Continued from above...
With tummies starting to rumble we decided to head back to our sun loungers, but first the boys stopped for a go on the tube slides which gives me the chance to wander down memory lane again
2013
2011
2009
Once back at the sun loungers we tucked into the usual snacks we’d brought with us, apart from Grandma that is who went off foraging and came back with this little beauty:
Funnel Cake!
The boys went back in the water for a little play, helping themselves to a couple of rubber rings so they could bob up and down and really mix their food around. We could keep an eye on them perfectly from where we were sat, that is until another family came along, grabbed some nearby chairs and then plonked them directly in front of us. Why does that happen?! There was so much space elsewhere but they chose to sit right in front of us, so close that another inch or two back and they would have been on top of us. It brought to mind the time Simon & I went to the pictures in Berlin. We were sat there, waiting for the film to start (Robin Hood – the Russell Crowe version, if you are interested in the finer details! ), with barely anyone else in the cinema, when we spotted a rather large gentleman laden down with enough snacks to last the entire film and beyond, enter the auditorium. He looked around for a little while, and then at exactly the same time, it dawned on us both what his intentions were. And sure enough, he made his way into our row, and edged his way all the way along until he plonked himself down right next to Simon! I’ve said it before, Simon does seem to make friends easily! Sooooo, what do you do in that situation? You can’t just move, that would seem rude. And being in Germany, perhaps they have unwritten rules about making sure you don’t leave empty seats between people, a bit like moving to the end of the rows for Disney shows, although that is a proper rule, EVERYBODY knows that...
Which seat would you have chosen?!
We sat there for a little while, silently assessing our options. It’s not that Simon would have minded sitting next to someone, but this chap had his own seat plus half of Simon’s, and the endless snacks would have been a definite distraction, unless he shared! In the end, Simon came up with a cunning plan. He decided that we might need some sustenance during the film too, and so nudging his way past me, went out to the foyer, coming back moments later with popcorn and then taking a pew the other side of me, therefore leaving a spare seat between me & our new friend. Job done!
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes. So, there we were, sat watching the back of people’s heads while the boys played in the waves. Daniel came to join us for a little while, I think it was the funnel cake that lured him out of the water, and left his rubber ring by the side of us. A rather surly CM came striding over and dragged the rubber ring away muttering something grumpily under his breath. I understand that the rings are for everyone to share, and I don’t think for one minute that Daniel had intentionally brought it over to ‘save’ as there were plenty of them around anyway, but the CM could have been a bit more friendly about it, I mean, it’s not as if we hadn’t moved all the way along the row or something…… What really got my goat though was that there was another family nearby who had 3 of them all stacked up next to them and they didn’t get moved! Oooh, sounding a bit moany now aren’t I? I’m just big on fairness, can you tell?!
To give our food a bit more time to settle we decided the lazy river would be a good idea and so the four of us went off for a relaxing drift around the park while Mum got herself comfy on the sun bed. We had a lot of fun on the lazy river, chatting and having a laugh with the other swimmers. One little girl who had become separated from her family took a shine to Adam and was extremely chatty & friendly, so much so, I think she would have come home with us given the chance. I ended up getting wedged together with an older lady and we had a laugh trying to help each other avoid the cold sprinklers. In no way deliberately*, she was much better at helping me than I was her, much to Simon’s amusement…..
*maybe slightly deliberately.
After a lap of the lazy river, which probably took about half an hour, we decided that the snacks hadn’t been enough and so we went off to find some lunch. Lottawatta Lodge was the obvious choice so scooping Grandma up on the way we went to see what was on offer. No photos of the food I’m afraid, but I’m sure your imaginations can stretch to picture what we had
8 Chicken Nuggets & Fries $8.69
Chicken Sandwich & Fries $9.19
Cheese Pizza $6.99
2 x Hot Dogs & Fries £13.98
2 x Sodas $5.38
Chocolate Milk $2.39
Total Bill $46.62 + Tax
We sat at a little picnic table to eat our lunch, and despite it being only 12.30 we had done pretty much everything in the park! We were all enjoying the day though and were in no rush to leave and so headed back to the big pool again. My one complaint about Blizzard Beach (apart from the surly CM & the intrusive family) would be the roughness of the bottom of pool. I mean, I’m all for a bit of foot exfoliation (although I draw the line at having fish nibble my toes, I’m sure the fish feel the same way
), but I was 5ft 7” when I entered the water, and 5ft 5” when I left, that’s how much was taken off the bottom of my feet!
We messed around for a while, bobbing up and down in the water, stopping occasionally for a drink ($2.69 for a fizzy pop from the Cooling Hut), and revisited our favourite slides, and at around 4.30 we gathered our belongings and headed back to the car.
Back at the villa we showered and dressed and once again made our way to Rolling Oaks, this time to another favourite restaurant of ours, Bahama Breeze.
Although it was later than we usually went out for tea, it was still early at 5.30pm and so we had no wait for a table.
I was still mourning the loss of chicken kabobs/kebabs from the menu, (they had been a favourite from the first holiday and had since been discontinued), but at least their loss gave me chance to try something else. My biggest problem was choosing what to have as the BB menu is pretty impressive. With eyes bigger than our bellies, probably after all that swimming which does seem to work up an appetite, we ordered as follows:
To Share
Onion Rings $4.75
They were absolutely massive, but really really good. Daniel surprised us all by trying one, and surprised us even more by enjoying it, and subsequently tucking into more. We barely made a dent in them though.
Chicken Sliders $4.75
Again, they were really good, and again Daniel surprised us. He doesn’t eat sandwiches, or any kind of burger, and yet something compelled him to try one and again he really enjoyed it!
Me
Jamaican Jerk Chicken Lite $13.49 (Lite just means a slightly smaller portion)
It was delicious, but unfortunately we had underestimated the size of the appetizers and overestimated the size of our bellies and so I left more than I ate. I’m so glad I ordered the ‘lite’ version!
Simon
Wood-Grilled Chicken Sandwich $9.49
As soon as I saw this arrive I wished I’d order it. Simon really enjoyed it and would definitely order it again.
Mum
Lobster & Shrimp Quesadilla $6.50
Chicken Cilantro Lite $10.49
Big thumbs up from Mum for both of these, but again, in this battle of Man v Food, Food won!
Adam
Cheeseburger with Fries $9.99
In Adam’s words, it was a really good burger, but not the best he’s ever had.
Daniel
Chicken Fingers $4.79
As you can see, it was thumbs up from Daniel!
We also had 4 soft drinks, $2.49 each and a sparkling water, $2.99, and the whole bill came to $74.80 + tax and tip. At today’s exchange rate (1.66) the entire meal came to less than £50, which when you think about the amount of food we ordered, and more embarrassingly the amount of food we couldn’t shovel in, that’s exceptional value for what was an outstanding meal. Bahama Breeze is still a firm favourite for us.
Continued in the next post...