Happy Anni-birth-aversary...A 33 night Celebration & HHN too.....SF & RPR September 2022 TR

[NashvilleTrio]

I absolutely LOVE your wedding pictures! Two good looking youngsters!

 

[schumigirl]

I absolutely LOVE your wedding pictures! Two good looking youngsters!

Thank you NT!!!

I thought we made a handsome couple too....even if I say so myself......

 

[disneyAndi14]

Thanks for sharing your wedding pictures, I love seeing you two love birds 30 years ago!
My husband and I will be celebrating 33 years in December, time sure does fly!

 

[schumigirl]

Thanks for sharing your wedding pictures, I love seeing you two love birds 30 years ago!
My husband and I will be celebrating 33 years in December, time sure does fly!

Awww thank you Caroline.

Time really does fly doesn`t it. I`m going to get the wedding album out and stick on our wedding DVD this weekend, haven`t watched it in many years. It`s a mix of emotions to watch it as it`s lovely and makes us so happy to reminisce, but at the same time it`s like a hit list of folks that are no longer here!! Last time we watched it Kyle said all he heard us say was how many folks had died!!!

33 years is absolutely something to celebrate isn`t it. I think I`ve realised we are folks who will celebrate everything.......lol......better than being miserable isn`t it

 

[jump00]

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 3RD​

We had another wonderful sleep and I did wake up feeling like I`d had the best sleep! It was around 7am I woke, which is late for me usually, but on vacation I still never want to waste the day sleeping late, we want to get up and get the day started, then we can be lazy after that if we want!

And we did today. Today was an odd day for sure the way it worked out.

We got an email from our friend saying he`d meet up for a chat and catch up so we headed over to the lounge first where we did have the laziest time.....sipping fizz of course, well I was sipping fizz, Tom would be driving as we had decided to take the car back to the airport today, so champagne for one......lol.....

Tom had his usual croissants with honey for breakfast, I had white toast, cream cheese and grape jelly, and they had some not too bad tea bags, so made myself a couple of cups of tea too.

I think we sat and chatted the morning away with the lovely folks in there. And my glass was always being filled somehow.....we named Alex the Ninja as she could fill my glass without even noticing! I`d turn round and think......I`m sure that was half empty......lol.....then I`d see Alex with a smile on her face!!

Eventually we left the lounge, headed over to Sapphire to meet our friend. Downside was the wifi was playing up today, we had no internet for most of the day and couldn`t chat to Kyle and you do feel lost when you can`t contact folks by email. We still had our phone so we could txt.

​

We chatted to our friend for a while and we always love catching up with him. He is the nicest person on earth.

Later we set off to get the car and make the short drive to the airport to change cars.

We dropped the car and walked over to the Alamo counter and spoke to the same girl we saw when we landed, so she knew the story, we didn`t have to explain everything again. Again, there weren`t many cars around to choose from, this was a Holiday weekend of course, but I spied a black Lexus that would do nicely. She was happy to exchange that one for us, so a few changes to paperwork and we were off out of the garage and heading back towards home.

This is a much nicer car to drive. It`s comfy, clean and although it`s not a power house of a car, it`s not too bad for what we`ll be doing.

I of course realised by now I was hungry, so as we were coming back up Universal Blvd, we stopped into NYPD Pizza which is a place we do enjoy eating.

It`s a very friendly place and food is so good! Everything is cooked fresh so you can wait a little for food at times, but not too long and it`s worth waiting for.

Tom ordered the personal meat lovers, I opted for the BBQ chicken with no onions and add pineapple and jalapeno which is about my most favourite pizza ever!!

Add in 2 sodas and you have the ideal lunch.

I have to say we always make the same mistake......we really should share one pizza and not have one each. Even the personal size is fairly large and for lunch it is a lot.

I doubt we`ll eat till later tonight, much later.

But, they are delicious and the young lady brought me some extra jalapenos just in case.....I think she was a mind reader and they were indeed very welcome.

We popped into Publix for some bits and bobs and we do like Publix over Walmart for most things. But, we did pick up snacks for the room and little bits and bobs here and there.

Headed back to the hotel, it was now around mid afternoon......maybe some would think this is a bit of a wasted day, but with a month ahead of us, we could take it easy and not fall straight into park mode. And it did us the world of good.

We still had no internet in the hotel, that`s more annoying than inconvenient. But, we sat in the lobby and chatted to a lady we have known a long time too. And with being us, time passed and soon it was 4pm so we headed over to RP to pass some time in the lounge.

We did plan to go to HHN tonight again and thought we might aim for the rear of the park and do the houses there, but we`d see and make up our mind when we went in.

They had a new selection of options for relaxation hours tonight, and of course Raphael does love enhancing a picture.....and he always does make a picture better.

We were still full from lunch so we didn`t even bother snacking on anything, the choice tonight was Salisbury Meatballs and garlic mashed potato with the usual salad, dressings and crudite plate.

We do love our lounge time. And we get the chance to chat to some of the nicest folks while we are there. They look after everyone so well and care about guest experiences too. The lounge itself is a very nice lounge and out of all the lounges, i do prefer this one. Hard Rock is too small and PB is just too sprawled out to be cosy and welcoming. This lounge fits.

We headed out a little earlier tonight, so it was still light when we got there, which is unusual as we always wait till it`s dark. We use the Hotel Guest entrance again and it is a winner tonight as there are still lines for the regular gates. They do check you have your room key then you wander past the side of RRR and use your HHN ticket to enter the park from that side ways path and it takes you out between the Minion Ride and the back of the Universal store.

It didn`t look just as busy as last night, but it would fill up of course.

Pumpkin Lord as always is engaging with the crowd so well, they love him and he is a good addition to the event. The make up as always, is top notch from the creative team, they always turn the SA into a truly awe inspiring character.

We do like getting unusual pictures from underneath RRR for example, you don`t normally get the chance to see it from this angle.

We ended up doing the same old houses tonight, except Hellblock. Coven was still a bit lame but we walked straight into that one with no wait at all, Halloween was a walk on too, we only stopped for a RIP tour to be let in which was amazing as we expected to wait for at least 10 minutes or so. Chupacabra was slightly better tonight, all the SA were present and as I knew the story from our friend who is the RIP Tour Guide it made sense tonight more than last night.

Dead Man`s Pier was again a highlight. It took us less than 10 minutes from the main entrance to getting into the house and it was gorgeous. We were a little rushed through the house tonight, but most folks were trying to slow it down which worked to a degree, the conga lines aren`t the best way to see a house.

We had enough tonight. The scare zones were very busy, houses not too bad with EP, I`m so glad we weren`t in the regular line though, some of them were horrendous.

We didn`t take too many pictures tonight, it was one of those nights we just didn`t. So we left the park and I don`t remember what time it was, but we were starting to get hungry now and the food didn`t really appeal to us generally in the parks, not to mention the horrendous lines for most of the trucks.

So we hot footed it onto the boat and headed back to Strong Water, although we did wander along to the suite and had a quick shower and change of clothes as it was hot tonight and we both felt sticky and icky.

Fernando gave us a lovely welcome as did everyone of course, this really is somewhere you get the warmest of welcomes. We got a table and the couple were singing live who are usually on Saturday nights. The lady was different, so I think she was just stepping in for the usual one. They are very good.

Fernando asked what we were having to drink, Tom ordered a Fountain of Youth, one of his favourites.....I asked Fernando, could Anthony make me up a surprise....something tall, strong and fruity....he knows what I like!! Fernando said he`d be delighted!

A few minutes later Anthony appeared with his concotion. It didn`t look as pretty as it became later, usually there`s an orchid sitting on top to enhance the appearance, but taste wise it was perfect. A little too sweet, but they adjusted that next time and it was gorgeous.

I did joke it needed to be on the new menu.......it was that nice.

We loved one of their newest additions, the Surf and Turf Pinchos had been added earlier in the year and it was beautiful. It was Steak with a lovely Chimichurri sauce, large flavoured shrimp, yellow squash, peppers, zucchini, finished with a drizzle of Kalamata olive oil and served with that gorgeous bread.

And again, Tom`s choice.....the beautiful Camarones.

Anthony had come over to check what I thought of the drink, I told him it was gorgeous, one of his nicest creations ever. And of course had to have another.......he said Tom should have a special drink too, so he brought over a chocolate martini mix......I have no memory of what was sticking out of the cocktail......it does look rather alarming!!

But, he enjoyed the cocktail a lot. It wasn`t for me, but I`m not a chocolate in alcohol person.

This had been the perfect evening, good food and good company and a special cocktail too.

We chatted much later than we planned, nothing new there.....but we love chatting to Fernando and co whenever we get the chance. Fernando has a heart of gold and everyone that works in there is just lovely.

It was around midnight again......we thought we`d be in bed for 11ish......lol.....but we were having such fun and enjoying the company, it was worth another late night.

Another round of goodnights and we headed down to our lovely bed that we knew was waiting for us. And we were ready again to hopefully have a fabulous sleep.

And the internet was still not working. But, we were too tired to care right now.

Awwww what a lovely picture of Raphael He and his team went above and beyond for us. My dh sent an email to the “boss” letting him know how much we appreciated the club level staff at the RPR.

 

[jump00]

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5TH


HAPPY 30TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY​

Where does the time go?

30 years married today plus the time before we got married.....I think my husband deserves a medal! I knew I met the right person straight away, as soon as I saw him for the first time......and we`ve been very lucky over the years, we`ve had a good life together, raised the perfect son, and he almost is perfect......yes, I`m biased ......and generally both think we`ve done alright.......

A lot has changed in 30 years, including us.......

Our wedding day was one of the most gorgeous days, we were so lucky as every Saturday for the 8 weeks leading up to our day had been pouring with rain, so we were convinced it was going to be the same, but we were over the moon with how sunny it was, and warm too!!

​

Today, I was up extra early......I had gone through with my iPad to the sitting room and watched the sun come up over the RP opposite, it is a beautiful view and any sunrise like that is worthe being up for.

I had a lot of emails this morning from folks who remembered what today was. I had also come away with cards from friends and family who were very organised and Tom and I remembered to get each other a card too before we left.

I`m not known for my patience, so I did make a lot of noise to make sure my ever loving husband was awake.....I think he had been awake for a while and was just enjoying the peace and quiet while I was next door and was smirking as I thought I`d try and waken him.

Happy Anniversary were the first words we spoke.......

We showered quickly and we were then opening cards and my main gift for the day........of course you`ve all seen it now......

But, I did enjoy opening that big blue box.......

Our pictures just don`t do it justice......

But, I did love it.

We had a few little gifts to open which were lovely too and once we were finished we headed over for breakfast and I was certainly going to enjoy some champagne on our anniversary.......yes, I think I was being a little selfish as I could have driven today, but Tom isisted, so who I was I to argue.....

They had already poured the champagne when we walked in, how lovely, and this was absolutely the way to start off a wedding anniversary celebration.

The lovely Daniel took our camera and we got some pictures stood outside the lounge, just to show we had champagne today.....

We did have a lovely breakfast as always, I stuck to my toast, cream cheese and I had a squeezy bottle of grape jelly that the staff kept in the fridge for me as they never seemed to have many pots of grape jelly, seems not many folks love it!!

Tom had his usual croissants and we both had some watermelon which weirdly tasted so much better some days to others.

There are plenty of options for breakfast in the lounge, everything is cold which works for us, we don`t really want much more than that in the morning.

We were meeting someone we had known for a couple of years in Winter Park this morning, again, it was going to be a quick meet as they had to leave for work around 1pm, so we said we`d be in town around 10.30/11am.

It doesn`t take long to drive to WP, maybe 20 minutes and we were lucky to get parked in the main street although there is plenty of parking around.

We do like this town, today was not about wandering and doing any shopping, it was just catching up with someone we didn`t see very often. She had moved to Miami a few years ago, but was back in the area and although she didn`t work for Loews any longer, we still kept in touch and had arranged this meet only a few weeks ago.

We got there in plenty of time and had a wander round the beautiful park right in the centre of the town......it`s never overly busy anytime we have been here and lovely to walk through.

I could see V appearing from behind Tom as he was taking some pictures, and I was trying not to laugh, so I was asking Tom to take another picture......and then she got him with a huge Boooooo.....in his ear.......lol....he almost dropped the camera!!!

It was so good to see V again. And again, it felt like we had only seen her yesterday. She is however a little camera shy.......

We wandered round and sat in the shade for our catch up, but she had to leave before too long to head to the hotel she works in now, but it was lovely seeing her and we`d try to meet before we left, but that never happened sadly.

We said our goodbye`s and we headed back to the car and went for our lunch, which today was somewhere plain and simple we had never eaten in before....Panera Bread.

I had visited Panera Bread when I was in Long Island once and really enjoyed it and my quite fussy mum had loved it, so I knew Tom would enjoy it too.

It was exceptionally clean inside, that was the first thing I noticed and the staff were very friendly, it was similar to walking into 4Rivers who have the most amazing staff too.

We did have to study the menu for quite a time as we had no idea what the menu was or what we wanted.

After much deliberation, Tom opted for the bacon turkey bravo sandwich and I wanted the BBQ chicken salad which came with a piece of french bread.

We did enjoy this lunch, it was fresh and very tasty, and not too filling. We didn`t want a huge lunch as we were going to Eddie V`s tonight for our anniversary dinner, so this was just enough. I think we would go back here for lunch again next trip.

I was looking at a couple sitting over by the window and they had a stroller beside the table as they were eating. It wasn`t facing us, but they kept cooing and smiling into the stroller and popping little bits of food into it, I thought that was so cute....they were obviously besotted with this baby or toddler.

Then, whatever was in the stroller.......barked. It barked.

View attachment 711357​

Yes, they had a little yappy dog in the stroller and were goo gooing at it like it was a toddler.

I think I had seen it all now.

We headed back home but Tom wanted to stop off first to Total Wine to check if they had the Blackberry brandy in we like as it was showing out of stock, the lady said it would be in next week. I did wonder why we had to go in as we could easily have found out online, but Tom was watching the clock for some reason.


More to follow......

Happy belated Anniversary!! What lovely pictures of your wedding day. You haven’t aged Carole Congratulations

 

[schumigirl]

I did wonder why we were hesitant to get back home as I really wanted a snooze.....yep, despite sleeping like a baby at night, I needed a nap. I was annoyed as we hadn`t really done much except a couple of HHN`s!

But, we finally made it back to the suite and I went to head to the bedroom and saw the amenity cart that had been left.

Our friend had arranged for the chocolate strawberries and champagne to be delivered and had asked Tom not to come back till 2pm......which it was about now.

What a lovely surprise.......

Now I knew why Tom was dragging coming home today.....he knew this was coming.

Although I`m not overly fond of chocolate, I do enjoy these.....a lot!! Especially the white ones which I seem to end up eating all of the white ones!

And Champagne is always lovely in the afternoon........I didn`t get my snooze after all.......but, didn`t mind as I had champagne and strawberries!!

We sat at the table and enjoyed every one of the strawberries, and as the champagne was ice cold, we enjoyed that too and toasted our anniversary.

The afternoon passed and we did something we had never done before ........something we had been meaning to do for the longest time but never got around to it.........

We joined the 21st century and created an Uber account!

Yes, sounds quite dull after the small build up doesn`t it......lol....

I wanted us both to be able to enjoy a bottle of either champagne or wine, so didn`t want him to drive. Always having a car meant we didn`t need an Uber and I`d always been a little resistant to ot for some reason, but Tom got his phone and before too long we had an account.

We got ready and once we headed down to the lobby we attempted to book our very first ride......and we were pleasantly surprised when it showed our car was 3 minutes away! Heck....in heels it would take me that long to walk across the Sapphire Falls lobby.....had to get a wiggle on.

Our driver had a clean car, we checked the name and licence plate and he was very nice. Not the chattiest of folks, but he got us there and we liked the way it worked. Yep, I may have been dragged kicking and screaming into this new world of technology, but I was kinda liking how easy this was.

Into Eddie V`s and they had been made aware it was our special anniversary.......we were a little early and several folks wished us a Happy Anniversary as we waited......they really are lovely in here and make you feel very welcome from as soon as you meet the first member of their staff.

We were delighted to see we had the very special window table we had previously had for my birthday a few years ago. We liked this table. And they had very nicely covered the table in beautiful red rose petals and a lovely card that had been signed by many of their staff, just a nice little touch from the restaurant.

Our water waiter introduced themselves to us and then we had Cody taking care of us who was very nice and very professional and then said he would help us with our wine choice.......

​

I`m not an expert on many things, and I`m not a real expert on wines, but.......I do know what we like and don`t like and have never needed advice on choosing wines. I think he maybe should have asked if we needed any advice, then we could have just said no thank you.....which we did anyway but I didn`t think he meant anything other than to be helpful. Tom smiled as I politely declined his offer and said we`d be happy to choose our own wine.

We had been in a couple of restaurants years ago where some Sommeliers had been a little condescending.......it doesn`t take much to correct them though, but this guy was just being nice.

We weren`t going for anything too fancy tonight to be honest and chose a rather average Malbec which we knew we`d enjoy and we had a bottle of champagne we had bought today in the fridge chilling for when we got home tonight.

The wine was lovely, and we did forget to take a picture of the bread service which comes with a salted and spiced butter which is very nice.

We both knew what we were going to order tonight, I love oysters, and it was only the thought of me not really wanting to look greedy that I didn`t order a dozen instead of the half dozen I did order

Genuinely, one of my favourite things to enjoy......and yet Tom hates them with a passion.

I chose a strong tasting oyster and was glad I did as they weren`t too strong, so I preferred that to a milder one.....they are so fresh and full of flavour. I stuck to lemon only as I wasn`t fond of the viniagrette they served and don`t want cocktail sauce with them and certainly not the atomic horseradish......no, the lemon was perfect on it`s own.

Tom carefully averted his gaze as I expertly enjoyed these gorgeous delicacies with delight.

He had ordered the Lobster Bisque and thinks this is one the best from the restaurants he has tried it in. The Palm was good too but it gave him horrible heartburn afterwards. But, this was perfect and had a decent amount of lobster in it.

The view was pleasant from our window before it got too dark, then we could see the Orlando Eye and the Starflyer all lit up at night.

The restaurant itself is nice, it can be a little noisy, but most of these restaurants do tend to be on the loud side, however tonight it wasn`t as loud as it was before, which is pleasant.

There is a decent gap between courses which is something we do like in any restaurant, and when our entrees arrive they don`t disappoint. But, the lighting isn`t the best for pictures in here.

Tom had opted for their Filet Special, it had two lobster tails on top which was surprisingly filling for him.

I had ordered the 12oz Filet, medium rare and thought it might be too much, but it wasn`t as Tom did take a little piece of it. And it was cooked perfectly for me.....more rare than medium rare all the way through, not easy to do. And both pieces were so full of flavour, this is how you serve steaks.

We ordered the Crab Fried Rice as a side, we haven`t had that before and our waiter informed us you`ve never really been to Eddie V`s unless you`ve eaten the Crab Fried Rice......er, ok.....well we just hoped we liked it as I`m not normally a fan of rice, but this sounded good.

My goodness me!! This was divine.....I could have eaten the fried rice as a meal on it`s own not just as a side, it was buttery, tasty and there was a lot of crab on top of the dish.

This meal had been perfection......everything was cooked without a single fault and Tom`s lobster was much larger than he expected, very delicately flavoured and worked well with the steak.

We were full. Completely and utterly full.

Our waiter then dropped off two glasses of champagne for us which was very much appreciated and we then said we had no room for dessert, but he said he hoped we would accept a little dessert from Eddie V`s.......

So, we had another toast to us......why not........

Their house dessert is served and then they flambe it tableside, which does look good......and it includes a smaller version of their signature Bananas Foster dessert and some ice cream with cream on the other side.

Tom managed to eat some of the banana dessert, I don`t like bananas in anything, and I ate the ice cream which was delicious I have to say. But, we struggled as we really were full.

We were brought another glass of champagne at this point......my goodness me......but we`d had a little gap so we could drink that and it was so kind of them to bring it for us. Eddie V`s really do make a fuss of guests and look after you very well, it`s a beautiful restaurant and they just have that touch of class one looks for when looking to enjoy a special occasion.

The manager came over at this point to check in with us and ask how everything had been for us, we told him it had been perfect and the people looking after us had been wonderful, he was glad to hear it and asked if he had met us before. We said yes, but it had been a few years previously. He remembered us because we knew one of his managers through our friend. It was nice to see him again though, very nice man.

We paid the check and spoke to the ladies on the desk as we left and ordered our Uber which was going to take all of 4 minutes.

This had been a lovely evening, Eddie V`s is without a doubt the best of the high end restaurants we have frequented. We used to say it was The Palm we enjoyed the most, but we haven`t felt they have been quite the same since they were taken over by Landry`s. Staff were mostly the same, but some just didn`t have the service ethic that some of the original staff had. So, I don`t think we`ll return to The Palm anytime soon.

We booked to come here again for my birthday next week while we were in, so we knew we`d be back soon.

Our Uber arrived and this guy barely spoke a word of English, but that was ok, we just wanted a driver to get us where we were going safely. And he did so we have no complaints.

We didn`t go into Strong Water even for one drink as we just wanted to go lay down along that comfy sofa......there would be no more champagne tonight as we just couldn`t manage anything else, but we`d loved every minute of our special dinner.

I think we watched some tv and wondered if we`d ever feel hungry again as right now it was hard to imagine.

But, it had been the nicest of days. I think we had celebrated our 30th anniversary well.

​

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

One of my friends has a neighbour who has two scruffy tiny mongrels, and yes, they are the noisiest dogs in their street. Everyone complains constantly about them. We genuinely have no patience for barking dogs and glad we don‘t have to deal with them. I agree if my dog went to bite someone I’d be mortified and so apologetic.

Hope your poor little dog manages to get used to other dogs again, doesn’t take much to spook them.

We didn’t even notice deals in Panera, we were just quite happy with the menu itself, I’ve heard the soups are good, I think Tom would enjoy a soup.

Glad you’re still reading along…….

Her most ferocious barking is our mail person. The Amazon and ups delivery drivers we mainly have she’s gotten better with and it’s more of a game now with them and they always make sure to wave at her in the window and she eventually calms down. If she weren’t tiny and fast I’d let her out to see them because essentially all she wants to do is make sure everyone is safe and sniff them. Once she really knows someone she’s totally fine. Plus I know the Amazon guy gives treats to the other dogs in my neighborhood, and I think he understands she is too tiny to be let without supervision, but just wants her to know he is friendly.

That dog spooking her was the worst thing. While she was born and adopted in 2019, she sadly got severe separation anxiety because all of a sudden everyone was home and then we started going back. She was only 7 months when the pandemic happened! She even went into heat once because her spaying surgery got delayed. She was just starting to get fully socialized to people and dogs again when the dog jumped at her from the car. That little dog even scared the German shepherd that was 100 feet behind us that’s how crazy fast it all happened. She’s gotten better, but it’s still a severe work in progress.



Panera is so great! We didn’t even realize the deals until we went to California! Tom would definitely love the soups!


It’s gonna be hard to get rid of me lol!


Love the anniversary try celebrations at Eddie B’s!

 

[schumigirl]

Awwww what a lovely picture of Raphael He and his team went above and beyond for us. My dh sent an email to the “boss” letting him know how much we appreciated the club level staff at the RPR.

It`s always nice when folks take the time to send something to acknowledge how wonderful the staff have been.

Raphael started down on the front desk on Monday, we told him he`ll do amazingly well down there. I emailed him on Sunday to wish him well, but he`ll do fine.

Happy belated Anniversary!! What lovely pictures of your wedding day. You haven’t aged Carole Congratulations

Thank you so much....I do love a compliment......lol.......and thank you, I do love those pictures.

 

[schumigirl]

Her most ferocious barking is our mail person. The Amazon and ups delivery drivers we mainly have she’s gotten better with and it’s more of a game now with them and they always make sure to wave at her in the window and she eventually calms down. If she weren’t tiny and fast I’d let her out to see them because essentially all she wants to do is make sure everyone is safe and sniff them. Once she really knows someone she’s totally fine. Plus I know the Amazon guy gives treats to the other dogs in my neighborhood, and I think he understands she is too tiny to be let without supervision, but just wants her to know he is friendly.

That dog spooking her was the worst thing. While she was born and adopted in 2019, she sadly got severe separation anxiety because all of a sudden everyone was home and then we started going back. She was only 7 months when the pandemic happened! She even went into heat once because her spaying surgery got delayed. She was just starting to get fully socialized to people and dogs again when the dog jumped at her from the car. That little dog even scared the German shepherd that was 100 feet behind us that’s how crazy fast it all happened. She’s gotten better, but it’s still a severe work in progress.



Panera is so great! We didn’t even realize the deals until we went to California! Tom would definitely love the soups!


It’s gonna be hard to get rid of me lol!


Love the anniversary try celebrations at Eddie B’s!

I`m sure she`ll get back to her old self in time. It`s a shame when you see the changes in your puppy like that. I`m sure she likes the Amazon guy......

I think he`ll try their soups at one point.

Thank you, the whole evening was lovely......

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

I`m sure she`ll get back to her old self in time. It`s a shame when you see the changes in your puppy like that. I`m sure she likes the Amazon guy......

I think he`ll try their soups at one point.

Thank you, the whole evening was lovely......

I’m hoping so. It’s been a while and while we know she is, it’s still frustrating at times.

I highly recommend the chicken middle, French onion, broccoli and cheddar and vegetable soups! My mom particularly loves cream of chicken and wild rice.

You are very welcome

 

[schumigirl]

I’m hoping so. It’s been a while and while we know she is, it’s still frustrating at times.

I highly recommend the chicken middle, French onion, broccoli and cheddar and vegetable soups! My mom particularly loves cream of chicken and wild rice.

You are very welcome

You lost me at cheese in a soup.......

I only like a few soups and they are all my own home made ones, even then I only like them now and again, chicken noodle or winter warmers like butternut squash and sweet potato or curried parsnip. That`s about it

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

You lost me at cheese in a soup.......

I only like a few soups and they are all my own home made ones, even then I only like them now and again, chicken noodle or winter warmers like butternut squash and sweet potato or curried parsnip. That`s about it

I can’t remember the last time I had butternut squash soup! It sounds so good right now!

You would definitely enjoy the chicken noodle and vegetable Panera offers! French onion can also be ordered without the cheese!

 

[schumigirl]

I can’t remember the last time I had butternut squash soup! It sounds so good right now!

You would definitely enjoy the chicken noodle and vegetable Panera offers! French onion can also be ordered without the cheese!

Oh it`s the best.......very winter warming, might make some for Sunday lunchtime, make some rosemary bread to go with it.......Sunday at midday is sorted now!

I wish I could eat French onion soup, but onions like that are a big no for me.....I love onions which makes it worse......

 

[BroadwayHermione5]

Oh it`s the best.......very winter warming, might make some for Sunday lunchtime, make some rosemary bread to go with it.......Sunday at midday is sorted now!

I wish I could eat French onion soup, but onions like that are a big no for me.....I love onions which makes it worse......

I think we’ve discussed this before but my mom is similar-she loves onions and peppers but can’t eat them. She will pick them out if they are in a dish-even if she makes it!

 

[Worfiedoodles]

I did wonder why we were hesitant to get back home as I really wanted a snooze.....yep, despite sleeping like a baby at night, I needed a nap. I was annoyed as we hadn`t really done much except a couple of HHN`s!

But, we finally made it back to the suite and I went to head to the bedroom and saw the amenity cart that had been left.

Our friend had arranged for the chocolate strawberries and champagne to be delivered and had asked Tom not to come back till 2pm......which it was about now.

What a lovely surprise.......

Now I knew why Tom was dragging coming home today.....he knew this was coming.

Although I`m not overly fond of chocolate, I do enjoy these.....a lot!! Especially the white ones which I seem to end up eating all of the white ones!

And Champagne is always lovely in the afternoon........I didn`t get my snooze after all.......but, didn`t mind as I had champagne and strawberries!!

We sat at the table and enjoyed every one of the strawberries, and as the champagne was ice cold, we enjoyed that too and toasted our anniversary.

The afternoon passed and we did something we had never done before ........something we had been meaning to do for the longest time but never got around to it.........

We joined the 21st century and created an Uber account!

Yes, sounds quite dull after the small build up doesn`t it......lol....

I wanted us both to be able to enjoy a bottle of either champagne or wine, so didn`t want him to drive. Always having a car meant we didn`t need an Uber and I`d always been a little resistant to ot for some reason, but Tom got his phone and before too long we had an account.

We got ready and once we headed down to the lobby we attempted to book our very first ride......and we were pleasantly surprised when it showed our car was 3 minutes away! Heck....in heels it would take me that long to walk across the Sapphire Falls lobby.....had to get a wiggle on.

Our driver had a clean car, we checked the name and licence plate and he was very nice. Not the chattiest of folks, but he got us there and we liked the way it worked. Yep, I may have been dragged kicking and screaming into this new world of technology, but I was kinda liking how easy this was.

Into Eddie V`s and they had been made aware it was our special anniversary.......we were a little early and several folks wished us a Happy Anniversary as we waited......they really are lovely in here and make you feel very welcome from as soon as you meet the first member of their staff.

We were delighted to see we had the very special window table we had previously had for my birthday a few years ago. We liked this table. And they had very nicely covered the table in beautiful red rose petals and a lovely card that had been signed by many of their staff, just a nice little touch from the restaurant.

Our water waiter introduced themselves to us and then we had Cody taking care of us who was very nice and very professional and then said he would help us with our wine choice.......

​

I`m not an expert on many things, and I`m not a real expert on wines, but.......I do know what we like and don`t like and have never needed advice on choosing wines. I think he maybe should have asked if we needed any advice, then we could have just said no thank you.....which we did anyway but I didn`t think he meant anything other than to be helpful. Tom smiled as I politely declined his offer and said we`d be happy to choose our own wine.

We had been in a couple of restaurants years ago where some Sommeliers had been a little condescending.......it doesn`t take much to correct them though, but this guy was just being nice.

We weren`t going for anything too fancy tonight to be honest and chose a rather average Malbec which we knew we`d enjoy and we had a bottle of champagne we had bought today in the fridge chilling for when we got home tonight.

The wine was lovely, and we did forget to take a picture of the bread service which comes with a salted and spiced butter which is very nice.

We both knew what we were going to order tonight, I love oysters, and it was only the thought of me not really wanting to look greedy that I didn`t order a dozen instead of the half dozen I did order

Genuinely, one of my favourite things to enjoy......and yet Tom hates them with a passion.

I chose a strong tasting oyster and was glad I did as they weren`t too strong, so I preferred that to a milder one.....they are so fresh and full of flavour. I stuck to lemon only as I wasn`t fond of the viniagrette they served and don`t want cocktail sauce with them and certainly not the atomic horseradish......no, the lemon was perfect on it`s own.

Tom carefully averted his gaze as I expertly enjoyed these gorgeous delicacies with delight.

He had ordered the Lobster Bisque and thinks this is one the best from the restaurants he has tried it in. The Palm was good too but it gave him horrible heartburn afterwards. But, this was perfect and had a decent amount of lobster in it.

The view was pleasant from our window before it got too dark, then we could see the Orlando Eye and the Starflyer all lit up at night.

The restaurant itself is nice, it can be a little noisy, but most of these restaurants do tend to be on the loud side, however tonight it wasn`t as loud as it was before, which is pleasant.

There is a decent gap between courses which is something we do like in any restaurant, and when our entrees arrive they don`t disappoint. But, the lighting isn`t the best for pictures in here.

Tom had opted for their Filet Special, it had two lobster tails on top which was surprisingly filling for him.

I had ordered the 12oz Filet, medium rare and thought it might be too much, but it wasn`t as Tom did take a little piece of it. And it was cooked perfectly for me.....more rare than medium rare all the way through, not easy to do. And both pieces were so full of flavour, this is how you serve steaks.

We ordered the Crab Fried Rice as a side, we haven`t had that before and our waiter informed us you`ve never really been to Eddie V`s unless you`ve eaten the Crab Fried Rice......er, ok.....well we just hoped we liked it as I`m not normally a fan of rice, but this sounded good.

My goodness me!! This was divine.....I could have eaten the fried rice as a meal on it`s own not just as a side, it was buttery, tasty and there was a lot of crab on top of the dish.

This meal had been perfection......everything was cooked without a single fault and Tom`s lobster was much larger than he expected, very delicately flavoured and worked well with the steak.

We were full. Completely and utterly full.

Our waiter then dropped off two glasses of champagne for us which was very much appreciated and we then said we had no room for dessert, but he said he hoped we would accept a little dessert from Eddie V`s.......

So, we had another toast to us......why not........

Their house dessert is served and then they flambe it tableside, which does look good......and it includes a smaller version of their signature Bananas Foster dessert and some ice cream with cream on the other side.

Tom managed to eat some of the banana dessert, I don`t like bananas in anything, and I ate the ice cream which was delicious I have to say. But, we struggled as we really were full.

We were brought another glass of champagne at this point......my goodness me......but we`d had a little gap so we could drink that and it was so kind of them to bring it for us. Eddie V`s really do make a fuss of guests and look after you very well, it`s a beautiful restaurant and they just have that touch of class one looks for when looking to enjoy a special occasion.

The manager came over at this point to check in with us and ask how everything had been for us, we told him it had been perfect and the people looking after us had been wonderful, he was glad to hear it and asked if he had met us before. We said yes, but it had been a few years previously. He remembered us because we knew one of his managers through our friend. It was nice to see him again though, very nice man.

We paid the check and spoke to the ladies on the desk as we left and ordered our Uber which was going to take all of 4 minutes.

This had been a lovely evening, Eddie V`s is without a doubt the best of the high end restaurants we have frequented. We used to say it was The Palm we enjoyed the most, but we haven`t felt they have been quite the same since they were taken over by Landry`s. Staff were mostly the same, but some just didn`t have the service ethic that some of the original staff had. So, I don`t think we`ll return to The Palm anytime soon.

We booked to come here again for my birthday next week while we were in, so we knew we`d be back soon.

Our Uber arrived and this guy barely spoke a word of English, but that was ok, we just wanted a driver to get us where we were going safely. And he did so we have no complaints.

We didn`t go into Strong Water even for one drink as we just wanted to go lay down along that comfy sofa......there would be no more champagne tonight as we just couldn`t manage anything else, but we`d loved every minute of our special dinner.

I think we watched some tv and wondered if we`d ever feel hungry again as right now it was hard to imagine.

But, it had been the nicest of days. I think we had celebrated our 30th anniversary well.

View attachment 711766

​

You did have a lovely day of celebrating! Bubbly and strawberries in the afternoon were such a nice touch. And the dinner looked amazing!

Uber is something I do almost without thought now. It is so incredibly easy, and always nicer than a cab. Plus they really show up, which has been a problem with cabs. I’m glad your experience was fairly seamless.

I’m not surprised you were completely stuffed after your fabulous day! Well-celebrated, Indeed!

 

[schumigirl]

I think we’ve discussed this before but my mom is similar-she loves onions and peppers but can’t eat them. She will pick them out if they are in a dish-even if she makes it!

I do remember actually. I`m quite lucky I don`t have an awful intolerance to many things the way some folks do. But, I do miss raw onions in salads more than anything......but I always see the bright side......it could be worse, I could be allergic to wine......

 

[schumigirl]

You did have a lovely day of celebrating! Bubbly and strawberries in the afternoon were such a nice touch. And the dinner looked amazing!

Uber is something I do almost without thought now. It is so incredibly easy, and always nicer than a cab. Plus they really show up, which has been a problem with cabs. I’m glad your experience was fairly seamless.

I’m not surprised you were completely stuffed after your fabulous day! Well-celebrated, Indeed!

That dinner was incredible, and the service is just top notch. And yes, who doesn`t like bubbles and strawberries in the afternoon!!

I`m completely hooked on Uber in America. We only had one guy who didn`t turn up after only supposed to be 1 minute away.......but we cancelled him after we realised he wasn`t coming and it was only a few minutes till the next one appeared.

lol.....we were so full we couldn`t move.......but it was the best evening!!

 

[schumigirl]

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 6TH​

I woke up again very early, and went through to my favourite spot and watched the sunrise come up again over RP, it is very pretty and a nice way to start the morning, albeit a very early one. But, I`m an early riser by nature, Tom can always sleep a little longer than I can, so it works well for me to get up and he snoozes a little longer.....he does like to snooze more than I do.

I wander through and shower before he wakes, by the time he has showered I have dried my hair and got ready for the day.

Today is our first park day, excluding HHN of course, but we don`t do the rides on those nights, so we were excited to get back on them....especially the Velocicoaster.

But, first we were over to the lounge for breakfast. We met another new lady since we were last here, her name was Trisha and she is also wonderful, she fits in well with the team.

I made toast and was given my Grape Jelly out of the fridge and we had another lovely breakfast. Raphael is funny when he chats while I`m making toast adding in the butter, cream cheese then Grape Jelly......his face is a picture as it`s not a mix he likes.....lol....I love it!!!

A man spoke to us from the next table and asked if we were from the UK, we said yes and after a while he asked if we did Disney as well. We said no we only did Universal.....he looked completely shocked and siad he didn`t believe anyone would travel all the way from the UK and only do Universal. He was a little off by now which was strange to us as we hadn`t been off with him......he said he thought that was such a waste. I laughed and wished I had said when he paid for our trips, he could decide what was a waste, but I didn`t. I`m always amazed at how opinionated some folks can be and don`t think twice about sharing their thoughts however innapropriate, I couldn`t give a rats patootie what anyone thinks of how we spend our trip. He was leaving that day so we didn`t have to see him again.......

We didn`t hang around for long after the chat with this guy, as we wanted to get to the park and it was IOA which is our usual first park. Walking is our favourite way to get to the park and it takes around 7 minutes walking slow to get to the gates of IOA. And it is a pretty walk along the waterway, and boy was it hot today!!! Not a complaint from us, as this is one of the reasons we love September.

The Adventure Begins sign is always a good place to start.......

We love Port of Entry and I could bore about it for hours.....the music especially evokes all kind of images from your imagination as to the back story of this wonderful land.

If you notice the canopies almost look like sails and this is deliberate, as boats are supposed to have docked being attracted by the Pharos Lighthouse and the Port was created.

The stores and restaurants are all supposed to be run by a mix of people from all over the world who have all ended up in the one place and learn to live in alleged harmony here. Although when you listen to some of the antics in the buildings above you, which you do have to stop and listen to, there isn`t a lot of harmony.....lol......

The stores are supposed to be similar to a typical Trading Outpost and has it`s own Fire Dept and now has it`s own Mayor who you will see roaming around and will happily pose for pictures.

Confisco Grille which we have raved about for many years over the better known Mythos, is a restaurant filled with the treasures that have been confiscated over the years from the Pirates. The theming and thought that has gone into this one entrance area is immense.

We head straight down to the lagoon for our usual pictures of the lovely Mythos building and of course the visually exciting Velocicoaster.

We are excited to get back on this one today.......that is one heck of an amazing drop!!!

But, first we do our old favourites like Dr Doom and Spider-Man and Doom is a complete walk on, we don`t bother going through the regular line for pictures today which we do tend to do when it`s so quiet. We just wanted to have a few blasts on this one. And short and sweet is how I describe Doom. I would never tell anyone not to go on it, but it is a short ride. However that first blast up in the air is so much fun and depending on what side you are sitting you can get some very good views.

I forget if we did Spider-Man this morning or not as I haven`t a picture of it outside, there was a morning when the ride was down and we didn`t get to ride it. We`d have another chance next time. We do love Spider-Man!!

Toon Lagoon is not our favourite part of the park, but it is very colourful and you can get a picture with Olive Oyl, Popeye and Betty Boop...what`s not to love there......

We were glad to see this dog that usually yaps incredibly loud was switched off.....win!!! It is so loud btu we did miss the water fetaure that was usually on, it was quite refreshing to get splashed there.

Bilge Barge water ride was not open yet, so we couldn`t go down behind Me Ship the Olive and get some pictures we like and watch folks get completely drenched on the wettest of water rides.

I think our camera settings had been moved slightly by accident as these look over exposed and the colour is slightly too high. There`s a fine line with pictures as some folks can over expose them so much they don`t look real, so we had a fiddle with the settings later and got them hopefully back to normal.

Always a fun ride to watch.

We very rarely go on this ride as you just get completely drenched. We keep it if we decide to do an afternoon of just water rides. It`s hard to get into the ride vehicle and quite hard to get out of for most folks to be honest. There is a trick to it and I do struggle as I don`t have a lot of wrist strength to get in and out, I can do it, it`s just not very ladylike to see!!

We head round to Kong which is a decent ride. I know a lot of folks condemn Universal for a lot of screens and this one is a screen, but slightly different somehow, well it does seem a little different to me and it does have a cool animatronic at the end.

The park was fairly quiet this morning, which is nice so we did decide to wander through the regular line mainly for pictures but half the line was blocked off as it was so deserted, but it`s still nice to go through this once in a while.

I do miss the TM being a little like a SA in the line.....but, I do love getting a good scare! I know it wasn`t for everyone, but we like getting jump scares.

We let one couple head past us but it really was as empty as it looked.

One thing I always tell folks on this ride, is cover your mouth as there are some splashes that hit you as the dinosaurs and other creatures attack....it just kind of grosses me out a little.

But, it`s a decent ride, not an amazing ride, but decent and if I didn`t have EP I wouldn`t wait longer than 10 minutes or so for it.

The Kong animatronic at the end is quite impressive and we never normally take pictures on rides, but we did manage this one without a flash.

Back out in the sunshine we are reminded of that wonderful September heat we have missed so much the last few years. To try and describe it to folks that have never experienced it is almost impossible. The heat in Europe and the UK is VERY different. That humidity is draining, but we love it!!

Around Jurassic Park ride there are some lovely little areas that are so pretty. When they started building the Velocicoaster and changing that whole area they lost a lovely little private area where you could wander down to and it was quite peaceful, but things change of course.

We love this ride.

We were standing beside a couple and the husband was confidently telling his wife, who looked completely bored, that only the first two rows would completely drench you.....after that you were fine. Not completely accurate.

Big mouth that I am, of course I had to tell her, he wasn`t quite correct

The thing with these boats, it depends on weight and how it`s loaded as to how wet you`ll get. We have sat in almost every seat on those boats and have come off varying from completely dry, slightly sprinkled, wet, soaked and completely drenched and all in different rows. We sat in the front row once and we were completely dry as the water seemed to go over the top of us.

My smart know it all mouth wasn`t appreciated by him going by the look on his faceBut, he wasn`t correct.

We saw them going on it though so hope she enjoyed it.

More to come......

 

[schumigirl]

JPRA was only a 5 minute wait, so we hopped into the EP line and walked straight on to the waiting boat. We were in a row to ourselves which we do like as we can leave the bar very loose for more airtime, most folks pull it down as tight as they can......not fond of that.....give us the airtime.........

We got barely sprinkled this time on the boat. It was quite full and the row in front of us got drenched. This is a cute ride, very slow and gentle to start and it`s quite beautiful....then you go off course and you have that slow and defined climb before that drop....it`s a good drop but I wish it were steeper!!!

It was gloriously hot now and I wished I had drank some more water at this point. We are usually constantly buying bottles of water as we need them, but we just hadn`t got round to it today.

But, now it was Velocicoaster time.......we were so excited, especially as the line wasn`t too bad. Maybe 35 minutes.......everyone says you can do single rider on many rides, and of course you can, we just prefer to ride things together....regardless if we can see one another or not, so we would wait together for this one.

It was around 35 minutes till we got to the front and we were going to ask for the back row, but we were sent to that row anyway.....just lucky. It is the best row as far as we are concerned with the exception of the front row.....we`re torn which we would prefer if we could only choose one forever......the back row gives you so much airtime......I swear you are more out of your seat than you are in it. And we love it.

But........

Today I was getting a little nervous, more so than normal which is rare for me, so I ended up closing my eyes as I was scared for some reason....big mistake.

When folks talk of doing spinny rides like Spider-Man or MiB.....folks deal with it differently. Some say you should close your eyes at the spinny bits......all well and good, but that doesn`t work for me at all. I usually do the ice dancer trick of focussing on one spot in front of me and that works for me as we spin. Closing my eyes is the worst thing I can do.

I had my eyes closed the whole ride for some reason, I love this ride, but something must have subconsciously spooked me before hand......so when we came to stop in the tunnel.....I thought I was going to throw up!!! I was ill and covered my mouth and I was sweating more than is normal......Tom leaned over and was asking if I was ok, I shook my head and said no. And we sat a longer than normal time in the tunnel before moving off so we could exit the ride.

I think that completely nauseated feeling passed slightly but I still felt a little off a few minutes later when we did get off the ride. The guy operating the harnesses actually asked me if I was ok as I passed him.....I`m guessing they saw me on the camera and thought......noooooo.....we have someone going to be ill.....lol.....I said I was fine thanks, but it never dawned on me there was a camera watching you there as you came to a stop. Nice of him to ask if I was ok though.

I blamed lack of water to be honest, but closing my eyes had been silly. Wouldn`t do that again.

Tom asked if I wanted to go on it again.......lol.....apart from the fact the line was now around 65 minutes, no I think I had enough for the day.

We did go and get a fanta, liquid and sugar at the same time.....worked a treat.

I just noticed the depressed looking kid in the picture......lol.....guess he`s been waiting too long!

Doc Sugrue`s kebabs are something we haven`t tried in over 10 years, so I have no idea if they are worth eating or not, but there always seems to be folks ordering them. I do like the sound of them, but hate eating outside, so we never do get them.

All Hallows Eve Boutique is a little gem of a place. It changes themes seasonally and is much better utilised now than when it was a very bad magic show years ago......shockingly bad!!!

They theme this little place amazingly well and of course now it was Halloween it was filled with detail and colour. And lots of shopping opportunities.

I loved this Casper style ghost.......

We don`t really celebrate Halloween the same way in the UK as the US does. Some try and make a real effort, but generally we are not even in the same ball park as America. Although we don`t decorate the house the way we do for Christmas, we do like the odd Pumpkin decorated around the outside and some spooky candle holders, but that`s about it for us.

But......I could have shopped till I dropped in here.....there were so many little bits and bobs including candles of course.....spooky scents and names work for me everytime.

I resisted buying anything today, not an easy feat of course, but we had plenty more days to buy what we fancied.

We spent some time chatting to the Mystic Fountain who is very funny and very clever in their comments to whoever chats to him, it can go right over kids heads which is fun!!

Heading back to Hogsmeade, it looked fairly quiet, but of course we knew it would be much busier round there, which it was.

More to come.......