Disney Gives Me the Warm Fuzzies. January 2010 PreTrip Report. Update 11/6 Pg. 79

[mickeysmyboy]

Plan 3.0 looks fabulous!! Even with a wrinkle in it!!

You ladies are going to have such a great time!!

Congrats on the weight loss! You must be so excited! Hope your recovery is still going well and your feeling great!

 

[Lady Lallie]

3.0 looks great!!!! All those yummy choices, is making me so hungry.....for DISNEY FOOD!!!! YUMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!

Happy Belated Birthday again sweetie!

Thank you! You are going to be munching on Disney food before you know it!

Hey LL!!! YOUR 3.0 plan looks wonderful! Great choices, and how cool that you get a lift to the airport from a friend!!! This trip sounds just perfect! I think the whole week will make a big difference! Good for you! Great news on your speedy recovery... I need to get myself some new Disney books, I don't know if I will have time in the next two weeks, but definitely for Christmas!

I'm really excited about the full week. It's going to be great.

I'm recovering very well. I still get tired pretty easily but I'm moving around, getting out of the house and exercising.

3.0 looks good! Dare I say that we enjoyed our meal at Coral Reef more than Le Cellier...-gasp I know.
Can't wait for the shoe/bag discusions to begin.

We had Coral Reef last September and it was good but I think we liked the atmosphere better than the food. I'm already debating that ADR.

Sorry I missed your birthday. So Happy Belated Birthday! ! !

Congratulations on the weight loss!!!!!

Wow to 3.0!!! This is one awesome plan!!!

Wow!! A whole week, almost free flights, a good appt. with your surgeon and your hubby cleaning house = !!

Yes please to Concord pictures!

Thank you. Yes this week has been good trip planning week! I'm even more excited than I was a week ago and I'm trying to come up with a countdown idea for myself to make.

Man, this thread moves fast! I hadn't even commented on 2.0 yet, I don't think. Your plans and restaurant choices look really good.

That is what happens when I'm bored!

Plan 3.0 looks fabulous!! Even with a wrinkle in it!!

You ladies are going to have such a great time!!

Congrats on the weight loss! You must be so excited! Hope your recovery is still going well and your feeling great!

I am really excited about the weight loss. I think I can finally see it in my face which is so encouraging and why I got up this morning and went for a walk before I did anything else.

 

[Lady Lallie]

On Saturday Marc & I took my new GPS and headed to Concord, MA to tour some of the Historical sites. We used to live right near Concord so we had been there before but it hadn't been a planned trip so we were unprepared.

This time we packed bottled water, wore our sneakers and brought the camera.

We were disappointed to find that my GPS that I had named Edward had no boy voices. We tried downloading a boy voice but the only one available was CREEPY sounding. So we settled on the female British voice. We toyed with Mary as in Mary Poppins, I didn't like that. We tried Poppins but it didn't quite feel right. We even tried Nanny for a bit. Meh. I settled on Julie as in Julie Andrews. Practically Perfect if you ask me.

Here is Julie leading us to Concord.

Don't you love her pink car? I even downloaded the Black Pearl! Can you believe that? I meant to change the car to take a pic but I forgot. How is Julie Disney related? Well Marc & I are planning on driving to Disney next year so Julie will be leading the way.

Our first stop was the North Bridge Visitor's Center.

We bought a few thing in the visitor's center. A deck of playing cards that have the signers of the Declaration of Independence on them. A book about Louisa May Alcott and her father and lastly a map of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery.

We moved on to tour the grounds. They were so pretty! We had been to North Bridge before, which is where the first shot of the Revolutionary War was shot so it was neat to see it from this angle.

I had Marc take a picture of me so you could see my weight loss progress thus far. Not too noticeable me thinks.

We took these long winding paths around the vistor's center. They were so beautiful. It was a perfect day outside.

They had this darling little Mobile Tea Room. It was adorable!

Next up, we went to the other side of the North Bridge to see the Old Manse.

We didn't go inside the actual house but I drooled over all the awesome books in the Museum Shop. My goodness! I could have spent a small fortune in there. Some of my favorite things were the household manuals that were written by women. Just fascinating. Next time I go I will have a book budget!

At this point we were feeling quite hungry. Before we had left the house Marc had found a cafe where we could get things to go and have a little picnic. We headed there and ordered our food and took it to the little center knoll in Concord near the Colonial Inn.

What Minnie TR is complete without food porn?

Marc had the Turkey BLT. He also got to eat the little side salad that came with my meal because I can't have that yet.

I ordered Cream of Broccoli Soup which was very yummy. I had ambitions to have a little bit of scrambled eggs in the form of quiche but they only had veggie quiche and there were too many veggies to dig around. Marc had a little bit of it. My soup came with homemade corn bread and I won't lie, I had too little nibbles of it. That probably didn't even make up one full bite.

Overall very good. I think I'll like getting lunch from there again when I can actually eat something other than soup. They had burritos that just sounded YUMMY.

We stopped in the Visitor's Center in the center of town and got some more maps. While we were walking back to the car, my feet started to bother me. I had worn my new sneakers, well new-ish at this point and my double layer socks to test them out. I felt a few hot spots on the side of my toes especially and made the executive decision to head to CVS to get some blister products. I bought one of the bandaid brand friction sticks and it worked like a charm! I put it on my feet and I had no more problems! Crisis averted. I think that is a good sign for Disney.

Next we headed to Orchard House where Louisa May Alcott lived.

We decided to take the tour of the house, it has been something I've wanted to do since I moved to Massachusetts. The only bad thing about the tour is that you couldn't take pictures, which I understand. It was about an hour long and it was AMAZING.

80% of what is in the Alcott House was owned by the Alcotts. It's amazing how well preserved the house is. I think the tourguide said it became a Museum in 1910 or 1911, not 100% sure of that date but it was somewhere around then.

There were tons of May's paintings (Louisa's youngest sister who was "Amy" in Little Women). In May's room she had drawn on her windows and walls and they had preserved her pencil drawings. It was truly amazing. In Louisa's room they had her overnight bag and the half moon desk that she drew on. We also learned that the man who did the Lincoln Statue in Washington DC studied sculpture under May. I thought that was amazing! We learned a lot, I almost wished I had taken notes it was that informative!

After the tour, I made a few purchases. One of Louisa May Alcott's books I haven't read and a magnet with a drawing of her and her sisters.

At this point I was feeling exhausted. I had done a lot of walking but I didn't want to miss out on...Sleepy Hollow Cemetery!

The Alcott Family Plot. Louisa was born on the same day as her father's birthday and they both died in 1888 within two days of each other.

The grave behind Louisa's is that of her nephew. She adopted him when he was around the age of 18, she did this because at the time when an unmarried woman died her money went to the state and she didn't want this to happen. Her nephew managed her money for her and he and his brother were the ones who preserved the family's things and the house.

Sleepy Hollow Cemetery is HUGE. It has multiple entrances and the map is extensive.

We checked out a few more graves but I didn't really take pictures. I was fading out at this point.

It was a most excellent day and I'm really glad we went up there. There is still so many places we haven't explored that we want too. We were thinking of going back with my parents in a few weeks but I think we might go to Plimouth Plantation instead.

 

[jordanyosh]

Marc had the Turkey BLT. He also got to eat the little side salad that came with my meal because I can't have that yet.

The sandwich looks awesome.

Someday, when I can tear myself away from WDW, I'd like to do a historical tour through the mid-Atlantic states up to New England.

My brother now lives in Eastern Conn. so I'd have a place to stay.

Ain't history fun? I love it.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

LL I must say that you look marvelous! I can totally see the weight loss! Way to go girl!!
We drove through Concord one day a few years ago when we were vacationing in Boston. I wish we had done more research and had stopped to see all the sights! I love history! It looks like you saw some incredible pieces of our American Adventure!
I'll bet you were tired but it looked like a beautiful day to be out and I'm glad you did it. Your soup looked very yummy, I soooo love soup!
We also visited Plimoth Plantation and had the best time there. I hope you go, and take tons of pictures!

 

[Lady Lallie]

The sandwich looks awesome.

Someday, when I can tear myself away from WDW, I'd like to do a historical tour through the mid-Atlantic states up to New England.

My brother now lives in Eastern Conn. so I'd have a place to stay.

Ain't history fun? I love it.

It really looked awesome in person. The bread smelled amazing too.

I love History. It makes me want to go back to school and finish my History degree. Sigh. Someday.

LL I must say that you look marvelous! I can totally see the weight loss! Way to go girl!!
We drove through Concord one day a few years ago when we were vacationing in Boston. I wish we had done more research and had stopped to see all the sights! I love history! It looks like you saw some incredible pieces of our American Adventure!
I'll bet you were tired but it looked like a beautiful day to be out and I'm glad you did it. Your soup looked very yummy, I soooo love soup!
We also visited Plimoth Plantation and had the best time there. I hope you go, and take tons of pictures!

Thanks Wigd! My mom says she can really notice it too. I think it's hard to see weight loss in your self.

Anytime you come back up here I will help you plan and tour! Sometimes when you live close to these places you forget that they are here if you know what I mean. I think Marc & I are going to make a list of places to go this fall and next summer. They make awesome day trips!

 

[Sarilas]

LL, that is like my dream excursion you're taking! So amazing, and I didn't have any idea about Louisa adopting her nephew.

Awesome!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Cool update! Looks like a fun mini trip.

 

[Charleston Princess]

I loved reading the story behind all your pictures from Saturday. What a nice outing! I thought Concord was so pretty when we visited there, and my favorite part was visiting Orchard House. I bought a copy of Little Women there and a poster that was a print of an owl that May had painted for Louisa (she always called her owl). I so wanted to be Jo when I was little.

Lunch looks delicious!!!

 

[Happydog]

Hey LL!!! What a great day trip! I have not been to New England/Concord, salem, etc. for several years, like a decade I'd say.... BUT I remember thinking it was just so cool... I have been to those very stops! So many places to walk about. The best type of day trip! Good for you! I think you look great, and I like your curly hair! I remember the whole perm discussion!

 

[wigdoutdismom]

We also had a really nice outing to Old Sturbridge Village! Have you been there? It was fun and we had a great meal!

 

[cjackearl]

I so wanted to be Jo when I was little.

Hey, you can't be Jo, I want to be Jo!

Thanks for the mini TR, LL. You look really great and what a wonderful tour. Oh how I love history and literature. To have them both combined in one tour?

 

[Native NYer]

You look fantastic!

Love your mini tr. MA is just so full of history. And your lunch looks delish!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Repeating my FB comments!!!

Still love Orchard House...it's one of my favorite-est places to tour.

And you are very wrong...you can tell you lost weight. Especially in your waistline.

 

[Lady Lallie]

LL, that is like my dream excursion you're taking! So amazing, and I didn't have any idea about Louisa adopting her nephew.

Awesome!

Thanks! We had a lot of fun.

Cool update! Looks like a fun mini trip.

Thanks!

I loved reading the story behind all your pictures from Saturday. What a nice outing! I thought Concord was so pretty when we visited there, and my favorite part was visiting Orchard House. I bought a copy of Little Women there and a poster that was a print of an owl that May had painted for Louisa (she always called her owl). I so wanted to be Jo when I was little.

Lunch looks delicious!!!

Oh yes, we saw the Owl painting! I always wanted to be Jo too. We had to give book reports in 5th grade and dress up like a character...I dressed up like Jo.

Hey LL!!! What a great day trip! I have not been to New England/Concord, salem, etc. for several years, like a decade I'd say.... BUT I remember thinking it was just so cool... I have been to those very stops! So many places to walk about. The best type of day trip! Good for you! I think you look great, and I like your curly hair! I remember the whole perm discussion!

I haven't been to Salem yet but it's on the list. Thanks on my hair! It's getting a bit long I need a trim and I need to highlight again.

We also had a really nice outing to Old Sturbridge Village! Have you been there? It was fun and we had a great meal!

I haven't been there since I was really really little but I want to go back, it's also on the list.

Hey, you can't be Jo, I want to be Jo!

Thanks for the mini TR, LL. You look really great and what a wonderful tour. Oh how I love history and literature. To have them both combined in one tour?

I feel the same way! It was a really great day.

You look fantastic!

Love your mini tr. MA is just so full of history. And your lunch looks delish!

Thank you!! The lunch was pretty good.

Repeating my FB comments!!!

Still love Orchard House...it's one of my favorite-est places to tour.

And you are very wrong...you can tell you lost weight. Especially in your waistline.

Thank you! You all are really good for my self esteem!

 

[MEK]

LL:

What an amazing, interesting day you had in Concord. Sounds like a lovely outing. Your pictures are beautiful, but that's nothing new. And you, my dear, look fabulous! You are smiling for ear to ear! You look happy, healthy, and full of confidence. Would I know that you had lost weight if I didn't know about your weight loss journey.?...I'm not sure. But I would certainly know there is something different about you! You Go Girl!

p.s. We have the same GPS and her name is "Ellie"!

 

[Megablocks]

Oh, your GPS is the same as the one that I share with my brother. We didn't name that one, but my dad's is named Priscilla, and she has an Australian accent.

I still really want to go to Concord. My parents like to take daytrips to Salem and they want to do a nighttime tour at some point, but maybe I can convince them that we should go to Concord at some point. I'm dying to see the Alcott house.

Your pictures came out soooo nice! I don't remember seeing the Mobile Tea Room on Facebook. It's so cute!

 

[MaryAz]

What a great mini trippie. I loved all those books. Another "wanted to be Jo" here. I can see the weight loss-great job!
Me thiks I need a GPS with a cool name and fun voice.

 

[TarzansKat]

Excellent mini trip report! Isn't it fun to use the GPS? I just used one for the first time the other day, and it was sort of sultry woman's voice. "Turn left now." "In 28 miles, continue." I get a kick out of it, I swear.

 

[princess&her4princes]

LL!!
You plan on visiting Plimoth Plantation!!!!? We need to meet, if so!! I live only 5 minutes from there!!! Keep me posted on your plans, I'd love to meet you guys!!!