Home from BLT.

[PghLybrt]

:goodvibes

We just got back after a much needed trip! Before I left my Grandmother became very ill. It was sudden. My Mom still wanted me to take my nephews because she did not want to disappoint them. It turned out that my Grandmother passed away the Monday before the trip. Viewing was Wednesday and the funeral was Thursday. My Mom actually made the trip too, as we flew out on Friday. I think she really needed some time with her grandchildren that she never gets to see.

So that was the worst of the week before, however there is more. I guess I had indulged a bit on Halloween candy and a tooth was bothering me. It has bothered me off and on for a while and I have pointed it out to a few dentists. All of them said it was fine. Well I was sent to the team dentist and she took a look. She saw nothing wrong but wanted an xray. She then told me I needed a filling. Now she had squeezed me into her schedule, so she worked on it for a while and then got to a point where she realized it was much more serious then she had time for. So she temporarily filled it and made an appointment for me at one of her friends. I needed a root cancel. Fun! So off I went to the next and by 4pm I was done! (only about 8 shots of Novocain all day!) What a day. I forgot to start with Saturday! An employee took my GF's 350 Diesel to get it filled. They had a call to make and they needed fuel. He has done this a million times before. Well a few hours later, they walk in. They should have been 1.5 hrs away so I knew there was no way they had the call done. Turns out the truck died, right up the street. They towed it to the dealer. New truck, 10 months old. Wanna know what he did? The employee put gas in the diesel!!!! I turned to my manager and asked him how much that was going to cost me, he said 6-10. Ok no big deal I can handle a grand. He said no , not hundred! You mean to tell me just by putting the wrong fuel in a vehicle it can cause over 10,000 $$$ worth of damage!!!!

So it was really a great start to vacation!


As I said we left Friday and headed to BLT for the F&W. Check in was great, we got a really cute guy who upgraded us to the 9th floor with a view of the magic kingdom! I have to say I really did not think that I would care, however I was wrong. That was really cool. We did get to see Whishes from our room. They say you can hear it on the tv, well that night they did not play it. I do not care how many people told me that it was playing ( we called, many times). The station it should have been on had elevator music on, disney music, but still elevator music!

I have a bunch of pics I have to upload and my GF has the map as well as her personal comments to all the stands. I will have to get that from her.

I do know we tried all the food at the german stand. I enjoyed it. : )

We did eat dinner at cosmic rays. Wow, bad choice. It is the only choice for counter at the contemporary.

[DVC~OKW~96]

Oh my gosh! You've had a time of things. :hug: I hope that your WDW visit helped you to get some much needed stress relief!!! :hug:

[PghLybrt]

Oh my gosh! You've had a time of things. :hug: I hope that your WDW visit helped you to get some much needed stress relief!!! :hug:

Oh but wait, it gets better!:laughing:

[PghLybrt]

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/DSC08639.jpg
Main bedroom Can you see the hidden Mickey's on the bedspread?

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/DSC08611.jpg
Living area

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/DSC08617.jpg
Artwork you see whan you 1st walk in.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/DSC08621.jpg
2nd bedroom

SO as you can see we stayed in BLT. It was nice. The 1st unit we had was only a one bedroom. We then moved into a 2 bedroom. More on that one later! :eek:
I did post the 2 bedroom as the pics because they all pretty much look the same. Although we did get a unit with a roll in shower for the 1st part. The only complaint I had with that unit is that you can flood the entire bathroom because the water does not stay in the shower.

[Tony-NJ]

Geez - you had a lot going on! Looking forward to more report (I think LOL) and more pics!

[soulmates]

I'm SO sorry things started off crummy...the trip I'm SURE was a stress relief! Love the pics! :thumbsup2

[PghLybrt]

So the deal with my girl is that she loves to eat, alot. She trains 5 days a week and plays semi pro football (semi becasue they do not get paid:mad:). Therfore the goal, as it is everytime we go, is to eat at EVERY food stand. My Mom and I just watched, and drank:). I should also add that she can't eat beef. So there were a few stands we skipped.

So I start. China (descriptions are from the festival guide)
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Pork Pot Sticker
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Grilled chicken with cumin and traditional china spices

This one I liked but very similar to someting I make at home.

New Delhi, India
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/56d6b1fb.jpg
Rice and Lentil Crepe with potato and onion filling
Purple Haze beer - GF" Light and fruity"

We were told that this recipe came from a cast member that won a contest.

My Gf said, " It needs meat" I said...ummm gross. :)

[PghLybrt]

Geez - you had a lot going on! Looking forward to more report (I think LOL) and more pics!

I did have so much going on! And there is more!:eek: I do have more pics! It just takes so long to get them all together!

I'm SO sorry things started off crummy...the trip I'm SURE was a stress relief! Love the pics! :thumbsup2

It was a good step away from reality, I even left my phone off and in the hotel!

[OrlandoMike]

It was a good step away from reality, I even left my phone off and in the hotel!

:thumbsup2

[PghLybrt]

South Africa
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/facf3389.jpg

Goats do Roam ---- It was ok.

Vienna
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Mushroom soup with Chive dumplings

I was looking forward to this one. I liked it so much i got this
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/c6dfe098.jpg

to wash it down :laughing:

It was not a favorite of mine.

[PghLybrt]

Germany
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http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/78f35afd.jpg


Spaetzle gratin with ham and cheese ( i would eat this for breakfast) Nuernberger sausage on a pretzel roll (tastes like my Oma's house)
Apple Strudel with Vanilla sause......so yummy
beer...... it has to be becks, but I didn't write it down

[PghLybrt]

Ok the rest of day 1
We went back to our room because we were all so tired. We ended up eating at Cosmic Rays. What a mistake. I had the roast beef sandwich ( it was to processed, made me sick) mom played it safe with the flatbread pizza and Val my Gf had some pasta. I knew that was a bad choice for her, she can't eat garlic unless it is fresh. No canned, powdered processed garlic for her. So we all ended up with bellyaches. I am sure the amount of wine and beer we consumed did not help either! :laughing:
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So we wanted to watch wishes from our room, I am a bad bad bad DISer and did not venture up to the lounge to say Hi. :flower3: My Mom was not up for people other than family and to be honest we were just all really enjoying each others company!
Back to wishes. It started (great view!)
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(View from room)
I turned the channel on the tv to what i heard was wishes. It was not there! We called te front desk, they assured me it was playing. I went though again.Nope no wishes!! However there was some nice disney elevator music playing. They told me that was wishes.

Wow wishes music really changed since that last time I was here! :lmao:

[PghLybrt]

Day 2

Back to Epcot! I really think we could spend every day of our vacation there and be happy!

So today was more of the same, Food and Wine festival! We did however actually manage to do a few other things as well. We did goto the festival center to see if we could do any of seminars. They were all well sold out bty 9am we were told. Oh well. I guess it was just food stands for us today!

So this is trhe day that I found out one of the most beautifiul things in the world..... They now sell Yuengling in EPCOT!

I know, I travel all that way and still just drink a beer from PA!!!

Well I like what I like, :confused3 what can I say?

SO to start off the day (after the festival center) we decided to gocounter clockwise around. That is whan I found it, yuengling. So we seriously sat on a bvench and people watched for a good hour maybe hour and a half. It was really relaxing and much needed. Then came the food.

Puerto Rico
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/ca3bfbe1.jpg
Ham croquetas
chicken with rice

The 1st.....ummm gross : )
the 2nd... not really spiced, at all :confused3
We also had the frozen Bacardi Mojito Thast was quite good, not what I would normally pick out but all 3 of us shared.

I have to interupt---I am extremly grateful and lucky that my Mom and girlfriend get along so well. I often kid that my mom tolerates my brothers WIFE but LOVES my girlfriend!

The next was Chile- My GF decided that the day ws to hot for ceviche....don't ask , she is weird. LOL

Greece
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/265c574a.jpg
Spanakopita - I loved it
Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki- my GF loved it she wrote "Damn Good"

Canada

I don't think i took a picture!
She had the spicy chicken sausage with sweet corn polenta
( She circled the spicy and wrote Damn Right)

New Zealand
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/fe1a5dec.jpg
Seared Sea scallop with vegetable slaw and Lemon Oil _ She said the scallop was not done enough but that the veggies gave a good balance
Lamb Slider with tomato Chutney
I thik she would have spent all day with these if we had let her.

[PghLybrt]

Ireland
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/5f53f290.jpg
Chocolate Lava Cake with Bailey's Ganache
Lobster and Scallop Fisherman's pie

Hmmmm no notes written, all I can take this as is that she thought it was ok.

Wethen skipped all the way to America, why? Becasue my Mom and I were hungry. My Mom and I are not adventurous eaters. So it was time for hot dogs. Besides I never get those at home!
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/7236698e.jpg
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/9dff2e06.jpg

We also took in a show! The American Adventure! One of my favorites! Val slept....the entire time!


Then we shopped! All through Italy and Germany.
We finished the evening by eating at the Beirgarten. My mom was surprised that it was a buffet. I can't honestly say I remember a time it wasn't. However we have been going since the day it opened. Any one remember? Food was good, still not as good as what I remember from my Oma's. We sat with a nice family from Illinois. I felt bad for them, I feel bad for anyone that has to sit with us (unless it is a cleveland browns fan:rolleyes1).

Then we decided to call it a night. On the was out we did do spaceship earth. I rode with Mom and did not tell her that anything had changed. She laughed her bum off at the end. It was nice to see her laughing so hard. Then it was off to our room to wind down.

[Tony-NJ]

I LOVE that view! I think I had a hot dog ONCE at WDW - it's something that I would never think of eating and it was pretty dam good!

[Saxton]

Wow, I can't believe everything that happened. Well, Disney is a great way to relax and spend time with the family so hopefully things are starting to settle now. So did you step away from the Yuengling long enough to do the Sam Adams seminar?

[PghLybrt]

I LOVE that view! I think I had a hot dog ONCE at WDW - it's something that I would never think of eating and it was pretty dam good!

I really thought that i could care less about my view, afterall I was in DIsney! However after getting a view of the castle.....I am not sure I ever want to give that up!

Wow, I can't believe everything that happened. Well, Disney is a great way to relax and spend time with the family so hopefully things are starting to settle now. So did you step away from the Yuengling long enough to do the Sam Adams seminar?

Ummm Sam....there were other beers there? Huh?
Kidding, no we actually did want to do that but by the time we were near it we were late and it was the last one! My Mom also hates beer, she was sampling all of the wine, so I really didn't want to do something she didnt like. My GF was bummed but I promised her that we could do an actual tour of Sam someday.....I just hope they do that! LOL

[hematite153]

Thanks for sharing. I'm sorry you had such a rough week, but, I'm glad you got to follow it up with a trip.

[PghLybrt]

Thanks for sharing. I'm sorry you had such a rough week, but, I'm glad you got to follow it up with a trip.

Thanks!

[PghLybrt]

so Day 3

No Big Surprise! EPCOT!!

We started in the countries, none of them were open yet. We just sat and talked and waited.
Mexico
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/8732dad6.jpg
She did 2 rounds of this.
Corn tottilla filled with shreded pork and purple onions
Corn totrilla with chipotle chicken
Dos Equis

I really liked the pork.

Spain
We had the red snapper, and when I say we I really mean she! LOL She said it was really good. I do not think I have a pic of it.

Poland
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/DSC08329.jpg
Kielbasa and Potato Pierogie with carmalized onions and sour cream
Good....but not as good as mine. : )

Hops and Barley

They had the crab cake and the lobster roll.
VAl said that the lobster roll was the besyt dish of the show.
I tried none of these, instead elected on a pretzel!

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We then went to lunch. In Norway. W e have NEVER had a bite to eat there. Honestly, I think I was always afraid of how gross it might be. However, after reading on here about it we went to the bakery there for sandwiches.

We ended up with a hot ham apple and cheese. It was so good. The apples were sliced so thin. Even my Mom (who likes less than I do) liked it! We also had the school bread. It tasted just like a toasted coconut marshmallow and some chocolate cake thing. As we sat there, we watched a 5-6 year old girl trying to stomp on the birds heads that were around. Of course her parents thought it cute. My GF had to say something to the effect that that is neither cute nor good parenting. We escorted her out!
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/e9363e40.jpg

[PghLybrt]

We actually did ride Maelstrom while we were there. The wait was about 15 mins! That is more than I have ever waited except for when it first opened and we had to wait over an hour. I know we are all brats and do not like to wait for anything anymore! I can tell you why, :idea:I blame it all on universal. Not that I ever go there or anything. :rolleyes1 However their front of the line express pass…………….

So where were we…oh yes FOOD

We 1st walked around Morocco, another thing that I have never really done. It is like a small city back there. Really neat. We spent a good hour shopping around.

Then of to france, we had snails waiting for us! Again by saying us I really mean just her. Snails? Gross!
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/c4f07553.jpg

This was actually the 2nd time, 4th plate we had had.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/8a1b605f.jpg

Now the drinks, Cosmo Slush…..very good. My mom , who drinks nothing but wine, had one too!


I feel like I am missing some….

Brazil
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/01074f1b.jpg

I have that as a grilled pork skewer with Farofa
What ever it was, it was gross. : )

[jlewisinsyr]

Turns out the truck died, right up the street. They towed it to the dealer. New truck, 10 months old. Wanna know what he did? The employee put gas in the diesel!!!! I turned to my manager and asked him how much that was going to cost me, he said 6-10. Ok no big deal I can handle a grand. He said no , not hundred! You mean to tell me just by putting the wrong fuel in a vehicle it can cause over 10,000 $$$ worth of damage!!!!

When I was reading this, I had this gut feeling you were going to say they put gasoline instead of diesel in the vehicle.

I'm shocked it would cost that much to repair. Diesels work on heat and pressure, not spark per se, so putting 87 octane in a vehicle that would normally run on somewhere around 50 cetane Diesel wouldn't usually do any damage because the vehicle wouldn't be able to ignite the gasoline at 87 octane.

Octane helps identify the detonation point, the lower the octane, the easier it is to detonate and conversely the higher, the harder. If you put Diesel in a gasoline engine it could cause a lot of damage because it would pre-ignite (knock) because the gasoline is igniting before the spark but usually putting in higher octane then required causes a delayed ignition or no ignition at all (which is usually the case in diesel).

I've seen/heard of people putting in gasoline in Diesel vehicles and having them stall (no ignition), only to just drain the tank and suck out the gasoline from the lines, then put diesel in and after a few minutes of real rough running (few stalls, skipping type event), run perfectly fine going forward.

Glad you still stayed positive on your vacation though!

[PghLybrt]

When I was reading this, I had this gut feeling you were going to say they put gasoline instead of diesel in the vehicle.

I'm shocked it would cost that much to repair. Diesels work on heat and pressure, not spark per se, so putting 87 octane in a vehicle that would normally run on somewhere around 50 cetane Diesel wouldn't usually do any damage because the vehicle wouldn't be able to ignite the gasoline at 87 octane.

Octane helps identify the detonation point, the lower the octane, the easier it is to detonate and conversely the higher, the harder. If you put Diesel in a gasoline engine it could cause a lot of damage because it would pre-ignite (knock) because the gasoline is igniting before the spark but usually putting in higher octane then required causes a delayed ignition or no ignition at all (which is usually the case in diesel).

I've seen/heard of people putting in gasoline in Diesel vehicles and having them stall (no ignition), only to just drain the tank and suck out the gasoline from the lines, then put diesel in and after a few minutes of real rough running (few stalls, skipping type event), run perfectly fine going forward.

Glad you still stayed positive on your vacation though!

I had no idea the expense! The mechanic says he sees several every year, so we are not alone. I dont really understand how, I have had it explained to me several times now.:) I guess it would have not been bad had he caught it right away bt he filled the truck then drove it back to work and then they both drove away in it.

I think my attitude drives my GF crazy, because things like that i just let slide off. Really what could have been done? I could have ruined my vacation stressing about it but why.

[jlewisinsyr]

I think my attitude drives my GF crazy, because things like that i just let slide off. Really what could have been done? I could have ruined my vacation stressing about it but why.

I think you handle it perfectly. People learn from mistakes, they don't learn from being perfect.

Love all the pictures too, it took me a few seconds to see the Mickey's in the bedspread.

[PghLybrt]

I think you handle it perfectly. People learn from mistakes, they don't learn from being perfect.

Love all the pictures too, it took me a few seconds to see the Mickey's in the bedspread.

He is one of our best workers, what would have come from giving him the boot? More stress!

The boys ( they show up on day 4) loved looking for hidden Mickey's. I never knew that there could be so many! Some of them that they found were actually mickey's to!:laughing:

[PghLybrt]

So I am still on day 3!

We finished the day by relaxing back at BLT and getting ready for dinner. We had picked an "adult" place before the boys invaded us! So I booked Shula's at the Dolphin. I figured Val, who is way into football, would love it. I was right. The actual resturaunt is very nice and very loud. I was surpised by that fact. I thought it would be a nice QUIET evening. I was wrong on that count. It felt like we had to shout at each other across the table! It was also very dark! I mean so dark you needed a flash light to look at the wine list! ( Our waiter actually used one to show us!) The place is filled with photos from his (SHula's) career. I guess if it is not the Steelers then I am not really thrilled. They seat you at your table and bring a football as a menu. My GF thought that was cool and sat comfortably with it. All I could think is how many people have played with that ball and when was it last washed!

So dinner....

I have no idea what Val got as an app
My Mom and I got the french onion soup. Very good.
We then ordered our main entrees, no salads for us!
I know my Mom and I got the filet, I think my GF had the snapper? Which is odd because there was lamb on the menu. She enjoyed hers very much. My Mom and I did too, but I didnt feel like this was the best I have ever had. It was good. It wasnt Kobe , which I had thought it was when I booked the place. It was a good hunk of 55$ meat. I also got a side of mushrooms that I did not touch. The food was just to big. I think in all our bill came to the low 4s. That included wine and beer. I do not think I would go again. However we all did enjoy our evening and had a really nice time.

We then headed home as we knew the next day was going to be long......

[franandaj]

Glad you were able to enjoy yourselves even with all the things that happened before you left.

Great pictures! My partner and I went the first week of the festival, it's funny we have so many of the same pictures, but I never tire of looking at them! My favorites were from Ireland, the Fisherman's pie with Lobster & Scallops and the Chocolate Cake with Molten Center, but everything was great, the Lobster Roll too!

BLT must have been great. Most of the pictures I've seen show a parking lot view. Your pics were terriffic! Thanks for sharing!

[Saxton]

Glad you were able to enjoy yourselves even with all the things that happened before you left.

Great pictures! My partner and I went the first week of the festival, it's funny we have so many of the same pictures, but I never tire of looking at them! My favorites were from Ireland, the Fisherman's pie with Lobster & Scallops and the Chocolate Cake with Molten Center, but everything was great, the Lobster Roll too!

BLT must have been great. Most of the pictures I've seen show a parking lot view. Your pics were terriffic! Thanks for sharing!

I agree, the Fisherman's Pie was excellent, it was our favorite! I've got the recipe and I'm going to try it one of these days.

[PghLybrt]

Glad you were able to enjoy yourselves even with all the things that happened before you left.

Great pictures! My partner and I went the first week of the festival, it's funny we have so many of the same pictures, but I never tire of looking at them! My favorites were from Ireland, the Fisherman's pie with Lobster & Scallops and the Chocolate Cake with Molten Center, but everything was great, the Lobster Roll too!

BLT must have been great. Most of the pictures I've seen show a parking lot view. Your pics were terriffic! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks! I should have taken more. Oh well
BLT was and wasn't so great...but I will get to that! ( I was very surprised)
I agree, the Fisherman's Pie was excellent, it was our favorite! I've got the recipe and I'm going to try it one of these days.

Umm you both can keep the fish recipes:flower3:, not a big fan. I know ironic....please withold comments.:laughing: I really stuck with the stand from Poland and Germany. I guess that is very close to how I eat at home. You just can't have Steeler sunday without pierogies!

That might be it for food pics...once the nephews came there wasn't time to take any!

[PghLybrt]

DAY 4

We originally were going to do EPCOT again but somehow we thought it better to go to Hollywood Studios and get some Star Wars shopping out of the way before the boys showed up. There is someone in my house a little obsessed with Star wars….I have no idea who!!!

So 1st we headed to downtown Disney. On the way we got a phone call from gas employee. While he was on the phone he was in an accident!! He was in my work van!! He has been told a million times No phone in work vehicles!!!!! He was in a 5 car pile up, he was hit from behind. He is ok. My van, totalled!! So now I am down 2 vehicles that can haul my bobcat!!! I was having a great week!!

I wanted to go to TrenD , I was under whelmed. Not sure what I thought it would be but it was really full of stuff that I did see elsewhere. Oh well. We also had lunch there…..well if you consider Ice Cream lunch! We also went to Goofy’s candy Co. but really did not buy much. I wanted that Mickey head made out of rice crispies for the boys. I came close to buying it but I knew their Mom would yell at me( turns out I was yelled at for thinking of buying it, I should have just got it).

When we were done we went to DHS. I had a great idea of getting the bus to the swan and walking. Works perfectly, however mom wanted to take the boat. So we did.

We got in and ( this sounds bad) tried our hardest to avoid the parade! We were on a mission and that was Tatooine Traders. We made it …..and about an hour later we were done in there! I had everything shipped home. Two reasons, I did not want to pack it and two shipping was cheaper than the tax!

So after that we were hungry so we headed over to what my Mom refers to as Mama’s Place aka 50’s Prime Time. We just sat at the bar and had some cocktails (you know Yuengling) onion rings and even though it was no longer lunchtime, a chicken sandwich. We had a fun time (always do!).


That was a Monday and Steelers played Denver that night, so as any good Steeler Fan should, I wore my jersey! ( This pic was taken after the superbowl, late at night, I was excited about the 6 and yes I may have had a bit to much Yuengling).
http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e83/lybrt/DSC06872.jpg

I wanted to post now for 2 reasons….. I had some really nice comments made to me about that jersey and 2 I am leaving work now and all my pics are here so if I continue from home I will not have it…….I could just upload them all now….hmmmmm

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

EEK! Sounds like lots of disasters at home! Glad the trip was good!

[PghLybrt]

OK so I gave up!!!!!!!!!! :flower3:

I could make a million excuses but I am just a slacker, I admit it. So if you would like to see photo's just pm me , I have them up on facebook.

I would continue.....but Christmas is just so darn busy!

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Well, you made a stab at it! :thumbsup2