Biergarten or Bust! Day 10 -part 3!

[Ms Finkelstein]

Subtitled - Still On A Road To Nowhere! (it eventually becomes clear now)

Time to finish off this day! Still at IOA, nearly time to head back home.

We walked back round to Suess Landing and the kids played for a while in the playground there - getting as wet as they could - of course!

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After riding Cat in The Hat again we spent some time in the store and I bought some Christmas decorations (I just can’t help myself!). The Things wanted to ride One Fish Two Fish again, and as the queue was short we decided to let them ride it themselves while we watched from the side. True to form they tried to get as wet as possible! Then as it was getting nearer to 5.30 ish and getting dark we headed back to the car. The Things pausing for a while to play in the fountains at Citywalk... are you sensing a theme here?

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Now this time we had come with no Unoffical Guide with it’s details of getting around – after all the last time we found our way onto I-Drive no problem after coming out of the car park. Big mistake – huge!

We must have exited in a different direction, and well, we got totally lost. We spotted Kirkman ?Drive, and headed that way, but no joy. Seeing a sign for the I-4 (East) we headed back on that, Grumpy was getting that white-knuckle tense look so I was trying to remain calm and desperately flicking through the one map (of WDW) in the car we had. Grumpy’s panic increased somewhat when he spotted a white van with the legend ‘Correctional Facility’ pass us. He assumed the worst.

The map was pretty basic, and my suspicions were raised when we approached an upcoming sign for Daytona Beach, hmmm. My fears were raised again when I saw an exit number – 74.

Right... my map (of WDW) did show (and I remembered) the exit we usually took to get back to the hotel was 67. Okaaayyy. When I saw the next exit number was 75 I knew my fears were confirmed. We were indeed driving in totally the wrong direction!

Telling Grumpy as calmly as possible to keep him from panicking further we took the next exit and managed to head back onto I-4, this time in the right direction, and just kept following the signs for Universal. Now, Grumpy and I have been married for a long time – 11 years in fact, in total we’ve been together for 16 years, so you’d think he’d know me really well by now wouldn’t you?

So when we came up towards a road junction and he asked “where is I-Drive?” you’d think he’d recognise that me flicking my hand back and forth in front of my face from left to right as obviously being the universally recognised sign language for “it’s coming up, feel free to go either way”... Apparently not.

Well, lets just say the atmosphere in the car at that moment was a tad fraught. I had thought he would just head back to WDW but he was going to find I-Drive even if it killed him, gawd - darnit! Hitting I-Drive evntually (not literally), we headed for Friendlys for some food.

Heather had a hotdog, Ben had the nuggets (he needed his fix, poor boy), Grumpy had the 4 cheeseburger ‘sliders’(?), and I had a cheeseburger. After the stress of the unplanned nearly side trip to the beach we were starving!

Never a bad time for food porn!

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To finish off we all had a sundae! Yum yum! I had to have the reeces peanut butter pieces as a topping!

Not quite the Kitchen Sink but we were happy!

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After we had some food we were able to relax a bit and laugh about the car journey,
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Then we headed back to the hotel - bill for that meal came to $33.30 not incl tip. We found our way back onto I-4 no problem and decided to stop off at the Premium Outlets for a spot of shopping.

When we got back to the hotel I headed down to Jackson Square Gifts and Desires to pick up some purchases we’d had sent back from the park the day before and showed them my sunglasses and the receipt. Shock of shocks there actually was another pair on the stand so the CM exchanged them no problem. Good shopping pixies for a change!

I filled up my cup with some hot chocolate (I was building up a bit of a habit with it!) and headed back to the room, and then Grumpy went over to Riverside to the shop over there for some stuff and treated himself to a beer. I think he needed it!

Ah well, we nearly fitted in a visit to Daytona Beach, but alas it wasn't to be... maybe next trip.

Hope you've enjoyed reading the updates, any new readers or lurkers, don't be shy - feel free to pop in and say "Hi!"

Di x

[wickesy]

Good on you for getting back on track under pressure. That's why I wouldn't be without my sat-nav (for all its faults on this trip).

[Ms Finkelstein]

Originally Posted by wickesy

Good on you for getting back on track under pressure. That's why I wouldn't be without my sat-nav (for all its faults on this trip).

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Hi David

It was pretty scary but luckily we managed to find our way back pretty quickly - I think if we'd gotten caught up in loads of surface streets it might have been more of a trek!
We now have a Sat-Nav (thanks to the New Year sales!), so we'll be OK on future trips!

Di x

[Guest]

thats why I dont drive far too scary!

[Ms Finkelstein]

Originally Posted by lilacfairystar

thats why I dont drive far too scary!

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Hi Angela

It wasn't fun, but it could have been a lot worse (that's what I keep telling myself ). Apparently though we're not the only ones to have done it - exiting Universal Studios car parks seems to catch out a few people!

Di x

[Guest]

All I can add is Diane's hand-flick gesture was of the kind you see in war films when the heroes are under attack and desperately want to signal imminent danger with out drawing attention to himself... or else she was too hot and fanning herself it took all my inner control to not fill the car with the kind of fruity expletives that the experts tell us are bad for kiddies to hear

[ShuGray]

The one thing I refuse to do now is map read when DH is driving..our first holiday together was interesting when we decided to go 'adventuring' and got completely lost..I can't read maps and I have no sense of direction..yet he still insists on always asking me where we are?! Why do they do it? Well done on keeping calm, I'd have been crying by that stage

[summersun]

thats why dave wont drive over there. lol

glad you found your way back to the hotel

[Ms Finkelstein]

Originally Posted by ShuGray

The one thing I refuse to do now is map read when DH is driving..our first holiday together was interesting when we decided to go 'adventuring' and got completely lost..I can't read maps and I have no sense of direction..yet he still insists on always asking me where we are?! Why do they do it? Well done on keeping calm, I'd have been crying by that stage

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Hi Shula

I have absolutely no sense of direction and am pretty poor at reading maps, but DH is even worse than me. LOL! I was definately crying on the inside!

Originally Posted by summersun

thats why dave wont drive over there. lol

glad you found your way back to the hotel

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Hi Summersun

Now we have a Sat Nav we'll be OK on future journeys! I'm just glad we decided not to try and find the Walmart at Turkey Lake Road and get the kids Nintendos at DTD!
DH loves driving in the US, but it can get a bit scary driving outside of WDW, especially with no Sat Nav or maps!

Di x

[frazers mum]

Thank gawd we have sat-nav to take with usMust have been a very stressful situation to be inMe thinks Grumpy deserved the beer at POR!Great TR as always