We've come a long way from where we began - Day 5 Pool/golf & BB King's

[vics18]

Index is here


Friday 25th September - Golf/Pool & BB King’s

This day was very much for relaxing so the report will be short and possibly a bit dull as we didn’t visit any parks, or take many photos!


I shall hand over to my hubby for the report on his morning. If you have no interest in golf, skip the text in blue!

So this is my addition to Vic’s trip report!

The last time we went to Orlando in 2013, I didn’t take my own golf clubs and used the iRide bus to get to the Marriott Grande golf course. USELESS FACT ALERT - I was paired up in a golf buggy with the man that played the bass line to ‘Rappers Delight’ by the Sugarhill Gang. His name was Chip Shearin and he’s been inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame!


Although it was nice to play a new course, the hire clubs that I was using took a while to get used to so I couldn’t play as well as I wanted to (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it). For the people who don’t understand, it’s like wearing new jeans. They always seem to take a while to get used to. It’s just ‘better’ to be able to use your own gear. Virgin allow you to take 1 piece of sports equipment without charge, as long as it’s under 23kg in weight, so my clubs were good to go! (I didn’t look into this last time as I just assumed it would be expensive to take your own clubs with you oops!)

I’ve booked to play at a different course this time round – Shingle Creek – and it’s part of the Rosen chain so there is a bit of a discount off the green fee. The round of golf itself had to be booked with the course directly and the email address was easily found on the course website. I emailed asking them to book a tee time around 9am on the Friday. They responded pretty quickly and, due to lack of availability, they could only offer 7am or 2pm. Being a ginger, I opted for the earlier time so I‘d be out of the sun before it got to its highest. There’s also less chance of experiencing a thunderstorm in the morning (so my wife says).


I got to the golf course at around 0630 to make sure that I could have a decent stretch and warm up. When I drove to the clubhouse, I couldn’t get into the carpark – it turns out they have valets park your car, take your clubs out and put them onto a golf buggy for you. I reported into the pro shop to let them know I had arrived and they directed me down to the starters hut where my clubs would be waiting for me. It was still pitch black at this point so I had a little practice putt and then went over to the driving range to hit some warm up shots. Everything was laid out nice a neatly and I imagined this is what it was like to be a tour pro (only without the massive bank balance).

I was hitting the practice balls but I couldn’t see where they were going. I introduced myself to the starter and he told me I would be in the first group out on the course that day, along with two other men. Apparently, there was a local golf competition on so there were quite a few people around setting up tents, desk etc.
I was paired up in a buggy with a bloke called Max. He was an Austrian investment banker who lived in London but he was over in Orlando as his wife was a native and she’d just had twins. I assume she wanted them to be born in the US. The other person in the group was a bloke called Nick from Denver who was visiting his wife who was attending a conference at a nearby hotel. He’d come straight from the airport to play and it was the first time he’d played a golf course at sea level.

Max had played here before so he knew where to go without looking at any of the signs dotted around the course. He said Shingle Creek was one of the better courses in the area and it was good value for money too, as some were more expensive and the staff weren’t as friendly. I couldn’t find fault with his reckoning either – everyone I spoke to at the course was helpful and eager to engage in conversation. The round cost around $55 which included buggy hire etc.

The course was fairly long without being ridiculous to play and there was plenty of wildlife dotted around, including some birds on the 2nd fairway that looked a bit like Kevin from Up!

The golf buggy was equipped with GPS that gave yardages to the flags, a cooler box and complimentary towels and tees. You can ordered food from the touch screen in the buggy so it can be delivered to you on the course and there was a cart doing the rounds selling beers, cigarettes, chocolate etc.


Halfway round the other two decided to have a rum and coke from the Bahama Breeze tent by the 10th tee but as I was driving (and it was 0930), I politely declined.


My scores went a bit Kanye over the last two holes, which coincided with the sun getting high in the sky but I wasn’t too disappointed with how I played considering it was my first time playing there. I went round in 84 gross, 76 nett (4 over my handicap).
It took just over 4.5 hours to play and at the end, after saying my farewells to my playing partners, the staff took my clubs back to the car and had it waiting for me. I treated myself to a Shingle Creek ball marker as a memento and headed back to the hotel to meet up with Vicky by the pool.




I couldn’t get back to sleep after he went out, so I just chilled out and managed to find the Disney World channel on the TV – happy! So I watched the must do’s then got sorted and headed down to the pool. It was early at this point, probably only about 9:30 but already lovely and hot and sunny. I grabbed some towels, the ones they supply are only little so I got 2 for each bed , and set up a little camp – 2 beds and a table at the pool at the back of building D and settled in for some relaxation. My view –

Bliss.

I read, snoozed etc etc. Sadly none of this makes for good trip report material! Apologies! I think the most exciting thing I did was walked down to the hotel shop around 11 for a drink and some cookies as I was a bit peckish and not sure what time Martin would be back so we could go out for some lunch. Clearly cookies are an acceptable meal alternative for me in America.


I ate my cookie brunch and had just decided to relocate to a bed in the shade when Martin arrived back from golf! He told me how his morning had been and went for a little dip in the pool, then baked for a while to dry off. It was a scorcher this morning.

As we had missed out on looking round the Orlando Eye area last night we decided to head down that way for lunch. There’s a large free multi storey, which we parked in and took the stairs down to the main concourse. They’ve clearly spent a lot of money on this area, besides the Eye, there’s a Madame Tussaud’s, a Sea Life Centre, a skeleton museum (seriously), and lots of restaurants and shops. The landscaping is lovely too, with lots of water features. It was very, very quiet though.

We liked the look of the Shake Shack so went in there for lunch.
You order at the counter near the large menu board on the wall, then they give you a buzzer so you can find a seat and wait for your food to be ready.

We waited under 10 minutes until our buzzer went off, and Martin went to collect it at the counter. He had a “shack-cago dog”, fries and coke zero, I got the “shack burger”, fries and chocolate milkshake and the total was $25. It reminded me of Five Guys a bit. Very tasty.

We went back to the hotel and retrieved the laptop from the room as we’d arranged to skype my mum and dad, but housekeeping were in the room next door, so no doubt would be arriving any minute, disaster! So we decided to head down to reception and do it from there. They insisted on a skype tour, so if you saw a crazy girl giving a laptop a guided tour of the Rosen, that was me and you can blame them!

All checked in with home it was back to the pool for more chilling. I started reading the second Queen of the Tearling book. It’s like a toned down Game of Thrones. (Martin said what’s the point in that, but I enjoyed it!)

Looked at some more of this lovely view

.



We went back up to the room about 5 to get ready and sorted for our evening at BB Kings over in pointe Orlando. I’d reserved a table for 7:30pm. After 7 you do have to pay a cover charge of $10 per person. We had been into BB Kings in 2013 but had already eaten, so just had drinks and watched the band. This time we were adamant we wanted to eat here too!

We checked in, paid our cover charge and were seated. Our table was fine while we ate, but we did move to an empty one a bit closer to the stage once the band started. Having seen some of the portions on the way in, I decided to get a starter for my entrée.

Sorry for the awful picture!
I had chicken tenders and fries (what kind of starter comes with fries!) with a side of mac & cheese (you may have noticed a theme here, we developed a love of this stuff!) Who, I ask you, could eat this as a starter then eat a main course too! Good grief. Gives me chest pain just thinking about it.


Martin got a burger with sweet potato fries.

He also ordered a beer (Sam Adams) which came in a souvenir glass, so think he got slightly discounted refills. I decided to stick with wine, and got a nice rose. Lovely. The food was delicious and we ate every bit all up! I suggested we try beignets for dessert (after a little break) which we did.

Good Lord, these things were to die for. Again, a giant portion though, I could only manage 2 or 3 and left Martin to polish off the rest. This took him a while, but he was so determined not to leave any that he kept lying over the basket when the waitress came to see if we needed anything else! Haha, she laughed too but probably thought we were crazy. The band came on at 9 and we had a lovely time eating beignets, and drinking, enjoying the music.

I had more wines (hence the lack of detailed note taking! ) and Martin had more beers. It was a great night. Think the bill was $110 altogether, including tip. I would definitely recommend this place if you like live music. It’s got a great atmosphere, and the food is awesome! They have a website with a calendar page that tells you who is playing if you want to check it out.

Stuffed and a bit tipsy we headed out back to “home” at about half past 11. The floor was very wet so think we must have missed a lot of rain!


Tomorrow – shopping and a move to Cabana Bay

[orlandosgr8]

A really lovely and realxed day

Really enjoying your trip report

[collybird]

BB Kings looks like a fab evening.

I love Shake Shack, I think it stomps all over Five Guys

[ch1ps]

We love BB's, been on our last 3 trips and is a must do for us.

[vics18]

Originally Posted by orlandosgr8

A really lovely and realxed day

Really enjoying your trip report

See more...

Aw thank you!

[vics18]

Originally Posted by collybird

BB Kings looks like a fab evening.

I love Shake Shack, I think it stomps all over Five Guys

See more...

Ooh controversial! Haha! I've never tried American five guys to be fair. I do like how you can pick what you put on your burgers there, but I 'd say Shake Shack tasted just as good if not better!

Yeah BB's is great, we had a lovely night.

[vics18]

Originally Posted by ch1ps

We love BB's, been on our last 3 trips and is a must do for us.

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It's fab isn't it!
Thanks for reading

[smedley]

Nice relaxed day We are staying at the Rosen up by Universal in a couple of weeks time. No parks at all (shock horror) so looking at a couple of these kinds of days

[vics18]

Originally Posted by smedley

Nice relaxed day We are staying at the Rosen up by Universal in a couple of weeks time. No parks at all (shock horror) so looking at a couple of these kinds of days

See more...

None at all?! Eep! It was a lovely day, much needed chilling time. Thanks for reading! Hope you have a great trip!

[Redrach1903]

What a lovely day! Good idea to ask Martin to include a wee report on the golf! I will have to see if Chris will do that!

Sounds like a great night at BB Kings! Might have to try that!

xx