I am watching American Idol now. I wonder who is going to win?????? I really think Crystal out performed Lee last night, but its anybody's win! I will be disappointed if a boy wins AGAIN this year, but I definitely think more girls vote for the male contestants. Well....by the time you read this the winner will have been announced. All I can say is that Carrie Underwood is the best idol winner ever. She is beautiful, her clothes are great, and she has really become a great performer. She was the best guest performance tonight.
Oh, well, I digress! Back to my TR.......
When I left off we had just gotten back to the villa after a lovely afternoon at the pool. As is tradition, I tried out the whirlpool tub. While the bathroom was not as cool as Kidani's, I still really enjoyed that relaxing soak. I figured we had plenty of time to get to our 7:25pm ADR, but as it turns out we barely made it there in time. Before we left the villa I got this brilliant idea. I decided that it might be a good idea to enter the World showcase through Christine's private entrance. That would mean parking at the Beach Club. I have never lied before when parking at a Disney resort. I've always had an ADR. But tonight I decided to stretch the truth a bit. I told Chuck to tell the guard that we were going to Beaches & Cream. It wasn't exactly a lie. We might have been going there, if we weren't going to R&C.
Of course, when we got the guard Chuck announced, "We are going to Peaches & Cream". "Beaches, Chuck, beaches...", I whispered.
Phew...past the guard and into the parking lot. We powered walk through the beach club lobby and out to the sidewalk. I barely remember passing through the lobby, but I thought it would be cool to show Chuck and Cathy different resorts and you know I
the BC.
Before I knew it, we were through Christine's private entrance and on line to check in for R&C. There was a fairly decent check-in line and they were taking walk-ups. I asked for a seat on the back porch ("if at all possible".) The hostess reminded me that it was only a request and requests could not always be granted. No worries, I assured her. Then we went to wait along the water. I love how R&C has so many tables right outside the restaurant. With time to kill, I went to work taking pictures.....
Well - I interrupt this TR to report that, as I feared, Lee won! Not that I don't think Lee was good, but this is the third year in a row that a boy has won. I really wanted Crystal. I am bummed. I think I need to stop watching AI for a while!
Back to my regularly scheduled TR......There was a whole family (or two) of these little fellows.....
The sky was beautiful tonight.......
After about 15 minutes I turned around and didn't see Denny. I asked Chuck were he went. Chuck replied, "He went to check on our table. Other people that checked in after us have already been seated".
DOH!!!!!! Chuck and Denny ....did I NOT say we were requesting to sit OUTSIDE? Denny came back a few moments later and informed us that we could be seated immediately if we wanted to eat inside.
DOUBLE DOH!!!!!! How many times did I tell Denny...."We are eating at R&C on Monday night. We are going to ask for a patio table and watch Illuminations". Clearly I must have been talking into thin air when I made this announcement.
Chuck was actually ready to head to hostess for that indoor table, but I persuaded him to wait a few more minutes. "It will be worth it. I promise".
Not 5 minutes later we were being escorted to our patio seat. Not only were we on the patio, but we were dead center, 2nd level. Our waiter informed us the we had the BEST location for viewing Illuminations. SCORE!
This was my first time eating at R&C and I have heard mixed reviews about the food. It seems that a lot of people don't love this place. I think that's why it took me so long to make an ADR here. Well let me tell you - I LOVED IT! Our food was great, our waiter was great, and the ambience.....priceless.
So what was on the menu.....
Well, first it was drinks all around. I will admit, I really wanted to try that Welsh Dragon, but I was afraid it would kill my appetite. Denny informed me that they had Boddington's. I love Boddingtons. It is my all time favorite beer. So i ditched the Welsh Dragon for the Boddingtons in the souvenier glass.
My entree was the surf and turf and it was excellent. The fish was moist and flaky and the batter was a perfect consistency. The turf was also moist and flavor full. It was was entree that I could have easily shared with someone. It was a lot of food.
Surf and Turf - Grilled Steak and Fried Fish with Yorkshire Pudding, Irish Potato Gratin, seasonal Vegetables, and Shallot Gravy $24.99
This entree was Denny's seafood stew. I did not find a description for it in Allearsnet.com, but he said it was delicious and comprised of nice sized chunks of seafood and fish.
I'm not sure who had this, but it looks like a Shepherd's pie. This may have been Cathy's. I know that either Cathy or Chuck got the surf & turf.
I did not take pictures of dessert because it was actually served after Illuminations. But here is the menu and I had the Lemon Pie which was light, fluffy, and tasty. A good choice because I was stuffed.
Chocolate Scotch Cake - with Chocolate Filling and Scotch Ganache served with Creme Anglaise $5.99
Lemon Pie $5.49
Bakewell Tart $5.49
No Sugar Added Fruit Trifle $5.49
Sticky Toffee Pudding $4.99
Our waiter was superb. His name was John and he kept complaining about how hot he was. And it was really humid. I have had cooler evenings in June and August. It was one of those night where each strand of my hair did a 360 and no flat iron in the world had the strength to tame it. I didn't mind the John hated the heat. His service was perfect and he took our dishes away before Illuminations, gave us dessert menus, and waited until the show was over to take our order.
Disclaimer....I did not bring my tripod, so my pics aren't the best. I kept trying to balance my camera on the fence post, but it didn't work as well as the tripod. Despite the fact that the umbrellas were down, it was still pretty difficult to keep it out of the pictures. So here's what I got.....
Since Denny was on the other side of the table, I asked him to try to take some pictures from the "other side" of the umbrella. Here's what he got......
That's right. Every picture he took looked like that!!!!!! What the........? Oh well. He tried.
After Illuminations, dessert was served and we waddled away back to C's entrance and the beach club.
I'm going to break here cause this update took me longer than I thought (cause my pics are so out of order in photobucket), but I will return with a few more pictures from Day 2. Cathy and I did a little exploring around the Beach & Yacht Club.
So...up next.... A quiet tour of the Beach Club and Day 3.....Return of the Evil D!
Thanks for stopping over! We are off to Epcot for dinner and then we will be returning to Epcot in the am!
So my first ride on the NEW! AND IMPROVED! Space Mountain will have to wait for MNSSHP in October with my boys...Pods & I probably won't make it there when we go in Sept, but...ya never know!
so I need a do-over.
