With all the commotion over Shamu at Sea World, one would think my husband and I had lost our mind, want to swim with whales, let alone PAYING for it!
Well - that is exactly it. We are mad...stir crazy and have completely lost it. HA!
I was attending a Designation course, to become a Certified Home Marketing Specialist, and the course was in San Antonio. My husband had never been to San Antonio or Sea World, so we did some last minute researching and decided to make a weekend getway out of it.
I picked him up at the airport Thursday night around 9pm and we made it to San Antonio about 4am, just enough time for me to catch a few hours of sleep before attending my 9 hour course at 8am! I was so glad when it was over. (smiling)
I rushed back to the hotel and picked up my husband and drove over to The Riverwalk. We walked both sides, and he thought it was pretty cool. After the debate over what to eat and where...we settled on a Steakhouse on the Riverwalk. By the time dinner was over I was so tired, I didn't think I would even be able to make it to the car, I was ready to take "sleep walking" to a whole nother level.
Did I mention the horrible weather? How could I forget - Friday night it started with a major drop in temp. and gusty winds. And we were promised that was the best part of the weekend!
The weatherman was spot on. Saturday morning we woke up groggy at 7am ready to face our adventors with swimming with the Beluga Whales at Sea World. We ate some breakfast at the hotel, checked out and ran to the car...in the 37 degree rain storm; wearing flip flops, shorts and a t-shirt.
Yes, I packed for both Ray and I, and I didn't pack anything with legs or sleeves! A well learned lesson.
We arrived at Sea World, rain or shine per our confirmation, so for the price we paid we were intending on suffering thru the weather at least for a few hours and then heading home.
Front row parking was no race this morning, we had our pick. There were only five other crazy families hanging out in there car, too, waiting for Sea World to open.
We watched families all bundled up start to emerge from their vehicles and brave the rain and head to the big blue gates. We waited in the warthm of our truck and watched, the park was not opening for another 30 minutes. But I guess, regardless of the weather, there are some people who just can't stand the thought of not being the first to get in. I am not one of those people. LOL!
Finally at about ten minutes later Ray and I had formulated a plan of attack. To hit the gift shops for winter clothes. You know the ones that last week were probably on clearence, but today were going to be full price!
Our plan of attack worked, we ran through the gates and went to the first gift shop - ofcourse the sweatshirts and pullovers for the first thing when you walked in. I quickly grabed two - I didn't care what color or really what size, I would have squeezed into anything to stay warm.
We were really lucky, we were able to get pullovers (matching green ones) that fit and that was good - since they were $30 each. That was another donation from us to Sea World, to help pay for Shamu's rehab.
We checked out and bundled up, at least at this point we had some sleeves. We met up with the Interation Group and headed to the tanks following the trainer.
After introductions and a safety video we were seperated in to two groups, boys and girls and taken to seperate trailers were we were changed into wet suits. Which I later discovered why they were called "wet" suits. (Next time, I'll be asking for a "DRY" suit).
All suited up, we met out in front and headed over to the tanks, were they seperated us again, this time children went to one tank and adults (Ray and I were the only two) in the other tank. So here Ray and I with one of four trainers, standing in front of a huge tank, behind the stage and show area.
Our Beluga whale was named Martha, and we also played with one of her children, that now was 2 years old and was in training.
We sat on the edge of the tank following our trainers instructions....turn around and place your feet in the tank on the ledge.
Simple enough, right?
Awww, SOOOO freezing cold.
"Now slide in and sit on the ledge" - at this point up to my waist in freezing cold water, with high winds, I was starting to hate her.
"Okay, now walk out following me to the edge" - Oh wow! This must be what it felt like for all those that braved the water when the Titanic sunk. Shivering - so cold...
We had a full photo shoot with Martha, courtesy of Sea World. All was going well, until we had to lay in the water and swim with Martha and then lay on our backs, floating with Martha, while holding her flippers. NOT FUN!!! I struggled to keep my head above water and my hair dry.
After an hour of working with Martha it was time to say good bye, we gave Martha the command and she waived to us. Then the instructor gave us one last "waive" command....One in which Martha's fianal "waive" became WAVES of water that drenched us!!! So much for keeping my hair dry.
We went back to the trailers and peeled off our soaked suits. lol....and showered. I did NOT want to get out of the boiling hot water!!!
I was thankful for the hot water and blowdryer that they provided. Although with out a brush, my hair wasn't looking the greatest.
It was still freezing outside and very windy - but at least it stopped raining. We spent the rest of the day at Sea World and man was it an experience!
We went to a 4D Pirate show, a sea lion show - that ended quickly when the two stars of the show decided mating was more important than performing the skit they were trained and the coral reef / shark tank. Everything was wonderful....all day was great, despite the weather....
Everthing EXCEPT the Steel Eel rollercoaster.........I hate, hate, hate......hate rollercosters. Yet somehow my husband made me ride it - I had to buy the photo they took. Well I won't tell you, I'll let the photo tell you how much I enjoyed this ride!!!
