Hello-It'sSmee! A July 2020 "It's Good to Be Bad AND Back" TR *Link to new TR 2/21*

[suse66]

And then the boys opted out so we cut off 2 days since this would be their first time staying home alone (my mom stepson checked in) and that's how we ended up at the BCV for 5 nights! OK I feel better now that you all know the backstory lol. We'll move on to our first dinner at Disney!

You were more cautious than us....... we left ours for 10 days and they were thrilled! No-one closer than an hour away to pop by and phone numbers in case of an emergency. They loved it!

Martha's Vineyard, the lounge at the Beach Club. They were staying at Boardwalk and this was really the only chance we'd have to meet up. Martha's Vineyard was convenient for both of us and open until 10 as opposed to Abracadabar that was closing at 9. We'd been to MV the summer before with Renee and @pepperandchips and knew the drinks were good!

I often heard MV referred to as Martha's Graveyard......I don't think I've ever seen anyone in there. Glad to hear the drinks were good!

So either I'm a dirty girl or they are taking their safety protocol very seriously.

A bit of both I think.......

 

[PumpkinSpice]

Woo Hoo, I found you! I thought a little Pumpkin Spice would be nice, after our "talk" this morning! As I mentioned, I'm leaving NJ behind, and moving on to more delicious things.

 

[kittylady1972]

Yeah...so glad I found the latest report. Sounds great so far...except for the flight delay!

 

[CruellaNY]

I'm trying to decide between Beaches & Cream and Sanaa for our Saturday night dinner.

Hmm that's a hard one - where are you staying? If you have enough time and won't be rushed we did miss eating at Sanaa last week and hope to eat there in Sept. But if you're closer to Beaches & Cream than that may work better plus save some time? Can't go wrong with either!

I'm glad I finally found you!!

Me too Happy to share our trip with you Kathy!

Ugh...I think a lot of people might struggle with flying on a plane without any booze lol..but booze and social distancing really don't mix well lol

Ha that's very true! However when you plan on about a 90 minute airport wait and then it turns into an almost 7 hour wait - some booze would be nice!

That's really cool. The more I see of this hotel the more I think I'd like to stay there.

This was our 3rd time staying here (between the regular resort and villas) and we do really like it. Great location and the rooms are nice, we don't mind being in the villas either. Usually the entertainment and vibe of the boardwalk at night contribute to our enjoyment and unfortunately neither were happening this trip but it'll be back

ou were more cautious than us....... we left ours for 10 days and they were thrilled! No-one closer than an hour away to pop by and phone numbers in case of an emergency. They loved it!

LOL! Oh believe me they were thrilled; Chris has been asking to stay home alone overnight since he was 11 and he probably would have been fine! I definitely worry too much. By day 2 Ricky was asking us why we waited so long to leave them along because it's SO easy!

I often heard MV referred to as Martha's Graveyard......I don't think I've ever seen anyone in there. Glad to hear the drinks were good!

That's funny - and I see where it comes from! I've seen it empty so many times in the past. The first time we went last July and met up with Renee and Melinda we were all planning on going in to Epcot together to see Illuminations before it left, but it was POURING. So instead we chose Martha's Vineyard as it was in the same area and we hoped the rain stopped. It was fairly full that night and they had live music! But the rain most likely was the reason it was full. This time there were a few tables here and there but it was quiet; we were the last table. And those folks were there like us I'm sure due to lack of other open venues at this time. Abracadabar closes an hour earlier than MV, Crew's Cup not open and no little kiosks on the boardwalk like the margarita place.
We didn't eat anything there this time but last year we had apps and there were delicious!

A bit of both I think.......

Woo Hoo, I found you! I thought a little Pumpkin Spice would be nice, after our "talk" this morning! As I mentioned, I'm leaving NJ behind, and moving on to more delicious things.

Hello there "stranger" I'm glad you're here ❤ As you say leave the last few days behind and continue to enjoy being here with us!

Yeah...so glad I found the latest report. Sounds great so far...except for the flight delay!

Hey Dina I'm glad you found this too We were super happy to finally get to our resort, have a great room, AND enjoy dinner after the day we had lol. We really thought that was an omen of things to come but luckily it wasn't.

 

[vamassey1]

Hmm that's a hard one - where are you staying? If you have enough time and won't be rushed we did miss eating at Sanaa last week and hope to eat there in Sept. But if you're closer to Beaches & Cream than that may work better plus save some time? Can't go wrong with either!

Great to hear such good reviews on both. We're stay @ AKV in Kidani so I think it will be easier to get to Sanaa. Originally we were at AOA and would have the Skyliner to get back to the resort from Beaches.

 

[Wood Nymph]

Martha's Vineyard, the lounge at the Beach Club

With it being the only bar open at the Beach Club now, I can see it being busy. We seldom went to Martha's Vineyard. We preferred Crew's Cup Lounge.

Beaches and Cream

Your food looks really good. We are going to be at the YC at the end of October and I am definitely going to get a reservation. It has been ages since we last ate in the restaurant. We've only used the walk up window for ice cream.

 

[CruellaNY]

We seldom went to Martha's Vineyard. We preferred Crew's Cup Lounge.

Oh we prefer Crew's Cup too! Really hope it opens with YC this month

 

[erinch]

I am sitting on my patio with my 25 yr old son-in-law to be, who is a Piedmont Captain. He achieved his Captain upgrade in March from First Officer on the very last day they had the Sims running. We are very proud of him. I read him your post . He is now Pilot-splaining why this happened. He says the crew issue is welcome to summertime flying. He said it costs fuel to take fuel, and the extra fuel, if not used would be burned up, which would take the profit margin below any profit. And a number of other sentences that sound authoritative, and like what the hell do we civilians know? My wine glass is now empty.

 

[CruellaNY]

Good morning! I hope you all are well and anyone who saw remnants of Isaias is safe. We got it worse than we thought and there are thousands of power outages all over NY; we lost it for about 10 hours Tuesday but luckily got it back around 10:30pm. Half our neighborhood and my granddaughters neighborhood are still out and the company is saying it could be days until they're restored............

In other news we are anxiously awaiting info on Ricky's "move in" date for Quinnipiac. This is the day he'll do orientation and we'll physically move his things into his room but then he'll come back home until "drop off" day, sometime between Aug. 21 and 23rd. We were supposed to get that earlier date Tuesday but Connecticut (where the college is) got hit even worse than us and the area where the school is has no power and lots of damage. Anyway now that it's getting scary close to him leaving I'm trying to decide what to do with this once he leaves:

❤❤❤❤❤


That's from his graduation! Since it was all messed up this year the PTA took all 500 students' senior portraits and made them huge and had them stuck in the ground around campus for their outside graduation ceremony. Then we were able to take them SO, do I:

1. seatbelt it in to the passenger seat of my car so he's with me whenever I drive around;
2. prop it up in his bed and go in to his room and say goodnight each night;
3. Sit it in his chair downstairs in his "man cave" and say hello every time I walk by to the laundry room; or
4. As Ricky said when I suggested all these to him, get myself some professional help or a new hobby


FYI I will NOT be ok when my Ricky leaves! Moving along..............

Day 1 Part 3: 'Night Bartender!


Having 3 parts to our first day is pretty good considering we didn't arrive until 7:43 PM! After we left dinner we went directly to Martha's Vineyard to meet up with Renee and Chad @ArielSRL . They'd been there a couple days already and had another full day but we were going to different parks so this was our only chance and it worked out that we were both in the Boardwalk area. We knew MV was good because as mentioned we'd been there the year before:



As you see there were a few other full tables in there and then the live music came. This time was a bit different; I will say it was SO weird on the one hand because nobody was walking by from the pool and with the actual BC Resort closed their just weren't as many guests. We arrived first and there were like 3 other tables of folks; of course only half the tables could be used:



Some tables had signs saying not to sit here while others like the one we sat at said this:



We ordered drinks: for me the sangria
White Sangria
Opici Family White Sangria is made in La Mancha, Spain from Airén grapes and has flavors of banana, pineapple, and grapefruit with a hint of ginger

and for Steve and Old Fashioned. This isn't the best sangria but it'll do in a pinch; interestingly enough my sister brought over a HUGE jug of this brand of sangria for Ricky's graduation party a few months ago!
While we waited I took shots of other social distancing stuff around like the hand sanitizer stations:



These were the same ones in the parks. Soon Renee and Chad showed up and the quiet of the lounge was disrupted! We had a great time catching up:




And closed the bar down! Granted it was a bit after 9 when we arrived and they closed at 10 but even our bartender left before us! He was great and when he was done with his shift he wished us a fond good-night and told us to stay as long as we wished, which we did! I think we left around 11:30? We did manage another round or two before he left and it was a great first night of vacation. Also FYI, our masks are off even though we aren't sitting at our table because NOBODY else was in the lounge

We made it back to our room and I took more pictures before we messed it all up. This greeted us on the table:




And yes I left it there and when Steve had the audacity to USE one of those plates, I washed it and put it RIGHT BACK where it belonged

The bathroom had this great soaking tub:



Nice kitchenette:



And here's the way they're leaving the remotes:



We have never been ones to wipe down the remotes when we get to the room but this was nice to see.

That was it! Finally after 6 LONG months we were headed to a park tomorrow and I could NOT wait!! Morning wouldn't be here soon enough!

 

[CruellaNY]

I am sitting on my patio with my 25 yr old son-in-law to be, who is a Piedmont Captain. He achieved his Captain upgrade in March from First Officer on the very last day they had the Sims running. We are very proud of him. I read him your post . He is now Pilot-splaining why this happened. He says the crew issue is welcome to summertime flying. He said it costs fuel to take fuel, and the extra fuel, if not used would be burned up, which would take the profit margin below any profit. And a number of other sentences that sound authoritative, and like what the hell do we civilians know? My wine glass is now empty.

not only for the info but also (and mainly) for the laugh! I happened to be drinking wine when I read this and almost spit some out but stopped myself so I wouldn't waste any lol. Guess I feel the same about wine as airlines do about their fuel Seriously though the fuel part makes sense and when I read it to Steve he understood,. But if I had been sitting where you were I also would have emptied my glass, given a quick "wow thank you!" and then thought to myself "but you need to put the fuel in before the passengers!"

 

[vamassey1]

We got it worse than we thought and there are thousands of power outages all over NY; we lost it for about 10 hours Tuesday but luckily got it back around 10:30pm. Half our neighborhood and my granddaughters neighborhood are still out and the company is saying it could be days until they're restored............

Sorry for the loss of power but happy you're okay. I live in south Louisiana so we have had our fair share of hurricane hazards. Being without power for days on end is the worst. We now have a generator and window ac unit.

1. seatbelt it in to the passenger seat of my car so he's with me whenever I drive around;
2. prop it up in his bed and go in to his room and say goodnight each night;
3. Sit it in his chair downstairs in his "man cave" and say hello every time I walk by to the laundry room; or
4. As Ricky said when I suggested all these to him, get myself some professional help or a new hobby

I say "all of the above".

nd closed the bar down! Granted it was a bit after 9 when we arrived and they closed at 10 but even our bartender left before us! He was great and when he was done with his shift he wished us a fond good-night and told us to stay as long as we wished, which we did! I think we left around 11:30? We did manage another round or two before he left and it was a great first night of vacation. Also FYI, our masks are off even though we aren't sitting at our table because NOBODY else was in the lounge

Sounds like a great night.

 

[disneyAndi14]

What a wonderful evening! I do like a Reuben sandwich and if Steve gives it a good review, I must try it.
We will definitely eat at Beaches and Cream on one of our next trips.
The menu has a few meatless options now for Andi!
The 1 bedroom villa looks very nice and wow having a lounge all to yourselves to visit with friends, very nice!
I had barefoot red sangria last week and for a cheaper wine it was very good. It was sweet but I liked it.
I forgot to add, I feel your motherly need to carry Ricky all around, lol!
When my sweet Jack, went off to college, it was so hard for me to get use to it. He was a homebody and all of a sudden he was off to new adventures!
It was equally difficult to see my travel girl head off to college, oh my, the tears flowed for quite awhile

 

[lauralynn0612]

I am so glad I clicked on this trip report! I love following your reports, but the username here threw me off There was just something too familiar about the "Smee" title. Looking forward to following along.

1. seatbelt it in to the passenger seat of my car so he's with me whenever I drive around;
2. prop it up in his bed and go in to his room and say goodnight each night;
3. Sit it in his chair downstairs in his "man cave" and say hello every time I walk by to the laundry room; or
4. As Ricky said when I suggested all these to him, get myself some professional help or a new hobby

You are most definitely missing out on a solid fifth option: 5. Carry it with you as you go throughout each day and document it ala "Flat Stanley." Then be sure to tag Ricky on all social media platforms.

 

[butterscotchcollins]

Glad to hear you guys weathered the storm (even with the crummy loss of power). We were fine here in Queens and surprisingly my tomato plants and flowers were largely unharmed but the huge trees just went

I think you should start a new YouTube talk show with Cardboard Ricky as your cohost.

 

[amyjoq]

I’m so glad I came across your report! I’ve been excited to read all about a recent trip and the how the changes went. We were able to go down the first week of March and I’ve heard a hundred times ‘aren’t you glad you went when you did!’ Umm...always glad to go. Honestly, I’d go tomorrow if I could!
My ‘second year’ babies graduated this year (I’m an 8th Grade ELA Teacher) and I’m so glad we were able to give them a graduation. My daughter (my only child) is a senior this year - we’ve gone on a few college tours - I’m bracing myself for when I’m counting down the days till I simultaneously try to convert her room (I doubt I will) and missing her terribly. I’m going to need one of those photos!

Looking forward to following along!
Amy

 

[Jenny Sanders]

FYI I will NOT be ok when my Ricky leaves! Moving along..............

The first one is always hard. You will feel better after its been a few days. I promise.

The bathroom had this great soaking tub:

JEALOUS! I would have been in that tub every night. Well, maybe not Monday night. I probably would have drowned...

 

[Wood Nymph]

FYI I will NOT be ok when my Ricky leaves! Moving along..............

It is really hard when the first one goes off to college. *hugs*

And closed the bar down!

The bar never seems to have too many people in it even in normal times. It must have been really nice to have the place to yourself so you didn't have to worry about wearing masks.

 

[tundra1]

I love your flat Ricky...he can travel all over with you! Does he fit in your suitcase? We had a family reunion and my nephew could not attend, so we enlarged a picture, mounted it on foam board, and then cut him out. We put a family reunion t-shirt on him, and even brought him to the Brewers Game with us! He was tailgating in style!

It is never easy letting our kids leave the nest, but it is such an exciting time for them! Hang in there!

 

[erinch]

Nobody in my familly reads these Boards, and you can’t tell them I told you this. My
son Graham is now 32. He is a licensed therapist, has a slightly receding hairline, and is fabulous to his fiancée and her 13 yr old daughter. And really good with kids in trouble. But he was a @#$*& mess in high School and college with multiple and scary addictions to alcohol and drugs. A very memorable day 3 weeks before his high school graduation was when his asthma kicked up and he went on prednisone and then had a psychotic break and I hauled his a** to the ER to be admitted to the psych ward. When I met with the doctor, he drily told me, “We discovered what seems to be the underlying cause of the behavioral disorder. It turns out that prednisone and crystal meth are contra-indicated.” We were so glad to drive him to college and drop him off. Those were wild years. I know it is so hard to let go of one you like to have around, but it is a blessing you will miss him.

 

[CruellaNY]

Being without power for days on end is the worst. We now have a generator and window ac unit.

We had a small one and it bit the dust about 3 hours in lol. Steve keeps saying he's buying one of those huge ones, not lots of hurricanes but we've lost power lots of times to big winter storms. Hopefully we do get one before those storms come again!

I say "all of the above".

Now THAT'S a good idea!

I do like a Reuben sandwich and if Steve gives it a good review, I must try it.
We will definitely eat at Beaches and Cream on one of our next trips.

Yes do it! We've always liked it and very glad it's stayed good

I had barefoot red sangria last week and for a cheaper wine it was very good. It was sweet but I liked it.

I've had Barefoot white and it's pretty good as well but I'm sure much sweeter than the red

I forgot to add, I feel your motherly need to carry Ricky all around, lol!
When my sweet Jack, went off to college, it was so hard for me to get use to it. He was a homebody and all of a sudden he was off to new adventures!
It was equally difficult to see my travel girl head off to college, oh my, the tears flowed for quite awhile

When Andi first went away I honestly thought to myself, "Ugh how would I handle having BOTH kids away???" And I just don't know. Ricky's senior year of college will be Chris's senior year of high school and with Ricky probably going on for his Master's I'll most likely have them both gone

I am so glad I clicked on this trip report! I love following your reports, but the username here threw me off There was just something too familiar about the "Smee" title. Looking forward to following along.

YAY I am too, ! I kind of hoped "Smee" would tip people off Long story but yup it's really me and I'm here! I hope you enjoy the report!

You are most definitely missing out on a solid fifth option: 5. Carry it with you as you go throughout each day and document it ala "Flat Stanley." Then be sure to tag Ricky on all social media platforms.

OK this wins for sure!!! OMG he'd kill me but I would have so much fun doing it!

We were fine here in Queens and surprisingly my tomato plants and flowers were largely unharmed but the huge trees just went

That's good I talked to my cousins in Flushing and they're good as well. There are still as of tonight people here without power!

I think you should start a new YouTube talk show with Cardboard Ricky as your cohost.

Then I need to find a way to be sure the whole student body of Quinnipiac subscribes