Here we go, here we go, here we go again!

[lindalinda]

trip report- PBH April 5-11 2008


The players

me- the mom
K- the son, age 16
B- the neighbor kid , age 14
J- the friend, age 16

The Drive

I pick up the boys at school at 11:30. For some reason, they were perfectly willing to give me the others, but didnt want me to take K (who's mine). Because I didnt send a note. I told them I usually dont have to send a note when I am picking him up in person. geez.

J's mom was there , and she took the boys backpacks with her, so that we could leave straight from school. Great idea, saved probably 1/2 hour. (you will see later that we needed that).

Okay, we are in KY, and is has been raining here for months. Horrible really. I was so looking forward to some sunshine!~ It was raining when we started out. Nothing too bad tho. We made pretty good time. Got to Nashville without difficulties. ``````~~~~~~quick question for the Nashville people......any plans to PAVE the road thru there? I mean really....I thought I was gonna break an axle. Anyway.

The horror started just outside Chattanooga. We'll call that..wreck #1. It wasnt on our side of the expressway, but we still crawled along. A few miles later (and about 30 minutes) we see wreck #2. this one was scary too. Upside down tractor-trailer. But we finally get thru there and start moving again for a while. We get almost to Marietta, when the rain, well, changed. It became a monsoon. We could barely see. So we start crawling along again. Wreck #3. We get to Atlanta at 7pm. Normally the traffic would be lighter by then, but the weather was just too much, and we creeped thru. Not too bad tho, I was doing fine.

Its very helpful when driving thru traffic jams to have a carful of teenagers willing to sing along to "the Monkeys" at the top of their lungs. Try this. You wont be sorry.

South of Atlanta the Severe weather started. We were staying in Cordele. About 15 miles from there was wreck #4. The lightening was scary, the wind was crazy, the traffic was absurd, and some guy in a semi tried to make us wreck #5. He tried to change lanes while I was still using mine! I had to swerve onto a nonexistent shoulder and lay on the horn, which I dont think he heard due to the thunder. The boys in the back were watching Troy on dvd and didnt notice.

At 6 miles to Cordele, the road construction area began, yay! Prepare to Stop! For hours! It took an hour and 45 mins to get those last 6 miles. I called the hotel and told them to save my room, because I didnt know how long it would be.

All in all , we departed at 1136am, and arrive at Cordele Ga at 1045pm. 11 hours 9 mins. It should have taken around 8 1/2 hours, maybe 9 for stops and traffic. I was wiped out when we got there, I did well until those last 15 miles or so, but those were killer.

Upside is, the hotel we chose for stopping over was very nice. It was a fairfield inn and suites. I would definitely recommend it. And they had a breakfast included.

Thats the end of day 1.

I dont have any pics for day one, so for a treat, I will just throw in a random pic for your viewing pleasure.

I am too tired to do more tonite, but I promise to update tomorrow! Lots to tell!


nite!

 

[Metro West]

Good start so far!

 

[RAPstar]

good to hear you weren't made into a wreck.....or at least you're car! lol can't wait to hear more!!

 

[DisneyFairy66]

Im a subscriber to your TR, cant wait to read more

 

[pixeegrl]

Oh My!!! Glad you made it there safely! I hate driving in the rain! Now I will sit patiently and wait for more of your TR!

 

[lindalinda]

I mentioned we stayed overnight at the Fairfield Inn and Suites at Cordele, Ga. It was very nice for a stopover hotel. I will use it again. It had breakfast, including biscuits and waffles.

We got on the road and it was still gray and rain, but at least it wasnt storming. As we hit florida, the sun was actually out!

Alas, it was a trick, within minutes it was raining again.

We arrived at 2pm. No problem with check in. The desk clerk even said we had a credit balance for the room and tax charges. She asked if we had a car, and I told her yes. I didnt get charged for parking tho. Bonus.

We had the portofino suite, so I ended up with a bunch of keys. We put the boys names on the bedroom keys, then I got a bedroom key, 2 parlor keys and a club key. (Its gold at PBH, talk about your star-bellied sneeches)

The room wasnt ready tho, so we went to wait in the club lounge. We had been driving for a while and the boys we too tired and grungy to go to the parks. The storms had caused some power issues , and the AC was out in the lounge. The club staff kept calling and checking for us, and said they put a rush on it, but it didnt seem to help. We didnt get in the room until 4:30. I think it had been in pretty bad shape and thats why it took so long. They had definitely shampooed the carpet, it was still wet. (I suspect, but am not sure, that it was a pet room)

I had requested a room overlooking the villa pool.I know thats not the usual request, but I really like that side, and it would put us close to the club lounge. I am not sure if they even have portofino suites on that side, but in any case, thats not anywhere near where we ended up. We had rooms 3235 and 3237. The west wing, overlooking the harbor, right by the boat dock. I loved, loved , loved the view, esp at night. I kept the curtains open all the time so I could look out at the harbor.

heres the parlor

and the room location

The boys cleaned up and went to the parks, but I was tired so I just hung out at the hotel.

coffee and tea, I like this little coffemaker

view from the room

another view

I tried to sleep on this, but it was horrible, so I just folded it up and slept ont the sofa.

more later........the monsoon and riding the bus.

 

[lindalinda]

Sunday we woke up and it looked a little better. It was gray, but it wasnt pouring rain, and I thought it might clear off.

We had breakfast at the lounge. It was crowded, really crowded. Long waits for toaster privileges. It was fine tho. Over the weekend there we several times when i couldnt find a seat at all.

They also had fruit, and yogurt. My boys thought the yogurt tasted weird tho.

We headed to the park. Islands first. Hulk first always.

Then we headed to suess

We transitioned over to lost continent.

the express line to Dueling Dragons was irritating. You had to wait in the regular line all the way up the path until you got in the castle. Then it split off. Long wait there. It didnt seem like they had many lines open inside on the regular line either. I dont think express saved much time at all.

Soon it started to really rain hard. We went inside to Spider man, but after that it was just a monsoon.

We waited inside one of the shops for a while, but it just got too bad and we decided to leave.


Here comes the negative stuff, and believe me, this will be in the survey, and I believe it warrants an email also.


We leave IOA to go back to the hotel. Its raining, hard. No lightning tho, but bad bad rain. The boats arent running. I decide to try the bus for the first time ever. The boys want to shop at citywalk so I send them along and head to the bus stop near studios. Its kind of between studios and the path to HRH. I see there are several people waiting. It is a fairly large covered area, but has only 2 benches. So 4 people get to sit. We wait. and wait. I eventually call K and tell him where the stop is so they can get a ride back. We wait some more. The boys finish their shopping and show up. Then we wait. More people show up. We see a bus down the road. It stops at the corner down by the HRH parking lot. It says "resort shuttle" on the side, but it just sits there and never comes down to the stop. Finally the bus shows up. I found that service to be completely unacceptable. For heavens sake, if they know the boats arent running, why in the world arent they putting forth some kind of effort to get the busses running? We saw one just sitting there! There was no way we could have walked all the way back to the PBH in that rain! Color me unimpressed with that.


Anyway, we headed back to the hotel, and watched it rain some more.

next..things are looking bright!

 

[wwessing]

 

[Rubbertops]

nice pics!

 

[DisneyFairy66]

Lovvviiiiinggg It! Im going there soon, but staying at the Royal Pacific and I cant wait..your pics are getting me excited!

 

[tlinus]

waiting for more

 

[damo]

Great!

We must have had a new mattress on our sofa bed there, because it was great.

 

[lindalinda]

Great!

We must have had a new mattress on our sofa bed there, because it was great.

You were lucky! Maybe they are replacing them, I couldnt manage it at all. But really, it was just me, so on the sofa was fine.

 

[damo]

You were lucky! Maybe they are replacing them, I couldnt manage it at all. But really, it was just me, so on the sofa was fine.

My son's girlfriend slept on there and we all tried it out to make sure it was fine. She really liked it and she's not a little kid.

 

[lindalinda]

I know I said I hung out on saturday while the boys went to the park. What I actually did was camp out in front of the big screen tv in the club lounge and watch the final 4. It was fun. To all those there, I'm sorry I hogged the tv, I know your kids wanted to watch spongebob, but hey...its the final 4!

I'm going to take this moment to discuss the whole "club" thing again. Those of you that have read my previous reports know I have waffled on this issue. So I will ramble on about it again here. I really dont think I will do it again. At least not with teenage boys anyway. It seems like it would be perfect, they could chow down on a big breakfast, etc. The overriding flaw to this logic is, teenagers dont get up in the morning.

Sure a couple of days I made them get up and go eat, in a kind of catatonic, drooling state. One day I did the tray thing, and took them pastries and fruit. But I finally gave up. I mean, I was dragging them out of bed so I could justify getting club so they could down a bagel before 10am?

Thats not to say I think it was a bad idea. I think if you still have kids that get up and you get moving it would work. The park hours worked against us too. The parks were closing at 7pm and the evening snacks were 5-7pm. I managed to be there twice and the boys I think just once. They were very good tho. I am sure I could have skipped dinner and just had those myself.

Also on sunday we ate dinner at the trattoria at PBH. I didnt bring the camera but it was pretty funny. the boys ordered what they thought was mozzerella sticks for an appetizer and they were actually a tomato with cheese then deep fried. Not what they wanted at all! I had spaghetti, it was good.

Anyway, moving on.

It stopped raining on Monday, at least it only rained sporadically.

We had lunch at Mythos and I finally took everyones advice and ordered the risotto of the day. It was spinach and mozzarella with beef tips and a tomato bisque. Yummy!

The boys all had their fav...the buffalo chicken wraps.

and the chocolate shots

menu

outside

inside

This day it did rain a little and I took refuge in camp jurassic while the boys rode the river adventure

I took up a place on a bench and watched the little ones play. It was so fun! I highly recommend this. Every kid has this little step, step jump motion that is so full of joy. Dont miss this area! Then my big boys joined me in there and had a blast themselves! I highly recommend this also! Teenagers need to get the little kid out sometimes too!

When we were wandering around, I decided to use the kids to get some shots over the wall to see how HP is coming along. So J stood up on a bench behind the little coaster and held the camera up to get these.

Ok, enough for today, I have work to do (for 2 years and 11 months longer)

Tomorrow.......the endless quest for a bag of cheetos.

 

[RAPstar]

I love the Mythos pics. Can't wait to eat there!! Keep up the good work!!!

 

[lindalinda]

I love the Mythos pics. Can't wait to eat there!! Keep up the good work!!!

Thank you! I know people like those food pics!

 

[lindalinda]

I admit it. I am a snacker. That breakfast, lunch and dinner thing just doesnt do it for me. I need to snack, esp at night. At the PBH this is a problem. Esp. if you want some cheetos. French fries? they got em. Actually you could OD on french fries. But a little bag of cheetos to munch on while watching keith olberman before bed? not to be found. I know, I can just have some dessert from club, that should be all right. Right? No, its not. I can go to the gelateria and get something for dessert. But not cheetos. In desperation I once bought a tiny bag of ruffles from the Splendido. $2.75. You know, those ones in the vending machines for $ .50? I even sent the boys to citywalk on a cheetos search for me. Came back empty.They happily told me about the cinnabon there tho.

So it was with no small bit of joy that I noticed them in the studios. Yes! Outside Disaster at the beer stand! A big ole bag of them! I snatched them up! Let that be a lesson to all us snackers! Bring some from home!

Sorry bout that, now we return you to our regularly scheduled trip report.

Tuesday was gorgeous. I got up and went to the pool, and let the boys sleep in.
I walked right on by the beach pool

cuz I love love love the villa pool!

I want to know what room this is, and how do I get it?

I really think this is a bonus

the plunge pools

I went to the parks in the afternoon with the boys, but I really need to get some sleep, since I have to get up at 4 am! So I'll say goodnight now!

 

[RAPstar]

Thank you! I know people like those food pics!

I know. Hopefully I can get my own digital camera before my trip. My BF already thinks I'm weird from taking odd pics when I was in Vegas (i.e. when I asked him to take a picture of me under the sign for Phantom of the Opera when we went to see it). So asking for his camera to take food pics will get another raised eyebrow, but I'm gonna do it either way.

 

[tlinus]

I know. Hopefully I can get my own digital camera before my trip. My BF already thinks I'm weird from taking odd pics when I was in Vegas (i.e. when I asked him to take a picture of me under the sign for Phantom of the Opera when we went to see it). So asking for his camera to take food pics will get another raised eyebrow, but I'm gonna do it either way.

DH was weirded out by some of the pictures that showed up on our camera last trip......just because we were doing a Guess the picture thread.....lamp posts, obscure signs, etc. He draws the line at food pictures though - Is nothing sacred anymore??? I want to eat!!! I may sneak some food pics this time though