Busch Gardens Tampa

I spent my Valentines Day this year at Busch Gardens. It was pretty awesome to spend the day with animals and roller coasters. The last time I went to Busch Gardens was with my middle school boyfriend and his dad... a very long time ago. The one dissapointing thing was the the Beer Garden is closed now. I guess they sold to another beer company. The park was pretty much like Universal, a ghost town. We got to go front row on all the coasters. I think my favorite was Sheikra. I enjoy the straight down drops that you cant find on any other coaster. Luckily, I have year long passes now and can return whenever.

After Busch Gardens we went to a lovely dinner at The Capital Grille in Tampa (and yes they spell grill with an e there) and spent the night in The Westin. They have a really cool bar/restuarant called Aquanox there that is pretty interesting. Crazy lighting and even the bar changes colors in pretty shades of blue.

The next morning we went to visit my brother and his fiances new house. They also clued us into an awesome store to buy house stuff at. I always love improving the house. In fact, I have been painting walls all weekend.

Islands of Adventure Orlando

Went to Islands of Adventure at Universal yesterday. I had a blast, the weather was perfect, the lines were non-existent. It was great, I walked straight onto the Hulk. Even the front row had no line - we even got to ride by ourselves. Worked out well so strangers weren't in our pictures :)

Whitney feeds 12 ft Gators!!

I have been to Gatorland many times through out my childhood but never have I had an experience like this. I wondered how the "new" Gatorland would be since burning down a few years ago.... I wondered if it would be the same place I remembered. Suprisingly its old charm remained and some new and improved stuff too. In February they even opened a white aligator swamp. They are white gators with blue eyes, really cool looking gators.

We even got the opportunity to go behind the gates with a ranger in the large lake in the back. The gators that live there range from 8 to 12 feet. We were able to take large chunks of meat and toss them in the water to draw the gators close into the shoreline. Once we had about 10 massive gators chomping at the bit the real fun began. The best way is to actually throw the chunks directly next to their heads on either side.... and the larger the splash when the meat hits the water the more intense the gators will go after it. It was a very cool experience. The up close encounter was great and I saw a different side of the gators than I had seen before. In the photo on the left side is a shot of a gator puffing up out of the water as we walked away with the meat bucket... he was just trying to get one last piece.

Magic vs. Nets

After Gatorland, we went to the Magic game. The Magic beat the New Jersey Nets, of course. They are hot this year and so are my dads courtside season tickets. Thanks Dad!

Whitney's Ning Network!

Join Whitney's Ning Network today at

http://www.whitneylaney.ning.com

Magic vs. Clippers

Went to the magic game tonight. check out this photo I took on my iphone... its a three point shot... the ball is about 6 inches from the net. Go Magic! And I must admit I was suprised to find out there were two NBA teams out of LA. Blonde sometimes, I know.

Love my steelers and my iPhone

Yeah!! What a game!! To be honest I would have been happy with either team wininng. I would have been happy if the Steelers one because our producer on the shannon burke show is from PA and a huge fan so it has rubbed off on me. On the other hand my best friends brother in law plays for the cardinals and he is a really great guy from an awesome family. So either way I was happy. It was a great game for sure, whatever team you were cheering for. I dont enjoy big games when they are a huge blow out thats over in the first quarter... and this game was anything but that holding us all the way to the last few minutes. So to my Steeler fans congratuations on a great win... And I did wear a steelers shirt to our super bowl party, Jimi's dads jersey from a game in the 70s... mmmmm we deep fried a turkey and drank from a keg, and played a little cornhole, great times!!!!