I really appreciate all the nice things posted. They made ME smile and feel closer to 10/09.
OK! Next up: CS, snack trickery, Artist Point.
We went into Epcot our first "real" vacation day. After inconsequential ride going, we wandered over to Sunshine Seasons. Yow. If all CS was that, Casey's and Columbia Harbour House, we...well, we wouldn't be doing DxDDP next year. Matt and Dennis eat an incredible amount, but they haul my bod around a lot, so I shouldn't complain. I skipped here, and both guys had the half chicken with a cucumbery salad and baked potato. The chicken smelled smoky, which they verify as to flavor, the salad was too much vinegar for DH (he ate it anyway) and the potatoes were NOT MICROWAVED. Not completely, anyway, as they had crispy skin. Dennis had found CS heaven. After snarfing that, they both had s'mores cheesecake for dessert. Matt always drinks lemonade, except when he drinks root beer, and Dennis always drinks Diet Coke, except when he drinks sugar-free lemonade. Until dinner, anyway. Dennis tried the coffee and agrees with y'all that it's fertilizer. He drinks a lot of coffee, so we brought Jamaica Blue Mountain beans and filter, but no grinder (we were at the Dolphin, which apparently has okay coffee, then at a 1 br villa at Old Key West). He also brought some ground Kona, so coffee peace reigned once more. Since they both drink so much, we bought mugs the morning we moved to OKW, and used mine for syringes (legal! legal!). This upset the Mousekeeping staff, but that is, as they say, another story.
Snacks were used at F&W. First, they tried to trick me into trying escargot by telling me they were mushrooms, but I knew what the brioche cups looked like from Oybolshoi, who I owe at least a Kir. Then they tried to trick me into trying plantain mash with meaty stuff (don't you love the sharp specificity of my culinary knowledge?) by telling me they were potatoes, but that was such a pathetic lie even I caught it. I DID try the goat cheese tart, and I liked that a lot. I also enjoyed a bite of empanada.
Back to the room to hose me off for Artist Point, our first Signature.
Hmmm...how to describe Artist Point? Big, and pretty. Our server was dreadful. She was never there, and when she was there, she behaved as though I was comatose and three. DH got so pissed, he made her call me Doctor (PhD, I don't really know anything useful.) This woman began our exchange with "don't you look pretty in that pink dress, all fancied up." I assume she was referring to me, as neither Matt nor Dennis wore pink that night. It was downhill from there, until she came to our table to watch Dennis feed me and said, nodding with big, sad eyes, "she'll always be like a baby, won't she?" That did it, and we got a new server after DH intervened heavily. Our new server was scared of us, but that's okay.
The food: Dennis always eats cheese, if a cheese plate is there. There were only three cheeses and two crostini, plus an unidentified sweet substance, possibly honey. Den and I are cheese ignorant; he eats 'em, I write that he ate them. It was skimpy, and all were hard cheeses. He likes ones that wander off and set up IRAs. Matt had the soup, mostly because Denny and I wanted some. That was fantastic. Really creamy, great mushroom taste, smoky without being bacony. Matt thought it should be more bacony, but he is a bacon fetishist. I had venison spring rolls. They were tough enough to require a knife. The guys ate them anyway. My bite took six minutes. Venison makes me feel guilty about Bambis mother.
For our main courses, Matt ordered the New York Strip with a cheesy potato thing, Den had the buffalo with same potato thing, and I had duck with
duck. We asked for white rice, but the server was too busy being a nit, and it wasnt a big miss for me. I have no idea WHY I ordered it, as I hate it, but it was good. NOT GREASY, which is nice. The buffalo steak was the best entrée. It has really rich flavor, but little fat, and no gamey taste. We plan to raise them in the yard for snacks (untrue, the ostrich will take up too much space.) The bread was a tasty sourdough. For dessert, the guys had berry cobbler, and I had
duck. The cobbler was NOT cooked berries; they are on a baked crust, but raw. This was fine, except I cant eat raw food until I find an immune system.
The duck was tiring.
Verdict: our least favorite signature. Not two credit-worthy, except for the décor and mushroom soup. Plus, Dennis loves weird meats.
Back to the Dolphin. Next, a hotel screw-up repaired and we finally reach OKW, and the chicken that got away.
