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Old 25 Jan 20, 04:19 PM  
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wizzo
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Arrow Pizza, Wings and Stranger Things 2019 Day 18 - THE END

Day Eighteen – 28th August 2019 THE END

THE INDEX IS HERE

So, this was it, the day we all dread, the day we have to go home. I know I’ve said it lots of times before, but I’ll say it again. Those of us writing and reading these trip reports know how much better holidaying in the US is rather than in Europe because on the last day of your holiday you ALWAYS want to stay. By the time you get to day 12 in the Algarve or Balearics you say things like “Well, it’s been a lovely holiday but I’m ready for home”

I have never said that in America and know I never will.

The advantage this gives a European holiday is that on your last day you aren’t left feeling like your puppy has died or you’ve just heard you’re bankrupt like you feel on the last day in America.

God Bless America. Our special relationship should never waiver (even with Trump at the helm).

Anyway, enough of this sentimental nonsense, should we crack on? I’ve got this years holiday to sort out!

With our flight home not leaving till nearly 11pm tonight, we had plenty of time to kill before we even thought about driving to Miami. This is why, by 10:30am we were up, showered, packed, checked out and walking over the car park to SeaWorld one last time with free Quick Queue tickets clasped tightly in hands (After a brief stop in Starbucks in the hotel).








That was some Pokemon related secret menu item that Maddy asked for. As it turned out, it was so secret not even Starbucks knew about it! Not this branch anyway and they had to google the recipe.

When we got to SeaWorld it was empty and me and the kids rode Manta, Kraken and Mako in quick succession.





The next couple of hours were spent looking at sharks, baby dolphins etc. The kids also re-rode the big three rides while Lynn and I sat in the sun.













Shortly before 1pm it was time to start this journey south, but it was lovely to spend the morning in a park before heading to Miami.





We drove for an hour before stopping for lunch at some services. KFC for the kids and Earl of Sandwich for the grown-ups. I wasn’t particularly hungry (which is rare for me). It was the thought of going home and back to reality I think.







After lunch, conversation turned to how on earth Maddy has only done two poos all bloody holiday! Pretty sure I laid Florida cable every day for 18 days!

I recounted the old McEwans Best Scotch Florida advert. Anyone remember it? Some of you will. I recited every word of it to them to their horror and amazement……….”The bars are packed tighter than tins of sardines, there’s no room for barmaids with all these machines”

Ask you Dad or find it on YouTube!

I forgot to take note of this next lunchtime conversation piece in yesterday’s report but we recounted how yesterday we were stood looking at an Armadillo in a box at Discovery Cove that a cast member had wheeled out for people to gorp at. Now this bloke walked past, clearly English, looked in the box and went “Smooth on the outside, crunchie on the inside, Armadillo”

Again, ask your dad or google ‘Youtube Harry Enfield armadillo’. It was funny in the 90s



We got back on the road for a couple of hours and our final sight to see this holiday (except the airport again) was Sawgrass Mills Mall. It was just like every other mall ever to me but the girls seemed to enjoy it.



We got some presents for home, some polo shirts for yours truly and generally killed another couple of hours before heading off to the airport.

The car was soon dropped back off with Alamo, we checked in and headed straight through security to secure some food.



Dinner tonight was Paninis and Empenadaes from the decent counter service places near our gate. Of course we went to Hudson news about 27 times too for drinks, sweets, snacks etc and I bought my copy of Time Magazine. For a few years now, I’ve bought a copy of Time in the airport before we leave for home. The intention is to frame them all and put them up in my study. I think I’m getting to the point where I have enough to start filling a wall. Maybe after this years’ trip I’ll mount them and share a photo for you all. I thought it would be a snapshot of the times we have been to America as Time covers tend to be quite iconic and ‘of the time’.



We boarded at 10:15pm and were soon on our way. We had eaten in the airport deliberately to skip the airline food in favour of trying to get a good night sleep on the way home.









We also deliberately booked seats in the back to rows of two so we could recline without upsetting anyone. Me and Maddy watched a couple of episodes of Alan Partridge and then tucked ourselves into our blankets and went to sleep. Lynn and Lauren were already asleep. This 23:00 flight was good for being tired for sure but we had packed a lot into a couple of weeks too.

We woke up 45 minutes from Dublin. That’s not bad in a bog-standard economy seat!



Craggy Island





Now I think I got a reasonable sleep on the flight home. It wasn’t a full 8 hours by any means but I didn’t feel to bad. Judging by this next photo over breakfast in the airport, Maddy wasn’t exactly feeling refreshed!



We had a long layover in Dublin of 7 hours, which sounds horrendous but we decided to risk it months earlier when we found these great value flights.

By the time we had killed two hours getting off the plane and having breakfast we spent a couple of hours at the gate watching the world go by interspersed with looking in shops and listening to podcasts ad music.



We get 6 free lounge passes a year with our current account but with all airport lounges they are time limited (2 hours in this case), hence why we killed a bit of time before we went to the lounge. Now don’t get me wrong, If it says 2 hours, you’ll get more than that if you want but I wouldn’t take the mickey. Rules are rules.

With 3 hours or so to go we decamped to the lounge we had access to, enjoyed some free snacks and drinks and the girls played cards. I concentrated on the free wine.





I had to laugh at a truck parked out on the tarmac which I had hoped we had seen on the way out. I spent most of our time in Miami singing these lyrics in my head!



By the time we left the lounge we only had 45 minutes till boarding and we had successfully spent a working day in Dublin airport without too much trouble. I’d do it again if the price of the flights were worth it.

We were soon boarding our final flight, just the short hop from Dublin to Leeds Bradford and this flight went off without incident. An hour’s drive and we were home capping off another brilliant trip. Once home we cracked open the bag/suitcase with Toypedo in, and just like every year we take this, TSA had spotted it on an xray and opened our bag! 😊



I must have got just the right amount of dollars for the trip as we retuned with a couple of bucks plus change.



That’s trip number 14 with the kids. How time flies!

The highlights for me this time were the sport. We watched a great game of baseball in the Trop and the NFL game was a great night. Nighttime football in the heat of Florida and beer, does it get any better?

Swimming with the dolphins that morning at St Pete Beach was fantastic. The YouTube stuff I posted doesn’t come close to doing it justice. My notes from that remind me that ‘this was a thousand times better than swimming with dolphins at Discovery Cove’. Similarly, finally finding the Manatees at Fort De Soto this year was brilliant. Hopefully next time I’ll get better video. I already plan to take a long selfie stick to get some height above them as you can see them a lot better on video with a bit of elevation.

Our fishing trips could have yielded more fish for me that’s for sure but the kids loved catching a load of little ones and that first day in particular was lovely spending time with the girls away from it all.

I thought eating out was more expensive again this year. This isn’t just the exchange rate, even the likes of Buffalo Wild Wings prices are going up. This was offset by the two fabulous meals we had at Madfish grill in St Pete but we did have to find a British chef to get that quality.

One of my final notes about returning next year reads ‘Hopefully next time Disney will do a sensibly priced 4 day ticket and we will return. Can’t see us spending £2000 for the amount of Disney time we require these days’. This year the kids will be 16 and 13 and while they love the magic of Disney World they want to do bigger and bigger rollercoasters (2020?)

There is a 4 day 4 park ticket again this year but it’s still £1000 for a family of four like us. If plans had been different we might have gone for this as we would like to drop into WDW again sometime soon but as I write this, plans for 2020 are very much afoot and once again WDW is off the itinerary.

So that’s it, I hope you enjoyed reading my waffle again. I’m currently teasing Lauren and telling her this year I’m starting a YouTube channel and I’m going to be the next big influencer instead of writing this stuff down and she is absolutely mortified. You never know though, I would have earned $150 from my current YouTube videos that are only for the Dibb if I had ticked the box to play an add at the start!

As I’ve hinted at above, the 2020 trip planning is well underway (this one is very different), so I better leave you and get on with it!

As always, please reply to any day of a trip report you read (not just mine), it is the inspiration all of us trip report writers need. Even if you simply say ‘Thanks for another great day’. Doing these is hard work. I read all your replies and every one is VERY much appreciated.

You’re all lovely.

See you real soon.

Wizzo
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2023 Trip Report - COMPLETE HERE

My old trip reports are all HERE




Edited at 12:22 PM.
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Old 25 Jan 20, 04:30 PM  
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nothingless
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Thanks so much for the report again! I love reading yours - you're always so funny! And love all your American adventures with your girls - my daughter's only 3, but I sure hope that by the time she's 15, she'll still want to go to the USA with us and I can say "oh this has been our 14th trip"! #goals
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Old 25 Jan 20, 04:59 PM  
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Cutiepie
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Another superb report and holiday I always enjoy reading along.

Thanks for taking the time to write and sharing with us
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Old 25 Jan 20, 05:14 PM  
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Manyin
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Thank you for another great trip report, I really enjoy reading along. Looking forward to this year's instalment.
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Old 25 Jan 20, 05:23 PM  
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MarionG
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A great last day. Have enjoyed reading your reports. Interested in what you have planned for the next trip..
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Old 25 Jan 20, 05:30 PM  
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A brilliant report as always, thank you for taking the time to do it. We are very similar in that this year will be our 10th visit and our girls will be 15 and 14. We are thinking 2020 will be the last Disney on-site/off site trip for us, as it is just getting ridiculously expensive (in my opinion). Love reading about your trips and would love to do the swimming with dolphins. Sounds amazing
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Old 25 Jan 20, 05:32 PM  
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Another fab trip report! Looking forward to the next one.
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Old 25 Jan 20, 05:33 PM  
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Rob & Jan
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Absolutely love your reports, your sense of humour is so like mine , thank you for taking the time to write about your trip. Looking forward to finding out about your next holiday.
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Old 25 Jan 20, 05:41 PM  
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Thanks for sharing another great trip. I always enjoy your reports and feel a bit sad when I get to the end and run out of new days to read!
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Old 25 Jan 20, 05:47 PM  
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I was intrigued by your flights as we live 20 mins from LBA and have seen them come up often. Glad they weren’t too much bother. Once our girls are a little older and could handle the layover on return day I think I’d certainly consider them (assuming they still exist).
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