The One With No Pretrip And A Better Chance Of Finishing - Travel Day 1

[clubhouse]

I'm going to try to do an almost live report after failing miserably with 2 non live reports in previous years. Hopefully I've got to grips with the reporter app.

We are a family of 4 humans and 1 lovely pug. That's Frank, he's ten months and he's not coming. He's getting to stay with the grandparents and I'll bet he will have a great holiday too!

I've not done a Pretrip, so our itinerary is:

Edinburgh to Tampa via Gatwick with a night at the Bloc Hotel.
2 nights in Tampa where we will go to Busch Gardens
9 nights at the Diamond Resort Villas near Crossroads, we will visit Seaworld, Aquatica and the Universal Parks
2 nights at Loews Royal Pacific Resort to take advantage of Express Pass and the fab pool (brilliant cocktails)
4 nights at St Petes Beach at the Guy Harvey Resort (for the big slide), then fly Tampa/Gatwick/Edinburgh

There will be no Disney on this trip, which makes me quite sad, especially as it means no epic grey goose slushies.

So the day has finally come and I'm not as organised as I should be due to illness earlier in the week. Since it's too hot to sleep Scott and I got up at the crack of dawn. The packing was finished, beds were changes, bins emptied, fridge emptied and lots of mundane tasks crossed off the list.

Scott and the kids took Frank for a final walk so I could finish off in peace. He enjoyed his walk.

Before long grannie and grandad came and picked up Frank and all that was left to do was have showers and get ready. We were all showered and bags ready in time for the taxi coming at 3pm. It arrived right on time, we are only 25 minutes away from the airport.

We'd had a late breakfast but skipped lunch so by now we were all starving! We did a very quick bag drop and got through security with no trouble. We headed to All Bar One for a feed. I forgot the food picks, but i did capture these:

Ah that's better!

Daniel had a burger, Scott had Katsu Chicken and Abbie and I shared Nachos and Chilli Cheese Fries. It was served quickly and it was really tasty.

The kids had Churros for dessert, they were yum.

I had a porn star martini, it was also yum!

The flight was slightly delayed but nothing major. It was uneventful although I couldn't keep my eyes open and am pretty sure I was snoring or at least did a very loud snort. Classy lady me!

On landing in Gatwick we hopped on the shuttle bus to the terminal and quickly found the hotel. We were in the room in less than 10 minutes. It's small, but so handy and functional. There are bunk beds for the kids and a view over the runways.

We nipped out to get a few bits and pieces for a room
picnic from Marks and Spensive. I was disappointed they didn't have my Cosmo in a can but never mind I'll survive (and just drink cider).

So it was back to the room and into PJs. We watched a bit of telly and had a few nibbles. It's just about time to turn in, ready for our proper travel day tomorrow.