Day 3, Part 1
Steven and I awaken at 7.00am, we both had slept really well and it was obvious we really needed it. I jump out of bed and go to have my shower, I was filling with excitment, we were going to get our marriage licence, finally this time had arrived.
I showered and used some of the Mickey soap that had been left for us, but used my own shower gel, Curious by Britney Spears, she may be a bit crazy at the moment but the perfume and shower gel was fantastic!
I immediately went to the coffee perculator and started the coffee, Steven jumped in the shower while I started my make up. This was to be our first full day in Orlando, so I was kinda worried about how my make up would hold up, and worse yet my hair. I decided to do as I normally do, and wore my hair down and applied my make up carefully. The coffee was ready quickly and I got the cups ready and poured the milk. As soon as Steven was out of the shower, I poured us the coffee.
Now I know alot of people don't particularly like the coffee in WDW, but I was floored, it was the best coffee I had tasted in a long time. Over her we have the instant coffee, I used to have a perculator but it was way too strong for me so I got rid of it. This coffee however was smooth, and oh so tasty, I gulped it down and poured myself another cup of Joe! Steven agreed and said we must buy a perculator at home and have this every morning, it really woke us up!
Steven quickly got ready and I decided to wear my long yellow skirt and black vest top.
It was now nearing 8.00am and we were ready to go, I told Steven to grab the camera and we left and walked over to the Custom House to get a cab. It was a beautiful morning, the beach was so peaceful, Steven decided to get a few pics.
The guy was smoothing out the sand for the morning ahead, and I thought it was a nice touch.
This is a beautiful shot, it captures CBR perfectly that morning.
We walked along the path and all these cart with staff came out of nowhere, the first cart stopped and this Jamaican sounding woman, handed me 2 necklaces, one purple and one green and said "Welcome to the islands", I thanked her and they drove on, about 6 carts filled with about 15 staff each went past, all of them shouting out their welcomes. I felt so happy at that moment, I felt I had been transported to another world. This was the Disney I had been dreaming about!
We walked over the little bridge to the Custom House and Steven decided to get a few pics of me.
You can see the necklaces I was given by the staff.
Steven loves taking pics of me walking away...
Another beautiful shot
We arrived at Custom House and asked the Bell Services at the door about getting a cab, she whistled and a cab appeared from around the corner, how neat!
We told the driver we needed to be taken to the nearest Courthouse to obtain our marriage licence, he was from New York and I adore a New York accent. He wasn't sure which one was the closest, so he said he would make his way out of Disney and call through to his dispatch to find out. He radioed through and it seemed to take forever for him to be answered, we were driving slowly, making our way out of Disney. He knew of Orange County Couthouse, but I asked about Osceola, I had thought that one may be closer but I wasn't really sure. After 10 minutes or so of him bantering back and forth with dispatch, it was agreed that Osceola was closer, she gave him the address and directions and signed off. Great we were on our way!
He was a really nice cabbie, not too talkative but very polite. He asked about our wedding and I was only to willing to oblige. The cab journey probably took about 30 minutes and I was surprised to see that the far was only coming up to $30, had we been in the UK the fare would have easily been about £50 ($100). We bypassed loads of little stores, some boarded up and the streets became tiny, I wondered what area the courthouse was going to be in! We bypassed a sign but I think the cabbie missed it and I said to him
"I actually think it's over there, he did a u turn and went back slowly and yes, there it was, a beautiful building, an amazing courthouse! We stopped and the fare was $34.00, we gave him $40 and he handed us a card to call for a cab back and we went on our way.
I was in awe about the size of the building, Steven was stunned at how beautiful it looked. Over in Aberdeen, the buildings are all grey and granite, which I think looks depressing, I love colored buildings and I for one was used to them after living in Australia. Steven wanted to stop and take pics but I said he could do that after we got our licence.
We went up the stairs and entered the building. We had to go through security and Steven had to remove his belt, money and wallet. My purse had to go through too. We collected our things and I asked the woman on security if she knew how I could find the marriage licence dept. She did and gave me directions, she was so friendly!
We took the stairs and bounded up them. We saw a huge door on the left that said EXIT, but it also said the words Marriage and Passports, so I thought 'Oh well then'
We both slowly went through the door and everyone turned to stare, 'oh, oh wrong door I think' We decided we were almost in anyway, so we continued.
The place was packed, there was a bride and groom along with all their family and there were several other couples too, probably looking for their licence.
I joined the queue with Steven and waited patiently. I saw others come enter through another door and motioned to Steven that we had indeed entered through the wrong door. I looked around and noticed forms on the wall. I knew we had to fill out a form, but I assumed we would get one at the desk. Other people were taking forms so I told Steven to go and have a look and I would hold our place. He came back with a form and I realised that we were to have filled this out before. We left our place and went over to the desk to do so.
The form was simple enough and although I made the mistake of filling out the bit for 'ORLANDO RESIDENTS ONLY' (I wish) it was pretty easy.
We rejoined the queue and waited. We were called upon about 5 minutes later and at this time the bride and groom were called also, they were ushered in along with there family to another room. There was a couple next to us, he was from the US and she was from Croatia, they were also obtaining the licence, they seemed such a cute couple, they both worked in Iraq and that is how they met.
We were asked some questions and asked for our passports, it was all so simple, I can't believe I worried about it for so long. We heard whooping from the other room and I assumed the couple had just been married, several minutes later they exited and the bride was glowing, they ran out of the room and there families followed. I smiled and Steven said "You mean we could have got married here?" I rolled my eyes at him and he smirked!
Then the clerk came over and told us to raise our right hand, we swore and that was that. She printed off our licence told us we could marry today if we wanted and that was it. We had it
We paid our $98 and left.
I found a payphone in the corridor and called the cab company to get one to CBR, he said he would get one asap, so we went to wait outside and get some pics.
and marriage licence obtained, I'm pretty happy:
We wait about 30 minutes and the sun is beating down on us, it's now almost 10.00am and we are both getting pretty hungry. The cab pulls up and we get in. We get into a conversation with him and he says "Not a great place to be starting out your vacation, did you guys get a parking ticket or something?"
"No we picked up our marriage licence"
"Oh, wow congratulations, I have to remember that sometimes you can be there for nice things too"
We smiled, settled back and gazed out the windows. He started to tell us about Disney, Seawold and Universal after he realised we were gonna be there for 3 weeks.
The journey was over quickly and it was $29 so we gave him $35. He wished us all the best for Monday and told us to have a magical time. We exited the cab and held eachother tightly, hopefully this would be where our luck turned around...
Coming up...
Animal Kingdom, and the heat gets to us and tempers fray.