Our Month-Long Trip to Orlando (7/9 - 8/6) I'M BACK! TRIP REPORT COMPLETE!

[babieemelly]

If you think Virginia is big, you ought to try driving through Texas sometime!

Your report is great so far!!

Renee

I can only imagine!

 

[nezy]

I have to ask-are you from Brooklyn? the pictures of you packing the car look like Bklyn to me.

Oreo is soo cute-what a good little traveler!

 

[fizz13]

Hi there
Ok, loving the report, loving the gorgeous mascot of the piece Oreo , loving the detail and photos, but I'm scared it might take you a month to get to Orlando You have infinite patience sitting in the car that long, think it would have driven me crazy, hoping that your throat is gonna hold out keep it coming,
Claire xx

 

[babieemelly]

I have to ask-are you from Brooklyn? the pictures of you packing the car look like Bklyn to me.

Oreo is soo cute-what a good little traveler!

Yep! I'm surprised you noticed, a lot of people have never even heard of my neighborhood I see you're from Breezy. EVERYONE in my neighborhood belongs to the Breezy Point beach club! What are the odds of that?!

Thanks for all the comments, I'm working on another update now!

 

[babieemelly]

At 3:10 we finally reached North Carolina, and wow... it is now oficially the "Hustler State". All we saw were countless signs and billboards advertising "Free Disney Tickets and Hotels!" and "The Country's Biggest Cigarettes!" But that was nothing compared to the endless "Topless!" and "We Bare All!" signs. And who could forget the added, "Couples Welcome!"? Now, Mike and I are pretty mature kids. OK, who am I kidding. We're responsible when we hve to be, but we're as immature as 18 and 19 year olds could get. We were cracking up, and couldn't stop joking around about the signs And this was coming from people who live in NYC, who are used to seeing pretty much everything and anything. Yes, we're THAT immature

Some scenery in North Carolina

A billboard advertising cheap hotels in Florida

Log cabin homes for sale

Mike with his PSP

Mike and I in the backseat, listening to Coheed and Cambria on his PSP

Oreo getting tired

At 4:00 we stopped at a rest area in North Carolina. As we pulled in we were surprised to see a lot of NY license plates. There was also a big group of kids and their parents all wearing Yankees and Mets hats, so we knew we were in good company There wasn't a restaurant or anything at this rest area, so we just walked Oreo and went in to use the bathroom. My dad also took our first few minutes of video here, of everyone hanging out by the car. When I watched it the other day it was so sad, seeing the very beginning of our vacation and knowing it was over We spent 20 minutes in the area, stretching our legs and getting ready for the final leg of our trip for the day.

When we got back in the car Mike and I were hungry, so we broke out the pretzels, crackers and candy we brought along and kept in the backseat. No, it wasn't a gourmet meal, but isn't it nice being on vacation and having chips for lunch?!

Oreo lounging in her carseat... she got her paw through the wrong side again!

Snacking in the car

Mike showing me his cut, you can barely see it

As we got farther into North Carolina we saw dozens of people skydiving all a the same time. There were literally hundreds and hundreds of people. We were SO wishing my aunt, uncle, and little cousin would have been there. Whenever my cousin (she'll be 5 in 2 weeks) asks where babies come from, my aunt just tells her "the stork". I would have gotten SUCH a kick out of telling her that the stork just made a delivery Ahh, I crack myself up

 

[babieemelly]

As we got farther into North Carolina we also started seeing tons and tons of South of the Border signs! We were told by the travel agents at AAA and by family members that we shouldn't bother stopping at South of the Border, because it was just a big, run-down tourist trap. It was still fun to see all the signs, though... some of them were really funny, and some of them made no sense

Pedro's weather report - Chilli Today, Hot Tamale!

World's #1 Miniature Golf (Somehow I doubt that)

I don't know what this is

Pedro's Leather Shop

Time For A Paws?

Whoa!

Shrek! It's blurry but I thought it was cute.

Sime North Carolina scenery

Too Much Tequila! Haha!

You Never Sausage a Place! You're Always a Weiner At Pedro's!

Pedro's Africa Shop

We reached South Carolina at 6:00, and were at South of the Border by 6:10. I know it's weird, but I have to admit I teared up a bit when we finally saw it, just because it was our first big tourist attraction of the trip We drove into the area and decided to get gas, but the gas was WAY overpriced. The area was also just really run-down and gross, so my dad hopped back in the car and we continued driving.

South of the Border

 

[babieemelly]

We stopped about 5 minutes later at the end of Dillon, South Carolina at Jeb's Gas Station, which apparently is famous for "South Carolina's Cleanest Bathrooms". We didn't feel the need to challenge their claim to fame, so we didn't bother getting out. My dad got out and got gas, and as he was doing so we were all entertained by some guy who was sitting on his car with a few friends at the gas pump in front of us. He felt the need to very slowly, and seductively, raise his shirt every time we looked at him, and then as we turned away he would put it back down. Then we would look at him again and he would raise his shirt, oh so slowly, with that very sexy twinkle in his eye. Wow, very nice, very nice. Thanks for the show! Wow, being from New York we've seen some pretty crazy things, but this guy was too much. He was actually scary, and very gross, yet extremely amusing... all at once. Not many people can pull that off.

Needless to say, we got out of there pretty quick. Well, after we spent an extra 5 minutes in the gas station with my dad looking for his Speedpass for the gass. He thought he had lost it, but nope... it was right there in his pocket. So, after a very interesting time in Dillon, South Carolina, we continued our drive to Florence. As we drove I was just SO excited. Yes, we were still 7 hours away from Orlando, but we had finally reached our first hurtle on our way there, and it seemed like we were right around the corner from my favorite place in the world.

I told Mike that I might cry when I see the first Disney billboard in Orlando. His reply? "Yea, and I might smack you." Thanks Mike. I'm glad that you're excited, too.

The final leg to Florence

As we were driving we saw a sign for the Country Hearth Inn, which was the hotel we originally had booked for our overnight stop. What did the sign say, you may ask? "The Country Hearth Inn, Now With Indoor Plumbing." Yes, we were very glad that we had changed our reservations. We also hoped that indoor plumbing wasn't a new convenience in Florence. After 12-hours on the road, the last thing we needed was an outhouse.

We finally reached Florence at 6:45, and drove to the last exit in the city. At 7:00 we were driving up to the Ramada Inn, and we were NOT happy with what we saw. The outside of the building was being renovated, and was literally being held together with duck-tape. Yes, we saw actual tape hanging off the front of the building. There were also a bunch of dirtbags hanging out on their cars in the parking lot. What had we gotten ourselves into?! We hoped it was just the outside of the building that wasn't appealing as my mom and dad went to check in. Mike and I waited in the car with Oreo.

The Ramada welcome sign

The front of the hotel

Even Oreo didn't want to go in!

The main strip of hotels and restaurants from the car

When my mom and dad came out we drove around to where our room was, and hoped for the best. Before taking anything out of the car we put the key in the door, waited for the little green light to blink, and pushed the door open... and pushed... and pushed. Wow, that door was stuck pretty good. Anyway, we finally got it open, and... The TV was on the floor, the bed was unmade with one of the mattresses joining the TV on the floor, and the place STUNK. Back in the car we went, and my mom and dad ran back into the lobby to tell them they gave us the wrong room.

With our new key in hand, we drove to our room. I was afraid to open the door! We walked in, and the heat and musty smell hit us right away. Oh boy, I could already tell this was going to be a fun night This room wasn't as bad as the last one, though, so we unhooked the roof bag and brought it in, along with the rest of the bags we had in the car. We got our stuff organized and tried to fix the air-conditioner before we realized there was no use, and we just sat back and wondered what we were going to do. The smell in the room was hideous, the carpet was damp, there were stains on the curtains, and the room was 500 degrees. So yes, back in the car we went, with the roof bag jammed into the backseat with Mike, Oreo, and I, and we went back to the front of the hotel. My mom and dad ran in to tell the girl at the front desk that the room was unacceptable and we wanted our money back. Her reply? "Oh". I'm glad they care about customer service as much as they care about cleanliness.

We looked in our AAA "Vacationing With Your Pet" book and found that the Holiday Inn across the street also accepted pets. Holiday Inn's are usually pretty nice, so we decided to try our luck. We pulled into the parking lot and the exterior of the hotel definitely looked better than it did at the Ramada. There were also nicely dressed people in nice cars driving around the parking lot, due to the fact that the hotel also had a conference center. My dad and Mike ran in to see if they had any availability, while my mom and I waited in the car with Oreo.

The front of the Holiday Inn

Luckily they had a room for us, and we drove around to our entrance. The place was pretty crowded and there were a bunch of families in the parking lot, so we had high hopes. We held our breath and crossed our fingers as we opened the door, and were happy to see that the room wasn't too bad. It still smelled of mildew, which worked wonders on my soar throat , but it was a lot better than the room at the Ramada. We brought all of our stuff in and noticed a few stains on the carpet, curtains and comforter, but we were out of options. We figured we would just get a few hours of sleep and leave early the next morning. I was very surprised with the upkeep of the hotels in Florence. We have stayed at Ramada and Holiday Inn's before in Upstate NY and they were gorgeous and clean. It definitely wasn't what we were used to.

My mom, dad and Mike not looking too happy at the hotel

It was around 8:00 by then and we were all hungry so we drove around to find a restaurant on the strip. I had heard good things about Shoney's so we drove over there, and the place was empty. They were having their weekend Seafood buffet, and Mike and my dad don't like Seafood. The place was also really dirty so we left. The Ruby Tuesday's and Cracker Barrel next door were packed, so we figured those were the only good places in the area. We didn't feel like waiting around for an hour to eat, though, so we went to Quincy's Family Steakhouse, which we had never heard of. The place was pretty crowded so we figured it must not be too bad.

The restaurant had a buffet and menu service, so we decided to take a look at the buffet first. We saw a little girl take food with her hands, a woman drop the tongs for the salad on the floor and then put it back in the salad, and a mom push her 6-year old daughter into the buffet table and scream at her to get her more mashed potatoes. People amaze me, they really do. So yes, we went for the table service. Mike and I got Philly Cheesesteaks, my dad got steak, and my mom got chicken fingers. Despite the fact that the place wasn't very clean, there was nowhere else to go and the food turned out to be pretty good. I was getting nervous, though, because I kept getting really dizzy whenever I turned my head. I remembered that I had gotten the same thing about 8 years ago. I had been looking forward to seeing Hanson in concert for months (yes, Hanson. Shut up.) It was my first concert, and when it finally arrived I was dizzy throughout the whole thing and had to just sit there. I chalked it up to exhaustion, though, and tried not to worry about it too much.

When we were done eating we went over to the Travel Mart next door to get some bottled water for overnight and the next day's drive. At the counter was a sign that said, "We sale lotto, but no scratch-offs." Nope, not a typo on my part... it said, "We SALE" and yes, the sign was stuck onto a box full of scratch-offs Florence was definitely shaping up to be a very interesting city

We were back in the room by 9:00, and Mike took a shower while my mom, dad and I watched the top 5 slots of the 101 Worst Breakup Songs on VH1. Number 1 was some Milli Vanilli song that I can't remember the name of. I took a shower at around 9:30 and braided my hair so I wouldn't have to deal with in the morning (I would just unbraid it and it would be crimped... yes, I know it's not 1984 anymore. But it saves me time!), and we were all asleep by 10:30. I was getting dizzy again, and the beds were SO bouncy and uncomfortable that every time Mike or I moved I would really feel the room spinning. I was exhausted, though, so I fell right asleep, and when I woke up at 2:00 that morning I felt better. Mike and my mom were also up, so I guess all of us had a hard time sleeping that night.


Coming Up Next - Day 2: "That there dog will go right for your ankle"

 

[fancythemouse]

Might I say you have very good taste in music I love those bands, I'm surprised your parents didn't get bothered cause my mom does but my dads pretty chill about it. Me and my sister would have enjoyed that car trip. Love your dog he's a cutie!

 

[OhMari]

You bring back so many of my families road trips. I try to find hotels on the internet that might work, but when we get there they are dives. I swear Ramada puts a "cookie cutter" picture for use to all their franchise holders. I cannot tell you how many Ramada's I know of that are classified as dives. I think Ramada's feel they are such a long standing name, people will go there no matter what.'

You and your brother should have invested in a DVD player. I don't hear a peep out of my two teenagers when we are traveling-they are glued to their movies.

I also like all your random photo's of things you see while driving.

Keep up the great report.

 

[Sweedee]

We have passed that way more times than I care to count...but never stopped. So, we finally braved it ONE time too many!!! GROSS! The bathrooms looked like they hadn't been updated in 25 yrs...honestly, they reminded me of the bathrooms in grade school. It's not even worth a stop! it's G R O S S!!!

 

[AmyBennett]

You are bringing back so many memories of driving from NJ to Fl. Some good, some bad! I am loving your report. You are doing a great job!!! Can't wait to hear more.

 

[fizz13]

Just checking in again, wow about the hotel , poor you, you must have been exhausted,
Claire xx

 

[babieemelly]

Day 2 - Sunday, July 10, 2005

I woke up early that morning, having no idea what time it was. My mom was already up and pretty much done getting dressed. I saw light shining in between the cracks of the curtains and I figured it was around 8:00. I turned over to look at the clock, and nope... it was only 5:30. I looked outside and realized that it was still pitch black out, and the light I saw was only the lights set up around the parking lot. Ahh, I was tired!

I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed, and as I did my hair and makeup (yes, I enjoy being a girl ) my dad and Mike got ready, and then packed up the car. We saw another family packing up the car, as well, and they also had a dog with them. They must have also been driving down to Florida because I saw a few Disney guidebooks in their backseat We decided to skip breakfast and just get on the road ASAP so we could get to Orlando as early as possible. At 6:30 the car was packed, we jumped in, my mom and dad jumped back out to check out, and we were on our way. Later that day we would be in Orlando!

Oreo trying to get on the bed

...Another attempt!

...Ahh, just relaxing!

Oreo with her seatbelt over her head... she looks like a little old maid!

The hotel's parking lot from the car, as my mom and dad were checking out

Oreo and I in the car... Oreo looks psychotic lmaoo

...On the road again!

We drove for two hours without stopping, and it started raining at 8:20 in Ridgewood, South Carolina. I thought it might be remnants of Hurricane Dennis, but it only rained for 2 minutes. Now, thinking back, it couldn't realistically have been remnants of Dennis, but that stupid storm was making me nervous and the fact that it was on its way to Florida was always in the back of my mind 10 minutes later we finally reached Georgia... and caught our first glimpse of palm trees for this trip! I have a palm tree fetish They always remind me of far-off tropical places, and I can't get enough of them. My room at home is all island-themed and I have huge posters of palm trees on deserted islands during sunset. I love those palm trees, and they were a VERY welcomed sight!

Rain, rain, go away...

...Come again another day

Oreo needed her beauty sleep!

Palm trees!

And more palm trees

I LOVE Georgia's welcome sign!

 

[babieemelly]

At 8:45 we reached Savannah. I get excited over little things, and I was so excited to be in Savannah. "Gone With the Wind" is one of my favorite books, and a lot of it takes place in Savannah We stopped at a gas station to get gas, and mom and I walked Oreo. Then we drove over to the other side of the rest area where there were a few restaurants and a Super Walmart. We wanted to get some quick fast food for breakfast so we drove over to Hardees, but it didn't open until 9:00 and it was only 8:55. Even thought it was supposed to open in 5 minutes, there were no employees in the restaurant or any signs of life anywhere, really. We didn't feel like waiting around, it didn't look like it was actually going to open anytime soon, so we drove over to Walmart.

My dad put Oreo in her little sling-carrier (yes, besides the car seat we have a little sling for her to lay in that you wear over your shoulder ) and tried to bring her in. I knew they weren't going to let pets in, but my mom and dad tried, only to be stopped at the entrance. This made my mom so mad, like I can't even tell you. She was fuming that they wouldn't let the dog in, even though she was contained, and she refused to buy anything in there to have for breakfast. Her excuse was, "If they let dogs into expensive boutiques in the city they should let them int Walmart!" So my mom and I just ran in to the bathroom and wow... Oreo would have been a very clean addition to the entire store, it was filthy! My mom said so and two girls in the bathroom said, "Well, this is the South!" I refuse to believe that the entire South is a mess... you should've seen the Walmart here (it was closed a few years ago)! Yes, it was a step up from the one in Savannah, but no Walmart is a palace

Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn...

A sign for the rest stop

My dad getting gas

A little bird, you can barely see it

My mom walking Oreo

3 Cents off! What a bargain!

We left 5 minutes later and were back on the road.

Some Georgian scenery

 

[babieemelly]

At 10:00 we stopped at a McDonald's for breakfast. They had a small outdoor seating area which was what we were looking for, so we didn't have to eat in the car. Mike and I waited with Oreo at a table while m mom and dad ran in to get the food. As we were sitting there waiting, a lady came up to us and said Oreo was really cute and asked what kind of dog she was. We told her that she was a Shih-Tzu, and then the lady's husband came out of McDonald's and yelled to the lady, "That there dog will go right for your ankles!" As soon as they left Mike and I cracked up. It was so funny to hear the guy say that in his thick Southern accent, knowing that he was right. Yes, Oreo's bite is bigger than her bark

A BBQ restaurant right next to McDonald's... people were actually eaing there! First of all, it was 10:00 in the morning, who has BBQ then? And it's like someone pulled up their trailer and decided to open shop

Oreo waiting for the food

Mike, just a little bit carsick

Mike was carsick and not feeling great so he only wanted one of those long hashbrowns McDonald's sells, but my mom and dad wound up getting him a bacon, egg and cheese croissant with it. My mom and I also got one, and my dad got ham, egg and cheese on a bagel. Mike wound up eating everything they got him and then blamed them for him feeling sick The last time I checked no one shoved the food down his throat! When we were done eating, my dad and Mike ran into the bathroom, and then my mom and I did. These bathrooms were gross, too, and I was so sick of gross bathrooms. Also, the people in there were NOT too bright. The bathroom was really small and PACKED, and as we were trying to get out a bunch of people pushed right past us and squeezed their way in. When the bathroom's that crowded shouldn't you let people OUT first?

We were back on the road at around 10:25 and continued driving. I can't tell you how many Confederate flags we saw! It was a bit shocking :shocked: Things were DEFINITELY different than we were used to!

Back on the road

Coming Up Next - Welcome to Florida! The... "Sunshine" State?

 

[Renee1061]

What? No picture of Oreo in his carrier?

I have an Oreo, too. He is a chihuahua.


Renee

 

[Foladar]

Can't wait for the next part!

 

[babieemelly]

We continued driving, and finally at 11:00 we saw it... the Florida welcome sign! We were finally there! And almost as soon as the sign came into view it started raining. How ironic. We were reading, "Welcome to Florida, the Sunshine State" as it was raining Since it was raining it was hard for me to take a picture through the windshield wipers, so I asked Mike to take a picture of the sign from his window as we drove by. Yea, my picture-through-the-windshield-wipers would have been a lot better than what he did

It was so surreal driving through Florida. After years of begging to go back, we were now driving through the state, with Oreo and a ton of luggage in tow, and a whole month ahead of us to look forward to. We passed through Jacksonville at around 11:30, and with each city we passed I got a little more excited. I decided to listen to all the Disney stuff on my MP3 player, including songs from different movies, and the soundtracks and recordings from different rides and attractions in the parks. I couldn't believe we were so close!

Mike's award-winning picture

The Florida Welcome Center sign

The bridge to Jacksonville

Driving through Jacksonville

We reached the Palm Coast at 12:00 and it was gorgeous! There were just tons and tons of palm trees all in clusters along I95. It was definitely the nicest and most fun part of I95. I have to admit I felt like crying just because it was all so beautiful, and really reminded me of where we were.

The Palm Coast

 

[babieemelly]

We reached Daytona Beach at 12:45 and decided to make a stop. We first went to a Dairy Queen right off of I95. We had never been to Dairy Queen before (there aren't any around here) so we decided to see what they had. Mike waited in the car with Oreo while my mom, dad, and I ran in. We all used the bathroom and then got on line. I decided to get a Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard, while my mom and dad shared a Vanilla Coolata. While they ordered I went back to the car to wait with Mike and Oreo. They came out about 5 minutes later, and my Blizzard was SO good! For those of you who aren't familiar with Dairy Queen, a Blizzard is ice cream with different toppings. It's not regular ice cream, though, they mix it up so it's all soupy, like when you mix up your ice cream a lot to make it melt and then you can drink it. Then they have different concoctions of toppings and stuff. It was GOOD!

We then went next door to a Burger King that also had a gas station and convenience store. My dad got out and got gas, while my mom ran in to the store to buy some instant lotteries. She always buys them at home, and I guess she had to start off our vacation on the right foot When she got back I got out of the car quick to go throw something out and wow, it was actually pretty chilly out. I was expecting to get out of the car and melt, but it wasn't bad at all, hardly even humid. It was great, but I hoped it wasn't a sign that a certain hurricane was nearby

The Dairy Queen we stopped at

My Cookie-Dough Blizzard

The Convenience Store at the gast station

Some dude had Alf on the back of his bike! Haha, I love it!

My mom with her Instant Lotteries, haha

Leaving Daytona Beach

Driving along I4

My dad making sure that the straps on the Roof Bag were still secure. This was a theme throughout the trip. He would feel for the straps on his side of the car, and then tell us to check ours. I'm sorry, but if the straps weren't secure we would have seen the bag fly off the back off the car by now

We left the gas station and continued driving. This time, though, we didn't get back on I95. At 1:05 we officially got on I4 and saw the sign I had been looking for.. "Orlando - 41 Miles" Ahh!! Less than an hour away! We continued driving and entered Orlando at 2:00. I couldn't have been more excited! As soon as we entered, though, the sky completely opened up and it was POURING. I don't mean just raining, it was pouring buckets. We literally couldn't see two feet in front of us. It was ridiculous. It stopped within 5 minutes, though, and we figured we'd have to get used to really heavy storms like that, which would come and go within a short amount of time. A small price to pay for spending a month in Florida

Our first Orlando attraction billboard was for Sea World, and it was so cute! Although I'm not a big fan of Sea World (more on that later), their billboards and advertisements were very nice. We passed Downtown Orlando and I took some pictures of the small city. It reminded me of a show on the WB a few months ago, "Big Man on Campus". It was a reality dating show that took place at the University of Central Florida, and the school is right outside Downtown Orlando. Anyway, we finally passed Universal Studios at around 2:15 and I can't tell you how hard I was trying to fight back tears as we saw the welcome signs and all the big rides and rollercoasters at Island's of Adventure. I couldn't believe we were there!

 

[babieemelly]

Fifteen minutes later we were in Kissimmee and I almost completely fell apart. We were driving past Disney property, and I could see everything! We passed Pop Century, the Casting Center, the Wide World of Sports and more. As we passed the Magic Kingdom exit I was even able to look over and see the Disney gates... I was very glad to have my sunglasses on because I definitely shed a few tears at that point. We were finally in one of my favorite places in the World! Five minutes after passing the Magic Kingdom entrance we were on Formosa Gardens Drive, the street that our resort was on. It was down a long, winding road behind a swamp, and just past another resort which we had throught was ours at first. Just like the website said, it was only about a half-mile away from the main road, but it was a completely secluded area that really made you feel as if you were away from it all. And we were all completely blown way...

Sea World - Wet Conditions Ahead

The rain was CRAZY!

An Orlando sign - it was 33 miles away... it's hard to see because of the rain!

Downtown Orlando

"Made any new friends lately?" I LOVE this one!

So close!

Scream Harder! - The Mummy

Swing Higher! - The Adventures of Spiderman

A sign at the Sea World exit

A Downtown Disney billboard!

Ahh, you gotta love the sight of that

Go On Safari

Coming Up Next - I'm Moving In For Good!