Hotdogs and Hiccups (27.3.15 - 12.4.15) Day 1 - Clearwater, DTD and villa

[floridasarah]

No silly 4am for us. I woke up at around 7.15 tossed around a bit, Tom looked as if he hadn’t moved all night. Got up at 8am and went into lounge area and finished writing yesterdays notes.



The sun was shining so I went out on the balcony. It was very windy. Being a Saturday morning I saw lots of joggers going past along the beach front. What a lovely place to do some exercise.



When the others rose we got showered and dressed and wandered over the road for some coffee and muffins, and then went and had a walk along the seafront.





It was very breezy but I took Tom on the beach for a paddle as he had never set foot on Florida sand before.



Ade wandered back to the hotel for a ciggy. When we went back to the hotel Ade was on the balcony so told us to stay where we were and he would join us. We had a look in a few of the surf and gift shops near the hotel. One had live hermit crabs in a tank, which you would get free if you purchased a habitat. Tom wanted one of the painted shells so he bought one of those and I got him some sunglasses as his previous ones at home were too small now. We had wanted to spend more time at the beach but it was a bit chilly so as Tom and Ade were hankering to go to DTD we decided to make a move around 11am. We packed up our stuff and loaded the car up, checked out and put in the address for DTD and off we set. We hit some traffic on the I4 and it was because there had been an accident on the other side and everyone was going slow to have a look. Once past it the traffic flowed nicely. The Tom Tom directed us straight to the new car park around 1.15pm

First stop was the lego shop where Ade and Tom brought a set each. They both wanted the Detectives office $160 plus tax, it was still cheaper than the UK. We wandered towards the Christmas shop as this year I was going to be purchasing lots of decs so our tree could turn into a Disney/Florida tree. On the way Tom had a hotdog (1) and Ade and I had Earl of Sandwich. The queue was huge all the way round the shop and out the door. I had a Tuna melt which I would say was the tastiest I have ever had. Ade had the BBQ chicken, I also got a lovely tub of grapes it came to around $15.

We looked round the Xmas shop but I did not buy anything this time. We then got the boat back over to Westside.



The pilot pointed out some of the new things that would be up and running in a few weeks. We got back to the car park around 3.30pm. I had already added the villa address to the satnav so we set off. We arrived at the lovely Dibb villa (joanneclaire) at 4.02pm (check in was 4pm) We had an issue unlocking the door the first time but Ade soon figured out what I was doing wrong. Took the cases in and had a sit down for a while and a good look round.













Off to Walmart next for the shop, I drove for the first time this holiday and it didn’t take too long to get used to it. Power aid, coke ,water, beer, wine, cereal, cookies, bread, pizza, salad, and copious amounts of M&Ms later and $109 lighter we made our way back to the villa. I put the pizza on but made the mistake of putting the oven on 200 instead of 400 and the pizza cooked too slowly but the base was very hard. Tom played in the fantastic games room on the PS3’s for a bit while Ade and I unpacked. This was where we found out that when Tom unplugged his tablet at the hotel he left the US adaptor in the socket (todays 1st hiccup)

We then wanted to give the pool a try out. It was lovely, it still felt a bit chilly as it was still a bit breezy, so you felt it when you got out and hadn’t been that hot today around 23 degrees I think but enough to give Tom a bit of a pink neck from walking around DTD! Oops

I heard banging around 9pm and thought it might have been thunder in the distance but we realised a few days later that it was Disney Fireworks. We couldn’t see them though.

Tom went to bed around 10.30 and we hit the sack at about 11.30. Did I say the master bed was huge I had to climb onto it. The mattress was higher than my waist 
It was very comfortable and it didn’t take long to fall asleep.

Todays count
Hotdogs - 1
Hiccups 1 and a pizza disaster.

Total count
Hot dogs 1
Hiccups 3

[KittyBlackDog]

Sounds like a lovely and relaxing day whilst moving across. The villa looks lovely and comfy

[Guest]

Awe shame about the weather at the beach, sounds like you had a nice day, the villa looks lovely

[Megandllsmum]

The villa looks amazing, another great read, thanks for sharing x

[Helen0705]

Great relaxed first day for you all

[scottishnellie]

I'm really excited reading this as I have just paid a deposit on this villa for next April

You were there the same time as us this year. I'm off to read the rest now

[floridasarah]

Originally Posted by scottishnellie

I'm really excited reading this as I have just paid a deposit on this villa for next April

You were there the same time as us this year. I'm off to read the rest now

See more...

You won't be disappointed it is a gorgeous villa. We will certainly be booking it again if we can. I hope you are tall as the Master bed is huge. I had to climb up into it

[scottishnellie]

Originally Posted by floridasarah

You won't be disappointed it is a gorgeous villa. We will certainly be booking it again if we can. I hope you are tall as the Master bed is huge. I had to climb up into it

See more...

lol! I love a high bed as I am 5' 8" so will look forward to that.

Loved seeing the villa pics in your TR, knowing they are so recent.

Did you use the solar pool heat, or did you pay for the electric pool heat? Am undecided whether we need to pay the extra or not for April 2016.

[floridasarah]

Originally Posted by scottishnellie

lol! I love a high bed as I am 5' 8" so will look forward to that.

Loved seeing the villa pics in your TR, knowing they are so recent.

Did you use the solar pool heat, or did you pay for the electric pool heat? Am undecided whether we need to pay the extra or not for April 2016.

See more...

We paid for the electric pool heat. We like a nice warm pool. And Joanne even turned it up for us a few degrees as it was not quite as warm as we liked. She is fantastic

We never actually used the hot tub but the water in there was like a bath

One tip the pool light switch is out side the lanai with the misting system.

[mick]

Great day

Joan