Feeling Hot Hot Hot! The Rain Curse is Broken! Two Weeks of Fun in the Sun! COMPLETE

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

May 17th continued

Almost as soon as we exited the Wizarding World the crowds disappeared. The next part of the park we were going to explore was The Lost Continent. I was looking forward to this section as I was into the theme from the pictures I had seen and we were planning to have lunch at Mythos which looked like a really cool restaurant and consistently gets glowing reviews. Here is the "shocking" thing about table service restaurants at Universal, you don't need reservations!

Hmmm, something doesn't belong here.... Do you spot it?

We stopped in the Coat of Arms shop, Alek and Erich admired all the replica weapons.

We were all starting to get pretty hungry so we decided that it was time for lunch. Even though I had been reassured by the Universal Disers that a reservation was not needed I was still a bit nervous about whether or not we would be able to get seated.

Well, they were able to seat us right away! We opted to eat inside but they also have outdoor seating. We were given a nice spacious booth next to a window.

Even before we were seated I was impressed, the restaurant was so pretty and I loved the theme since I love mythology!

People are always asking what the menu and pricing is like so I took pictures. I know I had a hard time finding a current menu when I was doing my research for the trip so I hope this helps others out!

There was a good selection and the prices were not bad!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I loved that they had a drink called Ambrosia, how fitting!

An explanation of the theme and design of the restaurant.

I got up to explore and use the washroom while we waited for our food.

The bread they served was very yummy! We ate all of it!

Mom ordered up some Ambrosia

I liked the name, didn't like the drink.

We were pretty unadventurous and ordered burgers but they were delicious!

Chicken Burger

Hamburger

Mom's meal

We all really enjoyed our food and the atmosphere of the restaurant. We would definitely return! It helped that the bill wasn't outrageously expensive as well.

Here is a quick 30 second video of the interior of the restaurant: Video:Mythos

Isn't Mythos pretty? I highly recommend eating here if/when you visit Islands of Adventure!

[post=43063774]Click here to continue[/post]

 

[Marshay]

Wow! What awesome photos of Mythos!! That restaurant definitely is intriguing -- everywhere you look there is something neat to see.

Also, your final pics of Banff were so beautiful, too. Love the animal photos.

 

[jenbear123]

Thanks for the lengthy review of Mythos. This might be a good option when I visit Universal for the first time in a couple weeks! Are those symbols "GF" and "V" beside the menu items short form for vegetarian and gluten-free? Just curious because it's always good to know when restaurants have special diet options.

 

[KatMark]

That is one themed restaurant -- WOW. Your burgers look really good too.

 

[orangecats2]

Do you know if they menu is the same at dinner time? At Mythos.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Wow! What awesome photos of Mythos!! That restaurant definitely is intriguing -- everywhere you look there is something neat to see.

Also, your final pics of Banff were so beautiful, too. Love the animal photos.

It was really neat inside and out. We explore the outside later on in the day.

Thanks for the lengthy review of Mythos. This might be a good option when I visit Universal for the first time in a couple weeks! Are those symbols "GF" and "V" beside the menu items short form for vegetarian and gluten-free? Just curious because it's always good to know when restaurants have special diet options.

I do believe that is what the symbols meant, it is nice that they have those options for special diets.

That is one themed restaurant -- WOW. Your burgers look really good too.

Yep, I was really impressed with the food, the theme and the service. Overall a great restaurant, I can see why it is talked about so frequently.

Do you know if they menu is the same at dinner time? At Mythos.

I believe it is although Mythos only tends to be open for dinner in the really busy season so probably only in July, August, December. I'm not 100% on their hours so if you are interested I would ask the more experienced people on the Universal board.

 

[Mommy2BnB]

Mythos looked very nice. I have been loving your Banff photos. They are gorgeous!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Okay, that squirrel is awesome! I may have to start inserting a squirrel into random pictures.....

You can't escape Disney can you? Mickey even appears at IOA!

Okay, I had no idea that they had replica swords at Universal, but then I saw the Master Sword from Zelda! Coolest thing ever!

Mythos is a really good restaurant, I was very happy when we ate there in February. Mostly because as a whole, the food at Universal is not good.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Mythos looked very nice. I have been loving your Banff photos. They are gorgeous!

Mythos was wonderful, I recommend it to anybody visiting Islands of Adventure.

I'm glad you like the Banff pictures.

Okay, that squirrel is awesome! I may have to start inserting a squirrel into random pictures.....

You can't escape Disney can you? Mickey even appears at IOA!

I actually saw lots of Disney stuff that day.

Mythos is a really good restaurant, I was very happy when we ate there in February. Mostly because as a whole, the food at Universal is not good.

Good to know, we didn't eat anywhere else in the parks so we have no comparison.

 

[emmaca]

Loved all the scenery Lessa !!! I am back and trying to catch up on the Dis and work !!!I am soo ready for a chance to sleep in this weekend !!! Say Hi to Beth !!!!

Hi Rosie, I hope you had a great trip to Disney this month! I have been enjoying Lessa's picture of BC, it is nice to be able to put the kids stories with pictures. As Lessa moves quickly along with the TR, it brings back some great memories, I think it was one of our best trips. I check everyday to see if Lessa has updated, I feel like a child on Christmas Eve/morning waiting to open presents for the next entry; hey this is all I have have, sadly no Disney for at least 4-5 years.

I have been keeping busy and staying out of trouble as best I can,
The kids and I are heading down to Ohio for a LONG weekend to visit family, my brother will be turning 50 on Sunday, sadly we will not be able to enjoy the beautiful fall foliage was the colours this years came and went very quickly with all the rain and wind Ontario has received in October; once we are back I have to get a move on, as I will be having a murder mystery at my house for 15 people, so decorating, food and of course my costume; the theme is Murder at Mardi Gras and I am the Swamp Witch/Voodoo Queen the spiritual adviser of the late murdered victim. It will be a great evening, last year I hosted my first murder mystery and had 21 in attendance.

 

[OhMari]

Yeah, they purposefully made the pathways and shops small and narrow so it would be more true to the books/movies. Great for atmosphere, not so great for crowds.



"Just the end of the Rocky Mountains". You will have to go visit. Banff and Jasper are both worth a visit. There are definitely places for RV's. The camp site we stayed at had a separate area for RV's outside the bear fence. Here is the link to the Parks Canada website with all the camping spots in Banff. http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/ab/banff/visit/visit9.aspx

Thanks Lisa, my dh company is buying a few RV's and trailers for the job site for when my dh has to go to Edmunton, and he said we can use one for a few days, if we are willing to take it to the job site. Thanks for the link.

 

[ddstratton]

I'm finally caught up! I got so far behind. I am loving all of your pictures, of your hiking AND your Disney/Universal trip. You guys look like you're having a blast whatever you're doing.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I'm finally caught up! I got so far behind. I am loving all of your pictures, of your hiking AND your Disney/Universal trip. You guys look like you're having a blast whatever you're doing.

I'm glad you are enjoying all the updates from both trips. We do have fun no matter where we go.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hey there! We just got back from a short trip to Ohio to visit our family. We were celebrating Mom's 49th birthday, Uncle Jim's 50th birthday and Grandma and Grandpa's 51st wedding anniversary. All of these are within a few days of each other so it worked out perfectly. We had a great time and I'll share a few pictures once I have them uploaded.

I should have the last Banff/BC update posted tonight and a new Universal post tomorrow.

 

[PlutosRHM55]

Alright, time to catch up...

Mmmm... Butterbeer looks so good! If only I was going there sooner I'm glad to hear that you guys liked the regular versus the frozen since that's what I've heard on here too. It'll be interesting to find out my opinion. And The Three Broomsticks does sound more authentic versus the cart

Wow, I can't believe how crowded it got. It seemed like a good decision to get there so early on your part

Can't wait to read more!

 

[PlutosRHM55]

I'm all caught up now, that was fast haha...

Ooooo... Mythos! I've heard really good things about that place and I love the theme. to naming a drink Ambrosia, the nectar of the gods I'm a little rusty on my mythology facts, so I may have gotten that wrong

All the food looks and sound delicious. I will definitely have to save those menu pictures for the time I decide to go there. Though, I think those burgers are calling to me haha

I love the whole theming and design of the place. I've never seen a restaurant designed that way. It must be a really good experience and then to have that good food... no wonder it's gotten such good reviews!

Can't wait to read more!

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Alright, time to catch up...

Mmmm... Butterbeer looks so good! If only I was going there sooner I'm glad to hear that you guys liked the regular versus the frozen since that's what I've heard on here too. It'll be interesting to find out my opinion. And The Three Broomsticks does sound more authentic versus the cart

Wow, I can't believe how crowded it got. It seemed like a good decision to get there so early on your part

Can't wait to read more!

I definitely recommend the regular but if you can you should try both and see which you like best.

I'm all caught up now, that was fast haha...

Ooooo... Mythos! I've heard really good things about that place and I love the theme. to naming a drink Ambrosia, the nectar of the gods I'm a little rusty on my mythology facts, so I may have gotten that wrong

All the food looks and sound delicious. I will definitely have to save those menu pictures for the time I decide to go there. Though, I think those burgers are calling to me haha

I love the whole theming and design of the place. I've never seen a restaurant designed that way. It must be a really good experience and then to have that good food... no wonder it's gotten such good reviews!

Can't wait to read more!

Yes, you got ambrosia right.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

The Crazy Stepmother Chronicles: August 2011

Day Ten: Banff National Park: The Bow River and Conclusion


We all woke up bright and early and started packing up the campsite. Everybody ate breakfast except for me, Maria ran out of something so couldn't cook enough for everybody and I decided that I would survive without eating rice for breakfast, besides, I had a different plan in mind for my breakfast.

We decided that we were going to throw away our tent. It was leaky and old and we needed a new one. We also wanted to make more room in the car so it just made sense to throw the tent away at the campsite rather than hauling it back to Dad's house and throwing it away there.

Thankfully, due to the massive amounts of food Maria made us eat over our camping trip and our tossing out the tent, we had made enough room in the car to flip up the back row of seats. Good news as I don't know how we would have all fit in there once we picked up Great Aunt Mary.

We all piled into the car and made the short 5 minute drive over to the Samson Mall where we would be meeting up with Great Aunt Mary. She was being dropped off by her son Stan and his wife Ruth. We had not seen our Aunt Mary since our move to Virginia Beach in 1996 and it had been even longer since we had seen Stan and Ruth. I guess they would be our second cousins since Stan is my Dad's cousin? I think that is how it works?

Anyways, they had picked her up from her home in Saskatchewan and were driving her to Lake Louise where we would pick her up and bring her back to Dad's so that she could visit Grandma who is her younger sister. They were due to arrive around 10am, it was 8am, we were just a wee bit early!

Samson Mall with the Victoria Glacier in the background.

The others just wanted to sit in the car but I was restless so I got out and walked around despite the clothing I was wearing. I was wearing very frumpy clothes, my purple sweatpants and my school sweater. I wouldn't normally wear sweatpants, especially purple sweatpants, out in public but it could not be helped. Not exactly what I wanted to be wearing when I met my family again after 15+ years but all my other clothes were filthy from hiking.

I wandered over to the Visitor Centre and then behind it where part of the Bow River flowed by.

That's a hotel you can stay at in Lake Louise, fairly pricey but all hotels in Banff are, can't be helped.

I walked back up to the mall, I had a specific shop in mind. During my two days of whirlwind research before the trip I had read many times that the place to go is Laggan's Bakery. I read nothing but praise for this bakery so I told Dad I really wanted to check it out. This is why I was not all that upset about not eating rice for breakfast.

They had a wide selection of pastries, sandwiches and other assorted baked goods and food options. It was hard to decide what to get! I finally decided on a croissant, a peanut butter cookie and a hot chocolate. Very healthy, I know. Well, sadly their hot chocolate machine was broken so that was a no go but I did get my baked goods which were delicious! The prices were not too bad either considering the location.

After enjoying my breakfast I wandered the few souvenir shops at the mall but didn't see anything I wanted.

When I went back to the car Dad offered to go walk the path along the Bow River with me since I had mentioned several times that I would like to do so but I did not want to go alone, bears you know!

The path runs in a loop along the river and back to the mall. We didn't have time to walk the whole loop so we just walked a little bit past the campsite and then turned around and went back. This was pretty much the only time during our whole visit that I got to spend any time alone with my Dad, it was nice not having Maria there as her mere presence annoys me and when Alek and Erich are around they usually attract all the attention.

Once we got back to the car I took Marcus to use the bathroom since we would be leaving soon and almost as soon as I got back with him Aunt Mary arrived.

We all stood around for awhile talking and catching up. Dad had wanted to get a family picture with Stan and Ruth before we parted ways but we all forgot.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

We waved goodbye to Stan and Ruth and helped Aunt Mary get settled into the car. Poor Aunt Mary was sitting in the front with Maria! Dad and Erich sat in the middle of the car with Marcus and Alek and I were in the very back. Aunt Mary kept trying to talk to me but I couldn't hear her because she was so far away and she was rather quiet. Half the time I didn't know she was talking to me so it probably looked like I was ignoring her!

The one person I could hear clearly though was Maria. Great Aunt Mary is 94 and thus needs her rest. She was trying to nap during the drive but Maria kept yapping away at her preventing her from sleeping. That really irritated me. Not only did that irritate me but Maria was speeding like a maniac again (160-180 km/hr) on the mountain highways. At one point I become frightened and yelled out for her to slow down. Alek then made a joke about her getting another speeding ticket. She lost it on us and started yelling at us and just acting like a crazy woman.

We stopped for a little bathroom break and to stretch our legs in Glacier National Park at the Roger's Pass Visitor Centre. You might remember that we had been there a few days earlier when we started our camping trip. It looked rather different on this day.

Four days earlier:

Current day:

I helped Aunt Mary to the bathroom and then back into the car and then we were on our way again. It is only a four hour drive so it passed quickly and I was very happy to be back "home". We dropped Alek, Marcus and Aunt Mary off at Grandma's nursing home so they could visit while the rest of us ran back up to the house really quickly. Maria, Erich and I quickly emptied the car of all our camping gear and Dad grabbed the other car and went back down into town to pick up Grandma, Aunt Mary, Alek and Marcus. We were bringing Grandma up to the house for a visit and to have dinner which is a treat that Dad likes to provide Grandma as much as possible.

We had a nice meal with Grandma. It was breakfast for dinner: ham, eggs, bacon, etc, Grandma always says that she won't be able to eat everything on her plate but she always manages.

Aunt Mary then brought out some homemade treats that she had brought along that I remembered her making when I was a kid. It was really yummy and Grandma enjoyed it too. Maria was buzzing around like an annoying gnat the whole time. She asked Aunt Mary how she made one of the cookies and then insulted her method by saying that the ingredients Aunt Mary used were "no good". Buzz off! No matter though as Aunt Mary had made it plenty obvious to me that she did not care for Maria, she even said how much she missed my mom.

We did our best to get some family photos with Grandma and Aunt Mary. Here are our attempts. Aunt Mary is in the purplish shirt next to me and Grandma is in blue and is seated in front of Alek and Erich.

After that we had to take Grandma back as she tires out easily and can never stay for too long. This was our last night and we would be leaving early in the morning so we said our goodbyes that night.

Back at the house Aunt Mary went to bed early (I had given up my room for her) while the boys and I packed. It took me awhile to pack, I think I spent at least 30 minutes wrapping my wine bottles very carefully before I even put them in my suitcase. They were triple wrapped in bubble wrap.

The next morning Aunt Mary woke up to say goodbye to us and then Dad drove us the 40 minutes to the airport. The flight back was uneventful (unlike the year previous), Mom was waiting for us at the airport, and all our luggage arrived safely with no broken wine bottles.

Oh, funny story which I completely forgot to mention earlier in the report. When you fly out to BC there is a time change, it is three hours behind Ontario time so we were "going back in time". Then when we drove to Banff we were going ahead in time, "to the future". Then of course the time changed again when we went back to Dad's and finally when we flew back home. Well each time we "time traveled" Alek and Erich would start up with the Back to the Future theme. It was pretty hilarious. Dad didn't get it at first when we started singing/humming in the car, we had to explain it to him. Not familiar with the music? Here is a link, the part we hummed started at the 29 second mark. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDVhSP5sUoY

Overall we had a great trip with a few exceptions (mostly pertaining to Maria). I enjoyed all the hikes that we went on, especially the trip to Banff although there will have to be some major changes if I ever go tent camping again!

I hope you enjoyed this "mini" trip report. I thought that you all might like seeing the pictures and hopefully I inspired some of you to come and visit our beautiful country!