so, we saved the best for last! the plan was sea world till we dropped -- turned out to be 7 hours.

never a fan of theme parks myself, sea world was no different. for the most part, i could take it or leave it. that said, two things were particularly neat. touching and feeding the stingrays was about as nifty as it advertised - they are soft, and the genuinely seem like they want to interact with people. second, the beluga whales are absolutely beautiful. just gorgeous. they are officially my favorite marine animal.

we also squeezed in a visit with the fadden's, and once all said and done, matthew and i were officially exhausted.