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Originally Posted by Overfloater
I'd go anywhere you guys think might be fun. I will be sure to bring my camera,
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Bob - this is Brian, your junior tour guide, laying out an itinerary for you. One of your first stops of the day should be to AquaticEco-Systems (
www.aquaticeco.com) 2395 Apopka Blvd, Apopka, FL 32703. I just phoned, and they are open from 10-2 tomorrow. Before you get your hopes up too high, AES is basically a fancy poll barn/warehouse that distributes water-related pieces/parts. They do have a handful of interesting (think algae!) tanks on display. But, the real appeal to AES is there 300-400 page catalog. Bring a shopping list, grab a catalog, sit for an hour and pick up some stuff. If you have any iterest in trying to a ceramic diffuser for injecting CO2 into your tank, you might consider picking up one of these
http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/.../3608/cid/2919 
. AES is out on the northwest corner of town. So, you'll get a nice view of downtown (don't forget to look off to the left as you cross the 408 highway entering into downtown for a nice, scenic view of the TD Waterhouse Center, home to our (okay, my) beloved Orlando Magic!) and then venture off into an industrial looking area to get to AES. The first time I went there, I got lost for a few minutes, so play close attention to your Mapquest directions.
From there, I would venture to Pet Bazaar (490 Semoran Blvd, Casselberry, FL 32707-4911, (407) 260-0552) for some local 'color'. It's a bit of a hole in the wall, that looks to have been there for decades. It's mainly a reptile shop, but off in the back left hand corner, they have 'fish row'. They used to have a 46g bf at the end of fish row where I would occassionally trade in plants. But, it has been a while since I've been there (so I don't know there hours). This place is all about atmosphere...if you will
. Coming from AES, you will likely follow Semoran Blvd (aka 436) and get a nice tour of suburbia gone wrong with excessive traffic, stop lights, strip mall heaven, and maybe even some adult entertainment shops. Pet Bazaar is north east of downtown.
From there, your scenic tour will likely take you through residential sections (depending on the route Mapquest recommends) as you snake your way over to Ocean Blue Aquarium (4270 Aloma Ave, Suite #106, Winter Park, FL 32792, 407-679-3557, open 11-8 on Sats). My current favored, and fortunately closest, lfs. As suggested earlier, it's a nice clean shop that favors the salty dogs. But, there fresh water selection is nice, and even nicer if the owner's adult daughter is working the shop. She's worth the price of admission! Plants aren't a specialty, but they should have a few. I was trading in there for a while too, but since they didn't sell, it wasn't working for them.
Finally, you can end your whirlwind Orlando adventure as you wind through the 'burbs heading to the Snoap palace. You'll already have the particulars on that. Though the party is scheduled to start at 3, feel free to arrive anytime after 1. You might need to watch me work for a while, and I might make you pitch in, but early is good! So feel free.
Should you also wish to upgrade your Orlando adventure, you might wish to arrive early. If so, I'd suggest touring the ever-scenic Lake Eola park in lovely downtown Orlando (
http://cityguide.aol.com/orlando/ent...7&layer=venues ). Take a self guided and self-paced jaunt around the winding, (I don't know, let's say) 0.7 mile pathway that encircles the most often photographed fountain from our city beautiful. A plentiful breakfast can be found at the Panera's bread/pastry shop just beyond the northwest corner of the park (out beyond the pagoda area). The upgraded package is free and only requires an additional investment of your time.
So, Bob, that's what fun-filled day entails.
As I've pretty much just laid our all the lfs's I've ever been too, that's about all I can offer. I know there are some other shops in the area of AES, but I haven't ventured there yet. You can check out some of the other Florida threads for that.
So, see you at my place when?!?
Brian.