A Very British Trip Report - August 2007 - Day 1

[Kevin Stringer]

Day 12 – Sunday 14th August

Me: Kev, 47.
Wife: Tam, 41.
Daughter: India, 14.
Daughter: Georgia, 11.

If you’d like to know more take a look at http://freespace.virgin.net/kevin.stringer/index.htm

Everyone seems to finally sleep properly, except Tam who is still struggling.

Around 7.14am there is a scream from downstairs. India has flushed the loo and it’s blocked. There is wastewater overflowing all over the floor. Tam rushes downstairs and takes the top off the toilet to hold up the valve and stop it from filling.
What is it with American toilets? This happened to us once before at the Boardwalk. I blame it on the sub-standard American plumbing. When we see Susan later she says that if Matt were here he would say it’s because we’re full of it. What the ‘it’ is, I’m not quite sure and I don’t think I want to know.

So, Tam is stood there in the nude holding up the valve while I ring the front desk. I’m tempted to leave Tam to her predicament, but in the end I don’t think it’s fair to submit the maintenance man to such a sight first thing in the morning. He may only have just had his breakfast.
He turns up quickly, but needs a part to fix it and says he’ll return later, which he does and fixes everything up.

We go for the free continental breakfast provided by the hotel. It’s basic stuff, but pleasant enough.
After breakfast we have a wander round Solvang. It’s a lovely place for a stroll. There are lots of side streets and all the buildings are in Danish style here as well. Everything is clean and beautifully neat. The shops are a mixture of classier gift shops, toyshops, restaurants etc. The ladies are in their element as there are many, many bakeries selling all sorts of lovely looking cakes and pastries.
At one of these we stop and have Aebelskiver, which are 3 round balls of dough (think Yorkshire Pudding type mix) fried, covered in raspberry sauce and then dusted with sugar. I can’t help thinking of Chef from South Park only these aren’t salty.

I really think Solvang is a lovely place. I know it is considered twee and contrived by many visitors, but I really enjoy it. Perhaps it’s because it’s a bit like a complete Disney town. It’s almost like stepping into a fairytale.
Strolling finished, we return to the hotel to pick up Susan’s car as she is acting as chauffeur for our wine tasting tour. Solvang is in the Santa Ynez valley and there are many vineyards around.

We stop first at the Sanford Winery. Being completely ignorant of how things work, I ask the girl what we do. You pay $5 and are given a glass. This entitles you to try 5 different wines. If you buy a bottle, it’s discounted off the price.
We try 3 white and 2 red wines while muttering things like ‘I’m getting vanilla’ and ‘it has a long oakey finish’ in an effort to appear knowledgeable. This strategy comes unstuck when we bolt back the wine at lightening speed and then wonder where the cheese is.

Our second stop is at The Moseby Winery where we have a voucher from a local advertising leaflet that allows us 2 glasses sampling another 5 wines. All the wines are excellent and we chat away to the chap pouring for a while.

Back in Solvang we drop the car off and go for lunch of sandwiches and soup. The ladies now require to satisfy their craving for sugar. The fudge kitchen is attacked and large wedges of fudge purchased. Even the women have to admit defeat and have to save some big chunks for later.

On to further wine tasting. In Solvang itself they have many shops where you can buy and taste wine. Now, I’m the first to admit I know very little about wine. I drink it and enjoy it, but if it costs more than £5 in Tesco then it usually doesn’t get past my lips.

If you want to try the tastings you can get a destination guide from the visitor centre in Solvang that enables you to try 2 wines in each shop or you can pay between $5 and $6 to sample 6 to 8 wines and you get to keep the glass. Obviously the samples are quite small, but after 3 or 4 tasting rooms you soon start to feel a bit squiffy in the warm afternoon sunshine.

We try the Mandolino tasting room first. I’m not really sure what to expect, but rather than being stuffy and pretentious, it’s actually good fun. The lady is very friendly and tells us a little about each wine. We use the voucher here so only try 2 wines.

Stoplman is next and we pay $6 for 8 wines. Again the woman serving is very friendly and we don’t feel out of place at all.
Our only poor experience is in Lions Park tasting room where we get the impression the children are not really welcome and they say they have discontinued the voucher scheme. It also costs $10 for a tasting. We pass.

Our best experience is at the Royal Oaks tasting room where it costs $5 for 6 wines. The chap that serves us has a large beard and wears a cowboy hat. He is very knowledgeable and you can tell he enjoys telling people about wine. He also says that wine is supposed to be fun and he certainly tries to make it so.
It’s a shame that we can’t buy a case of wine, but I don’t think it would be too easy to get on the plane! Costs vary, but start at $10 per bottle.

It’s strange because I usually only drink red wine, but I’ve probably enjoyed many of the white wines today more than the reds. One thing’s for sure, all the wines we have tasted are very good and I have made a decision to drink more Merlot and Syrah in the future rather than the standard Cabernet Sauvignon. I might even risk spending £6 on a bottle at Tesco.

I return to the Wine Valley Inn and sit in the little garden enjoying a beer in the late afternoon sunshine while the ladies do a little additional shopping. Tam returns only to tell that I have missed a wine tasting room from my report, Lucas and Lewellen, where we tried a Pinot Grigio 2004, a Toccata 2002, a Rosato 2003 and a Sangiovese.
Pinot Grigio reminds me of a Mexican bandit. ‘Hey Grigio! We don’t need no steenkin’ badges’.

Showers are taken and at 7.00pm it’s time to go out and eat. We are going to the Hitching Post 2 in Buellton. This restaurant was made famous by the film Sideways as was much of the Santa Ynez valley.
We have reservations for 8.00pm, but arrive at 7.05pm to enjoy a drink. Just after we get our pre-dinner drinks we are told our table is ready. They have had a cancellation and have booked us in early.

The whole meal is a joy as we have great food and good company. Meals are varied, but I have a really good 10oz steak, which must be 1 ½ inches thick and perfectly cooked. The Hitching Post house Syrah is also very good at $22 a bottle.

The conversation covers many topics, but inevitably gets around to what we will be doing in Disneyland. Tam (the unbeliever) is now outnumbered 4 to 1 and so has to give in and starts to get enthusiastic about the whole Disney part of the trip.
Wine, beer, good food and fun company. An ideal dining experience.

We ring for the taxi for the return journey and he turns up bang on time. A punctual taxi driver who is friendly, an unusual experience for a Brit.

Back to the room where Susan arrives with flip-flops and bits of material. All the ladies sit around on the floor ripping bits of fabric and making decorated flip-flops. They all seem to enjoy it immensely. Strange the things that keep women happy.
I briefly consider joining in and decorating a pair with bottle tops, but I’m too lazy, so I lie on the couch watching all the strenuous activity and generally making a nuisance of myself with unhelpful comments.
Off to bed at 11.00pm.
In case you’re wondering about temperature lady, we gave her the day off. She’s had a hard week.

 

[Ron from Michigan]

Thanks for another great post Kevin. We also really enjoyed Solvang and the surrounding wineries.

 

[Kevin Stringer]

Day 13 – Monday 15th August

Me: Kev, 47.
Wife: Tam, 41.
Daughter: India, 14.
Daughter: Georgia, 11.

If you’d like to know more take a look at http://freespace.virgin.net/kevin.stringer/index.htm

Tam and I wake around 7.30am. Packing is started as we are moving to West Hollywood today. It’s been quite a pain staying no more than 3 days in any one place. You never really get to unpack properly, but I suppose that’s the price you pay for moving around so much. On the plus side, you see much more of the state than you would with just a 2-centre holiday.

It’s overcast outside so I try to ask temperature lady how warm it is, but she’s in a huff and refuses to talk about the weather until the sun comes out.
It’s at this point that our second minor disaster occurs. The spare camcorder battery has been charging and I go to put it back in the camcorder carrying case. Now where did I put it? Nowhere apparently. We definitely had it at the Hitching Post last night and now it cannot be found. Not only does it contain the camcorder, it also has all of the tape we have taken to date.
We MUST have left it at the Hitching Post. When I say ‘we’ read ‘me’ as I’m usually in charge of carrying the thing around. Tam has the sort of look on her face that suggests she would like to introduce certain dangly parts of my anatomy to some sort of clamping device at the earliest possible opportunity.

We meet Susan for breakfast and she has kindly talked to the front desk and found out that the Hitching Post does not open until 5.00pm, but there might be somebody there this morning. I ring and talk to a lady doing the baking. She doesn’t know where the lost and found is, but says that the secretary is due in around 9.30am.
We finish breakfast, pack up the car and head off up the road the couple of miles it takes to reach the Hitching Post. The secretary is not there so we wait for a while. At 9.45am she arrives and we explain the situation. She goes to look for us and Tam and I wait on tenterhooks. She returns triumphant, camcorder in hand.
Tam, me and my dangly bits breath a huge sigh of relief.
By the way, if you are ever in a sticky predicament, Susan is the woman to have in your corner. She is so calm when I’m running around waving my arms about and shouting ‘Don’t panic! Don’t panic!’

The plan now is to drive to L.A. airport to drop off Susan’s car, as she will be joining us for the rest of the trip.
On the way we stop off in Santa Barbara and have a walk along the pier. I can imagine this must be a very pretty place when the sun’s shining; unfortunately it’s still dull.

We continue along Highway 1 through Malibu, me in front with Tam and Susan following womanfully behind. She has the girls in the car with her and Tam and I are tempted to floor it and leave them with her. Sadly she also has the Disney tickets, so we have to abandon this plan.

We arrive at the National car hire return at LAX and Susan drops off her car. We then go straight to the Encounter restaurant, which is situated right on the airport. This is a space age style restaurant, which Susan tells us they called in Disney imagineers to help re-design. It’s a weird round building supported on a centre pillar and 3 legs. You go up in an elevator, which plays spacey music and reminds me a bit of the elevators in Disney Quest.
The main restaurant is round with huge glass windows overlooking the airport. It’s a very unusual design and a great place to eat. Even the toilets are spectacular with work surfaces inlaid with many different colours and bright red and blue lights set into the walls. I want to take a photo, but I think the sight of me exiting the loo with a camera and a big smile on my face is not an image I want to portray to the world. I send Tam instead.
The lunch here is mostly sandwiches, soups, salads etc. and is ok. Not wonderful, but ok. It was great to see the restaurant and Susan says it’s lit in different colours at night.

Back in the car we head for Le Parc in West Hollywood, which is going to be our home for the next 3 nights. Susan’s directions sound like they are straight out of a film. Drive up La Cienaga, turn left on Melrose.
Susan has stayed at Le Parc many times before and recommended it. We check-in about 4.30pm and go to look at our rooms. They are excellent with a kitchen and living area with a step up to the bedroom and bathroom. There is a TV in the living area and a huge plasma screen on the wall in the bedroom. It’s very nicely decorated.

The girls are going to stay in Susan’s room and they aren’t so lucky as their room doesn’t have the plasma TV.
We need provisions so go looking for a supermarket. Down Santa Monica Boulevard, Wilshire, Le Brea etc. We can’t find anything so head back to Le Parc to lug the suitcases up to the room while Susan asks where the nearest store is.
Tam wants to get the girls some trainers so we walk the half a mile or so to the Beverley Centre. On the way we pass a shop called Trashy Lingerie and Susan takes a picture as she’s sure this is the sort of establishment that would appeal to Matt. She’s right.

In the Centre we eventually find some trainers for the girls in the Skechers store. Kev is not a happy bunny both with the shopping trip and the bill in the Skechers store, which comes to $120. I’m told this is less than would be paid in the UK. Oh yeah, a real bargain.

Back to Le Parc where Tam and India stay to unpack while the rest of us go to get provisions. On the way we pass the Le Brea Tar Pits. Hmmmm….. if Tam goes on any more spending sprees I’ll know just where to dispose of the body.

It’s now 8.00pm and we walk up the road to a fast food place called Koo Koo Roo, which mostly serves chicken.
We share a family chicken meal with mashed potatoes, corn and Caesar salad. It’s good enough to fill us all up and cheap at $22.

Back to Le Parc and the ladies want to use the hot tub. We go up to the roof pool where it is now dark. It’s very pretty with candles in large glass lanterns set around the pool and hot tub. You can look out across the Hollywood Hills and it’s a great view. The pool area is really lovely.

In the hot tub (which is really only warm) we chat away for a while. On the way in we passed all sorts of weird places including somewhere offering colonic irrigation. Tam says she has always wanted to try this. Told you she’s strange. I suggest that if she were to sit closer to one of the hot tub water jets she could get one for free.

Back to the room where I write up my trip report and watch a little TV. Did I mention our massive plasma TV?

 

[mickman1962]

That was the worst report you have ever written! You didn't use the word BEER once. Shame on you.

 

[Laura]

I love all of your trip reports! Keep it coming!

 

[Hsminnie]

That was the worst report you have ever written! You didn't use the word BEER once. Shame on you.

Amen brother. So much for boring and repetitive.

BTW Kev, I'm a closet VBTR junky so many thanks for the fix. I really think someone should leave you and the girls a large fortune so you can quit pretending to work between these trips and do what comes most naturally. (Disney and shopping obviously.)

 

[Kevin Stringer]

Amen brother. So much for boring and repetitive.

BTW Kev, I'm a closet VBTR junky so many thanks for the fix. I really think someone should leave you and the girls a large fortune so you can quit pretending to work between these trips and do what comes most naturally. (Disney and shopping obviously.)

Now there's thought. I like it Hsminnie. (Apart from the shopping element)

Mickman - say it's not true! I may have failed to mention it, but I certailny didn't fail to drink it. I had to relax in the hot tub somehow.

Kev

 

[Hsminnie]

Now there's thought. I like it Hsminnie. (Apart from the shopping element)

Kev

Let it go Kev, it will never end. Dh has 4 women plus now his MIL. At 13, 10 and 4 they ALL love to shop. It is genetic. Like the inexplicable longing for beer.

 

[Diznenut]

We continue along Highway 1 through Malibu, me in front with Tam and Susan following womanfully behind. She has the girls in the car with her and Tam and I are tempted to floor it and leave them with her. Sadly she also has the Disney tickets, so we have to abandon this plan

I think Tam knows how to keep you in check!!!!


Thanks for the marvelous trip report!

 

[Kevin Stringer]

Go east young man. Or at least, go to the east coast, which is actually going west from the UK. So, more accurately – go west to go east young man.
I wish I hadn’t started this now.

This year’s expedition is another monster. A 3 week exploration down the east(ish) coast of the United States.

I’ll tell you who’s going first and then where.

Me, Kev, 49. Good lord, is it that time already? Nearly 50. How time flies when you’re waiting for the next holiday. Still, it’s amazing how handsome, virile and intelligent I continue to be. No, wait ….. that should be irksome, sterile and belligerent. It’s nearly the same though.

Good lady wife, Tam, 43. Still thinks she’s 21, not that I’m discouraging such activity. Embarrasses the girls with her dancing at the drop of a hat, which is all well and good in the privacy of your own home, but gyrating around to the elevator music playing in the frozen goods section of Tesco is not to be encouraged.

India, eldest daughter, approaching 17. She’s now left school and will be starting college on our return from this holiday to begin her International Baccalaureate. What’s wrong with good old O levels, that’s what I want to know. They never did me any harm and set me on my career path as a high level lavatory attendant, but let’s not get bogged down. Let’s just say I’ve been flushed with success.

Georgia, youngest daughter, approaching 14. Why both my children are ‘approaching’ their next birthdays, I don’t know. Perhaps I should make an announcement – ‘The birthday now arriving at daughter two is the nearly 14 for Georgia. Mind the gap please’.
Not yet too old for a cuddle with her daddy, yet somehow still wants to stay up well after her bedtime on a school night. I’ve told her on more than one occasion ‘Finish your bread and water and get off to bed. It’s nearly 7.30’.

There will also be a few more participants who will be joining us later in the proceedings.

A bit of background.

In a fit of stupidity, I agreed that Tam could have the choice of holiday for the next 2 years. This was not a good move as the likelihood of a trip to WDW was about as remote as the little thing with buttons you press to change channel on your TV. Remote indeed.
After much deliberation Tam decided she quite liked the idea of visiting Hilton Head using our DVC membership. She then thought that a few days in New York would be nice as well as the girls have never been there.
These plans were discussed with our good friends Deb and Matt who confused things further by suggesting that we would also enjoy the Blue Ridge Parkway as they had driven it a few years ago. A few nights in North Carolina or Tennessee were pencilled in. The plan was for Deb and Matt to join us there and for the Hilton Head stay. Deb then pointed out (rather sensibly the little darling) that we would be flying out of Orlando, so why not add on a few nights there and make it a three-week vacation.
Tam’s ‘Disney-less’ holiday plans foundered on the reef of Deb style pressure. This generally involved a conversation along the lines of the following:

Deb: ‘How about adding a week onto the holiday and staying in WDW?’
Tam: ‘No way’
Deb: ‘Here, have a pint of Old Furbunglers Armpit Rotter (now with added toe nail clippings)’
- 5pints later -
Deb: ‘How about adding a week onto the holiday and staying in WDW?’
Tam: ‘Woohoo!’

Events transpired against us somewhat and it turned out that it was very difficult for Deb and Matt to join us until the Orlando element of the holiday.
So the amended itinerary is as follows:

Friday 3rd August – Matt (being the handsome and kind hearted young devil that he is) has offered to drive me, Tam and the girls to Heathrow where we will spend a night at the Marriott.

Saturday 4th and Sunday 5th August – fly to New York. Stay two nights with Tam’s friend Elaine. Elaine has lived in the States for many years and married a fine American gentleman called Michael several years ago. They now have two young children and live in Short Hills, New Jersey.

Monday 6th and Tuesday 7th August – 2 nights in the Waldorf Astoria. We looked at loads of hotels and they were either booked or just didn’t take our fancy. Tam wanted the girls to have the ‘wow’ factor when they walked into their first New York hotel and somehow managed to talk me into staying at the Waldorf.
Plans in New York include a bus tour, Circle Line cruise, Top of the Rock, Central Park and the Guggenheim Museum.

Wednesday 8th – Saturday 11th August – Fly to Charlotte, North Carolina. Pick up a car and drive to Lake Watauga in Tennessee. Here we have booked a fantastic looking log cabin overlooking the lake.
I must be turning into a soft touch. The first time Tam showed me the cabin I said ‘That looks nice’. She then showed me the price and I said ‘Swindon Town have got more chance of promotion than you have got to me agreeing to book that’. Well, Swindon Town did get promotion and Tam booked the cabin.
We intend to take full advantage of the cabins facilities including the hot tub, gas BBQ and kayaking from the dock.
Tam has also booked for us all to go white water rafting. Now, I have to say that the words ‘white water’ and ‘rafting’ do not belong together in my vocabulary. ‘White water’ and ‘relaxing’ or ‘white water’ and ‘beer drinking’ perhaps, but ‘white water’ and ‘rafting’, never. They may need to change it to ‘white water rafting and screaming like a girly’.

Sunday 12th August – Thursday 16th August – drive to Hilton Head staying at Disney’s Hilton Head Resort using DVC points. This will be a fair old drive, approx 350 miles. While here we will spend one day visiting Savannah and one day in Charleston. After our back to nature experience in Tennessee, I also intend to enjoy some excellent dining as it looks like there are many nice restaurants here, along with the required alcoholic beverages of course.

Friday 17th August and Saturday 18th August – drive to WDW and book into the Port Orleans Riverside resort. Tam and I really like this place and we needed somewhere to stay for a couple of nights before using our DVC membership for the rest of our holiday.
It is here that we will meet up with the rest of our party. You already know Deb and Matt – they will be staying at Saratoga Springs. Also joining us will be Susan and Lu Beth. If you have read any of my previous reports you will know these ladies reasonably well. This will be the 4th time Susan has vacationed with us, god help the poor woman. She lives in Tulsa and has to spend almost as long in a plane as we do to get to WDW.
Lu Beth is Susan’s best friend and lives in North Carolina. Lu Beth enjoys a Guinness and I’m relying on these two to keep Matt under control. I’m not having a repeat of the great cucumber and sun tan lotion incident of ’05, we’re still banned from that church.

We will all be meeting up at Raglan Road on the first night, so a few beers will be compulsory. Also on the itinerary for this section of the holiday is a trip to the Adventurers Club. We all enjoyed this so much last year we’re going back for more humiliation.

Sunday 19th August – Saturday 25th August – move to the Villas at Wilderness Lodge. This will be a first for us and we are all looking forward to staying here.
We will also be trying the Disney Dining Plan for the first time. I’m not convinced it will save us much money, but it will be nice to walk into a restaurant and order whatever you want off the menu without thinking about it.
Restaurants on the agenda include:
Victoria and Albert’s. Not on the dining plan obviously. How did I get talked into this? Even the girls are joining us this time! I think the credit card may need to go for a long lie down after this one.
Artist Point.
Yachtsman’s Steakhouse.
Teppanyaki in Japan, Epcot.

We are also planning a return to Jellyrolls where we will meet up with Joh and Gary, friends from the DIS Boards. If I Had a Million Dollars will be sung with much gusto, if a little tunelessly.

Another golfing day for Matt and I is on the cards. I’ve had lessons recently (as has Tam) so I’m hoping for an improvement on the last Florida golfing debacle. I now know which end of the stick to hold and understand that you put the little ball on top of a tee and swing wildly at it before swearing.
The ladies are planning a spa day while we are swinging and swearing. Tam says she is paying for this by selling stuff on ebay. I hardly see the £1.50 she received for her interesting collection of used chewing gum going far.

So that’s it. Our first visit to the States in August. We know it’s going to be hot and maybe wet at times, but with so much to do and so many places to visit I think it’s going to be a good one.

Kev

 

[zigzagzerr]

I have been a fan of your reports for a number of years, and I'm so happy to be posting first (hopefully)!

Believe it or not, we will be in WDW the same week that you are, so will be looking for you -- although not in a bad stalking kinda way!

(OT: Please fill us in the NY portion of your trip also, since we're thinking about doing that next summer and would like your thoughts.)

We'll be on the Dining Plan also, but will be in the low rent district of Port Orleans French Quarter waving at you high falutin' folks at the Wilderness Lodge, and we also won't be joining you at Victoria and Alberts.

Seriously, hope you have a marvelous trip and I'm so glad you're writing a trip report. Thanks!

 

[Kevin Stringer]

Who’s goin’:

Me: Kev, 49. I think I’ll be permanently 49 from now on.
Wifey: Tam, 43. I guess that means she can be permanently 43.
Daughter 1: India, 16.
Daughter 2: Georgia, 13.
There will be a few interlopers along the way as well.

The morning at work goes pretty quickly with only a few minor crises to deal with.
Just after 1.00pm we return home to shower and do the last bit of packing.

Before we set off on holiday we have one of life’s less pleasant tasks to attend to. My uncle died recently and we are going to his funeral. Although he was 86, it’s still a sad day for my mum as he’s the last of her 3 brothers. He was a really interesting man to talk to, as his reminiscences of a by-gone age were fascinating. He used to tell me of working on the farm all day before going to the local pub where the men would joke with each other over who had ploughed the most crooked furrow.
I guess that sense of community is a long gone thing in most places. This is not the most auspicious start to a holiday, but I’m glad we were around to say farewell to Frank.

Our good friend Matt is picking us up at 4.30pm to take us to Heathrow to stay in a hotel overnight. We make repeated attempts to use Virgin on-line check-in, but the web site keeps telling us we can’t. Damn rude if you ask me. Just as Matt is about to arrive I try for one last time. Success! Perhaps the web site is a bit temperamental. Maybe it’s female and has PMT. Who knows?

Matt drives us to Heathrow where we are staying in the Marriott for the night. Despite the exterior he might wish to portray, Matt has a heart of gold. We say farewell to him and look forward to seeing him and Deb in WDW in 2 weeks time.

The Marriott is a very nice hotel. Primarily aimed at the business market, it costs about £160 to stay there during the week, but we only had to pay £60 to stay on a Friday night, an absolute bargain. I would put it on a par with the Sofitel in Gatwick.
Checked in and bags dropped off in the room, we venture forth to the bar for a drinkie. £3.40 for a pint of Boddingtons is pretty good by hotel standards. I’m starting to relax into holiday mode.

I’d read on the internet that there is as Italian restaurant just up the road, so we walk up to take a look. We are not impressed (as Queen Victoria might have said). It looks a bit like a greasy spoon café. Not the sort of place to get the holiday off to a great start.

Back to the Marriott where we decide to eat at the American Grille. There is a special offer of a 3-course meal and 2 glasses of wine for £23. The menu is somewhat limited for this deal, but the 2 glasses of wine swing it. We’re in thank you garcon. There is a 30 minute wait so we adjourn to the bar.
At this point Georgia says that she is so hungry she could eat a fish! When asked what sort of fish, she replies ‘A big one’. I suppose there is a warped sort of logic in there somewhere.
Into the restaurant and we enjoy a meal that is actually slightly better than I was anticipating. Nacho’s, chicken strips (very good), burgers, pasta and Portobello sandwiches are enjoyed. Dessert is apple and walnut tart along with lemon sorbet. Tam pronounces that the apple and walnut tart tastes like Port Orleans Riverside. Lord knows how a dessert can taste like a resort, but we nod earnestly in agreement for fear of offending the mad woman and ending up with a knife in the back.

It is at this point in the proceedings that the conversation turns to a possible performance of ‘The Old Grey Mare’ by my good self. For those of you not intimately acquainted with The Simpsons, this refers to an episode where Krusty the Clown is down on his luck and offers to drop his trousers for $1 and shuffle around while singing The Old Grey Mare.
Now I don’t like to blow my own trumpet, but I have to say that my own rendition of said classic is a thing of beauty to behold.
I offer to perform for the ladies later. This is not met with overwhelming enthusiasm. The full length window in our room overlooks the atrium and the bar, so I ponder whether a complete (and naked) performance of The Old Grey Mare in front of the window might not illicit the sort of critical acclaim my artistic talent has been crying out for. The look on the faces of the women persuades me otherwise. The world must wait further for this wondrous sight.

It is now 9.45pm and Tam is yawning. The ladies retire to the boudoir, so I head for the bar.
A couple of Coronas and an hour or so are spent writing up the trip report.
God, I love this part of the holiday. All the experiences to come lie before us. There will be new places to visit alongside things we know we are going to enjoy as we have done them many times in the past. One thing’s for sure, we ain’t holding back on this holiday, it’s going to be all action.

Are you sure I can’t interest you in a few bars of The Old Grey Mare?

Kev

 

[50 years Too!]

Yay, you've started!
I've been eagerly awaiting your trip report.

 

[Backstage_Gal]

YAY!!! i haven't even started reading yet, but another Kevin Stringer report calls for a big CHEER

 

[HoneyPooh]

Love your trip reports, but could you please stop telling me how old your girls are?! They are making me feel very old because I remember how old they were when I first started reading your reports . If you insist on reminding me of my age I will have to hunt you down.

Now, get back to work on the report

 

[AshClan]

Ya Hoo!! The Stringers are back!!

I've been a big fan of your reports for ages and have watched your girls grow up right along with my boys, who are 15 and 13. I can't wait to hear all the details of what is sure to be a fabulous trip!

So, go on, Kev, keep us entertained (and let us live vicariously through you)!!

 

[KimAshton]

Subscribing cannot wait to read more.

 

[tinawv]

I was scrolling down through the trip reports, and all of a sudden my eyes got big when I saw this: "A Very British Trip Report - August 2007 - Day 1". At this time a certain song ran through my head. It goes something like this: "I'm so excited that I just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control and I think I like it."

 

[disneydance]

Ok so i'm in your TR is off to a great start!!!

 

[WDW Poly Princess]

Yay! I always love your reports!