AlexandNessa
<font color=red>Proud Redhead<br><font color=green
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2003
- Messages
- 5,407
The Cast: Jodie, 31 and Mike, 35. We're an unmarried, professional couple, no kids but are kids at heart!
Anyway, Day 2:
We woke up fairly late (is it really 10 o'clock?!)
. It was raining. We had planned on a coaster day, but I figured they'd close the coasters in the rain, so we decided to go to Sea World. We were ready to go by about 11:15, and we headed down to the concierge to figure out the best way to get there. He said that the last shuttle left at 10:25. We asked, "don't you have any shuttles for the late sleepers?" He said, "The 10:25 shuttle IS for the late sleepers." Hmphh.
We went out front to catch a cab. Our cabbie was a very friendly guy named Perry. The fare was $14.25 + tip. Not awful. We had our e-tickets, and a Sea World host greeted us. She asked if we already had our tickets, and we showed her our e-tickets. She said, "oh, aren't they just so cute! Thank goodness for you post baby boomers." She checked to make sure we had on our walking shoes. They must have passed muster, because she led us through the gates.
We knew we were catching the 5 o'clock shuttle back, so we got a map and made a plan of attack. Well, not really. Mike and I never, ever do a park commando. We kind of wandered over to the Sting Ray tank. Mike made me buy some stinky fish to feed them. We tried for about 10 minutes, and got bored since none of the sting rays wanted anything to do with us. We gave the fish to a group of young girls to see if they'd have anymore luck, and we moved on to the dolphins, who again wanted nothing to do with us.
It rained off and on, and Mike went off to buy me a poncho. He took great delight in the fact that I looked like I was wearing a big trash bag, but then again, so was half of Sea World!
We went to the Shamu show, which was excellent. We sat in the splash zone, but that was ok with me. Afterall, I was wearing the poncho. Function over style every time!
We had some time before Clyde and Seamore, and I wanted to grab a bite to eat. We walked for what seemed like forever. There were a bunch of walk-up places with huge lines and people waiting to sit at a table. All I wanted was a hot dog, or something simple. Cart after cart after cart, it was nothing but drinks. Don't these people believe in hot dog stands? We finally saw an employee and asked him to help us out. He pointed out a cart where they were just beginning to serve calzones. Fine. Well, not really, it was gross but it tied me over till dinner. We went to hit Clyde and Seamore, which was very cute. The kids are just such a riot at this show. At one point the Captain in the show puts the treasure map on a ledge so he won't lose it, and asks the kids to remind him where it is in case he forgets. Predictably, he does "lose" it a few minutes later, and the kids were all screaming, "It's on the ledge, on the ledge!!" We thought one little girl was going to run down the stairs and show the Captain herself.
Next we hit Kraken. It was only about a 20 minute wait, but Mike leaned over while we were in line and said, "Just get me back to Front of the Line!" Kraken was great. Well, I think. I'm the coaster freak with the white knuckles, clenched teeth, and eyes closed. It was a rather cool day, so we weren't up to Journey to Atlantis. We hit the shark encounter, the manatees, the Clydesdale horses, and something else, and figured we'd come back a second day. They are still offering the 2nd day free if you use it within 7 days. We got the 5 pm shuttle back to the hotel, and showered up for dinner.
We were ready by 6:30, so we went down to the Thirsty Fish for some beers before dinner. This is the bar that's right on the harbor. The PBH also has the American Bar, which is inside and a typical hotel bar. We muched preferred the Thirsty Fish. We spent a fair amount of time here before we'd go to dinner, or before heading up for the night. I did love the harbor, and both Mike and I said if we'd had it do all over again, we'd have asked for a regular bay view room instead of the deluxe pool view. The harbor is very pretty at night, and not to be missed. (If you book a Bay Room, ask for the West Wing. It's a lot closer to the boat dock, restaurants, shops, and lobby.)
We had 7:30 dinner ressies at Mama Della's. This is a quaint little Italian restaurant that's near the harbor, and of course we were greeted by Mama herself. We each ordered beers, and had the shrimp gambieri as an appetizer. Mike had the Pollo alla Parmigiana. I gave him a hard time, "We've come all this way to this cute little restaurant, and you order chicken parm?" Oh, is that what that is? I ordered the Rigatoni con Salsiccia e Rabi, which was excellent. Just as we were ready to eat, here come the serenaders. Two Italian older gentlemen. One on guitar (is it a guitar or something smaller?) and one singing along and playing the tamborine. Unfortunately, they asked me for a request. Quick, Jodie! Think of something Italian. Sound smart! Think harder! "Anything is fine. Surprise me!" Guitar man said, "no, my dear. Tell me what do you like?" I like everything. "Tell me, my dear, what was the last song you listened to before you came here?" Don't say it, don't say it! Think quick! Why didn't I open that Italian CD they left for us in the room? Say something. Anything. Oh, no here it comes: "Eminem?" Why couldn't I just lie to the old guy? This absolutely repulsed tamborine man. "Shctickk. I do not like this one. Does she really listen to the rap?" he asked Mike. Leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, "Welcome to my world." Guitar man said, "Rap. I am not afraid of the rap. We Italians invented the rap!" Sensing trouble, Mama now joins our group of four, and the guitar man leaps into a 1955 Italian classic that lasted about 10 years for me. Mama even joined in. Tamborine man snubbed me as they moved on to the next table. I had a capuccino for dessert. Our bill was about $100, including tip.
Next, we were off to Pat O'Brien's in City Walk. This was our favorite club. We went in, and George was playing that night. He would be our favorite for the rest of the week. Unfortunately, George was only on for a few songs and took a break. We left to go the outside bar when George left, and didn't get our hands stamped to get back in. When George returned, we came back with him, but had to pay the $5 cover to get in again. At this point, there's a table of 3 guys in about their mid 40s, and an oddball girl, who is hanging on to one of the guys. The odd couple got up to dance and were kissing while they were dancing. When the "couple" left, I moved over to the table to chat with one of the other friends. I asked him if they were there for a convention. He said, no they were there on a golf outing. They do it every year. I told him that he needed to go save his friend who just left with that girl he barely knew. He asked how I knew that they had just met in line to get into the club. I said, "your buddy is wearing a wedding ring. She isn't. And she's looking rode hard, put up wet, and desparate! You need to go save him before he does something he regrets! Quick! There's still time!" He said, "what happens in Florida, stays in Florida." I told him for his buddy's sake, he better hope he didn't come home with anything unwanted. Thankfully, he found me amusing. By this time the third buddy came back and I pleaded my case with him too. He at least humored me and went outside to find them. He came back alone. "C'mon! You can save a marriage here!!" They bought Mike (mortified in the corner) and me a round of drinks and went to find their friend.
Quite proud of myself, we paid the rest of our tab (hint: the half price gift certificates to Pat's can be used just for alcohol). We left to get one of the last boats back to the PBH. The capt. was probably cursing himself for pulling the late night shift. Sorry for him because by this time I was singing some song I'd made up about the Portofino. Apparently, it was quite simple and the whole boat was singing and clapping along with me. We'd better call it a night!!
Anyway, Day 2:
We woke up fairly late (is it really 10 o'clock?!)
. It was raining. We had planned on a coaster day, but I figured they'd close the coasters in the rain, so we decided to go to Sea World. We were ready to go by about 11:15, and we headed down to the concierge to figure out the best way to get there. He said that the last shuttle left at 10:25. We asked, "don't you have any shuttles for the late sleepers?" He said, "The 10:25 shuttle IS for the late sleepers." Hmphh.We went out front to catch a cab. Our cabbie was a very friendly guy named Perry. The fare was $14.25 + tip. Not awful. We had our e-tickets, and a Sea World host greeted us. She asked if we already had our tickets, and we showed her our e-tickets. She said, "oh, aren't they just so cute! Thank goodness for you post baby boomers." She checked to make sure we had on our walking shoes. They must have passed muster, because she led us through the gates.
We knew we were catching the 5 o'clock shuttle back, so we got a map and made a plan of attack. Well, not really. Mike and I never, ever do a park commando. We kind of wandered over to the Sting Ray tank. Mike made me buy some stinky fish to feed them. We tried for about 10 minutes, and got bored since none of the sting rays wanted anything to do with us. We gave the fish to a group of young girls to see if they'd have anymore luck, and we moved on to the dolphins, who again wanted nothing to do with us.
It rained off and on, and Mike went off to buy me a poncho. He took great delight in the fact that I looked like I was wearing a big trash bag, but then again, so was half of Sea World!
We went to the Shamu show, which was excellent. We sat in the splash zone, but that was ok with me. Afterall, I was wearing the poncho. Function over style every time!
We had some time before Clyde and Seamore, and I wanted to grab a bite to eat. We walked for what seemed like forever. There were a bunch of walk-up places with huge lines and people waiting to sit at a table. All I wanted was a hot dog, or something simple. Cart after cart after cart, it was nothing but drinks. Don't these people believe in hot dog stands? We finally saw an employee and asked him to help us out. He pointed out a cart where they were just beginning to serve calzones. Fine. Well, not really, it was gross but it tied me over till dinner. We went to hit Clyde and Seamore, which was very cute. The kids are just such a riot at this show. At one point the Captain in the show puts the treasure map on a ledge so he won't lose it, and asks the kids to remind him where it is in case he forgets. Predictably, he does "lose" it a few minutes later, and the kids were all screaming, "It's on the ledge, on the ledge!!" We thought one little girl was going to run down the stairs and show the Captain herself.
Next we hit Kraken. It was only about a 20 minute wait, but Mike leaned over while we were in line and said, "Just get me back to Front of the Line!" Kraken was great. Well, I think. I'm the coaster freak with the white knuckles, clenched teeth, and eyes closed. It was a rather cool day, so we weren't up to Journey to Atlantis. We hit the shark encounter, the manatees, the Clydesdale horses, and something else, and figured we'd come back a second day. They are still offering the 2nd day free if you use it within 7 days. We got the 5 pm shuttle back to the hotel, and showered up for dinner.
We were ready by 6:30, so we went down to the Thirsty Fish for some beers before dinner. This is the bar that's right on the harbor. The PBH also has the American Bar, which is inside and a typical hotel bar. We muched preferred the Thirsty Fish. We spent a fair amount of time here before we'd go to dinner, or before heading up for the night. I did love the harbor, and both Mike and I said if we'd had it do all over again, we'd have asked for a regular bay view room instead of the deluxe pool view. The harbor is very pretty at night, and not to be missed. (If you book a Bay Room, ask for the West Wing. It's a lot closer to the boat dock, restaurants, shops, and lobby.)
We had 7:30 dinner ressies at Mama Della's. This is a quaint little Italian restaurant that's near the harbor, and of course we were greeted by Mama herself. We each ordered beers, and had the shrimp gambieri as an appetizer. Mike had the Pollo alla Parmigiana. I gave him a hard time, "We've come all this way to this cute little restaurant, and you order chicken parm?" Oh, is that what that is? I ordered the Rigatoni con Salsiccia e Rabi, which was excellent. Just as we were ready to eat, here come the serenaders. Two Italian older gentlemen. One on guitar (is it a guitar or something smaller?) and one singing along and playing the tamborine. Unfortunately, they asked me for a request. Quick, Jodie! Think of something Italian. Sound smart! Think harder! "Anything is fine. Surprise me!" Guitar man said, "no, my dear. Tell me what do you like?" I like everything. "Tell me, my dear, what was the last song you listened to before you came here?" Don't say it, don't say it! Think quick! Why didn't I open that Italian CD they left for us in the room? Say something. Anything. Oh, no here it comes: "Eminem?" Why couldn't I just lie to the old guy? This absolutely repulsed tamborine man. "Shctickk. I do not like this one. Does she really listen to the rap?" he asked Mike. Leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed, "Welcome to my world." Guitar man said, "Rap. I am not afraid of the rap. We Italians invented the rap!" Sensing trouble, Mama now joins our group of four, and the guitar man leaps into a 1955 Italian classic that lasted about 10 years for me. Mama even joined in. Tamborine man snubbed me as they moved on to the next table. I had a capuccino for dessert. Our bill was about $100, including tip.
Next, we were off to Pat O'Brien's in City Walk. This was our favorite club. We went in, and George was playing that night. He would be our favorite for the rest of the week. Unfortunately, George was only on for a few songs and took a break. We left to go the outside bar when George left, and didn't get our hands stamped to get back in. When George returned, we came back with him, but had to pay the $5 cover to get in again. At this point, there's a table of 3 guys in about their mid 40s, and an oddball girl, who is hanging on to one of the guys. The odd couple got up to dance and were kissing while they were dancing. When the "couple" left, I moved over to the table to chat with one of the other friends. I asked him if they were there for a convention. He said, no they were there on a golf outing. They do it every year. I told him that he needed to go save his friend who just left with that girl he barely knew. He asked how I knew that they had just met in line to get into the club. I said, "your buddy is wearing a wedding ring. She isn't. And she's looking rode hard, put up wet, and desparate! You need to go save him before he does something he regrets! Quick! There's still time!" He said, "what happens in Florida, stays in Florida." I told him for his buddy's sake, he better hope he didn't come home with anything unwanted. Thankfully, he found me amusing. By this time the third buddy came back and I pleaded my case with him too. He at least humored me and went outside to find them. He came back alone. "C'mon! You can save a marriage here!!" They bought Mike (mortified in the corner) and me a round of drinks and went to find their friend.
Quite proud of myself, we paid the rest of our tab (hint: the half price gift certificates to Pat's can be used just for alcohol). We left to get one of the last boats back to the PBH. The capt. was probably cursing himself for pulling the late night shift. Sorry for him because by this time I was singing some song I'd made up about the Portofino. Apparently, it was quite simple and the whole boat was singing and clapping along with me. We'd better call it a night!!
great post I wish i was a story teller ,Just dont seem to have the key stroke down ! Lovely post !
my wife really enjoyed feeding the sting rays she said they licked you as they took the fish
