theDIBB - Scottishnellies Sack The Kitchen Trip LIVE - Day 14, High Grove Clubhouse, Going Home, Sad Faces All

Going Home day

Oh this really hurts. I am so not ready to go home. It has been a brilliant holiday, and because we only did two weeks this time when we have been lucky enough to do 3 weeks for the past couple years, I do feel like I am being wrenched away mid holiday. Not good. I could have cried this morning.

Anyhoo. Kevin, Kieran and I were all up by 7am and started stripping the beds to get the washings on and emptying the food etc. I was just thinking I would need to wake Hannah when she comes out of her room all showered and dressed, saying she had got up at 6 and had a wee swim in the pool before having a shower to get ready. Result! Got her bed all stripped too.

Got the final packing done, weighed the cases and uh oh. We were about 5k over. Damn Thomson and their measly 20kg allowance. We are used to Thomas Cooks 23kg which is why we got caught this time. I have bought more foaming hand gels from B&BW than usual, and Hannah has bought lots of Victoria Secret sprays and both those things weigh quite heavy. Not to mention the 2 pairs of winter boots I bought from NF yesterday! We started transferring what we could over to hand luggage to take them up to 5kg each. Poor Hannah had 3 pairs of trainers and her gold high heels all in hers! Kieran had one of the pairs of winter boots, stuffed with a pair of his trainers. And Kevin and I both had trainers in our bags. Still about 2.5kg over. Oh well. Just need to pay if they charge us.

We had to be out of the villa by 10am as Randy had new guests arriving today. Brits I think, although I don't know if they are dibbers. We managed to get all the bedding done, dried and folded before we left.

I took one last look around the villa to make sure nothing was left and we piled into the car.

Now, the plan had been to go to Aldi on the way to the airport to stock up on coffee pods since it was closed when we tried on 4th July. But now with the luggage issues Kevin put the kabosh on that. I did try to persuade him that they don't weigh anything but he was having none of it, so shopping was out of the question.

So. What to do for the next few hours that doesn't involve shopping and doesn't get us all hot and sweaty? I decided we should go to the clubhouse, which we hadn't been in at all since the day we called in to register. So off we went. This turned out to be a great shout. We pulled a pair of swim shorts out of the case for Kieran and he had a go in the big pool, where he met a Jamaican family and talked the hind legs off them. By the time he had finished they knew all about my kitchen, fidget spinners, the dibb, the coffee, his school, how Kevin and I once went to Vegas, and Aunty Dianne's Dogs. When not in the pool he was playing with Duchess, the High Grove cat.

I was sitting in the shade (well come on, I was wearing Jeans. Even I cant do full Florida sun in jeans) typing up my trip report for our last full day. I couldn't get it uploaded though as the wifi wasn't strong enough, so that would need to wait til I got home.

Hannah and Kevin stayed inside in the aircon watching a film and playing foozball. I actually enjoyed sitting here and if we return to High Grove I think we will give it a turn one day. I also got talking to a Scottish family from Uddingston who had booked a package through BA but requested High Grove as they had loved it last year. They were also going home today on an 8pm flight from MCO so were also killing time at the clubhouse.

We left at 12:30 to get some lunch. I wanted Bahama Breeze, The kids wanted McDonalds. We eventually settled on this

Now we went here once for breakfast a couple of years back and I was unimpressed. But to be fair it was not this one. We paid for the lunch buffet for 3 adults and 1 child age 10-12. It makes me laugh when Kieran qualifies for a buffet cheaper than us. He eats more than the 3 of us put together.

Found a table with our refillable sodas and got started

The kids went for the Healthy options of course. NOT. Kieran's 1st plate

Hannah's first plate

Kevins first plate

I started with cheese and broccoli soup which was really very nice to my surprise

My chicken, mash and green beans. The poultry sauce was really tasty and the chicken more juicy than I expected.

Their 2nd plates were not much better

Kieran then got candy floss from the man making it

Then it was on to desserts. Kevins blueberry pie, apple pie and Carrot cake.

Kieran's desserts having visited the chocolate fountain

Hannah's desserts

And mine, Strawberry shortcake which tasted just like cheesecake to me. Ice cream with hot caramel sauce and a bit of banana pie to try.

All in all the food was much better here than I thought it would be so I was glad the kids had persuaded us to do this.

We left at 1:45 and drove to Sanford. Very straightforward and had dropped the car back at Alamo by 2:45. And into the airport

We joined the check in queue. I was dreading getting charged for the extra weight so was somewhat distracted when a lady leant over and said "Are you Scottishnellie?" It turned out to be Markin from the dibb. We had a nice chat about Kieran's fidget spinners and how they had enjoyed their holiday at Hilton near Seaworld. It was lovely to meet you Markin!

So in total we were spotted 3 times in the holiday. First by Di5ney at Glasgow Central Station, then by Gryffs daughter in law Sophie while trying on hats in MK, Then by Markin in the Sanford check in queue. How bonkers is that all off the back of a trip report? But also very cool!

The queue to check in took ages and did nothing to ease my dread of being overweight. So we finally get to the desk and it is a really friendly woman called Jane. She is joking with us about the size of Kieran given he is only 9 years old and being generally very nice. She weighs our hand luggage first. They are all just under 5kg except from Hannah who is 5.5. Then she weighs the 4 cases saying you have 80kg to use in total. Here we go. 19.5. 21.5. 22. 19. And she just says And you have used 80 out of 80 is that is fine. Phew! Thank you Jane!

Round the corner to security and all through fine. The security guards were also very friendly here. Kieran was now melting so we bought a couple of big bottles of water at $4 each and settled to wait. Now I am not a big airport shopper. The most I ever do is buy a new perfume on the way out. But I know some folk complained Sanford has nothing in it and I could see that is pretty true. It's small with very little in it.

We were due to fly at 17:25 and were boarded by roughly that time and off soon after.

Good flight again on the Dreamliner. I slept for a good couple of hours and watched The Accountant and Lion, both of which I enjoyed.

Kieran got his kids meal of chicken, tutor tots and peas, which he scoffed and enjoyed

And we all had the adult meal which said it was chicken strips in a rosemary dijon sauce. It was rotten. The chicken was soft and mushy and the sauce was rank.

I had 2 glasses of wine before dinner and one during dinner. I was comfortable and relaxed and very surprised to wake up to find everyone else had been served breakfast and I had slept right through it.

Landed 15 mins early at 6:15 UK time. Off the plane and through passport control within 5 minutes. Had a 20m wait for the cases to start coming through but I think that was because we were off the plane so quick.

4 cases retrieved, we made our way back along those long corridors to the train station. Tired folks but still better than having to drive home.

My Mum had said she would pick us up from our local train station so we texted her when we reached Glasgow to say when we would arrive. Home, and the first thing I did was put the heating on as I am absolutely frozen cold. Brrr

So that is it all over for another year. Time to unpack and find somewhere to put all this new stuff, and find out whether the Dreamliner really does help with the jetlag. This was a truly fabulous holiday with lots of memories made, and I am so glad we decided to do it despite fitting the kitchen. I will probably put together a highs n lows post over the weekend before I go back to work. Then at some point we will actually have to tile the kitchen to finish it!

See you here same time next year? Most probably!