For the First Time In Forever.....A Disneyland reopening TR, Dark Ride photos and The End 5/8

[franandaj]

So this last trip out to the Grand Californian was a bit of a bittersweet experience. We had a nice time with some good friends, but it wasn’t the friends that we’d expected. You see Allyson and I had been planning this trip for her birthday since May of 2021. Vaccines were becoming available in both the US and Canada and we made the assumption that by January we had to be doing pretty well, so the border would most likely be open and we could plan a trip together.

For those of you who are DVC members, you know that everything is cancelable up until 30 days prior to your reservation. Well throughout most of December things were looking pretty good.


Then Omicron hit.


The 30 day mark passed and the trip was still on. Then the Canadian government issued a travel mandate that “no unnecessary travel would be permitted.” They tried as hard as they could to come up with a way to make the trip happen, but everything would have ended up either with a 14 day quarantine, or some other delay which would have caused both to lose pay from work, or worse. So at two weeks out from the trip they had the bad news that they would not be able to make it.

I put the reservation up on the DVC rental store, but it was over $3K for three nights stay. I didn’t think that anyone would pay that for a last minute getaway. Then I remembered some friends that we had reconnected with after the lockdown. They have two boys under the age of 10. We had offered the two adults to join us for a park visit last summer, but they declined stating that they wanted to wait to ride Rise of the Resistance when they could do it with their boys.

I texted S and asked her to call me at her earliest convenience. I explained to her the situation, and how everything was in place for this “mid-week weekend” and all she had to do was cover the costs of our Canadian friends and the entire package would be theirs (and ours). All they had to do was be able to check in on a Wednesday evening, and stay until Saturday. I wasn’t sure how flexible their work schedules were and the kid’s school schedules. Later she told me that she almost said “yes” without talking to her husband, but she thought better and said she’d call me right back.

And so the trip was saved, it just had a bit of a different focus. Instead of an adults only trip with lots of fun in drinking establishments, it would be family oriented trip, something I had never really ever done.

So enter the day of check in. Both had to work their full days and the kids had school, so they got started around 3:30PM. Before we left home we got an email from J (husband), “S and I are surprising the boys with this trip. They have no idea what's going on. We've been watching the Marvel movies so we thought it would be fun to incorporate an Avengers-themed scavenger hunt that starts with a mission being handed to them when we pick them up from school today. Some of the highlights of our trip will be revealed each day, so if possible, we'd like to keep our plans a secret until the boys figure it out.”

OK. Sounds like fun.

They live around the area of Imagineering so it was a bit of a drive for them at rush hour. We both arrived right around 5PM and J greeted us out at the Port Cochere when we pulled up for the Bellmen to take our bags. Luckily our room was ready (it better be when we arrive that late!) and we headed up to the room to have our bags delivered.

When the Bellman arrived, he handed this to one of the boys and Jake (lets call them Jake and Elwood for the purposes of this TR) got this HUGE grin on his face, “Look Dad! It’s another one!”



They let me take a picture of the communication, evidently all of them had this official look to it. J must have had a lot of time on his hands while at work that day! Can you figure out where we are going?



When we knew they were coming I shared with them the planned itinerary for the other incarnation of this trip, and they were down with a trip to Trader Sams. Back when they only had one son, they used to come down for drinks and nap it off in one of the many hidden areas of the DL hotel, so Elwood was no stranger to Trader Sams.

Now before I go on, let me give you a bit of background information. Two weeks earlier we had gone out to the park with my parents. Because they’re both in their 80s now, we let them ride our own scooters and Fran rented one from an offsite company. I walked that day, over 17,000 steps. Boy was I pooped. One of the reasons I haven’t posted any updates from that day is that watching over two octagenarians on scooters, I didn’t have a lot of time to take pictures! But we had one snag in the day. My scooter stalled out on my Mom later in the day. She switched with Fran who was able to get my scooter to hobble along, and after sitting and charging while the rest of us went on a couple rides, my scooter made it to the end of the day.

We had decided to switch scooters this weekend because Fran puts the scooters to more of a test than I do because of her weight. If my scooter had any problems whatsoever, we would get new batteries for me before our trip to WDW.

So with our bags in our rooms, Fran and I hopped on our scooters and the whole group headed over to check in at the restaurant. We went past the parking lot and onto the back way to the DLH and just after we passed under the hat, my scooter stopped. I got it going again, and then it stopped. A few more feet and it stopped again. I tried working with it and coaxed it all the way to TS, but barely.

I was able to find a place to plug it in, but something was funny. Normally when I plug the scooter in for charging, the Power light is green and the Charge light is red. When the scooter comes to a full charge both lights turn green. This time there was only one light and it was orange. I let it charge through dinner and returned to the table.

After I returned to the table, the server came by with another confidential secret communication from S.H.I.E.L.D. This time they were supposed to watch out for Ultron, as he may have some bad operatives lurking around. Evidently they were only about halfway through the movies at this point.

Our friends are mostly Vegan, although if J had a choice in his food, he says that he would probably be dead by now. While the rest of the family mostly stuck to their meal plan, he enjoyed the freedom of being on vacation and being able to eat whatever he wanted. We all started off with an order of the Panko Crusted Long Beans. These are always good!



I believe that I ordered a Mosquito Mojito or a Safari Swizzle, those have become my two Go-to drinks here. I think it’s the Mojito because it looks like it has muddled mint.



Fran got the Piranha Pool because she could get the souvenir mug.



S ordered the Rongo Salad, Edamame, Green Papaya, Iceberg Lettuce, Cherry Tomatoes, Gooseberries, crispy Shallots, Sesame Seeds, and Marinated Tofu, with Fermented Miso Vinaigrette



The boys, Jake and Elwood both ordered kids rice bowls with Tofu. They also had some sort of special non-alcoholic beverages.



J ordered the Poke Bowl with Salmon, Sushi Rice, Togarashi Aïoli, Crispy Onions, Smashed Avocado, Sliced Cucumber, Masago Fish Roe, and Crab Salad.



Fran and I split the Tempura Shrimp



And the Pork Gyoza. These are two of my favorite items here and I can’t wait to have them again next weekend!



Once we finished dinner, we grabbed my scooter from it’s charging location and it was still not charged. Luckily Fran has a pretty powerful scooter, so we put mine in neutral and she “towed” me back to the Grand Californian. I plugged it in to no avail over night.

The next morning we had agreed to take my battery back to the place near our house where we get scooter supplies. It turns out that the fuse in my battery was bad. You see there are two small batteries inside the the plastic case that we call the battery. Plus the two batteries in there were nearly five years old! They had stickers on them that read 5/17. So they had lived out a good course of their lives. So they replaced the fuse and the batteries and several hundred dollars later I was back in business.

And then we went back to the Grand. J, S, and the boys were out in the parks enjoying the rides, and I was going to join them, but Fran wanted to stay back in the room and rest. I was going to try and steal the reservation that Allyson made at Oga’s Cantina. It was for a party of six, and we showed up at 1PM only to discover that earlier that month they had canceled almost all the reservations that had been made in advance. However they were happy to take our name and in 15 minutes, we were called!

I didn’t take any pictures while we were there. It was just fun to be back. But I got the Jedi Mind Trick (recycled image).



After that I went back to the room to shower up and get ready, we had a fancy evening coming up!

 

[rndmr2]

I saw you made it over there!



Never heard of that group, but I don't keep up with current music anymore, so it doesn't surprise me.



So what days are you at Disney?

They were famous in the 80's, they are the ones that sing "Take on Me". Here in the US they sort of fell off the face of the earth in like 88 or 89 but they stayed very popular in Europe and South America.

We fly in on Wednesday the 6th. We are at DL on Thursday, doing LA things Friday (concert and WB tour) and the LA tour Saturday. Then CA on Sunday, DL Monday and CA on Tuesday, flying home Wednesday.

 

[Steppesister]

I texted S and asked her to call me at her earliest convenience. I explained to her the situation, and how everything was in place for this “mid-week weekend” and all she had to do was cover the costs of our Canadian friends and the entire package would be theirs (and ours). All they had to do was be able to check in on a Wednesday evening, and stay until Saturday. I wasn’t sure how flexible their work schedules were and the kid’s school schedules. Later she told me that she almost said “yes” without talking to her husband, but she thought better and said she’d call me right back.

And so the trip was saved, it just had a bit of a different focus. Instead of an adults only trip with lots of fun in drinking establishments, it would be family oriented trip, something I had never really ever done.

Glad it worked out in the end. Sounds stressful and a major pain to figure everything out!

So creative and fun!! Nice!

My scooter stalled out on my Mom later in the day. She switched with Fran who was able to get my scooter to hobble along, and after sitting and charging while the rest of us went on a couple rides, my scooter made it to the end of the day.

Oh dear.

We all started off with an order of the Panko Crusted Long Beans. These are always good!

Exactly what I'd order with the gyoza too.

I believe that I ordered a Mosquito Mojito or a Safari Swizzle, those have become my two Go-to drinks here. I think it’s the Mojito because it looks like it has muddled mint.

Fresh mint makes EVERY cocktail better.

I'm sitting next to mine that's on my side table literally 18 inches away from me. Kinda thinking I'll use it for my cocktail that I'm taking to the Happy Hour in a couple of hours. Might be a Mojito with my last ginger beer.

J ordered the Poke Bowl with Salmon, Sushi Rice, Togarashi Aïoli, Crispy Onions, Smashed Avocado, Sliced Cucumber, Masago Fish Roe, and Crab Salad.

That sounds right up my alley. Great combo there!

And the Pork Gyoza. These are two of my favorite items here and I can’t wait to have them again next weekend!

That's what Kari got last time we went together. So much yummy!!

The next morning we had agreed to take my battery back to the place near our house where we get scooter supplies. It turns out that the fuse in my battery was bad.

Oh no, but makes sense.

So they replaced the fuse and the batteries and several hundred dollars later I was back in business.

EEK, but.... yay(?)

However they were happy to take our name and in 15 minutes, we were called!

Nice score!!

 

[pkondz]

They'd need special serving thingies to hold the drinks!

Now you're making me want to look around and see if she is on there.

A worthwhile endeavour.

 

[franandaj]

They were famous in the 80's, they are the ones that sing "Take on Me". Here in the US they sort of fell off the face of the earth in like 88 or 89 but they stayed very popular in Europe and South America

I stopped paying attention to popular music in the mid 80s, so I may not have heard of them.

We fly in on Wednesday the 6th. We are at DL on Thursday, doing LA things Friday (concert and WB tour) and the LA tour Saturday. Then CA on Sunday, DL Monday and CA on Tuesday, flying home Wednesday.

Sounds like a fun trip!

 

[franandaj]

Glad it worked out in the end. Sounds stressful and a major pain to figure everything out!

Well until I remembered that J & S really love Disney, and that they hadn't been since the reopening. Then it was an easy sell.

So creative and fun!! Nice!

They put a lot of effort into making a fun trip for the boys.

Exactly what I'd order with the gyoza too.

So yum, but we didn't get there this past weekend. Now I need to go back!

Fresh mint makes EVERY cocktail better.

Well, maybe not my Gibson....

I'm sitting next to mine that's on my side table literally 18 inches away from me. Kinda thinking I'll use it for my cocktail that I'm taking to the Happy Hour in a couple of hours. Might be a Mojito with my last ginger beer.

How fun that you have a Happy Hour in your little community!

That sounds right up my alley. Great combo there!

I've had the Poke Bowl with Tuna and really liked it. Not a fan of salmon.

That's what Kari got last time we went together. So much yummy!!

Oh no, but makes sense.

Yeah, it was a necessary evil.

EEK, but.... yay(?)

Sort of.....

Nice score!!

I was happy to find out that you can do a walk up.

 

[franandaj]

A worthwhile endeavour.

So far, no luck!

 

[franandaj]

I’m sure many of you know how difficult it is maintaining two trip reports. With my limited time to devote to the boards, I’ve decided to wrap this one up soon. I’ve got two more non traditional updates (after this one) from this little “weekend trip”, and then I will concentrate on my current TR from WDW. Any bonus features of my escapades at Disneyland will be tacked on to the end of that one. Unfortunately I don’t have any plans for other trips besides Disneyland until next February when I hope that it is safe enough to take the Disney cruise we had originally planned for 2020, moved to 2021, then 2022, and now 2023.

Dinner at Club 33

When our party changed from just four adults to adding two young kids, I was reluctant to ask my friend to change the reservation at Club 33 to include these youngsters. However I needn't have worried. They were the most well behaved young men and dressed in their Dr. Who costumes from the previous Halloween, the staff complimented them on having been the "best dressed" young men they had ever seen visit the club. Think David Tennant Dr. Who. One wore a bow tie and the other had a thin long tie. They were so cute. Sorry, I don’t want to post pictures of other people’s young children.

The castle looked quite pretty on our way to dinner.



We met up with J, S, and the boys and were shown to our table.



And given menus….



I believe all the adults ordered the wine pairings as well as dinners. I didn’t get a picture of the kids menu, but I think theirs was only three courses, appetizer, main and dessert. This first wine was Fran’s, the Alabarino, Lagar D Cervera, Rias Baixas. All I can tell you is that it was a white wine.



She said that it went well with her first course which was Alaskan Halibut Brandade, Lemon Aioli, Spanish Olive Relish.



This was my first wine, A Sauvignon Blanc, from Martinborough, New Zealand, and this is not the wine listed on the menu. It was very good.



I adored my first course, Sauteed Mussels, Saffron Broth, Garlic Crostini.



I don’t remember what J got, but S had a vegan version of the Artichoke Gratin. Then they poured the wines for our next course. Again, mine was not what was listed on the menu, it was a Chateau Montelena, Chardonnay.



I had the Simple Market Green Salad, Chardonnay Vinaigrette. It was basically a salad.



Fran was served a Pinot Noir, Domaine de Bellene, Savigny-Les Beaune, Vielles Vignes, Cote de Beaune, Burgundy, France. I’m sure it was good.



She had the Winter Chestnut Soup, Duck Confit, White Truffle Oil which she very much enjoyed. I believe that J got this one as well.





My next wine was a Syrah from Ramey on the Sonoma Coast. A very interesting choice since I had chosen the catch of the Day, but it went quite nicely. Now the menu said, Catch of the Day, Golden Cauliflower, Couscous, Shrimp Nage. Everything about that sounded lovely to me, except the Cauliflower, so I asked if they could make it without. It ended up that they joked that my Cauliflower went for S’s dinner, and they made her something similar but vegan.



This was an interesting choice for a seafood course, but it went well with it as the sauce was very bold.



Fran was served a Zinfandel, Hartford Court, Old Vine, Russian River Valley.



This went well with her Grilled Venison Chop, Winter Greens, Persimmon Velvet. She liked this a lot.



And finally dessert! I ordered the Valrhona Chocolate Cremeax, Blood Orange Curd, Satsuma Coulis. I’m not sure if I ordered it because the dessert sounded good, or so that I could have this yummy coffee with it!





I quickly realized that I had ordered the inferior dessert and that the Sticky Toffee Date Cake, Tangerine Creme, Bananas Foster Sauce was the superior choice. Luckily Fran liked both and gave me her dessert while she ate mine.



Stuffed and happy, we headed back to our room, but not before stopping at the Castle to take some pictures.

 

[tiggrbaby]

What a lovely picture of the two of you!

 

[pkondz]

I’m sure many of you know how difficult it is maintaining two trip reports.

Actually... no. I've never run two at once. I find one more than enough to handle. Especially if I'm running a contest.

Unfortunately I don’t have any plans for other trips besides Disneyland until next February when I hope that it is safe enough to take the Disney cruise we had originally planned for 2020, moved to 2021, then 2022, and now 2023.

Ugh, how I understand this. I've rebooked my cruise for this fall and I'm not at all sure that it will happen either. It too was originally planned for 2020.

When our party changed from just four adults to adding two young kids, I was reluctant to ask my friend to change the reservation at Club 33 to include these youngsters. However I needn't have worried. They were the most well behaved young men and dressed in their Dr. Who costumes from the previous Halloween, the staff complimented them on having been the "best dressed" young men they had ever seen visit the club.

Such a pretty table setting.

And given menus….

All right... I've made my choices. We'll see how closely we match...

All I can tell you is that it was a white wine.

I'm on board so far.

her first course which was Alaskan Halibut

This was my second choice.

This was my first wine, A Sauvignon Blanc,

2 for 2 with the wine so far...

I adored my first course, Sauteed Mussels, Saffron Broth, Garlic Crostini.

That was my first choice. We're on the same page so far...

a Chateau Montelena, Chardonnay.

Still white... 3 for 3...

I had the Simple Market Green Salad, Chardonnay Vinaigrette. It was basically a salad.

So, you might even say it was... a simple salad?

Fran was served a Pinot Noir

Ah... knew it couldn't last.

She had the Winter Chestnut Soup

This was my first choice.

Everything about that sounded lovely to me, except the Cauliflower, so I asked if they could make it without. It ended up that they joked that my Cauliflower went for S’s dinner, and they made her something similar but vegan.

You don't say what the catch of the day was?
I had the most difficulty with this course. I might have ordered that depending on what it was.
And I too may have turned my nose up at the cauli.

her Grilled Venison Chop

I might have ordered that.
This course really would've depended on my mood at the time. Catch of the day, depending on fish, probably would have been first choice, though.

I ordered the Valrhona Chocolate Cremeax

And again, my first choice.
We seem to have fairly similar tastes... at least with this menu.

I quickly realized that I had ordered the inferior dessert and that the Sticky Toffee Date Cake, Tangerine Creme, Bananas Foster Sauce was the superior choice.

Really! Huh. I'm glad you got to try both, though.

Very nice shot of you two.
And you know I absolutely love your dress.

 

[Steppesister]

Well, maybe not my Gibson....

Well, okay, maybe not that.

How fun that you have a Happy Hour in your little community!

It IS lovely. We sit out a lot and chat and drink cocktails with yummy nibblies.

I’m sure many of you know how difficult it is maintaining two trip reports.

Umm, yes. Yes, I do.

They were the most well behaved young men and dressed in their Dr. Who costumes from the previous Halloween, the staff complimented them on having been the "best dressed" young men they had ever seen visit the club.

I'm so glad!! It's refreshing to see well-behaved kids when the occasion calls for that.

I'd have gone with mussels, the apple salad, catch of the day, and the date cake. I'm so glad I got to see all but 1 of them. And I'd have probably done a "light pairing" so as to avoid a stumbling out like 2 times before...

 

[franandaj]

I’m sorry I’ve been MIA for so long. Two weeks ago Fran suffered a severe injury and has been hospitalized since. I’ve been up and back to the hospital several times daily to keep her company and find out her condition, etc. Last night she was transferred to a rehab facility which is somewhat more restrictive on visitation, so I’m only able to see her for about 1 hour per day now. I’ve got time at this point. I had this update all ready to go before this happened, so I thought I might as well post it. Most of you reading this thread are already subbed into my Fran updates, so this isn’t anything new, but I thought I would just explain to the lurkers and other folks out there what’s going on.

I know that I owe a couple of you some replies, and I'll see if I can get to that tomorrow, after my daily visit.

Let’s go on a Scavenger Hunt!

Some of my readers are familiar with @Steppesister’s TRs where she likes to go on a Scavenger hunt. Well on this morning (the last full day of our little mid-week-weekend getaway), I read one of her TR updates on my phone where she had gone on a quest to hunt down the different colors of the rainbow. That seemed like a perfectly good approach to my day today.

We had planned this day to be our big park day with rides and everything. We took it easy the day before so that we could enjoy our big dinner, but the boys were ancy to get on more rides (they only did a few the day before). The only order for these pictures is that they follow the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.

Starting off with the color red….











And moving on to Orange







And the first half of the rainbow all in one shot



And on to yellow







One could argue that this could be either yellow or green, but I’m calling it yellow.



I’m going to take a quick break from the rainbow for lunch. This trip was during the Lunar New Year Festival, and while it has gone on for quite a while, this is the first time that I have made it out (and to the kiosks) while it is running. It’s a very short festival, only a few weeks long. I was glad to try some of these items.





J and the boys wanted the Mickey Chinese Hot Dog Bun: Brioche-style Mickey-shaped buns stuffed with hot dog and finished with sesame seeds and scallions. I wanted to try it, but wasn’t sure I wanted to buy a whole one. Luckily they shared an ear with me. It was OK, but I’m glad I didn’t get an entire one to myself.



These two booths were combined, you could order from both and then wait in line for the items for both. These two booths were popular and had quite long lines.



From here I ordered three items that Jenny and I split. Spicy Pork Dandan Noodles: Pan-fried noodles with ground pork and a spicy tri-chile blend sauce. These were very tasty and not very spicy.



I also ordered Garlic Noodles: Long noodles tossed in a zesty garlic butter with Parmesan cheese, these were also very good!



And lastly we shared Shrimp Fried Rice with garlic bacon edamame, also very good.



Jenny picked up this one from Red Dragon Spice Traders.



Spicy Three-Cup Chicken served on a bed of jasmine rice. Again, this one wasn’t that spicy, but very tasty.



Now that we have been satiated with lunch, let’s resume our scavenger hunt with green.











Moving on to Blue…..









And finally Purple….









And that wraps up the color scavenger hunt for the day! One more update coming up.

 

[pkondz]

I’m sorry I’ve been MIA for so long. Two weeks ago Fran suffered a severe injury and has been hospitalized since.

I do know about that and I'll continue to wish you both well and Fran a speedy recovery.

Let’s go on a Scavenger Hunt!

Okay.

Some of my readers are familiar with @Steppesister’s TRs where she likes to go on a Scavenger hunt.

they follow the rainbow, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple.

Hold on there!
Purple??? What happened to Indigo and Violet?

You know how I know that? Because I Googled. You know how I tell the difference between blue and indigo and violet and purple???

I don't. I'm a guy. There's no such colour as indigo and violet.

Whoa.
Here's me trying to lose a few pounds and I see this right out of the gate. I think I gained a pound just looking at that!

I find it interesting that the paint is flaking off that hydrant.

Wait... is that salmon?? I thought you didn't like salmon?

Hey! That's cheating! One colour at a time!

Love the springs on the boots.

One could argue that this could be either yellow or green, but I’m calling it yellow.

It's your TR... you could call it puce (another colour that doesn't exist) if you want.

This trip was during the Lunar New Year Festival, and while it has gone on for quite a while, this is the first time that I have made it out (and to the kiosks) while it is running. It’s a very short festival, only a few weeks long.

Cool! Was that at DTD?

That just doesn't appeal. It looks like someone said "Just grab a plain ol' Mickey pretzel and shove some cut up wieners on it."

That looks good.

I also ordered Garlic Noodles: Long noodles tossed in a zesty garlic butter with Parmesan cheese, these were also very good!

Really! And yet, so simple. Huh.

And lastly we shared Shrimp Fried Rice with garlic bacon edamame, also very good.

mmmmm... fried rice? Yes please.

Spicy Three-Cup Chicken served on a bed of jasmine rice. Again, this one wasn’t that spicy, but very tasty.

Not surprised it wasn't too spicy. They know the majority of their clientele won't eat it if it's too spicy.

I know Mike is green, but he sure looks yellow in that photo.

yusssss...

Look, too colours of the rainbow...

And that wraps up the color scavenger hunt for the day!

That was fun.

 

[pooh'smate]

I am so sorry to hear about Fran and send her well wishes for a speedy recovery.

 

[cruisehopeful]

Very sorry to hear about Fran. I hope you are both doing the best that you can through it.

 

[rndmr2]

So sorry to hear about Fran, hope she is doing well at rehab. Glad to see an update. I just came home from my trip yesterday and started my TR if you are interested.

 

[franandaj]

What a lovely picture of the two of you!

Thank you very much!

 

[franandaj]

Actually... no. I've never run two at once. I find one more than enough to handle. Especially if I'm running a contest.

Yeah, it's tough.....

Ugh, how I understand this. I've rebooked my cruise for this fall and I'm not at all sure that it will happen either. It too was originally planned for 2020.

I've rebooked my cruise, I don't know how many times. I really hope that Fran is up for it by February. Hopefully she is all healed and maybe just want to rest. I have a bunch of friends on it, so she could chill out in the room and mostly come out for meals and some light touring.

Such a pretty table setting.

Yes, it very much is, but I've actually got a better one for the Bonus features after the next TR.

All right... I've made my choices. We'll see how closely we match...

Okey dokey!

I'm on board so far.

This was my second choice.

OK.....

2 for 2 with the wine so far...

Well you would have only received one of them....and you could have told them you like sweeter white wines and they would have tailored the wines to your taste.

That was my first choice. We're on the same page so far...

I loved this app. If I had ever been in some sort of situation where I might have been able to order single menu items off this menu, I may have ordered that app on multiple occasions....

Still white... 3 for 3...

So, you might even say it was... a simple salad?

I can't seem to find a drumset emoji, to reply to this....

Ah... knew it couldn't last.

Sorry.....

This was my first choice.

See I'm not a nut fan. Not sure if I've ever tasted Chestnuts and not sure what a soup of them would taste like. I didn't look like something I would really like, but I'm sure she did.

You don't say what the catch of the day was?
I had the most difficulty with this course. I might have ordered that depending on what it was.
And I too may have turned my nose up at the cauli.

From looking at it, the fish was either Halibut or Cod. I'm guessing Halibut.

I might have ordered that.
This course really would've depended on my mood at the time. Catch of the day, depending on fish, probably would have been first choice, though.

Yeah, that was my take too.

And again, my first choice.
We seem to have fairly similar tastes... at least with this menu.

Except after tasting it, I didn't like it as much as the other one.

Really! Huh. I'm glad you got to try both, though.

Yeah, anything Sticky Toffee and dates, I should have known. And I may have been able to taste this again, had I had the chance to order single items off this menu.

Very nice shot of you two.
And you know I absolutely love your dress.

Of course you do! And you actually recognize it!

 

[pkondz]

I've rebooked my cruise, I don't know how many times.

I've only rebooked once, but... I waited until the last possible minute on my cruise credit before it expired. And I booked for as far ahead in the future I could too. (CC expired 2021 and had to be used by end of 2022)

I really hope that Fran is up for it by February.

I hope so too. Sure sounds like she's making progress. She walked quite a long ways yesterday!

Well you would have only received one of them....and you could have told them you like sweeter white wines and they would have tailored the wines to your taste.

Ah!

I loved this app. If I had ever been in some sort of situation where I might have been able to order single menu items off this menu, I may have ordered that app on multiple occasions....

Whoa. You really liked it!

I can't seem to find a drumset emoji, to reply to this....

I have one on file.
(Except I can't access them when I'm at work... ah well.)

See I'm not a nut fan.

I'm not either... but in a weird way.
I will gladly munch on peanuts or other nuts (salted or honey roasted or BBQ mostly.) But I never want them mixed with other things. I don't want walnuts in a Waldorf Salad or brownies. But I like peanut butter and love a PB&J milkshake.

Not sure if I've ever tasted Chestnuts

I may have... when I was a kid, mom would put out a bowl of nuts with a nutcracker. I'm pretty sure there were some in there? Maybe?
But that was over 100 years ago, so...

Except after tasting it, I didn't like it as much as the other one.

Still... we would've picked the same thing and both regretted our choices afterwards.

Of course you do! And you actually recognize it!

 

[franandaj]

Well, okay, maybe not that.

It IS lovely. We sit out a lot and chat and drink cocktails with yummy nibblies.

Sounds like fun!

Umm, yes. Yes, I

I'm so glad!! It's refreshing to see well-behaved kids when the occasion calls for that.

They are very sweet and well behaved boys.

I'd have gone with mussels, the apple salad, catch of the day, and the date cake. I'm so glad I got to see all but 1 of them. And I'd have probably done a "light pairing" so as to avoid a stumbling out like 2 times before...

I thought you got to see all of them. That's pretty much what I ate.