Seffner FL

It was another lovely day in Seffner FL. We had a down day and just hung out around the RV. I worked on my photos. I was so far behind, but I managed to process 125 of them through Photoshop. Now I have to start labeling them. We will have lots of time, hopefully, when we head up to St Mary’s GA next week. I did get out for a long walk around this massive RV park and sales. While wandering around, I saw some Girl Scouts selling cookies at the Flying J, so I went over and got some Thin Mints. I haven’t had any of those in years.

Our neighbors behind us brought over some eggplant parmigiana that we had for dinner. It may rain in the morning which might put a damper on our plans to hit the Strawberry Festival, but we plan to play it by ear. We do have the Coachmen group pot luck dinner tomorrow night.

Busch Gardens FL

It was a beautiful day at Busch Gardens. We got there at 10:30. It wasn’t that crowded which was nice. We took the 40 minute train ride around the safari park seeing giraffes, zebras, eland, storks, rhinos, ankole cattle, and many other animals. We had lunch at the Dessert Café. I had a sandwich and Bill had spaghetti with meatballs. During our lunch there was a dance performance that was rather interesting. Lots of young people doing ballroom dancing with a modern twist to modern music.

We wandered around the park the rest of the afternoon seeing tigers, orangutans, elephants, birds, chimps, and gorillas. I lucked out when we went by the gorilla exhibit to see the trainer interaction with a 3 year old gorilla. She had him chasing a green laser dot in front of the glass enclosure. He ran from one side to the other, doing summersaults all the way. I definitely got my animal fix today.

The traffic coming home was a nightmare. We had to come down I75 onto I4, and traffic just crawled. I had heard that traffic was bad around here, but it is really bad. We finally made it home. After relaxing for a bit, Bill went down to Wal-Mart to pick up some water and few items. We had a light dinner, watched some TV, chatted with our neighbor who loves to come out and chat with us. Tomorrow we plan on just hanging out around here.

Ybor City FL

It was a beautiful, sunny, shorts and t-shirt day in Tampa. We moved slowly this morning, finally heading out at 11:30 for Tampa and the Thompson Cigar Store. This is a cigar retail outlet. They don’t make their own cigars, but they carry many good cigars at a good price. The store was well-stocked, and the guys in there were like children in a candy store. Bill made his purchases, and we headed to Ybor City.

First we went to the Columbia restaurant for lunch. We had the special appetizer, lobster croquettes, which were quite tasty, especially with the mojitos we had. I had boliche (Cuban pot roast) with plantains, and black beans and rice. Bill had paella which took a while to fix but was fresh and had lots of good seafood in it. We were too full for dessert. The restaurant is the original Columbia restaurant, and the building is quite beautiful. It was started in 1905, and the building has been added to. Five generations of the family have run the restaurant. It is great food at a really good price.

After lunch we went next door to the Columbia store where an old man was rolling cigars by hand. I had never seen that, so it was very interesting to watch. We wanted on down the main street of historic Ybor City. The history here is very interesting. A man named Ybor brought his cigar making factory to Tampa, was given land, and Ybor became a huge center for cigars. After the depression, Ybor went downhill and is only now coming back. In parts, it still looks rather seedy, but the architecture is very interesting. We went to the Visitor’s Center and saw a very interesting 7 minute movie on the history of Ybor and the cigar factories. What I found really fascinating was that the rollers hired a man to be lector to read to them all day. He read newspapers, novels, etc. These rollers became quite educated after years of listening to the lector while they worked.

The other interesting item was the social clubs that sprung up in the early 1900s. Many ethnic groups, Italian, German, Spanish, built large beautiful buildings where each group gathered to socialize with their own countrymen, speaking their own languages.

We got home about 4:30 and hung out at the RV. The older man next to us stopped by to tell us about his foray to the Strawberry Festival. He went to the George Jones concert but they didn’t buy any strawberries. He is from Missouri and chatted about various things including the weather. He said this global warming was a bunch of bunk. He has been around forever, and he can’t see that the weather has changed that much. I bit my tongue and smiled nicely and changed the subject.

We ate lightly tonight. We are heading to Busch Gardens tomorrow. I want to see the animals! I hope they cooperate. I know that I probably won’t see anything as cute as the 1 month old rhino we saw there 4 years ago, but one never knows.

Sarasota and Seffner FL

It was a gorgeous day in south Florida. We managed to pack up and get on the road by 9:30. We arrived at Sam’s parking lot at 11:30. Joy (Bill’s step-mother) arrived with her friends Aggie and Hubie soon after. Aggie brought us some oranges, grapefruit, and some banana nut bread she had made. They took a quick tour of the RV, and then we headed off to Bella Cucina, an Italian restaurant that Joy likes. Bill has been there, but the rest of us had not. I was a little skeptical since it was an all you can eat buffet for $7.99. I was pleasantly surprised that the food really wasn’t bad. They had some good salads, and then excellent pizza, eggplant parmigiana, stuffed tomatoes, mushroom risotto, and a ton of other items. We ate well and had a pleasant lunch.

They took us back to the RV, and we headed on to Seffner FL (east of Tampa) to the Rally Park campground. We checked in and got our campsite which wasn’t a bad site. We have 3 small trees on our site. We got set up and were relaxing when Bob, the leader, brought our packets by. Happy hour was at 5 with a catered dinner at 6. We wandered down to the Rally Center which is just down the road from us. We sat with the people who are camped behind us, George and Donna, and some lovely people from near Atlanta, Jerry and Anna. Dinner was a buffet of slaw, potato salad, beans, lasagna, barbequed chicken, ribs, and cake. Our dinner companions were pleasant, and the food was decent.

This rally is five days here. Breakfast and lunch are provided by the campground which offers it to all the campers. The campground is part of a huge operation that sells RVs. Bob has put together suggestions of things to see and do while we are here. There are no organized activities, but the Plant City strawberry festival seems to be a big draw to many of the folks. We are having a pot luck dinner on Sunday night. This is a much larger group than the one in St Augustine, probably 66 people, all part of Coachmen Caravan. I have figured out that a ‘rally’ is just meeting at an interesting place, having a few meals together, meeting new people, and enjoying the surrounding area. Not a bad concept.

We came back to the RV and watched some TV. Bill was sitting outside about 10 having a cigar when sprinklers went on for about 10 minutes which sent him inside. He was warned about it, so it wasn’t awful.

Pine Island FL

It was another pretty day on Pine Island. We hung out at the RV enjoying the warmth and sunshine. Laundry was done, and clean sheets are on the bed. We also did some chores to get ready to head to Tampa tomorrow. At 5 we headed back down to Saint James City to The Waterfront Restaurant. For the third time I got a broiled mahi sandwich. Bill got broiled seafood. We also got the ABC cobbler – apple, blueberry, and cherry – with a huge slab of vanilla ice cream. Everything is made fresh, and it tastes like it. We ate outside and watched the sun set. It was a lovely last meal on Pine Island.

Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve Ft Myers FL

It was another beautiful day in sunny Florida. We had a nice relaxing morning before heading off for Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. It took us about 45 minutes to get there from Pine Island. Along the way we stopped at Chik-fil-a to get sandwiches which we ate at the picnic area at the Slough. Four years ago we had taken the 1.2 mile boardwalk and really enjoyed it. This time we thought we would take the volunteer guided tour. There were 11 of us in the group which took off at 1:30. The guide pointed out lots of vegetation, a hawk nest, but mostly concentrated on the flora. We saw some folks ahead looking carefully off the boardwalk. I got up there in time to see an otter swimming away.

After the tour was finished, Bill and I went back to see the part of the boardwalk we had missed. We ended up seeing a black-crowned night heron, lots of white ibis (some of whom were splashing and bathing), an alligator with what looked to be a fresh wound on its tail, giant egrets. It is such a pretty walk. We finished up about 4 and headed back to Pine Island.

We stopped at Home Depot and finally found some floor registers to replace a couple of broken ones in the RV. We really have looked all over for them and were thrilled to find these. We also stopped at the grocery to pick up a few items.

Pine Island KOA

It was a beautiful day in Pine Island. We spent the day here at the RV doing chores. We tend to stay at home on the weekends to avoid the crowds. We also got a lot done. I did some cleaning in the RV: cleaned the stove top, dusted, and wiped down the one set of blinds that we have over the kitchen sink. Bill worked on the steps and watched the birds in the pond behind us.

Bill grilled steaks, and I made my first risotto. It was easier than I thought it would be, and now we may do it more often since it turned out pretty good. We had purchased the risotto in Italy at Epcot, a mushroom risotto. And I looked up cooking instructions online, so all went well.

We watched the second episode of Amazing Race, and it was again quite good. I just wish all the episodes were on DVD. Tomorrow we will head out to do the Six Mile Slough nature walk which we so enjoyed four years ago.

Pine Island KOA

It was a nice quiet, down day. I slept in, but Bill had gone to bed really early last night, so he was up early. We goofed off around the RV this morning. I worked on the new photos, running them through Photoshop. After lunch Bill took off to refill our water jugs. There was a campground notice saying we needed to boil our water. We aren’t sure what the problem is, but we go through a lot of water anyway. So off he went in search of water. I got caught up with processing my photos, but I still have to label a bunch of them. Bill came back with water and a few other items. He sat outside smoking his cigar and reading the paper. It is kind of nice just playing “normal folks” for a day instead of tourist.

I posted the last of the Disney photos that can be found by clicking on the Disney link to the left.

Corkscrew Sanctuary and Koreshan Unity

It was a beautiful day in Ft Myers. We got up early, showered, had breakfast, and headed to Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary. It took us an hour and a half to get there. This is an Audubon sponsored refuge and a two and a quarter mile boardwalk through 4 separate environments. There were lots of people there, but it wasn’t terribly crowded. We saw lots of neat birds like a barred owl, endangered wood storks, a red-shouldered hawk, anhinga, ibis, a black-crowned night heron, and a great blue heron. The walk was a pretty one, and we spent a couple of hours doing the walk.

We had our picnic lunch at a picnic table there at the Sanctuary and then headed to Koreshan State Historical Site. This was on our way home and recommended by cousin Nancy. Here are the buildings of a utopian society founded by Cyrus Teed. He had a bizarre belief that we live inside the earth. Some of the buildings were beautiful, and we watched an informative and entertaining movie about Teed and his settlement.

Finally we headed home, both of us pretty tired. We were out exploring for 9 hours, but we managed to fix dinner and watch some TV. It is supposed to get down into the 30s here tonight, but it should warm up tomorrow.

Pine Island FL

It was a lovely day on Pine Island. We had our coffee outside overlooking the pond behind us. We watched a big turtle and an anhinga fishing for breakfast. We had some lunch and then went down to the little Museum of the Islands a few miles down the road. It is a small museum with some interesting items. It was only a $2 entrance fee, but they provided a tape recorder to follow some of the exhibits. I found the beaded tapestry portrait of George Washington to be the most interesting item. It had over 300,000 glass beads in it.

Bill bought a lottery ticket, and then we stopped at the local Dairy Queen to get a peanut buster parfait to share. On the way home we stopped at the Winn Dixie and CVS to pick up a few items. After Judge Judy we drove down to the little town of Saint James City for dinner again at The Waterfront restaurant. We sat out back on the porch overlooking a canal. I had the mahi sandwich again which was just as good as before. They marinate the fish in lime juice and sprinkle it was fresh basil before broiling it. Bill had an oyster poor boy. The food really is excellent for the price.

We drove around the little town which sits on many canals before heading back to the RV. Bill went down to play bingo in the clubhouse while I relaxed and worked on some photos. It is going to be cooler tomorrow, so we may take the Corkscrew Swamp Trail.

Sanibel/Captive Islands FL

It was a Sanibel Island day. We left the RV at 10:30, but it took us 45 minutes to get off Pine Island. They were doing construction on the bridge and only had one lane open, so we had to take turns with the cars coming on the island. We also were in a line to get on to Sanibel, but once there we stopped at the visitor’s center to pick up some maps. We went right to Ding Darling Nature Preserve and went to that visitor’s center. We got a map, some brochures, and borrowed a set of binoculars before heading out on the 4 mile drive. The tide was rather high, so we didn’t see lots of birds. However, there was one sand bar that had lots of pelicans, some cormorants, and a ton of willets. We also saw our first tri-colored heron right by the road down on some rocks checking out the fish. A cormorant was playing in the water, swimming around, flapping his wings on the water. The volunteer who was there said he was just playing.

We didn’t see too much more in the preserve, but it was a pretty drive. We stopped to walk around a shell mound left by Calusa Indians a long time ago. Because the shell mounds are higher than the surrounding area, they support some varied trees and bushes like the gumbo limbo tree we saw. We returned the binoculars to the visitors center and drove up to Captiva Island. We passed The Bubble Room where we intended to have an early dinner, and at 4pm there was already a line forming outside for the 4:30 opening. We went to the end of the road at Captiva, and Bill went to stick his toes in the water. I sat at a picnic table and got homesick for Hawaii. I miss the easy access to the beaches of Hawaii and the free beach parking.

We drove back to The Bubble Room at 4:30 and barely found a place to park. We waited in line and once inside were taken to a nice quiet table. This is an old-time Sanibel restaurant started in 1979. The interior is filled with old celebrity photos, Christmas lights (including old-time bubble lights), a small area with all kinds of Christmas mannequins and toys, small aquariums. The tables are made of shadow boxes with all kinds of old-time toys, clothing items, music, etc. It is rather an interesting place. We were brought some bubble bread (hot slices of French bread with melted cheese) and sticky buns. Both were excellent, but we were a little confused about the sticky buns before a dinner. We got two appetizers to share: she crab soup and ksseri cheese flamed with brandy and served with bread. The soup was good, and the cheese was excellent. Our dinners came with salads. Bill had a house salad, and I had a Greek salad that was quite tasty. Bill got a filet and I got grilled grouper. His steak was great. I have decided that I am not particularly fond of grouper. My dinner was served with a twice-baked potato, fresh green beans, candied carrot coins, and baked apples. Bill had the same, but he got black beans on rice instead of the potato. Our server was a guy our age dressed in a boy scout uniform who said he would be our ‘bubble scout’ for the evening.

The food wasn’t bad, but it certainly was way too much and rather pricey. Our ‘bubble scout’ brought over a tray of huge slices of cake to tempt us with dessert. They certainly were tempting, so much so that Bill got a chocolate cake thing with amazing whipped cream filling with strawberries to bring home.

We got in the car at 6 to leave. Lola (the GPS) at first said it was only six miles to our campsite (apparently as the crow flies). Lola quickly calculated and said it was 49 miles home. It took us an hour and a half to get home. It was a pleasant day, but I don’t think we will plan a return trip to Sanibel. We are definitely going to return to Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve while we are here. It is a wonderful elevated 1.2 mile boardwalk where we saw all kinds of birds and alligators when we were here two years ago. We may put that off until Friday and just stay here tomorrow.

Ft Myers FL

We arrived at the Pine Island KOA yesterday. It is a very large campground on a very rural island. We got one of the more spacious sites that backs up to a pond. Next to us is an unoccupied cabin, so we are pleased that we are not in some of the very boxed in sites! Today we toured the Ford Edison Winter Homes in Ft Myers. This site has Edison’s home, a guest house, Ford’s home, swimming pool, Edison’s office, and beautiful grounds. We took a self-guiding tour with audio spots. We spent about 2 hours there. It was a little crowded but not too bad, and the weather was beautiful. We are spending 8 days here which is nice since there seems to be a lot to do!

St Augustine FL

We spent 5 nights here at the KOA while Bill went to races at Daytona on the 12th, 14th, 15th. I stayed at the RV doing RV and photo chores. On Friday the 13th we went into old St Augustine and toured around. The best thing was having lunch again at the Columbia Restaurant. We have really enjoyed everything we have eaten there from the Mojitos to the Churros tres amigos dessert. We walked a bit and took the Old Town Trolley. It was a lovely day. We were there as part of the Coachmen Caravan, an owners group that do different tours around the country. This time the group had about 25 people there, all of whom were very nice and quite friendly. We ate dinner a couple of nights with the group.

Ft Wilderness

It was a lovely day at Ft Wilderness. We sat outside with our coffee and watched the birds. Bill worked on cutting down the sewer hose so it would fit in the pipe. I worked on some photos and enjoyed having a relaxing morning. After lunch we headed out for Costco. We got a small, sturdy table to use when we don’t have a picnic table or as a table between our lawn chairs. Bill got some wine, and I got some shorts and a book. We stopped at a grocery on the way home and picked up some fruit.

We made it home in time to see an armadillo looking for bugs next to our site. He was a large one and totally ignored us as I got my camera and took some photos. We also started packing up for the trip to St Augustine tomorrow. It was just nice to move at a slower pace today after two park-filled days.

Animal Kingdom and Epcot

It was a big parks day. I rolled out of bed at 7, had some oatmeal, and threw on some clothes. We left the house at 7:45 to go to Animal Kingdom for the early opening. We got right on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride. It was still cool, so there didn’t seem to be as many animals roaming as usual. However we still saw bongos, rhinos, ostriches, wildebeests, wart hog, a beautiful male lion, an elephant, some cattle and antelope, and a few others.

Then we went on the Pangani Trail. We saw the usual wonderful animals. Two okapi were up close to the fence browsing on food. I love those animals. We saw a gerenuk (a very long-necked antelope) on its hind legs grazing on a tree. In the aviary a hammerkop was gathering sticks to build one of its huge nests. The gorillas were quite active this morning. Several were playing with large plastic canteens that the keepers must have put some treats in. We could see them shaking the canteens and sticking their fingers in the canteens to get the goodies out. And there were two large silver-backed gorillas prowling about. We love this trail.

We then left the park as hoards of people were coming in. We stopped by the RV to change clothes and then headed over to Epcot to meet Don and Marta. We spent the day there. Bill and Don got fast passes for Test Track and then went on Mission Space. We met them back at the Land and took the Land ride. We had lunch at Sunshine Seasons where I had a great chicken/chili/noodle soup. Then the guys went back to ride Test Track. Marta and I wandered through Innoventions West which is a variety of interactive areas sponsored by major companies. We found a great show called What is the Problem sponsored by Velcro. It was really cute and interesting. At the end we got a Velcro frog that we got to dress with Velcro clothing items and mouse ears.

We went on Spaceship Earth, and then Don and rode Soarin’. Then we wandered around the World Showcase. Bill got a Grand Marnier slushy which was wonderful. We went on around the World stopping to see the great acrobat show at China. Marta and Don were pooped by then and went on back to their hotel. Bill and I went to Morocco for dinner. It has been years since we went there, and it was quite enjoyable. We had an appetizer of mixture of cheese and kalamata olives served with tobouleh, red pepper sauce, and balsamic vinegar reduction with lavosh. I had Harira Soup - Traditional hearty soup flavored with tomatoes, lentils and lamb. For my entrée I had Couscous Royale - couscous with beef, chicken, and merguez (lamb sausage). We also had hot mint tea which was great. A belly dancer performed with a Moroccan band.

By then, we were tired, so we came on back to the RV to crash.

SeaWorld

It was a beautiful day today. We went to Don and Marta’s hotel at 10:30 and went to SeaWorld. We hadn’t been there before, and it was a delightful day. First we went to the Shamu show with orca whales. They were trying something new with 7 whales, but they really screwed up. Two of the females were in heat, and the one male in the show was more interested in them than the show. We had several start-overs, and ended up with a 5 minute one whale show. Apparently the other two shows today were equally bad.

From there we went to the Clydesdale barn and looked at the horses. Then we had a lunch break at the Spice Mill Café which was pleasant. Next was the sea lion show which I thought was really cute. After that we wandered through the penguin encounter. In the puffin/murre enclosure, we saw a murre go nuts. He was literally flying across the water, diving, flying up out of the water, and then skimming back across the water. He looked like a duck on crack. Don and Marta went to the Pets Ahoy show while Bill and I went on the Journey to Atlantis log ride/roller coaster ride. That was fun, and we didn’t get too wet.

We met back up with Don and Marta and went to the dolphin show. That certainly wasn’t what I expected. It was more like a production of Cirque du Soleil O with dolphins. We then wandered through the manatee rescue exhibit and saw lots of manatee. They were all chowing down on lettuce. The stingray lagoon was cool. We could pet the stingray as they floated by. Bill bought some little fish that we all used to feed the ray. I put the fish between my fingers and my palm flat on the bottom of the pool. The ray would float over and suck the fish up. That felt really weird!!! Finally we stopped at the turtle/pelican point which was just okay. And last we had some ice cream before we headed out.

We drove to Cracker Barrel which is near Don and Marta’s hotel for dinner. I had breakfast which was good. Now we are at home, tired, and ready to rest!

Epcot

It was a little warmer last night, but still cool. It tuned out to be a lovely day. We sat outside watching all of our birds: cardinals, tufted titmice, doves, blue jays, warblers, hawks, grackles, downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers. We put out a little bit of bird seed in the morning which keeps they coming back, but not in horrendous droves.

We left the RV at noon to head over to Epcot for a 2pm lunch at the German Biergarten. There were lots of people in Epcot but it wasn’t overly crowded. We wandered through some shops in Italy until it was time to check in at Germany. We sat at a table for 8 with two other groups of people. They were quite pleasant, so we had a lovely lunch. They serve a buffet with Americanized German food, but it was a fairly decent. The show is also good with a Bavarian band that also plays the cowbells, a wood xylophone, and my favorite, the Alpenhorns. We were there for an hour and a half, which was fun.

Then we went to France. I wanted to see if anyone there knew what song they played in the “Impressions of France” movie in a couple of parts The harpist at Victoria and Albert’s played a similar tune, and when I asked him, he told me he thought I was referring to Saint-Saens’ “Carnival of the Animals”. So without expecting too much, I went to the entrance to the movie, asked, and lo and behold, the cast member actually had a print-out of all the songs in the movie. And it was Aquarium from Carnival of the Animals. I couldn’t believe this search ended so easily. I will have to download the song for my IPod.

Hollywood Studios and Ft Wilderness

It was a really cold night and morning. It didn’t get out of the 40s today, but at least it was sunny. We did some laundry this morning and stayed toasty and warm in the RV. At 2 we bundled up and drove to Hollywood Studios. We got some coffee and watched the new parade called Block Party. It was rather cute. Then it was time to head on over for our preview to the new attraction at Hollywood Studios called “The American Idol Experience”. We were able to get tickets online because we are annual pass holders. The official opening of this show is February 14.

I am not an American Idol fan, but this was a really good show/attraction. They have a pre-show where the warm-up guy and a cameraman pump up the audience. Then everyone files into a theater that is really tricked out like the setting for the TV show with lots of neon lights and bling. I was really impressed. They have Ryan Seacrest (the TV host) on film welcoming everyone. They also have other people I don’t know making guest appearances that are tied in to the show. There are 3 judges patterned after the judges on the TV show. And they had 3 contestants that auditioned today for a producer. They all had pretty good voices, and it really was a good show. Voting took place by punching numbers on the arm rest of our seats. I think this will be a really popular attraction once it opens to everyone.

We got a spicy cheese-filled pretzel and sat in the sun. On the way out, we stopped into a shop at the entrance that I had never been in before. It has autographed photos of actors, race car drivers, and other celebrities for sale along with original costumes from movies and TV shows. The most expensive was a $65,000 striped jacket that Dick Van Dyke wore in Mary Poppins. Rather interesting.

We had a nice quiet evening in the RV. We have one more night of freezing weather before it starts to warm up. I feel rather sorry for the few folks that are sleeping in tents here!

The Villages

We drove an hour and a half to The Villages to see my high school friends Don and Marta and Nancy and Bob. Marta and Don are staying at Nancy and Bob's home there. We had a nice visit and some good food. Now we are warm and toasty in the RV waiting for the big freeze that is to come tonight. Central Florida is bracing for one of the coldest February nights ever! Hopefully it will warm up by the weekend!

Universal and Victoria and Albert's

Today was the day of good eats! We left the RV at 8:30 to return to Universal Studios to do the Islands of Adventure park. The grounds were well done, but the rides left a bit to be desired. Bill went on the Hulk Roller Coaster by himself. Then we went on the Spider-Man ride which was a combination car ride and various screens and effects. Not a bad ride. Bill went on the Ripsaw Falls log ride and got soaked. It was too cold to get wet for me, so I passed. We wandered through the Jurassic Park section which was pretty but lacking in rides. We went through Poseidon’s Fury which was a walk through with various scenes. Loud but not too exciting.

Lunch was a real treat. We stopped in at a full-service restaurant called Mythos. The décor was tan rock, pillars, and a wall sculpture of Poseidon. I had a wonderful spinach, asparagus risotto with a tiny crab cake and tiny piece of steak. It was really good. Bill had a bowl of onion soup with 3 pork sliders on ciabatta bread. The dessert was really interesting. They had an array of ‘shots’, various desserts in tall, thin shot glasses for only $1.75 each. I got a caramel cream brulee and a chocolate sabayon. Bill got a carrot cake. They were not only cute, but delicious and just the right amount.

Finally we went through the Seuss area. That was the cutest thing I saw at Universal. The whole area was Dr. Seuss themed. We went on the elevated Seuss Trolley Train ride. That was fun as was The Cat in the Hat ride. Finally we went to an area called If I Ran the Zoo. It had lots of cute fiberglass Seuss characters and things to do.

We got home about 2:30 and I took a nap. I have had the sniffles, and I wanted to be in good shape for our dinner at Victoria and Albert’s at the Grand Floridian Hotel. We got dressed up and arrived for our 8pm reservation. The service was quite pleasant if a bit overdone. Our two servers were Ann and John. Ann tried to get a hook to hold my purse, but my purse was too big, so I got a cassock next to the table to put my purse on. We were given fancy menus with our names printed on them. It is a fixed prix dinner with choices. The Amuse Bouche was a tray of 4 items including a lobster bisque, lobster in a vanilla butter sauce, a tiny scallop, and some teeny tiny rollup. For my first course I had tuna with Tat Soi salad and a cappuccino foam. Bill had smoked buffalo with an apple radish salad. The portions were very small but very good.

The second course I had grouper with artichokes, fennel, leeks, and iberico. Bill had scallops. The third course I went to the vegetarian menu and had mushroom tortellini with black truffles and assorted other mushrooms. Bill had duck 3 ways. For my entrée I had angus beef with kabocha squash and Italian chestnut sauce. Bill had veal tenderloin with hedgehog mushrooms and English peas. Next came a cheese course with stilton, piave vecchio and coach farm’s goat cheese. For dessert I had chocolate 3 ways: Peruvian chocolate ice cream and chocolate puff pastry, Kona chocolate soufflé, and Tanzanian chocolate mousse in the shape of a pyramid with a gold leaf star on top.

Coffee was brewed at the table in two glass bowls acting like a percolator. A harpist played throughout dinner. We knew we were escorted to restrooms, so we went before we arrived. Valet parking was free. It was a delightful meal, but the portions were all small enough that we truly didn’t feel stuffed when we finished! This was Bill’s Christmas present from me, and I think he was happy.

Universal Studios

It was a cool but lovely day today. We were up early and out of the RV at 8 headed for Universal Studios for our first visit there. Universal has two parks right next to each other: the Studios and Islands of Adventure. The Studios are more like Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Islands is more of an amusement park. We went to the Studios today. We are so used to the huge parking lots that Disney has. Universal has several huge parking structures. We have read that when the park is crowded, getting out at closing time can be a real pain.

We bought an Express Pass, but with the crowds so small today, we really didn’t need it. It is not a bad park, but it certainly isn’t Disney. First we went to the Simpsons ride which was probably the best ride in the park. It is similar to Soarin’ at Disney in that one is in a car in front of an IMAX, but this takes you through a cartoon adventure. It really was fun. After we came out, Marge and Homer Simpson were in character costumes outside, so Bill took my photo with them.

We went through most of the rides at the park except for one heavy duty roller coaster. We had lunch at a food court, and I had some decent orange chicken, fried rice, and some excellent stir-fried veggies. We also liked the Horror Makeup Show. In the lobby was a display of The Creature of the Black Lagoon that actually mentioned my friend Ben Chapman who played the creature. The show itself had a makeup artist and his sidekick doing a comical presentation of different kinds of makeup. We were especially intrigued with a knife that appeared to cut an audience member’s arm, but it actually had a hole in the knife blade. There was a small Lucille Ball museum that was rather interesting. We left about 4:30.

I posted some more photos which can be see by clicking on the Disney 2009 link to the left.