Day 4 (03 Aug 12) - Grumpy Alert at Florida Mall
Trip Intro/Index here.
With our luggage sorted the previous night, all that was left to do was to pack our final few things. Bell services were called to assist us with the copious amounts of luggage, and the car was ready to hit the road for the long drive to Old Key West.
Check in at OKW seemed to be causing a problem at first our reservation couldnt be found (cue panic stations), but after 5 minutes it appeared on the screen. We had requested a studio located neat to the Turtle Shack pool, and we were allocated a top floor studio in building 37 absolutely fine for us. As the room was not available, we left our luggage with bell services and headed over to DTD to have breakfast at Wolfgang Puck Express, and make our first use of the DDP for this year.
After enjoying the food, we set off for Premium Outlets on Vineland Ave and busy it was too. It appears there was a tax-free weekend at some of the malls, so a few purchases were made mainly from the cosmetic shop, and much looking in shops was undertaken (cue usual disinterested male pose!!). A quick slice of pizza for Alex, and we were on our way to Florida Mall.
Rather than head up I-Drive and Sand Lake Road, we decided to cut across to Orange Blossom Trail (hope this is the right road name!!) and up to the Florida Mall. However, this wasnt the best move as we ended up stuck in a lot of traffic at the junction with the Turnpike and 528. And just when (from a male point of view) you thought things couldnt get any worse, it started spitting (said in the manner of Peter Kay) which very quickly turned into a full blown storm. On arrival at the Florida Mall, I ended up dropping the two shoppers at an entrance and I went to park. After a few minutes, the rain had subsided sufficiently for me to make a dash for it and join them in JC Pennys.
Just as we exited this shop into the mall itself, the alarms started going off as Joanne said, must have been a Grumpy detector!! We stood around waiting to see if the mall was to be evacuated, but everyone seemed to be carrying on with their business, so much to my dismay, we carried on shopping. A visit to Saks for some Clinique, a pharmacist for some eye drops for Joanne as it seemed that the water at Aquatica had caused some problems, then the Hollister nightclub for some tax-free clothes for Alex saw us done.
However, the traffic on the return journey to the 528 was as bad as when we came in, and it took us some considerable time to get back to OKW. We had a 7:30 reservation at T-Rex at DTD this evening, and our delayed journey back meant that we just had enough time to get changed and out again. We were called into the restaurant at 7:30 on the dot, proving the worth of e-mailing/calling ahead for a reservation slot others were being told of an hours wait.
The theming of T-Rex we thought was really good, and we had an excellent server. Our mains were the ribs/chicken (Boneyard Buffet), the steak/shrimp/scallops with rice, and one fish and chips for the fussy eater. Desserts were the cheesecake, sorbet and an ice cream. Total would have been $121, but just a $22 tip using a TS credit.
Trip Intro/Index here.
With our luggage sorted the previous night, all that was left to do was to pack our final few things. Bell services were called to assist us with the copious amounts of luggage, and the car was ready to hit the road for the long drive to Old Key West.
Check in at OKW seemed to be causing a problem at first our reservation couldnt be found (cue panic stations), but after 5 minutes it appeared on the screen. We had requested a studio located neat to the Turtle Shack pool, and we were allocated a top floor studio in building 37 absolutely fine for us. As the room was not available, we left our luggage with bell services and headed over to DTD to have breakfast at Wolfgang Puck Express, and make our first use of the DDP for this year.
After enjoying the food, we set off for Premium Outlets on Vineland Ave and busy it was too. It appears there was a tax-free weekend at some of the malls, so a few purchases were made mainly from the cosmetic shop, and much looking in shops was undertaken (cue usual disinterested male pose!!). A quick slice of pizza for Alex, and we were on our way to Florida Mall.
Rather than head up I-Drive and Sand Lake Road, we decided to cut across to Orange Blossom Trail (hope this is the right road name!!) and up to the Florida Mall. However, this wasnt the best move as we ended up stuck in a lot of traffic at the junction with the Turnpike and 528. And just when (from a male point of view) you thought things couldnt get any worse, it started spitting (said in the manner of Peter Kay) which very quickly turned into a full blown storm. On arrival at the Florida Mall, I ended up dropping the two shoppers at an entrance and I went to park. After a few minutes, the rain had subsided sufficiently for me to make a dash for it and join them in JC Pennys.
Just as we exited this shop into the mall itself, the alarms started going off as Joanne said, must have been a Grumpy detector!! We stood around waiting to see if the mall was to be evacuated, but everyone seemed to be carrying on with their business, so much to my dismay, we carried on shopping. A visit to Saks for some Clinique, a pharmacist for some eye drops for Joanne as it seemed that the water at Aquatica had caused some problems, then the Hollister nightclub for some tax-free clothes for Alex saw us done.
However, the traffic on the return journey to the 528 was as bad as when we came in, and it took us some considerable time to get back to OKW. We had a 7:30 reservation at T-Rex at DTD this evening, and our delayed journey back meant that we just had enough time to get changed and out again. We were called into the restaurant at 7:30 on the dot, proving the worth of e-mailing/calling ahead for a reservation slot others were being told of an hours wait.
The theming of T-Rex we thought was really good, and we had an excellent server. Our mains were the ribs/chicken (Boneyard Buffet), the steak/shrimp/scallops with rice, and one fish and chips for the fussy eater. Desserts were the cheesecake, sorbet and an ice cream. Total would have been $121, but just a $22 tip using a TS credit.
