This was the day that we were supposed to go to Disneyland. Melissa never was able to go to sleep because she was in so much pain from her sunburn. We ended up not going to Disneyland this particular day because Melissa would not be able to walk as much as is required there. We felt bad about the whole ordeal: Most of the family was up by 5:30AM to leave, when they could’ve slept in that day. It was a mess.
I normally don’t have anything bad to say about the Disney parks: But I’ve got a complaint about Disneyland. They put on a show called Fantasmic… and it really is a memorable show. Laser lights, pyrotechnics, live actors… the whole works. Anyway, all of us were looking forward to seeing the show… turns out that they only do the show Friday through Tuesday. Yeah, and the only two days we had left to visit Disneyland: Wednesday and Thursday… the two days that they didn’t show it.
Quick question: Why, oh, why in the middle of the summer… in the midst of one of the highest attendance times for theme parks around the nation… right smack dab in the middle of June… Why, oh, why would they choose to not perform that show everyday of the week? If that isn’t stupid enough… I find out that on every day that the DO perform the show, they go ahead and perform it TWICE. TWICE. Does that make any sense at all? TWICE A DAY for everyday except Wednesday and Thursday… when they don’t do it at all? Brilliant.
Anyway, we found an urgent-care for Melissa. She was in a tremendous amount of pain. Turns out that her burn really wasn’t that bad. She has been taking a blood thinning medicine called Hepburn. Hepburn has sulfite or something like that in it and it caused the burn to sting and hurt much more than it should have. We never would have known any different. The doctor prescribed some steroid crème. (Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi would be jealous.) By the end of the day… Melissa was feeling much better.
Jeff and Sarah decided to go to Seaworld. The rest of the family went on a brief sightseeing adventure. We went across the Coronado bridge, which was very cool. We looked around the Coronado Island and then started heading towards downtown San Diego when Jeff and Sarah called to tell us that they were ready to be picked up.
That night, Melissa and I meandered our way down to the beach to watch the sunset. It was pretty amazing. I included one of the pictures that we took here in this post. Enjoy. Quick funny story: While we were down there, we saw an older couple staring at the sunset. As soon as the sun was completely hidden by the clouds on the horizon… they both started clapping and hooting.
At first I rolled my eyes and probably made some wisecrack. But the more I thought about it… the more I was reminded of an old Family Circle comic strip that I’ve had hanging in my office. The little boy was watching a beautiful sunset and said: “God outta win an Oscar for that one.” Maybe that old couple had it right: The beauty and majesty of a sunset that reflects orange off the water. Coupled with the never-ending roar of the waves hitting the beach. The creativity and power of God were on display. The least I could do is stand and applaud. Amazing.
San Diego: Day 6: Wednesday
Today was my first experience with Emily in a full-fledged theme park. I really thought the day was going to go O.K. But then we went to the dolphin show. She was pretty intrigued by everything until ‘splash time.’ That’s the time when the dolphins used their back fins to splash the front fifteen rows of people. Mind you, we were not actually IN splash zone. When people started screaming about getting wet… Emily freaked out. She just started bawling.
It was then that I began to sense that it might be a long day. Eventually, she settled down… but she still talks about the ‘sharks’ that want to get her. She is sleeping with her door open now because she believes that a shark lives under her bed and will get her when, and only when, the door is closed. Ah yes. The night terrors have begun. I remember being scared of shadows when I was a kid.
Anyway, it was a pretty fun day overall. This was the first time that I’ve been to Seaworld in a long time. I was pleasantly surprised by a few things: One, it wasn’t near as crowded as I thought it would be. The longest we waited for a ride was about twenty minutes for a Rapids Ride. Two, it wasn’t all animal shows: there were several thrill rides, a 3D show, and several creative exhibits. It was a very pleasant day.
Here’s a few thoughts about some of the rides: First, there was a 4D show called The Haunted Lighthouse. This was great. Christopher Lloyd (Doc Brown from Back to the Future) played a part in this film as an old fisherman. They had all kids of neat effects… both 3D (where it appears the images from the screen are coming at you) and 4D (where they have special effects off screen that augment what’s happening onscreen – for instance, one time Lloyd was taking a drink and heard something shocking that made him spit his drink out… they 3Ded the droplets of water… AND they 4Ded it by spraying water in your face from hidden nozzles located in the seat in front of you.) Haha!
There was another ride called: Journey to Atlantis. It was a water coaster, which is exactly what it sounds like… a roller coaster that left you soaking wet. It was different than anything I had ridden before… not altogether scary or anything… just fun. Melissa got soaked and had worn jeans to help keep the sun away from her burns. She was uncomfortable for the next couple of hours.
There was a raft ride there that was pretty fun. Needless to say, Melissa didn’t ride it. It was Mom, Dad, and me. She waited on a bridge that overlooked part of the ride. She took a great picture of us getting drenched. I might be able to scan it and post it sometime… it wasn’t on our digital camera. There was a motion simulator ride called Wild Artic that was good… but it didn’t compare to some of the other ones I had ridden, like Back to the Future (best motion ride I’ve ridden) and Star Tours (just plain fun).
The Pet show and the Shamu show were excellent. There was a shark aquarium in which we were put on a moving walkway right underneath the water… with a great view of a bunch of different sharks. The park was creatively laid out and the attractions were great. I would definately recommend it.
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