The Florida, Fringes and Other F Words Tour Day Two

[mkingdon]

Previously on this tour...

Pre Trip Ramblings
Introduction
Day One


Day Two – Monday 24th August 2009

The time is 3am. I am awake, staring at the clock, not knowing that it is 3am, as I don't have my glasses on, and for some reason the clock is not at the side of the bed, but across the room. So after a lot of squinting and head cocking I finally decide just to look at my watch which is next to me.

Yep, 3am. Great!

I doze off again it seems, as the next time I am aware of the time it is 6.30am, and I appear to be the last one up.

PANIC! It is the first day of our holiday, and by this time I should be sat outside the main gates of the Magic Kingdom, ticket in hand, waiting to race anyone that fancies it up Main Street.

Oh no, wait. Remember, this year is to be different. THE PLAN says that today we will be doing not a right lot. A rest day...and we've done nothing yet. Not sure how this happened.

Anyway, I get up and wander out of the bedroom. Quickly run back in and put some clothes on, and then go and have some coffee. It does appear that everyone else is up and about. The last time Emily saw this time of the morning she hadn't gone to bed yet!

Still she seems cheery enough as she discovers the squirty thing on the sink, and her mind compiles a long list of how she could use this on Rebecca.



Emily has recently started wearing contact lenses. We spent ages trying to sort this out...it is more complicated than you might think. Then one day into the holiday she goes back to her glasses again. Gratitude!



Rebecca, at this stage is fed, watered, bikined up, and staring at the pool. Apparently 8am is the magical time for being allowed in the pool. She consoles herself with the Disney channel.

For the first time, we've brought a laptop with us on this trip. It is one of those fandangled netbook things. Emily got it for her birthday, and it has been attached to her ever since. Still, I thought it would handy for checking directions and info for our trip.

The villa doesn't have WiFi, but Jakki, who has stayed here before, confirms that you can get t'internet through a series of “wires” to a hole in the wall. Frustrated that Jakki has baffled me with technical jargon, I now try to get it all hooked up.

Finding the hole is simple enough (I am avoiding all jokes of this type this year...well, until I get more desperate anyway), but the equipment I have with me simply won't go in the hole. (must... resist... making... this...joke).

Annoyed, I set off in the Sedona to find the required cableage to get online. If Emily doesn't Facebook for twenty four hours her fingers fall off.

I end up way down the 192 in a Walmart and all sorts of other shops, and still find nothing with the relevant connectors. I arrive back at the villa, an hour later, defeated, to be greeted by, “Oh, have you been out?”

Charming. :angry:

Breakfast has been had, in the form of Froot Loops for the kids and a Blueberry “Beagle” for Dad. Honestly, it isn't worth it to correct him.

The hot tub has been enjoyed.



and within moments, my kit is off and I take the plunge. Well, actually I take ten minutes gingerly poncing about in the shallow end as the water is a tad chilly, and “Stephen and the twins” were making friends with my tonsils.

Anyway, once I'm in, the fun begins.



I would like to point out that I did not puncture the tail on that blow up whale. Jakki left it at the villa, so I blame her.

Looking back, I don't know why the whale is that way round. I can assure it isn't what it looks like. The kids are watching for heavens sake.

I allow fun to happen until about 9.45, then announce that this will be enough rest for today, and if anyone wants to go near a mall, then we'd better see some showers soon.

Amazingly, we are leaving the villa at 10.30, with fringes in place, and heading for the Florida Mall. Despite the fact that we've been there before, and I have looked it up on a map back home, I am not too confident of how to get there. It is an inbuilt aversion to shopping, not rubbish navigation.

Anyway, via an ever so slight detour on Sand Lake Road (what do you mean we were going in completely the wrong direction?), we get there.

I see a Radioshack as we enter and see this as a chance to talk “techy to techy” with the nerds in there. Dad & I stand there for twenty minutes whilst the two assistants deal with two customers...for ages.

Finally, I ask one if the attachment I have in my hand will do the job. He suggests that I ask my wife, and slaps my face. He also confirms that the cable I am trying to buy is useless, and the convertor I am describing doesn't exist and doesn't work.

I leave, all sheepish, failing to tell him that I make my living as an IT Manager for a multi million pound company. Rumbled at last! Well, I have people who “do technical” for me! Herrumph.

As we've been waiting forever the females have become bored, as the shop contained no handbags, shoes or jewellery. They have wandered off, and we spend the next ten minutes looking for them. Soon enough they wander out of shop unaware of our frustration.

So enough shopping, now time to eat. We quickly find the food court, and amazingly choose food from the first counter we come across, which is the Chinese one.



Everyone enjoys the Orange Chicken and Egg roll, apart from Rebecca, who as you can see thinks it is just alright, but she isn't the biggest Chinese fan.

Full, we are drawn to the Emo mecca that is Hot Topic.



Emily has lots of birthday money dollars burning a hole in my bum bag, and she has been waiting for this since July.

As last year, to be honest, I was a little disappointed with the contents of the shop, and it takes Emily a while to find stuff she wants. She leaves with three T Shirts (Never Shout Never, Paramore and Charley the Unicorn) and some presents for fellow Emos at school.

Rebecca gets a Charley T shirt too, but critically a different one to Emily...or else there would be trouble.

Next , we come to a Journeys, and Emily has Converse on her mind. The white boot types, which are quickly spotted, tried on and purchased. In my attractive bumbag, baggy shorts and bright white, unbranded trainers, never have I felt so English, uncool, and unfashionable in two shops in my life. I used to be so hip and... oh no wait...I didn't.

We walk for what seems to be forever, and my will to live vanishes as quickly as my credit card limit. I have no idea where these were taken, and frankly at the time didn't care.



Oh no wait, this one is of food. No wonder I took this one.



Dad now starts his annual Neb search. Dad owns every piece of golfing equipment and clothing accessory it is possible to own. Yet every year he is compelled to buy a new cap (with large neb), and about three hundred golf shirts at Izod.

Continued...

[mkingdon]

We make our annual pilgrimage to Lids to check in with the crew. After last year's Big Neb episode we choose to wait outside.



Alas, the search is fruitless, and we move on. Dad has very specific Neb demands.

Wait, what it is? A challenger to the Neb-i-ness of Lids? Yes, Hat Shack appears, and Dad's spirits are lifted and in we all go. They have, not surprisingly, lots of hats.



Rebecca has a “street” moment.



She then spots an NFL replica top that she loves. I laugh heartily at the price, but discover it is half price. I must say, all the shops were having silly sales, with 50% off and then take a further 20% off, type affairs. A sign of the times.

You'll see the top in a couple of days.

Dad is succesfully nebbed, and we leave before the drive by shooting starts.

Gap next, and Louise buys two pairs of shorts. With my upcoming birthday Mum & Dad spring for a nice hoodie type thing for me too.

Having been in Florida for a good few hours now, my lot have obviously accumulated a fine collection of illnesses and afflictions. As we are banned from every Centra Care in the state, we have to treat ourselves. With this in mind we head for a CVS in the mall.

We are after the usual sort of stuff, plasters, pain killers etc. Dad needs some hydro-cortisone cream. I don't ask why, as it may involve a discussion about chaffing, which I don't need. He wanders off, and we catch up with him once we have what we need.

Now, you may recall he hasn't brought his reading glasses? This might explain then why Louise finds him, in the middle of the aisle, holding a tube of “lubricant” and a 24 pack of Trojan!

“Oh, I wondered what Trojan were” he says all innocent.

To be fair, what he was after was on the same aisle, and to avoid really scarring mental images, I truly hope he had picked those up in error.

Soon after, we take him two aisles down and he buys a pair of those off the shelf reading glasses for $10, before any more accidents happen.

We all feel that we've been through enough trauma for one day, and head home. We arrive at 3.30, and have a bit of a relax around the villa.



My holiday is temporarily spoiled when we discover the ESPN channel, and Liverpool are losing to Aston Villa! Anyway, just before we leave, Liverpool score to make it 2-1, and I turn off the telly sure it will end in a draw at worst...right?

We are eating at Applebees tonight. A firm favourite from last year, but we've found you have to go for an early meal or wait for two and a half days. This should not be a problem today, as we arrive at 4.30, and we are seated immediately.

Drinks are ordered as we study the menu, and Mum & Louise have (a few) of these special Sangrias. I think they were either Kiwi or Melon. Anyway, they turned up looking like a drink from Only Fools and Horses.



Unlike last year, we realise that an appetiser is not the equivalent of a UK starter, and there is no need to order one each! So we order a couple to share. I had a cheesy stick...but the cream I bought at CVS should work wonders.





We chat for a bit until the mains arrive.







Continued...

[mkingdon]

Enough chatting and photos. Time to eat.

I had some sort of Trio Thing.



Steak Quesidillas, shrimp and mini chesseburgers. Superb.

Louise had a steak sandwich



Rebecca a cheeseburger.



and by this time, the others had made too big a dent in theirs to make a photo worthwhile.

Dad had steak and shrimp (again)

Emily had cheesy sticks as her main.

Mum had a Quesedilla burger.

With sangrias, beers for Dad etc it was $115 inc a tip. Great value and great food.

We left at 6pm, and the girls are completely hyper. We have arranged to meet Jakki, Steve and the kids (I say kids as I don't want to spell their names wrong again) at the Grand Floridian. Mum & Dad are going to stay at the villa, as frankly Dad cannot be trusted in such an establishment!





Amazingly we arrive more or less on time, to find half of Jakki (yep, she's lost weight) and Neeve, Neave, Nhheeeev, Naimh..there we go, in the lobby.

We wander across to their building, chatting, where we find Steve and Aodhan (Ta Da) as well. The kid's hyper-ness is cured immediately as we are in the company of others, and they of course now go mute. Great!

Jakki and Steve despatch the kids to the arcade with some preloaded cards, so that we can chat in peace...well, they were all silent anyway, but you know what I mean.

We grab a drink from the freebies laid out in the Concierge thingy, and have a chat. Jakki horrifies us with tales of Steve's “funny turn” and how they have had to each sell a kidney to pay for it.



As the evening progresses, and Jakki finishes her third bottle of free booze, not too surprisingly she knocks a full glass of her drink all over me. It was a moist drive home.

At around 8pm, desserts were brought out. Yep, free desserts. They know not what they do. We sample a couple, and chat on. Louise had a brandy too... how the other half live in these posh resorts!

As Jakki and family were flying home the next day we feel we should leave them to pack and stuff, so we leave at around 9pm, probably about two hours later than they thought we would, but hey, you put free desserts and brandy in front of us and what do you expect?

We call at the supermarket on the way home for razors and shaving foam...I need to shave my legs again. Rebecca is asleep in the car, and falls straight into bed. Having been told by Jakki that all the gubbins I need to get online is in a drawer near the phone, I quickly assemble all of that. The internet lives!

Emily dives straight on to satisfy her addiction like some scene out of Trainspotting, and I retire to the little boy's room to...well we'll leave it there shall we?

I'm asleep by 10.30. How's that for a rest day.

Tomorrow, theme park stuff.

Day Three is Here.

[jmt]

Ab fab! keep those fingers typing

[hross42877]

Brilliant, cant wait to read more!

[Guest]

Thanks for the 2nd day, made me feel so much happier knowing that you found the gubbins for the internet!

[sophiepop]

Another great day, your Dad is a legend .

Thanks for the picture of the Strawberries, we had these twice, they were blinking good

[Guest]

Good man for posting Day 2 : keep 'em coming!

[kellie]

another fantastic day

[Guest]

Im loving these, cant wait to read more!