Good Evening, Cousins!
I figured I'd better make time to post tonight, because tomorrow will be a total bust. I have Jury Duty, so no DIS time for me...I'm really hoping I don't get impaneled (sp?) on a jury. I've been the foreperson twice, and I really find it almost physically painful. I have to leave the house at 7:15 to make sure I'm settled by 8, lucky me.
So, back to the non TR -TR:
We arrived at Loew's Portofino Bay Hotel, which is an on-site hotel at Universal. The drive to the entry was quite windy, I can't imagine negotiating that at any speed. Hey, this is just like Portofino, Italy!
There are classic cars parked out front, and the entire facade is quite gracious and looks just like an Italian village, set on a lake. There are small boats dotting the inner bay area, and vespas parked around it. It's quite a lovely palazzo.
After checking in and making sure we showed our Loew's number (free, and gets you perks), we went to our room. We were lucky to be given a room on the second floor with a balcony (but their separated by hedges, so it's more like a patio) overlooking the Villa pool. This is a more quiet, adult pool. Only abotu 3' deep, but surrounded by padded loungers, cabanas, fountains, plunge pools, and with food service. They also play 50s era music, usually American tunes by Italian singers (think Frankie Valli). I'm not sure if the patio was a room upgrade, we were supposed to be entitled to one if it was available.
This is where the stay kind of runs together. I can't pinpoint specific items to specific days, but I can speak generally about the rest of the trip.
We stayed club level, so we had access to the lounge. We found that breakfast suited us perfectly well -- fresh fruit, pastries, oatmeal, cream of wheat, cold cereal (no Lucky Charms, but they did have Fruit Loops!), juice, milk, tea, coffee, etc. There were Italian ices, yogurt raisins, and mixed nuts in the afternoon, along with chewy granola bars. The pre-dinner appetizers were often quite hefty, I made a meal of them twice. There were fresh veggies and dip and cheese and crackers, plus hot yummies -- things like chicken on a stick, quesadillas, etc. There were also little pasta salads in martini glasses and dessert glasses, plus beer and wine. Speaking of beverages, there were Coke products available at all times, but you had to ask specifically for bottled water, it's kept in the back. Dessert was different every night. There were always cookies, and usually some sort of pastry, too, plus milk. I got in the habit of having hot tea every night before bed, actually that's something I already do at home.
I should go back to the room. The room itself was plenty big with two queen beds, the bathroom was quite large, with separate tub and shower. There was one bathrobe waiting, of course that was for mom. The room had an lcd tv, and a Keurig coffee maker. This is what we use at home, so it was very familiar. The mini bar fridge was stocked pretty tight, but we found room for Nesquick and some lunch meat and cheese. The patio had two chairs and atable, we asked for another chair and they brought one over from next door
Here is where I decided I was done of reptiles. There were geckos everywhere on the patio. I kept expecting to hear a squish every time I stepped outside. And by the way, the walking path to the Universal parks showed that the geckos are not always able to get out of the way of tourists and the pedicabs
We had made a stop at Wal-Mart (which I highly recommend), so we had snacks for the room for when the lounge was not available. Dennis prefers to eat "4th meal", so we had to make sure he wouldn't go hungry!
The hotel's main pool, the Beach pool, has a great slide, and was a very pleasant place to pass an afternoon. Games for the kids every hour, and they bring around little treats -- frozen grapes, slush, etc. DS was not impressed with the dive-in movies, the screen was not that big, and I think he was expecting more.
We visited the 3rd pool, the hillside pool, but did not go in. It was just a cement pond, nothing special.
We were in the gym most mornings. Ok, I skipped 2, but Dennis was always there when it opened at 6. There were plenty of TM's, ellipticals, stairsteppers and Nautilus, plus free weights. I fell in love with their citrus water, it was yummy! The gym is part of the spa, so you have to sign in and if you are not club or a Loew's member there's a fee.
The parking garage is underground, which was nice as it kept the car cooler. Daily parking fees applied, so if you're not going to use a car most days I wouldn't get one.
If anyone has questions, feel free to ask. I'm sure I'm forgetting obvious stuff someone visiting might want to know.
I'll cover eating and riding in a future installment, as well as the wonders of water parks!
Jackie -- I don't know what to say other than
Richard -- Would you believe I almost just forgot to set the Tivo? Thank goodness your post reminded me!
JenB -- I'm sure the party will be so much fun! What a great age
Corinna -- Don't you know there's always room for donuts?
Jen -- Congratulations on your new job!
Mel -- Stretch and strengthen sounds good to me. I hope it works out just as you need.
Jeanne -- Totally awesome photos! It sounds like you are planning the landing at Normandy rather than a wedding!
Debra -- I hope you are starting to mend. Did I mention the TM is up and running again? Now I just have to catch it
I just found out I have major deadlines Aug. 14, 17 and 20, and my dad and his wife arrive around the 15th. It's going to be a busy few weeks, and I may not be able to DIS as much at work (then again, I may have to take planned breaks...
so I don't burn out
).
Oh, and I was vindicated in my choice not to go to that meeting. Last week 4 women were shot on that street, very close to where I would have been and around that time. I feel like I had a lucky escape.
Can this post get any longer? Nope, I have to cut it off so I can get ready for tomorrow.
Maria
It was a nice run this morning, actually. It's a fun course with not one but two out and back sections, a dirt road section and also a running past a fire station section! I managed to trounce last year's time with my new course record of 30:17! That's almost 4 minutes better than last year. Although for brevity's sake, I guess I did say 4 on Facebook. 
I did see some people eating them, though. Mostly young men. 
, what if we decide to throw a hot tub party?
He's even doing mid-week runs too, and obsessing over his training plan. Can't imagine why... 
