Get Off The Ship - we are running out of towel animals! Update 10/25 Day 31

[dizneeat]

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Day 21, August 27​

One more day of WDW bliss before we hit the road again! - Part 3​

Around 7pm we changed into some nicer clothes and headed down for our dinner at the Yachtsman Steakhouse.
We signed in and were asked to wait and handed a pager and we had just walked past the restrooms when the pager went off. Okay, so much for waiting. We were back at the podium within a few seconds and led inside the restaurant after a short visit to the “meat window”. It didn’t take long for a server to come by and greet us and take our order for drinks. When he returned with our Diet Cokes he also put a basket of freshly baked

Onion Pull Apart Rolls and dinner rolls on the table together with some

Roasted Garlic and some really

nice and creamy Butter. He took our order and while we waited for our starters to come out, we nibbled on the Onion Pull Aparts, which we spread some of the roasted garlic on. Pretty quickly our starters appeared. Tom had ordered a special that they had,

Clams, steamed in white wine and lemon butter, sprinkled with sun dried tomatoes and parsley. I had gone with an old favourite, the

Lobster Bisque, made with Maine lobster and creme fraiche, preserved lemon and fines herbs. Both did not disappoint and were very good. Soon after we had finished it our main courses came out.
We both had opted for some really nice red meat dishes. Tom had ordered the 16-oz

Boneless Rib-Eye, served with Brioche, Bone Marrow and Point Reyes Blue Cheese Butter, while I went with another old favourite, the 8-oz

Black Angus Filet Mignon, Mashed Potatoes and Cabernet Wine Sauce and even though we were not all that hungry any more we had opted for

two extra sides, the

Caramelized Onions with white balsamic and the

Creamed Spinach, with Parmigiano Reggiano and Gruyere. Both were really huge portions and we did our best to eat as much as we could. It took us quite a while, but when we were finally finished we were far too full to order any dessert.
So we just paid our bill and then slowly walked over to the Yacht Club and explored the shop, before finally slowly making our way back to the Beach Club and up to our villa. We sat on the balcony again for a while, then watched a little TV before finally finishing packing. We were only done with everything around 11pm, when we decided to have one final drink and discovered that there was still the quiche sitting in the fridge. Since it was a pretty small one we decided to quickly pop it in the microwave as none of us would like to eat it for breakfast and we would not be able to take it with us. So we ended the evening with nibbling some pretty nice

Quiche Lorraine and trying the

Baguette we had bought, but which was not at all like the one we are used to when we buy it in France. I think it was past midnight when we finally went to bed.

To be continued ............​

 

[Flossbolna]

The food looks delicious! I never make it there because I just love the steak at Flying Fish so much... But it seems like you really had a great meal there. A worthy end of the last day at WDW!

 

[dizneeat]

The food looks delicious! I never make it there because I just love the steak at Flying Fish so much... But it seems like you really had a great meal there. A worthy end of the last day at WDW!

It was a great end to that part of the trip - we did return to WDW again, after a week away in Key West.

 

[Flossbolna]

Your itinerary for that trip was far too complicated for your trip report readers!!

 

[dizneeat]

Your itinerary for that trip was far too complicated for your trip report readers!!

I know we did a lot of going back and forth, but it was such a nice holiday and there is still quite a bit of fun to report about.

 

[dizneeat]

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Day 22, August 28​

Goodbye Beach Club, Hello Key Largo! - Part 1


And even though we again had gone to bed late, we were up again pretty early. We had a breakfast reservation and needed to get ready.
So after a quick shower we got dressed and headed over to the Boardwalk. And at 7.30 we already sat at a table at Kouzzina.

Tom ordered some coffee and water, while I had some Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice and some water too. The restaurant was fairly empty and so we soon were served our breakfast. Tom had ordered the

Stacked Kouzzina Breakfast, two Poached Eggs, Kalamata Olive Toast, Artichoke Spread, and Sweet Potato Hash with a side of Bacon, while I had my heart set on the

Spinach, Tomato, and Feta Scrambled Eggs, served with Breakfast Potatoes with a side of Bacon too. Both breakfasts were delicious and we quickly had gobbled everything down.
And after settling the bill we headed back to our villa,

made sure we had not forgotten anything, then crammed all our belongings into our car and headed back to the resort. We had one more morning to spend at the pool.
We were there right after they had opened the pool and we quickly found some sun loungers, put our bags under them and our towels and T-shirts on them and headed into the pool.

The lazy river was practically empty so we swam and drifted there for quite some time. After a while we changed over to the spots by the little waterfalls

and when our skin started to get really wrinkled from all the water we headed back to our chairs to dry off a bit and enjoy the sun. So after applying another good layer of sun screen we sat and enjoyed the morning sun.
Around 11.30 we went for another splash in the pools and walked over to the lazy river where it was much harder now to just drift around, but we had fun just drifting along in between the many inner tubes floating in there. After two rounds and some stops to sit on the little side seats we decided to have one more dip in the hot tub before we needed to get on the road. Both of them were empty and chose the one with less leaves in it. It was so nice to just sit in the hot water and think back on what we had already experienced.

But then shortly after 12pm we needed to get out and dry off and about half an hour later we finally headed to the restrooms to get changed and get ready to hit the road. Wet clothes put in a bag, we walked over to our car, squeezed the bag with our swimwear into the trunk somehow and then got in and hit the road.
Traffic was pretty light until we got to the freeway where we hit a bit of slow traffic, but once Orlando was behind us it cleared up and we made quite good progress.

About an hour and a half the heavens grew darker

and we decided that instead driving through a rainstorm we would stop at the next rest area to take a restroom break and have some pretty late lunch. When we arrived at the rest area the heavens had grown very dark and we were happy to make it inside without getting wet. First stop was the restroom. We were both a bit concerned at how clean it would be and we were pleasantly surprised. So after that break we walked around the rest area noticing that the rain had set in and it was pouring down buckets and more and more people were streaming in. We had a look around and then decided to give Nathan’s a try as I always had wanted to eat there and we had never had a chance to do so.

To be continued ............​

 

[MEK]

Yummy food in your last two updates! Kouzinna really had some great breakfast food. Your meals look so delish.

Cool view from your villa. I have never been on that side of the building. Love it!

Yay for a nice trip to SAB before leaving south. I hope you don't get caught in too much rain.

Sorry I am behind. I am just now figuring out how to negotiate my way around the DIS.

 

[Leshaface]

Ughhh Yachtsman! I so so soooo regret not ordering the creamed spinach on this past trip. I remember it being so amazing the first time I had it, but I knew I wouldn't finish and DH wasn't a fan of it. The steaks are out of this world amazing!

Is Kouzzina still around or did it close? Your breakfasts look yummy.

Awesome that you were able to squeeze in another morning at SAB!

 

[RGirl]

Catching up as usual, Karin!

Your dinner at the Wave looked really nice, but it’s hard to enjoy a meal when you’re not hungry!

Phew - that was a late night! I have never done nighttime EMH - it’s just so late!! The latest we have ever stayed in the parks was for MNSSHP, which I think was about midnight.

Stormalong Bay looks magnificent - the sun, the warmth, the sand. I am REALLY tired of winter!

Oh, the B&C meal looks delicious! Someday we will try that place. The ice cream always looks so good, but I like the simple lunch fare too - a nice break from all the fancy dining.

More KK!!!!

You know I’m a big fan of “eating in” when on a long vacation. It just feels good to eat a semi-regular meal, watch some TV, and relax. Good idea!

Tutto Gusto looks like such a pleasant option! I would love to stop in there one day. Same with La Cava. Those are places I would totally be hitting up if I were on an adults-only trip.

Willow would love your approach to Mission:SPACE - ride and ride again!

 

[RGirl]

Oops! Missed the last page.

Your YSH meal looks amazing! We are returning there this summer, and I am very excited about it. Not only is the food delicious, but I love a chance to wander around the Epcot resort area a bit - I will miss staying there, I think, but I'm WL will be a great change of pace.

The pictures of breakfast at Kouzina have always looked so good. Too bad it is no more. I can't believe they went with yet another Italian restaurant!

What a great idea to delay your drive and enjoy the pool for a while - truly a vacation decision!

 

[dizneeat]

 

[dizneeat]

Yummy food in your last two updates! Kouzinna really had some great breakfast food. Your meals look so delish.

Cool view from your villa. I have never been on that side of the building. Love it!

Yay for a nice trip to SAB before leaving south. I hope you don't get caught in too much rain.

Sorry I am behind. I am just now figuring out how to negotiate my way around the DIS.

We just loved Kouzzina and have always had great food. This was our first time trying breakfast and we were glad we did. It was awesome.

Yes, we just could not give up spending some time at SAB before leaving. Best pool ever.

No problem falling behind. Happens to me all the time. There is quite a lot to figure out on the new DIS, but once you got the hang of it, it's really awesome.

Ughhh Yachtsman! I so so soooo regret not ordering the creamed spinach on this past trip. I remember it being so amazing the first time I had it, but I knew I wouldn't finish and DH wasn't a fan of it. The steaks are out of this world amazing!

Is Kouzzina still around or did it close? Your breakfasts look yummy.

Awesome that you were able to squeeze in another morning at SAB!

It was you who made me order the creamed spinach. I had seen it on your TR and decided that it was something we HAD TO try. Steaks are amazing at Yachtsman. No idea how they do it, but they are always perfectly cooked and melt in your mouth.

Kouzzina has closed. It really is a shame, they replaced it with another Italian place.

Catching up as usual, Karin!

Your dinner at the Wave looked really nice, but it’s hard to enjoy a meal when you’re not hungry!

Phew - that was a late night! I have never done nighttime EMH - it’s just so late!! The latest we have ever stayed in the parks was for MNSSHP, which I think was about midnight.

You get up too early for nighttime EMH. We rarely make it to rope drop, but evening EMHs - no problem.

Stormalong Bay looks magnificent - the sun, the warmth, the sand. I am REALLY tired of winter!

Oh, the B&C meal looks delicious! Someday we will try that place. The ice cream always looks so good, but I like the simple lunch fare too - a nice break from all the fancy dining.

Don't we all just love SAB? Such a great pool and the sand bottom is just awesome.
You have not been to B&C??????? Guess I need to have a word with Miss Willow! She definitely needs an ice-cream treat there. They also have great burgers. Such a treat from all the fancy dining around WDW - they offer such nice comfort food. We love it. And we love the fact that you now can make reservations.

Tutto Gusto looks like such a pleasant option! I would love to stop in there one day. Same with La Cava. Those are places I would totally be hitting up if I were on an adults-only trip.

Willow would love your approach to Mission:SPACE - ride and ride again!

I think you could bring Willow to Tutto Gusto. We have seen quite a few kids in there and they have yummy desserts if Willow likes that kind of thing. And ....... is there any other way to ride Mission:SPACE than doing it again and again? We all need to train hard so we don't crash that thing every time we land.

Oops! Missed the last page.

Your YSH meal looks amazing! We are returning there this summer, and I am very excited about it. Not only is the food delicious, but I love a chance to wander around the Epcot resort area a bit - I will miss staying there, I think, but I'm WL will be a great change of pace.

The pictures of breakfast at Kouzina have always looked so good. Too bad it is no more. I can't believe they went with yet another Italian restaurant!

What a great idea to delay your drive and enjoy the pool for a while - truly a vacation decision!

It has taken us a while to discover Yachtsman (we had to be on the Deluxe DDP for it ) but I am so glad we did. The food is just outstanding. And the resort area is awesome - I really do understand why you said you will miss it.

Completey agree on Kouzzina. It was such a nice change from the regular fare. And then another Italian restaurant. What were they thinking?

 

[dizneeat]

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Day 22, August 28​

Goodbye Beach Club, Hello Key Largo! - Part 2


We had a look around and then decided to give Nathan’s a try as I always had wanted to eat there and we had never had a chance to do so.
There was a lot of seating, so we got in line, ordered and quickly found a table. We had ordered a

Chili Cheese Dog and some

Bacon Cheese Fries to share. I had a hard time getting decent photos as my camera was acting up again, but in the end I got some and we were ready to tuck in. The Hot Dog was really good and so were the fries, but they were so filling, so we were pretty happy that we had decided on sharing our order. When we had finished lunch we walked towards the exit, but it was still pouring down, so we decided to just explore the shops in the rest area a bit more. There was one shop that had a lot of Disney merchandise, so we were occupied for quite some time. Then we headed over to the other shop which was kind of a souvenir shop which offered some snacks as well. We picked up some M&Ms and I got myself a Key Lime Coconut Pattie to try. When we had looked at both shops for more time than we had wanted to, we headed towards the exit again and it was still raining. Not as hard as before, but it was still raining. We quickly talked about waiting some more, but then finally decided against it and made a run for it.
It was not that far to our car.
Tom and I got a little wet, but laughed it off, as in the Florida weather we would soon be dry again. So off we went again towards Key Largo.

And while Tom was busy driving I tried my

Coconut Pattie and found it nice, but not worth buying any more. It finally stopped raining

and quite some time later we finally hit the Miami area and heavy traffic again. We had actually wanted to have a late lunch at Bubba Gump’s in Miami when we had planned out our trip, but we had started much later than we had actually wanted to and had had that pit stop on the freeway, so there was only one more stop on our list before we wanted to drive straight through to Key Largo.
On one of our former trips we had by accident found a then brand new Krispy Kreme and we wanted to stop in there too. I had checked the locations on the internet and thought I had picked the correct one, but I was wrong.
The GPS took us far off our route, to a clean but small Krispy Kreme on the outskirts of Miami. But we stopped anyway, got out of the car and stretched our legs, then headed inside and got a dozen doughnuts,

some

iced coffee for Tom and a Diet Coke for myself. We sat at one of the tiny wobbly tables and got our sugar fill and enjoying our break. Again, I had trouble with my camera.
It just would not focus right and it took me quite some time and photos to get a decent photo. But we did not give it much thought and soon were in the car again and off we went. When we were back on the freeway again we were able to make some decent progress and I tried to take some photos of our drive, but now all the photos came out over exposed.
So Tom pulled over to a few shops and inspected the camera. Somehow most of the settings had switched and would switch back to a wrong position after a few photos. No fun, my camera was no longer reliable, thank god we still had Tom’s. So with the knowledge of my camera being somewhat broken we headed on towards our destination of Key Largo.

There are some parts of that drive that are fairly boring, but we made good progress and about an hour later we arrived in the area of Key Largo.

The hotel I had booked required us to drive through the town of Key Largo and then it was on our left. We had stayed there before and knew that we could park underneath the hotel and that was what we did. I picked up my paper work and we headed inside.
Check in was a breeze and we soon had a key card in hand and headed up to the higher floor I had requested to check out our room. It was way down the hallway, but when we opened the door

and walked out onto the balcony

we were rewarded with a great view of the Marina

and the hotel pool.

We were so happy with our room that it was sad we would only be staying for one night.
Next we went back to our parked car to haul up the luggage. When we had made plans we had thought that we would just leave most of our luggage in the car, but now we were no longer so sure that was a good idea, so we made several trips down to the car and brought everything up to our room. After that task had been finished we talked about what to do for dinner before it got really dark.
Initially we had wanted to have dinner in one of the restaurants nearby, but we were both a bit on the tired side and the thought of a beer and a glass of wine was more tempting than having someone serve us dinner in a restaurant. But since we were hungry we headed back to the car and drove the short distance to Publix, filled a cart with salads, cold cuts and breads, some local beer and a bottle of Silverado wine for myself and headed back to the hotel. And back in the room we had a feast in front of the telly and then just put our feet up and enjoyed the lights of the Marina and lateron watched some TV. I think we made it to bed pretty early that day, we were done, but we had accomplished quite a lot that day.


To be continued ............
​

 

[dizneeat]

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Day 23, August 29​

Key West, here we come! - Part 1


We were up early again.
There was a coffee machine in the room and so Tom brewed some coffee and we had a sweet breakfast on the balcony,

munching our leftover doughnuts. Around 8.30am we were ready to haul down our luggage again and we made several tips to the car to fit it all in again. Once we were done we checked out of the hotel, filled up the car at the gas station across the road and hit the road. But we did not drive far.
I had done a bit of research and we wanted to try one of the most recommended “restaurants” for breakfast. And one with really high praise was just about a minute down the road. When we turned into the parking area it was pretty full and had I not read all the wonderful reviews I would never ever had stopped there. But we were determined to visit Doc’s Diner.
We opened the door and it looked just “different”, but a server was right there to greet us, take us to a table and hand us a menu and then went to get some coffee and juice. The prices were unbelievable and we quickly had made a choice. And it only took a few minutes for our breakfast to come out. I had ordered

Grandma Mary’s Scramble, diced tender ham scrambled together with two large eggs, served with Hash Browns and toast and jelly. And all that for just 5.59!! I need to add that I have never seen anything like those “large” eggs. The omlet was huge. Tom’s choice had been

Flagler’s Train Wreck. It was three scrambled eggs with grilled onions, green peppers, sausage, cheddar cheese, mushrooms and bacon served with Hash Browns and toast. His serving was even bigger than mine. We sat and fought with the huge portions, but it was so good that we both ate as much as possible. Once we had left we sat outside in the car and laughed about our experience. Never judge a book by the cover or a restaurant by its outside.
We finally got on our way towards Key West.

You cannot drive fast on that street and it is good that it is that way, because a little further on the route begins to be very scenic.

So we really enjoyed a little leisurely drive and once we had made it to the Seven Mile Bridge, we stopped and got off to take some pics.


To be continued ............​

 

[MEK]

So - how long does it take to drive from Disney to Key Largo?

I can't wait until you get to Key West. I am so excited that I will be visiting it next December, even if its only for 6 hours.

Bummer about your camera. That would frustrate me to no end. Good thing you had Tom's to work with.

That food from that dinner looks unreal. Wow- cheap and super yummy food. Now that's what I'm talking about!

 

[Flossbolna]

And while Tom was busy driving I tried my

Coconut Pattie and found it nice, but not worth buying any more.

I love Coconut Patties! They sell a Mickey shaped version at WDW and I fell in love with those some time ago. I remember talking about here on the DIS and @brookelizabeth once mailed Katharina and me a whole box that she had picked up for us at WDW! Last trip I picked up a whole box from the brand that you got. And I have to say the Disney ones were better... I never got flavoured ones though, they scare me. And I love coconut enough on its own...

Again, I had trouble with my camera.

That sounds annoying!! Did it totally die for the rest of the trip?

we were rewarded with a great view of the Marina

Great balcony!! Looks like a very nice hotel!

We sat and fought with the huge portions, but it was so good that we both ate as much as possible. Once we had left we sat outside in the car and laughed about our experience. Never judge a book by the cover or a restaurant by its outside.

Those portions are scary!!!! However, the restaurant looks exactly like the places where I had my best American breakfasts on trip. We often just ask at the hotel where they recommend for breakfast and had a few similar experiences as you had. One did not even look like it was a restaurant at all from the outside.

 

[JKSWonder]

Oh, Key West! We were there for one day and I would really like to go back and stay there, but without the kids. It just looked like such a fun place with all the restaurants and bars you could walk to.

 

[dizneeat]

So - how long does it take to drive from Disney to Key Largo?

I can't wait until you get to Key West. I am so excited that I will be visiting it next December, even if its only for 6 hours.

Bummer about your camera. That would frustrate me to no end. Good thing you had Tom's to work with.

That food from that dinner looks unreal. Wow- cheap and super yummy food. Now that's what I'm talking about!

Key West to Key Largo is about a five hour drive if you don't make too many stops like we do.
We love Key West - it is so beautiful and such a fun little town. We cannot wait to return in March - for once I have no problem with what to do - we know where to go to have fun.

I actually didn't even notice it that much in the beginning, but I got annoyed when I took a nice photo and it came out overexposed. Then all my close ups came out blurry - and I mean REALLY blurry. And no matter how often we changed the settings, they would "magically" change again on their own.
I ended up using our water camera instead and got a new regular one once we got home.

I love Coconut Patties! They sell a Mickey shaped version at WDW and I fell in love with those some time ago. I remember talking about here on the DIS and @brookelizabeth once mailed Katharina and me a whole box that she had picked up for us at WDW! Last trip I picked up a whole box from the brand that you got. And I have to say the Disney ones were better... I never got flavoured ones though, they scare me. And I love coconut enough on its own...

Ahhhhhhh, I love those Mickey shaped patties! They are SO good. And good to know that you like them so much - I might be able to pick up a box for you in April. We go to Passau quite often during the year (just not in the winter - I HATE driving along the Danube when it is slippery) and we can mail it to you from there - maybe together with some more "Marillen" stuff.

As for the flavoured patties - I love all things lemon and lime, so these sounded very nice to me. Unfortunately they were very sweet and you could not really taste the lime in them, so I guess I tried it and that will be it.

That sounds annoying!! Did it totally die for the rest of the trip?

It would take perfect photos for a while, then from one photo to the next all the settings would be wrong and the photos would just be blurry and over exposed. It really bugged me a lot.
It got worse and I started using our water camera instead. Thank god, Tom had his DSLR so we got some decent photos as well.

And for once I was glad Tom insists on taking several cameras.

Those portions are scary!!!! However, the restaurant looks exactly like the places where I had my best American breakfasts on trip. We often just ask at the hotel where they recommend for breakfast and had a few similar experiences as you had. One did not even look like it was a restaurant at all from the outside.

The portions were HUGE - we could not believe it. And you would never ever have thought this was a regular restaurant, nor would I have ever thought of walking inside if I hadn't read about it on trip advisor.

Oh, Key West! We were there for one day and I would really like to go back and stay there, but without the kids. It just looked like such a fun place with all the restaurants and bars you could walk to.

Isn't it a great place for a nice vacation? We just love the location of our hotel and that we don't really need a car to get around. About everything you can walk to and there is so much to see and explore.
You definitely have to go back and explore and enjoy this cute little town.

 

[PiperGirlInWondrland]

I'm really enjoying your trip report - looks like so much fun!

 

[dizneeat]

I'm really enjoying your trip report - looks like so much fun!

Thank you for sticking with me. It was a great trip, we really enjoyed it.