joedisney
Earning My Ears
- Joined
- Sep 1, 2000
- Messages
- 70
I'm sure most have given up on me, but I have decided to finish this darn thing before our next tri But before I continue, a brief interlude
Thursday, July 22, 2004
As I sit here watching eight-year-old Connor chomp on a bagel on the deck of a rented house on Frye Island in Maine, I realize that my wife is right. I am a "Disney Snob". The little ones are out on the dock with Mom feeding the ducks. Sebego Lake is calm and beautiful. It's nice to have time to sit out on the deck by the lake and tap out some thoughts on my laptop. Life could be worse. It is, however, just not Disney. As a Disney snob, I am burdened with the curse of having to compare every vacation we go on with Disney. In most cases, it's not a fair comparison given the fact that Disney vacations cost about five times as much as any other vacation we go on. This, however, does not stop me from making the comparisons.
Finished with the not so hungry ducks, Caley walks up and says, "Hi Dad". There is something about that little face that just makes me melt. "Hi, Caley," I say, "I sure do like you. It's fun being with you." She shoots me a huge smile and asks, "even in this smelly house?" There it is, summed up in one word; this place "smells". I mean this quite literally. The moment we opened the front door, we were engulfed in an odor that is hard to describe. I ask Kathy to help describe the smell and she says, "I don't know, but I hope to never smell it again." We are afraid that the smell will stick with us and follow us home. Our neighbors will run from us, our friends and family will avoid us, complete strangers will shield their young from us as we pass by.
The smell isn't the only thing; we are on an island. Ok, relaxing by the lake with a cool drink and a good book sounds great on paper, but we have four kids. Relaxing by the lake is not an option. We have tennis rackets, but no balls. There is no place on the island to buy tennis balls. They have tennis courts, but no place to get balls. We did see a moose the other day. Very cool, but I'd take a Tigger sighting any day. Throw in some unsettled weather and things get worse pretty quickly. Play Dough, cards, Yahtzee, toothpicks and marshmallows, crayons and a 500-piece puzzle; all done in the first two days. Some of our vacation highlights include feeding the ducks, trips to the island store for candy and ice cream, spending time in the recreation center looking for missing games pieces and eating at the one and only island restaurant. Hmmm, just like our highlights at Disney. We did spend a day off the island at a local amusement park called Fun Town Splash Town. Touted as New England's largest amusement/water park. I'm pretty sure the folks at Six Flags New England would have something to say about this claim. We did have a good time and the Excalibur roller coaster was a good one.
Damp. We pretty much feel damp at all times. The house feels damp, our clothes feel damp. our bed feels damp, even our books and magazines feel damp. Things get wet, but nothing ever dries. Did I mention that there is no washer and dryer? We would be fine without the washer, but a dryer would sure have been nice. Bad smells and damp. I've pretty much had to cry myself to sleep every night. Ok, it's not that bad, but it sure isn't the Beach Club.
Kathy comes over and asks, "so, what are we going to do today?" Hmmm, let me think over our options. Well, at least I can work on my Disney trip report
Thursday, July 22, 2004
As I sit here watching eight-year-old Connor chomp on a bagel on the deck of a rented house on Frye Island in Maine, I realize that my wife is right. I am a "Disney Snob". The little ones are out on the dock with Mom feeding the ducks. Sebego Lake is calm and beautiful. It's nice to have time to sit out on the deck by the lake and tap out some thoughts on my laptop. Life could be worse. It is, however, just not Disney. As a Disney snob, I am burdened with the curse of having to compare every vacation we go on with Disney. In most cases, it's not a fair comparison given the fact that Disney vacations cost about five times as much as any other vacation we go on. This, however, does not stop me from making the comparisons.
Finished with the not so hungry ducks, Caley walks up and says, "Hi Dad". There is something about that little face that just makes me melt. "Hi, Caley," I say, "I sure do like you. It's fun being with you." She shoots me a huge smile and asks, "even in this smelly house?" There it is, summed up in one word; this place "smells". I mean this quite literally. The moment we opened the front door, we were engulfed in an odor that is hard to describe. I ask Kathy to help describe the smell and she says, "I don't know, but I hope to never smell it again." We are afraid that the smell will stick with us and follow us home. Our neighbors will run from us, our friends and family will avoid us, complete strangers will shield their young from us as we pass by.
The smell isn't the only thing; we are on an island. Ok, relaxing by the lake with a cool drink and a good book sounds great on paper, but we have four kids. Relaxing by the lake is not an option. We have tennis rackets, but no balls. There is no place on the island to buy tennis balls. They have tennis courts, but no place to get balls. We did see a moose the other day. Very cool, but I'd take a Tigger sighting any day. Throw in some unsettled weather and things get worse pretty quickly. Play Dough, cards, Yahtzee, toothpicks and marshmallows, crayons and a 500-piece puzzle; all done in the first two days. Some of our vacation highlights include feeding the ducks, trips to the island store for candy and ice cream, spending time in the recreation center looking for missing games pieces and eating at the one and only island restaurant. Hmmm, just like our highlights at Disney. We did spend a day off the island at a local amusement park called Fun Town Splash Town. Touted as New England's largest amusement/water park. I'm pretty sure the folks at Six Flags New England would have something to say about this claim. We did have a good time and the Excalibur roller coaster was a good one.
Damp. We pretty much feel damp at all times. The house feels damp, our clothes feel damp. our bed feels damp, even our books and magazines feel damp. Things get wet, but nothing ever dries. Did I mention that there is no washer and dryer? We would be fine without the washer, but a dryer would sure have been nice. Bad smells and damp. I've pretty much had to cry myself to sleep every night. Ok, it's not that bad, but it sure isn't the Beach Club.
Kathy comes over and asks, "so, what are we going to do today?" Hmmm, let me think over our options. Well, at least I can work on my Disney trip report
A fellow Disney snob here, too! Every time we think we might go someplace else for vacation, I always say, "but that costs just as much as Disney" or "if we are going to spend that I want to go to Disney" or just plain ole "I want to go to Disney"!!!
