Gaylord Palms Hotel, no joke!

Quite the name for a hotel. I figured I had to take a picture of the sign to prove that this was indeed the name of the hotel. This was Heather and my vacation within a vacation. We took a 24 hour vacation to this resort and left Isaac with the grandparents. Korrin gave us the idea of using one of the travel Internet sites to see if we could find a good deal on a really nice hotel. Jackpot!

This hotel was incredible. This is the view from our room which was on the ninth floor. We had a little patio that we could site on and enjoy the view and atmosphere. The ceiling of the hotel was a big glass dome that allowed all the sunlight in during the day.

This a picture from our patio. This hotel was enormous! There was a castle like structure in the middle of the hotel with jungle plant life in the surrounding area.

Another picture from our balcony. This is what was directly below us. It was a little grotto with a pond with Koi fish. (think extremely large goldfish)

Another picture of the castle. You could walk on the lower or upper level depending on what view you wanted of the surrounding foliage.

This was the view to the right of our balcony. The "open" sign sits atop a building that looks like a shack but contains a five star steak house. We ate dinner here that night. Not only was the food delicious but we both got to eat our meal at the same time. We haven't been able to do that since Isaac learned to run. I also tried "Lucid," which is a drink where they pour 1.25 - 1.5 oz of absinthe into a glass. They placed a sugar cube atop a flat, perforated spoon and slowly dripped 4-5 oz of ice cold water on top of the sugar cube, which slowly dissolved into the Absinthe. The cold water caused lucid to louche ("loosh") into an opalescent cloud as the herbal essences emerge from the Absinthe and perfume the room. My bartender also set the drink on fire to warm it up. This was the first time I have consumed Absinthe but I don't think it is the same stuff that people used to hallucinate on. It was good anyway.

Some baby alligators hugging.

This one wasn't in the mood, so he was just mooning everyone.

It is not often said of turtles, but the bottom turtle looks like he could kick some ass! I believe he is none to happy about the other turtle trying to catch a free ride.

A really cool tree underneath the steak house. I am pretty sure it was fake, but it was cool anyway.

The view from our balcony as the sun was setting.

The glass dome.

A couple of times each day a locale alligator show brings some of their older animals to be handled by the guests of the hotels. They are a lot heavier than they look. They are all muscle. Much like me..... yeah right!

This was a gift for purchase at one of the many stores. It was a rooster made out of beads and if I remember right it cost over a hundred dollars. Ummm, I think I will pass on this one.

Heather and I enjoyed the peace and quiet of 24 hours without Isaac. We got to sleep in and eat meals and fully digest them without doing wind sprints in between bites. It was glorious.