Ice Man Cometh and Drinketh

Beautiful drinking glass of ice

On the throne

 Ever since seeing a show about the Chinese ice carvers of Harbin and the ice hotel in Sweden, I've been fascinated with the idea of experiencing ice in a non-traditional way.  Traditional would be like: skating, ice cubes, Slurpees, ice icicles.  

I found out about the Ice Bar on International Drive in Orlando, and jumped on a Groupon coupon as my excuse to initiate an outing. I recruited unsuspecting victims: the Turk and Parental Units.

You get 'fur' coats to stay warm, but they only work if they can reach around you, which seemed to be a problem in Orlando Florida. Coats are really needed.The bar is made of 50 tons of ice and it is kept at 27 degrees.  You get special gloves and are told to bundle up.  Then, once you are ready, they open the door into the ice bar! 

First impression - it was, oddly enough, like walking into a freezer that is lined with blocks of ice. A long bar on one wall, made of ice of course, had a row of ice bar stools. Each was covered with a 'fur' to ensure no frost-bit buns.

The business end of the penguin drink luge

There are ice carvings all around the bar, mostly of penguins, large to small, regal to amusing.  The penguin that got the most attention was the ice luge penguin who's luge traveled from his head down to the.... place where liquids would normally leave. It looked like a large intestine from the head down, but didn't deter anyone from drinking the vodka based drinks.

The furniture is carved of ice.  There were couches, single seats, and even a thrown. All have fur
 covers because we know what would happen if they didnt.  Two ice coffee tables were beautifully done, with roses carved within their centers.

A regular

The drinks were served in carved ice glasses - further necessitating the gloves that we were given. It was an experience to drink out of ice. Each time your mouth opened onto the ice glass to drink, it melted just a bit. I guess slow drinkers eventually wear their drinks!

The idea of an ice bar is interesting, but probably doesnt fit the business concept of a bar because people dont just hang out there and order drinks.  They get their drink, look around, take pictures, and leave to warm up.  I just cant imagine a hotel made of ice! Bed? Toilet? Really?

New year's day: perfect!

We stayed with good friends in Sarasota for new years eve and welcomed the end of 2011 and the beginning of a fresh year.  Came back home and headed for the beach where there were A LOT of things going on.

We were sitting at the beach, watching the boats and beach walkers when all of a sudden, a dolphin jumped from the sea, then another and another! The water was full of dolphin all enjoying their dinner chase.

Then we heard a buzzing sound, and more and more buzzing sounds. In the sky we saw 5 sails flying around.  These sails were each carrying a man who had a large fan attached to his back.  Crazy guys! But fun to watch.

I then looked down and saw how pretty the shells looked in the light of the setting sun.  What a great way to start the new year.