So Sunday April 29th we headed out to NS Mayport. We left the house at 9am but had to circle the neighborhood and wave good bye to our friends a second time because we forgot our GPS. We got to Pelican Roost and were settled in by 6:30pm. We shared the driving and made great time and had a smooth ride down. They were dredging the St. Johns River which made for a nice "hum" 24 hours a day.
Monday April 30th, we took a tour of the U.S.C.G. Barque EAGLE. It is the nation's only acively sailing "square rigger" in government service. It is America's tall Ship.
From its website: The Eagle is a three-masted sailing Barque with 21,350 square feet of sail. It is homeported at the CG Academy, New London, Connecticut. It is the only active (operational) commissioned sailing vessel in the U.S. maritime services. (One of five such Training Barques in world. Sister ships include: MIRCEA of Romania, SAGRES II of Portugal, GORCH FOCK of Germany, and TOVARICH of Russia.)
The Eagle bears a name that goes back to the early history of the United States' oldest contiunous seagoing service. The first Eagle was commissioned in 1792, just two years after the formation of the Revenue Marine, the forerunner of today's Coast Guard.
Today's Eagle, the seventh in a long line of proud cutters to bear the name, was built in 1936 by the Blohm & Voss Shipyard, Hamburg, Germany, as a training vessel for German Naval Cadets. It was commissioned Horst Wessel and following World War II was taken as a war prize by the United States. On May 15, 1946, the barque was commissioned into U.S. Coast Guard service as the Eagle and sailed from Bremerhaven, Germany to New London, Connecticut.
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| Parked and set up in Orlando |
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That afternoon we got there, we went and saw "Titanic - The Experience" in Orlando. Unfortunately, there was no pictures allowed inside. There was some really awesome recreations of the parts of the ship like the Grand Staircase, various cabins and even a nighttime walk on the deck.
Thursday, May3 we went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. We made our way directly to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter as we figured the longest lines would be there. Being a fan of all the movies, it was really outstanding to see the recreation of all the things we had seen in the movies. And there were lines to everything, even to get in to any of the gift shops. We waited nearly an hour in line for the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. We were laughing along with the warning signs that posted. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a wimp when it comes to motion rides. There was every age group of people in line around us, even an elderly woman in a wheelchair. Cass leaned over and said "If she can go on the ride..." At the very end of the line, right before we got on the ride, there was a warning that said "If you have prosthetic limbs, see the attendant to help with removal", not word for word but definitely the meaning. All I will say about the ride is that when the camera went off for our souvenir photo, my eyes were clamped shut! 
We walked around the rest of the park and went on The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man 3D. A LOT of fun!
We had a late lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. We had drinks in a small lager type glass that lit up. And the decor was cute with the references to Forest Gump and license plates from all over.
On Friday, May 4 we went to EPCOT to use our 4 park hopper pass left from our November trip. The EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival was going on and it was really beautiful. From the moment you entered the park there were flowers, so many different variety of flowers. There were flower gardens filled not only with flowers but with flower sculptures. There was also so many herb gardens.
We went through The Seas with Nemo and Friends. Then we walked through the World Showcase, stopping and visting every country around the world. We ended at Spaceship Earth.
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