en riesgo de extinción como el rinoceronte. El momento favorito de Tyler, fue la visita a los felinos, con varios leopardos y jaguares fotogenicos.
We were also very excited to see the black bear, but it seemed like we arrived at his nap time so we didn’t get to see him out and about. The zoo even has such features including a ropes course, a splash pad for the kids, Sonny’s BBQ (in case you get hungry) and art throughout the park. It was our first time, but it definitely won’t be our last! We even found one of those old school 3D souvenir printers and printed a rhino to remember the day.
El oso estaba durmiendo cuando llegamos, así que no logré tomarle una buena foto. Pero después de ver a los animales que estaban despiertos, visitamos las varias amenidades del zoológico. Había un jardín de agua para los pequeños, un restaurante con línea de seis pies espaciado, e inyectadoras de plástico para los modelos de tus animales favoritos. Nos llevamos un recuerdo del rinoceronte.
For our first staycation, we couldn’t have asked for a better experience! Thanks to DoOrlandoNorth we have been able to explore places right in our backyard that are safe, close to home, and make for the perfect anytime getaway.
Nuestra primera “staycation” fue un gran éxito! Muchísimas gracias a DoOrlandoNorth por la oportunidad de explorar estos tesoros locales. Si los puedo dejar con un recuerdo, es que nunca subestimen las aventuras que tienen cerca a casa.
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