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Old 23 Aug 19, 05:51 PM  
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#61
saratogajan
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Loving reading along. Thanks for sharing. Looks amazing!
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Old 26 Aug 19, 08:40 AM  
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#62
Minnie Mum
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Following along. Your trip sounds great and the food looks fantastic! 😊
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Old 2 Sep 19, 05:00 PM  
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#63
Vanillapod
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I’m so incredibly behind with this! Every time I tried to upload an image it failed so I gave up.
It may take me some time to go back through all the pictures but
I’m going to give it a go.

Onwards!

Edited at 05:18 PM.
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Old 2 Sep 19, 05:06 PM  
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#64
Vanillapod
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Day 6

Wow, I felt awesome this morning... 🥴
We were supposed to go to Hemingway’s house but packing was a slow process and we didn’t make it.
We made use of the free breakfast included at the guesthouse which was not bad at all.
No photos though, I had to concentrate on getting myself together 🤦🏼

I’d really recommend this guesthouse.

We checked out and began the journey to Anna Maria Island which was long and boring.
I made headway on this Krispie treat from Kilwins. Caramel and pecan. Absolutely delicious.
We had chocolates too but they were rank.


Before we’d even left the Keys everyone was hungry so we stopped off at Burger King.
This would usually be a swerve from me but I was happy to try the Impossible Whopper.
DS had one too.
They were ok.
Completely over cooked as you’d imagine so you definitely know it’s not meat, but a much better option than the spicy bean burger they’ve always offered.
OH had something normal with meat but no idea which burger it was.




We had mozerella sticks too but they took ages to cook so we forgot the picture.
They were weird. I love mozzarella sticks but the batter on these was thick and strangely sweet like a 1980’s Findus Crispy Pancake. We left them.
Would not recommend those at all!

We continued our journey with a terrifying section around Miami. We were millimetres away from crashing 😬
Once through that chaos we passed the time spotting gators.
I think this is when we saw the first burst of absolutely torrential rain. It was short lived though.

We arrived at The Sunrise Garden Resort about 20 mins before sunset.
They’d left our key out for us as they close reception at 6 I believe.
This worked well for us as we could just dump everything and run down to the Sandbar for sunset.

We got married at the Sandbar so it was good to be back 💓



We had a few drinks there and then wandered back via Poppo’s which is a favourite for us

I had a bowl and OH and DS had Barbacoa beef burritos.
Everything is in pots and they ask you to choose a protein and then whatever accompaniments you’d like.
It’s fresh and delicious. We always stop by.





The pictures are very dark especially as we initially sat out on the porch so here’s the outside during the daytime too!

We also had chips and guacamole.
They make the chips in front of you. They hand press the dough then fry it up there and then.
We then wandered back to our little bungalow and set alarms for sunrise! We are staying right by the Waterfront restaurant so it’s a 30 second walk.

Edited at 06:24 PM.
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Old 2 Sep 19, 05:46 PM  
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#65
Vanillapod
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Day 7

So we missed sunrise! We all snoozed for way too long!
OH was up just after though and disappeared off for coffee and donuts from The Donut Experiment. Nice and healthy 😬

They were key lime, plain cinnamon sugar dusted and a bacon and sriracha for DS 🤢
They were still warm ☺️

Anyway. It was a gorgeous day so we headed for the beach.

Here’s OH hiding behind a tree.

Sadly the water wasn’t still and turquoise as we know and love it to be but it was still a nice morning. I think there had been a lot of rain for about a fortnight prior to our arrival and the water was fairly rough for AMI




I positioned myself in between a
couple of turtle nests just in case something exciting happened 🐢


DS took being sun safe very seriously 😆 His 6,1 frame is squashed up under that towel 🤣

He was soon bored. He hates doing nothing so after a swim we wandered back along Pine Avenue and had a browse in the shops.
We all had an ice cream from Dips which is now at the General Store along with the sports memorabilia store that used to be next door in the old location.
DS bought a Tampa Bay Rays cap (spoiler alert, he’s already lost it)
I thought this ice cream might appeal to some of us parents!

I neglected to take photos of what we actually had but mine was lemon meringue and was delicious!

After that we decided to head to Publix for spray suncream, more water and some lunch things.


I took a picture of that because it sounds absolutely revolting!

Also, I found these milk descriptions entertaining.

DS chose a sub from the deli with anything and everything in it.
He keeps getting carried away when there are unlimited options as we all find out later...

OH had something a bit lighter! Also from the deli


I hate reformed meat so sandwiches here are a nightmare for me.
I settled on an entire rotisserie chicken just so I could just put some in a roll. The others picked at the rest of it.

We also picked up a slice of lime and coconut cake from Hometown Desserts.
I’m not a fan of cakes over here but this was actually very nice.
Moist, no manky smell of shortening and it had a whipped cream topping with toasted coconut rather than frosting.
I forgot the photo but it’s definitley worth checking out.
I have no idea what we did after this?
Laundry perhaps.
Anyway that evening we headed to The Waterfront.
We much prefer the food here to the Sandbar.
We went to the Sandbar first to watch the sunset then headed to the other end of the street for dinner!


Photos are awful but it’ll give an idea!
Drinks were a beer for OH, virgin mojito for DS and a Prosecco for me



Bread came quickly and was pretty much devoured by the dustbin of the family 🙄


I didn’t try it but apparently it was nice and the oil and vineagar were good.

Appetisers were as follows

DS - calamari
OH - home smoked salmon
Me - candied walnut, beetroot and pear salad

Now we did eat quite late and I think the chef must have decided to just give DS all the calamari he had left for the day 🤣 Waste not, want not!

He ate it all






Mains were

OH

APRICOT GLAZED PORK TENDERLOIN (GFO)

Chili-rubbed whole pork tenderloin chargrilled with a gingered apricot orange glaze, then sliced and served with tonight’s potato.


DS

Chicken Parmesan


Me
Grouper Piccata with linguine.


The food was all excellent. We really rate this place. The food is so much better than at The Sandbar.

Desserts were declined and we sat enjoying the sound of the crickets while we finished up our drinks.
DS suddenly announced that he felt sick and was.
He made it to the loo in time and vowed not to over-eat again.
I was so embarrassed.
The server was so kind and brought him a ginger beer.

We wandered back and then DS realised he’d left his cap so we both ran back down the road to grab it before they closed up.
He was now on top form and I couldn’t keep up!
With the cap back in his possession we walked back again to find an intruder 😻

A lovely, friendly kitty!
It stayed a while then disappeared into the night.
We’re off to Orlando tomorrow and very excited to meet up with some friends and hit Volcano Bay for the first time 😊

Edited at 02:16 PM.
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Old 2 Sep 19, 05:52 PM  
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KarenG
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Loving this report
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Old 15 Sep 19, 02:22 PM  
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#67
Vanillapod
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Day 8!
2 of us made it out for sunrise.
1 remained fast asleep.
No prizes for guessing who!


It was so pretty and peaceful.
Then it was time to pack up and check out.
OH and DS went for coffee and doughnuts again but I really couldn’t face them 2 mornings in a row!

I love AMI and would like to have stayed a bit longer.
Last time we came as a large group and hired a lovely house and this time that would have been excessive!
We quite liked Sunrise Garden Resort. The staff are really nice and it’s very well equipped but, I feel it needs a deep clean. I know it’s the end of the season but it looked a little neglected outside too.
Anyway, it’s a good option for short stays.

We popped to Emerson’s Gallery for a print we’d seen and a couple of other little things and then hit the road at about 1.
OH drove the long way so he could take the Sunshine Skyway 😎


We made it to Cabana Bay at about 3 and we’re given a fab room overlooking the volcano.
We were just here for the 1 night as I’d somehow left a gap between AMI and Disney.



I realised I’d not eaten all day so ate way too many pita chips before we changed and headed over to Volcano Bay.
We were in block 6 which is so handy for Volcano Bay! It’s a hop, skip and a jump away.

We were meeting friends at 6 but managed to get a few roses under our belts before then and a couple of laps of the fast lazy river. That’s so much fun!

Once they’d arrived, we did a few of the group rides and then left the kids to it (they’re all old enough!)
We stationed ourselves at a bar and spent insane amounts of money on a few beers and cocktails 😱
They really do hike the prices!
We were reunited with our offspring at about 9 and all headed to Bubba Gump for dinner via our respective hotels for a quick change.

We got the bus to CityWalk but it was an unmarked one so we weren’t sure it was actually run by Universal. It was a bit odd and there were only a few others onboard. OH and I remarked on jest that we hoped we weren’t being abducted.
We got off and started walking to the restaurant. I turned round to ask DS something but he wasn’t there...
He’d been so engrossed in Snapchat that he’d not noticed the bus stopping 😱
OH ran like I’ve never seen him run before!
He chased the bus for a fair distance and then ran in front of it when it had to stop in traffic.
DS still hadn’t noticed we weren’t onboard 🤣🤣🤣
He got a bit of a telling off but OH did apologise afterwards. He was just genuinely very worried about the random bus!

I really don’t love Bubba Gump. We’ve been a few times and it’s ok but I was happy to go with the flow and we have Landry’s so expected to be seated quickly. We weren’t!

I actually really enjoyed it!
It was much better than our last visit.
I don’t think our server was great. He was nice but just not really organised enough.
We realised after we’d paid and left that we didn’t get a couple of the side dishes we’d ordered but they were on the bill.
Anyway, a few of us had the same thing which was a sampler type dish. This included battered fish, coconut shrimp and battered shrimp.
1 person had a steak and 1 of the kids had a kids meal.
I hardly took any pictures.



More cocktails for us and some random flashing drinks for the kids!



We didn’t have desserts but I’ve just remembered one of the kids said it was DS’s birthday so a cupcake was promptly delivered!

I would actually go back quite happily. Previously I’d not have bothered.

We said our goodbyes (friends are off home the following morning) and went and admired the volcano view in the dark

Edited at 03:17 PM.
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Old 15 Sep 19, 03:20 PM  
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#68
Vanillapod
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I’ve been seriously slacking!
We arrived back on Monday and went straight to school and work from the airport.
I’m determined to do this though!
Thank you all for following along. I appreciate all the comments 😊
I have added to AMI so there may be food you haven’t seen in a post you have actually read!
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Old 15 Sep 19, 03:34 PM  
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#69
Juliemack
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Location: The moving walkway

Juliemack's Reviews
Hotel Reviews: 5
Some delicious looking food so far, it's nice to see food that's different from the usual suspects. This couple of sentences had me crying with laughter...I had to google FOMO

We wandered back when DS decided he was ready! OH suddenly suffered from FOMO but I dragged him away!
According to my phone he may have stroked some sleeping chickens on the way home and I definitely recall him giggling at the ladies of the night
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Old 15 Sep 19, 11:05 PM  
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Loobylou_82
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Just caught up with your report. Wow! That was a lot of calamari your son had, i would have been full after that. Loving all the photo's , never been to the keys or AMI, all looks fab.
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