The 3 amigos christmas caper. day 5

[purple myra]

DAY 5
Thursday 27th December

No alarm calls today, we are all grateful for this as we are starting to flag a little. Today is going to be a bit of a mish mash, we are working everything around going to Bike Night at Old Town tonight. We hadn’t managed this last time we were here so its been a definite in our itinerary from the start, we later added tickets for Ice at Gaylord Palms, so….
We assemble around 9am and go next door to Friendly’s for breakfast….our first encounter with the lovely Crystal! She was to become the reason one of us wanted to eat here EVERYDAY! Obviously I’m far too discreet to mention which one of us had a bit of a crush on her…eh Billy? After a good breakfast ( as usual ) we get the 1st of many taxi’s today and head for Wal-Mart on Turkey Lake Road…we won’t get thrown out today…its only 9.30am! Our ‘retro chic’ taxi service tries to convince us to go to the Wal-Mart on John Young Parkway but Jake is adamant…he is looking for something in particular and he has checked on the internet and it is definitely in stock at Turkey Lake Road.
***you just KNOW what is coming next ***
We arrive at Wal-Mart, head straight for the items in question…none of us can see it on the shelves… no real surprise as
A: I don’t really know what I’m looking for and
B: its not there!
Undeterred Jake hunts down an “assistant” and keen not to let the language barrier/his accent get in the way, he has written down what he wants…the “assistant” can’t see it either, has never heard of it, doesn’t think they have ever sold it…….aha….Jake has printed it off the internet…..but still no can do… “you should try John Young Parkway” they suggest!
To cheer my dear husband up, I agree to let him buy me a new camera for my Christmas….a cute little pink Sony cyber shot ( Sorry to everyone who is waiting for me to get a fab shiny thing from Tiffany's ). I also buy myself a pair of trainers ( brand x ) and a pair of slippers. If Billy bought anything, I can’t remember what it was.
Taxi back to our hotel to dump our shopping and have a relaxing cup of Tetley before getting another taxi to Gaylord Palms Resort…OMG this place is gorgeous, we go straight to the conference centre where the ICE exhibition is located and immediately join the queue inside the hall, at that moment we reckon we have a half hour wait ahead of us….turns out to be over 90minutes but the display is fantastic









Jake and Billy both have a go on the slides




Once back out in the Florida sunshine we wander over to the atrium and admire all the different areas, this place is HUGE! We have a look at the gators and then head off to calm our rumbling tums


Jake has a roast beef sandwich with crisps and a coffee, Billy and I both have Italian wraps with crisps and tea from a bakery in the atrium, they are huge and none of us can finish them, its good to have a seat though. We wander round trying to find the front entrance but end up back at the conference centre where “ICE” is, the queue is now spilling out of the hall, all the way down to the confrence centre entrance and then goes on forever along the sidewalk outside….and it is a really hot sunny day. Those people were looking at a 3 hour wait at least! We eventually get to the entrance and one of the employees ( porter/valet parker…not sure) whistles on a taxi for us, a very luxurious thing it is too…no more ‘retro chic’ for us, its leather interiors and tinted glass all the way…..to Downtown Disney.

[purple myra]

Again, its just a leisurely stroll round in the sun, we spend a while in virgin and Jake and Billy both buy some cd’s before we pop into the Goofy’s candy store for a white chocolate covered marshmallow kebab….yum! Then stop at the Comedy Warehouse and sit outside enjoying a drink before the sun begins to set





Its now time to make our way to Old Town so we catch the resort bus to the Contemporary and then the monorail to the TTC where we catch the Lynx bus ( 56 ) to Old Town….there is probably a less convoluted way of doing this but I couldn’t think of another way!
We have never seen Old Town in daylight as this is our 1st visit, don’t think it is somewhere I would return to unless it was for Bike night or to see the cars on a Friday or Saturday night. Jake was like a kid in a candy store though and he had a ball taking pictures of everything that moved…and lots more of things that didn’t move…

[purple myra]

Billy managed to spot a few lady bikers that held his attention ( especially the one in leather chaps! ) as he is not a bike fan at all.
We eventually prise Jake away from the bikes as we are all now starving. We settle on Kool Kats and we are seated inside, things get off to a bad start (for me) when our drinks arrive…the men have beer and I ask for white wine. Our server sees me glaring at my glass of pink stuff and tells me its White Zinfandel! I know what it is love….just cause it has the word ‘white’ in the title doesn’t stop it being a sweet sickly rose wine! Unfortunately I’m only able to drink 2 of the ghastly things.
Jake had egg rolls followed by a Cuban sandwich and fries,



Billy has jambalaya followed by shrimp and crab something or other



I have loaded fries followed by fried chicken with mash and country gravy



Jake and Billy both enjoy their food, mine is good too but wasted slightly by my entrée arriving when I’m still half way through my monster sized appetiser!
Taxi back to the hotel and straight to bed, we are too tired even for a Tetley!

[maggie b]

Those bikes look cool DH's friend is into moterbikes so must take a trip there our selfs in 2009.Looking forward to more photo's & reports

[voddygirl]

Ice sculptures are cool ...we always go to Old Town for a nosey ..a nice day for you all

[wjd]

My dad would of loved all of those bikes, great pictures.

[Guest]

Wow the ice sculptures are amazing.

[Guest]

Ice looks great-especially the slides. Isnt your appetizer huge!

[Guest]

Your pics have convinced me to try Ice this year Myra... lol will keep tuning in to see if Billy makes a play for Crystal...

[Iloveflorida]

We have always visited Old Town for the car show but have never got round to the bike show, it looks great my BF would love it.