City, Sand, and Savanna - Link to new trip report

Phew all caught up !!Good job Katarina with the first correcy Judy sightings answer !! I am just back from Universal and have started the TR on my Ptr which has a slight name change . This is the official Rosie Link!!!:rotfl2:
 
I was a little behind.

What a coincidence -- I have a little one. :laughing:

The pizza did look good! Good thing it was so close.

Yeah, can you imagine if it was far!! I would have had to have taken a canteen with me.

I'm glad you got some beach and pool time in. We've been to beach when the seaweed is bad too. Yuck! Hate the feel of it, even worse is trying to get it out of the suits.

:crazy2: One word: chafing. :rotfl2:

Looking forward to more.

:)

Enjoyed the update! The beach time looked fun despite the vegetation invasion. :thumbsup2

Yeah, it was nice other than that.

I cannot believe the ground you covered while waiting for that pizza!! :rotfl2:

Maybe this was why I booked Vero before the parks...to get ready for all of that walking. :scratchin

Looking forward to more Vero updates!

Hang tight. :thumbsup2

Unfortunately, it ends with a 0 and starts with a 4. UGH!!! :lmao:

I'd have more sympathy if I wasn't ahead of you. :laughing:

I'd be fine with it if my husband wasn't 5 years younger than me and loved to bring that up a lot...and I mean A LOT.

Oh, I don't know any husbands who would do that! :rolleyes: :blush: :rotfl:

Late June. That's when our--I mean, his--15th anniversary is. Already booked the flights so we could use our frequent flier miles!

Currently trying to sucker some DVC owner into renting points for Aulani, but I haven't gotten anyone to take the bait yet. :rotfl2:

Nice!!!

I wish we had more points to offer you, I mean, him. Other than the whole 40th birthday thing, I'm really looking forward to it. I wish we had enough miles to get all four of us there.

Congrats on the anniversary, by the way! (I mean, tell your friend....)

:rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2:

Unfortunately, we're a little short of points right now. <turns pockets inside out> :sad:

Phew all caught up !!Good job Katarina with the first correcy Judy sightings answer !! I am just back from Universal and have started the TR on my Ptr which has a slight name change . This is the official Rosie Link!!!:rotfl2:

I found it! Thanks for making it so easy! :rotfl2:
 
So, dawn broke on day 3 of our trip, and by 6:30am I was out on the balcony taking pictures like these:

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I tried to take some pictures to stitch together for a panoramic shot, but it didn’t turn out well because the exposure had to be so different on the various shots (close-ups of the vegetation vs. the sky and ocean). I deleted all of them except these few. Since I was going to stitch them together, I wasn’t too concerned about keeping the horizon straight, but I wish I had been since these all look like the ocean water could slosh to the left. Lookout Georgia!

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The kids of course were still sleeping, but Judy and I wanted to get a workout in. A couple of months before the trip, we started doing the Insanity Workout and although we knew that once we got to DisneyWorld we’d be too busy and tired from the parks to work out, we thought that at Vero at least, we could stay vigilant with the program. We debated on whether to just write down the exercises from a couple of workouts and do them in the resort exercise room without the videos, but we basically ran out of time before leaving home, so Judy just packed the DVD’s into the van before we left. Also, I took a look at the exercise room the day before and it didn’t seem like there was any extra room, other than to use the equipment that was already there. So, we’ll use the master bedroom. I’ll have the space between the bed and the bathroom and Judy’ll have the space on the other side of the bed, near the balcony/wall. I had to make one more trip out to the van to get our portable DVD player.

But, before our workout I wanted to go on a photo stroll / coffee run so that I could get some pictures while the resort was still quiet. So, I grabbed my camera and refillable mug and set off. Want to come with me? Well, read on!

The buildings with the DVC suites are set up in a U-shape and have a courtyard in the center. It kind of reminded me of the courtyards that are in many of the buildings at Coronado Springs.

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In this shot of the courtyard, you can see the elevator bay. Our room was past these, and on the right.

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Now I’m walking away from our building and starting toward the Inn.

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Looking back (ie. north). Our balcony is in the building on the left, 3rd floor, but the far one…kind of hidden by the palm trees.

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Approaching the Inn.

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The sign showing distances to some of our other favorite locations!

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The ocean-side of the Inn. The spa is on the first floor, behind this porch-area that is closest to me.

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Another shot of the ocean-side of the Inn. I’m standing on a grassy area that is used for croquet, showing movies. etc.

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I tried a couple of different exposure settings for this picture of a palm tree and the sunrise. Which do you like better? I think the first one.

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Then I walked down to the Green Cabin, where you access the beach. Here’s a picture of the Inn from there.

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And here’s a shot of the ocean. You can get lost in this picture if you stare at it for a couple of seconds, can’t you?

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The ocean was beautiful, but demanding respect that morning. Oh boy, I’m starting to sound like George Costanza. “The sea was angry that day, my friends – like an old man trying to send back soup in a deli.”

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Looking north, umbrellas were in place, ready for the day.

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And looking south.

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In the previous pictures did you notice the stakes in the ground, placed in a triangle, with red tape strung between them? If not, here’s a closeup.

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These are marking sea turtle nests. Every morning during nesting season, workers go up and down the beach at sunrise to look for signs of “turtle crawls” and mark the nests with these stakes. I’ll have more pictures of this later in the report.

Here’s the ramp down to the beach.

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Then I went back to take some pictures around the pool. There’s a gate to the pool near the beach access. It has a card-reader so you always had to have your room key with you and accessible, which was kind of a pain, since we always seemed to arrive here with our hands full (towels, mugs, etc.). Plus, during the day this gate doesn’t stay shut for more than 30 seconds at a stretch with so many people going in and out, so it seemed kind of silly. But at least you could piggy-back behind someone else sometimes and not have to use your own key.

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Here’s the pool table. I guess I did take a picture of it after all.

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On the other side of the pool are some places to note. Just beyond the cast member along the left of this picture, in the building with the cupola-thing, is Eb and Flo’s. That’s where you get towels, register for activities, and rent or borrow equipment. Toward the middle of the picture, are the restrooms and sauna. Further right, hidden behind the palm trees is the entrance to the exercise room (down a hallway and on the far-side of the building) and the Community Hall. Community Hall is where the windows are that you can see beyond the umbrellas.

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This picture is looking a little further right, and includes the far end of the Inn building. “Bleachers” is the quick-service food place and you can see it beyond the umbrellas, but closed at this early hour. The mug refill station is actually on the porch that you can see in this picture, but at the end, on the wall nearest Bleachers. It’s closed behind those cabinet doors.

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The pool and slide.

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I went back out through the pool gate and took a picture of the walk to the beach access. The Green Cabin is at the end of this walkway on the left, and the ramp down to the beach is to the right. The pole just at the end of the walkway, to the left, is a shower to wash sand off of yourself.

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Another shot of the ocean-side of the Inn. The restaurant “Shutters” is behind these windows closest to me.

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Entering the Inn from the ocean-side. The doors straight across are where we entered when we checked-in. The gift shop is the “Island Grove Packing Company” in the far-corner, left side of this picture. I’ll have some pictures of items available for sale there in a future chapter.

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Looking right, towards the front desk.

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And looking left. Down the hallway, beyond the sea turtle, is Shutters. Also, just over the sea turtle down that hallway are the coffee urns. But I didn’t notice them. I got the impression from the cast member in the gift shop the previous day that the coffee would be near the gift shop. Oh well. I had Starbucks’ Via coffee when I got back to the suite instead.

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“Tia” the turtle.

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I moved forward a little more and took a picture of the front desk.

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These orange grove signs decorated much of the walls. This is just a sampling.

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I went closer toward the front door to take a picture of the lobby area. The darkened room on the second floor is the Green Cabin Room, which is a lounge.

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I moved over toward the front desk and took a picture of the opposite wall. You can see more of the orange grove sign pictures on the walls.

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A nice sea turtle painting. Although we learned that they will turn around if they come onto the beach to nest and see another turtle, so I don’t think you’d ever see three of them like this.

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From there, I went out the front door of the Inn, and I would have taken pictures of the front entrance, but it had started raining pretty hard. Gee, it didn’t look like it was going to rain. :rolleyes2 So, I hid my camera from the rain under my shirt and rain back to the suite.

Sometime while I was gone, Judy
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had taken her own picture of the ocean from the balcony, on her cell phone.

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Anyway, now that I had gotten back, my procrastination ploy was over and I didn’t have any excuse not to workout. We set up the DVD player on top of the TV cabinet and fired up the Insanity DVD’s. I’m not sure what our workout sounded like to the people in the suites beside or below us. They probably just thought we were having coffee on the verandah. :rolleyes:


Up next: Fishing FUNdamentals
Link to next chapter
 


Thank you for the tour. Were you really allowed outside or was there a lockdown? ;) The dark sky, the palm trees rustled by the wind and completely empty pool kind of indicate that catastrophe was immanent. So thanks again for taking the risk ind order to document everything for us!
 
If that isn't motivation to get your butt out of bed and start taking pictures, I don't know what is! Thank you for sharing those perfect pictures of the resort! You can really get a feel for those "Disney" touches by taking a 'walk' around the resort. Awesome!
 


OK, I'm going to try to weasel one Judy spotting point by saying

First post (part 1)- No Judys
Second post (part 2)- 1 Judy (icon)- already claimed by nodnol

Ill come back to post on your gorgeous pictures.

Dee
 
I got a phone call from my sister while I was standing in line at a shop that she already claimed one Judy and if I don't want her to pass me on the leader board I would need to find a second Judy... Well, I am home now and can't find another Judy. So I guess my sister will win the point in the end.... :sad:

Great pictures Glen! The place has wonderful relaxed atmosphere, just right for a beach place.

So, how are the results of your insane work out? I followed the link and it seems pretty tough but promises wonderful results. Do you now look like the guy on the webpage?
 
Great post :) and great pictures. That sea does invite some philosophical musings set to piano music... I really like the style, especially the pothole style windows on the doors in the background! :)
 
I have just had the best time sitting here reading/catching up on this TR! :beach: I am loving all of the info and experiences with Vero Beach resort. We would love to spend some points at this place. I do believe this is the first TR I've read about it. I'm glad it's yours because you are always so informative and have great pictures! :thumbsup2

I couldn't help but notice how much the suite resembles the old 1 bedroom villa at Old Key West! I miss some of the touches that are in there. I do like the updates to OKW but at the same time i really miss the old stuff. It felt like home to us because we stayed there so many times.

I also noticed that in the bathroom and the "other bathroom" that there are only pedistal sinks. Where on earth am I supposed to put my hair stuff and make-up stuff?? When we stay at OKW, DH usually takes the sink next to the bathtub as his own since it only has a small shelf above it and that's all he needs. I usually have our toiletries bag, hair brushes, flat iron, make-up bag, etc., etc., etc. in the "other bathroom" because it has a complete vanity area with drawers and a cabinet at the bottom. Plus a lot of counter top space. :scratchin I know you are probably going to say the same thing my DH does...stop bringing so much "stuff". Well, that isn't going to happen. A girl needs her...."stuff"! ::yes::

Your pictures are spectacular as usual. It makes me want to book a trip NOW but I know that can't happen. BOO!
 
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Anyway, now that I had gotten back, my procrastination ploy was over and I didn’t have any excuse not to workout. We set up the DVD player on top of the TV cabinet and fired up the Insanity DVD’s. I’m not sure what our workout sounded like to the people in the suites beside or below us. They probably just thought we were having coffee on the verandah. :rolleyes:


Up next: Fishing FUNdamentals

:lmao::lmao::lmao:
 
I guess Katarina wins !! Awesom pix Glenn I loved the "Loose yourself in it " one !!! Also glad you found my ptr that has had a slight name change to BUBBA, TINK etc for all those who have been frantically searching for it:rotfl2:I assure you there is much HUMOR to come !! Carol said it made up for all her Elvis hits !!!:lmao::lmao:
 
I totally do NOT see a Judy. Is this a trick? :rotfl2: Between you and Captain O I think I am starting to get a complex.

Anyway - I love your pictures. They are fabulous. I didn't not have my new camera when I stayed there and now I think I have to go back and take some new pictures. I really, really love the inn. It's beautiful.
 
OK, it looks like it took me about 24 hours to come back and comment. :rolleyes1

What a great photo tour! Especially loved the pictures from your balcony and of the ocean. For the record, I like the exposure in the first picture, too.

Your pictures really help give us all a feel for what the resort looks like and offers.

Sea turtles are one of my favorite creatures- I love seeing all of the turtle decor and hearing about the educational outreach they are doing at the resort.

Quiet morning walks while everyone else around is sleeping are so enjoyable.
 
Great morning pictures! You did a really good job showing the villa buildings and wonderful shots of the inn. Oh those skies! Yikes.

Very impressive that you brought the DVD player with you to do it. I can't imagine the boys actually not trying to come in and watch and I'd have a hard time focusing on the workout knowing they were "listening"

Anyway, now that I had gotten back, my procrastination ploy was over and I didn’t have any excuse not to workout. We set up the DVD player on top of the TV cabinet and fired up the Insanity DVD’s. I’m not sure what our workout sounded like to the people in the suites beside or below us. They probably just thought we were having coffee on the verandah. :rolleyes:

:rotfl2:

Coffee on the verandah is a fine way to start the day.
 
Bummer that it rained on your first day. I loved all of your photos though !! Coffee on the verandah !! .... LOL

I bet the people below you were like ...."what the .....???"
 
Goodness! Love those pictures!

The grounds are are so stinking beautiful! We loved the lobby area.

You are extremely dedicated! My idea of a workout is going to WDW. :lmao: I don't think I'd have the motivation to do a workout on vacation. I'm impressed!
 

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