Friday, October 28th
All good things must come to an end
. Today was the day we concluded our amazing two weeks in sunny Orlando.
It has become a bit of a last morning tradition to visit IHOP for breakfast once we have checked out of the resort by the 10 am deadline. So, once the luggage was packed and loaded with our clothing, personal items, and souvenirs, we turned in our villa keys at the security gate and turned the rental car in the direction of the Crossroads.
We did not need to be at the airport until around 3 pm, so we had lots of time to enjoy a leisurely, if not rather reflective, morning meal. It was going to be a
long travel day……now that we had the kittens to pick up (something we hadn't really planned on when the trip was originally booked), we had decided to cancel our extra overnight stay in Niagara Falls and just drive straight home from Buffalo after landing…..so a good strong cup of coffee was in order to start
.
Knowing that there would be no big, fancy meals today we felt no guilt in ordering something really yummy for breakfast. As the old saying goes, “Go Big Or Go Home”. We were going big AND going home
.
Steve, as I suspected he would, ordered his IHOP favourite: steak and eggs. This is what he gets
EVERY single time. His steak is always cooked perfectly, his eggs are always cooked perfectly, and his pancakes are always light and fluffy.....which means Steve
always leave a very happy guy. A good meal for my big guy certainly helps heal the sting that we both feel at the end of a vacation.
I threw all dietary caution to the wind and ordered the item on the menu that had always caught my eye (but I had generally felt too guilty to order……it doesn’t exactly smack of good health and nutrition
). Today, I was looking to soothe those raw emotions that always make me want to have a good cry on check-out morning, so I figured what the heck. YOLO and all that
.
Bananas Foster Brioche French Toast. OMG.
This meal puts the “Good” in Good Morning
. I have no idea what they make that sauce from, but I’m sure that some of the ingredients come straight from heaven itself. It was so good, I could have licked the plate if I allowed myself to completely forget every table manner I’d ever been taught
. It was, in a word, incredible.
We dilly-dallied a little bit over breakfast, savouring not only our food but also each other’s company. It was rather depressing to be facing both the end of our getaway and the knowledge that we’d be once again physically separated, for the most part, from the time we went home until our Christmas trip seven weeks later. With winter weather creeping in to the north, we knew Steve’s brief weekend visits home would be few and far between. We talked about all the unknowns that were facing us in the coming months, too: would Steve’s application for a work visa be approved by Customs and Immigration? If Steve’s visa gets approved, would our house sell reasonably quickly? Would we be able to find a home we liked in Michigan that would be within our budget? Would I enjoy life in Michigan, or would I hate being away from the community in which I’d lived my entire life? How would we both adjust to being away from Jake on a permanent basis? Heavy talk. Serious talk. But all feelings and issues that needed to be discussed and acknowledged now that our Orlando “honeymoon” was over and reality was poised to smack us in the face within a few short hours.
Eventually, we felt guilty for holding up a table (and drinking WAY too much coffee....bottomless or not), so we covered the check and tip and headed back out to the car. With a few more hours yet to pass before it was time to head to MCO, we made a pit stop at the Premium Outlets for a few final purchases to fill the remaining spaces in the luggage. Jake’s girlfriend had texted us with a list of a few things she was hoping we might be able to find for her at good prices, and we too had a small list of wish-list clothing items we hadn’t purchased since arriving. It was quiet at the outlets that early in the day, so we managed to track down all items with relative ease.
With all bags packed into the luggage and receipts readied for customs, we pondered our options for the time which remained for us. We both agreed that we needed something specific to do (idle time on departure day just makes us a toxic mix of sad and grumpy….we would require something to occupy both our bodies and our minds) but we didn’t want to incur any major expense or drive any huge distance. Oh yeah, and we wanted it to be fun. Something that would make us smile. How’s that for a tall order?
SeaWorld it would be
. Long live Annual Passes.
We hadn’t been able to fit in a visit with the penguins at Antarctica on any of our previous visits of this trip, so that’s where we headed first. Steve joked that it would also help climatize us for our return to the frosty north. Jake had been giving us the daily weather report from home and snow flurries had been reported on more than one day over the past two weeks.
We spent a lot of time with the penguins before moving on to other parts of the park. I hadn’t brought the camera in with us……I only had my crappy little iPhone (which is why the penguin pics are less than stellar quality)….because I wanted this final time to be enjoyed without being behind a lens. We toured around, we visited the various animal exhibits, we admired the sea life in the aquariums, and we pressed pennies at the various kiosks (I had purchased myself a pressed penny book at Aquatica a few days prior and was determined to fill a page or two before we flew out). Those last few hours of the trip were perfectly peaceful, spent in one of our favourite parks with no crowds and under spectacularly sunny skies.
Keeping an eye on the time, we grabbed lunch at Captain Pete’s Island Eats, figuring it was easier to eat before leaving for the airport rather than having to stop en route. This was a new SeaWorld dining experience for us, and it was a success. The food was basic…..hot dogs, fries, chili……but fresh and tasty. We had no complaints on the food quality and the prices were very fair.
Heading to the parking lot, we hopped into the car and made a straight shot to the airport: we always pre-pay for the full tank of gas so there’s no need to stop and fill up along the way. We’re pretty good at making sure we return the car on almost an empty tank, and the wee bit of gas that we “lose” is well worth the convenience of not having to find a gas station and save the receipt. Dropping off the car went smoothly, checking our bags at the Jetblue counter went smoothly, and lines at security were manageable as well. Arriving at the gate, we were elated to see that our flight was showing as on time, though that elation was short lived: within half an hour of settling into two seats to await our time to board, we were notified of a delay that grew in small increments to a final total of almost two hours by the time the plane actually arrived. Apparently there was some sort of mechanical issue to be remedied from where the aircraft was departing from White Plains, New York, so all we could do was wait things out. We kicked ourselves for cancelling the Niagara Falls hotel
, but what was done was done.
Once arriving back in Buffalo, the late hour meant the airport was virtually deserted save for the folks from our specific flight. We picked up our luggage, called for the shuttle back to the Days Hotel, collected our vehicle, and began the long drive home. We breezed through the border crossing and even sailed right through Toronto: looking on the bright side, our delayed flight at least guaranteed us no traffic or other back-ups on the commute.
But man, were we tired
. I felt bad for Steve, who had to do all the driving.
We pulled into our driveway in the wee hours of the morning. Turning the key in the door, we dragged the suitcases into the kitchen, to where this was waiting on the table:
Our wonderful neighbours who had watched the house for us during our absence had left us the sweetest little welcome home. An assortment of chocolate, cookies, and hot chocolate packets were cheerfully arranged in the middle of our table, with a hand-written note.
Neighbours like these would be hard to say goodbye to in a few months
. We have some of the best friends in the world.
And that, my friends, is a wrap.
There's still one more post to go, though! Next up, we tally up the cost of two weeks of Halloween fun. The final total is next 
.
. Nothing a good hairstylist can't fix 
. But you're right, it has been quite the ride: and its weird to think that life was still normal as of Labour Day. Once everything started to change, it changed FAST.
Did you make them yourselves?
)
..... that I posted his carousel picture. But I couldn't resist 
. Let's just say its been an expensive week.
.
