Trip to Orlando

This past week I had the dubious privilege of traveling to the Orlando area to attend the annual Association of KFC Franchisees conference. Yes, that's right, Kentucky Fried Chicken. I wasn't sure what to expect - my company was sharing a booth with the corporate Yum! Brands folks (Yum! is the parent company for KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and others) to make sure the franchisees knew we were available to help with their recruiting and staffing needs. It turned out to be fun and interesting - the franchisees came from all over the country and even from Australia, Mexico and Canada. Many brought their spouses and children because of the opportunity to go to Disney World, so it was very much a family event. The other exhibitors (and there were MANY) were food service vendors, restaurant equipment vendors, sign companies, leasing/mortgage companies and so on. There were free food samples everywhere! Yum! indeed. We talked with lots of down-to-earth people and gave away hundreds of chicken-shaped squeeze toys.

That was the business side of the trip. I was on my own, no co-workers, so I was free to wander around the two resorts and take in the sights. I stayed at the Marriott World Resort, and drove over to the Gaylord Palms Resort for the convention. Both were very nice resorts - incredibly huge complexes with numerous restaurants, shopping areas, pools and spas. The grounds were equally nice - gardens, pathways, fountains, bridges over ponds, miniature golf courses and the like. I was thrilled to see all sorts of flowering shrubs and trees - great photo opportunities around every bend.

Palm trees have always fascinated me - the bark, the way they grow so incredibly tall without falling over with their own weight. Actually, I did see a number of trees propped up with 2 X 4's - I guess they don't want to cut them down until they really have to! There were also bamboo trees planted around the pool at the Gaylord - very dainty and lacy against the sky.

The first evening I was at the Marriott I went outside to take a walk at just the right time - the sun was beginning to set as I wandered around the pool area. Gorgeous! The view changed literally second by second as I walked.

The pool at the Gaylord Palms was graced by an enormous sea creature (an octopus on steroids?) that doubled as a water slide. Around the pool were numerous seahorse figures, some of which were spraying water. Giant snail sculptures looked as though they were crawling out of the sand (play) area. And I discovered that there were fountains inside and out as I walked around the complex. Beautiful! At the Marriott, the floors on the lower level (that opened out into the pool area) were tiled in colorful mosaics - too pretty to walk on but great to photograph!

All in all, a good trip - warm weather, sunshine and so many beautiful things to see - but I'm still glad to be safely at home with my people and my pets!