The final countdown is over - we're here!

[pascalstongue]

And my very favourite picture of the day!

http://s832.photobucket.com/user/juliebro_bucket/media/IMG-20130503-00385.jpg.html

This will have to be my 'desktop' picture when I go back to work!

Beautiful!

 

[CAROLINE4]

And my very favourite picture of the day!

http://s832.photobucket.com/user/juliebro_bucket/media/IMG-20130503-00385.jpg.html

This will have to be my 'desktop' picture when I go back to work!

Honeymoon island looks absolutely beautiful!!! X

 

[juliebro]

Raining again this morning. And it's DH's birthday today too.

Just deciding whether to go west again or to try the Smoking Blues bike event.

Will let you know later!

 

[sandshal]

Honeymoon island looks absolutely beautiful!!! X

I thought the same!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Honeymoon island is on our list for October trip, if the weather is good.

Glad you managed to miss the weather and ave a sunny beach day.

Happy birthday to your DH

 

[scoobydooby]

Your exploring sounds really interesting. I always plan to explore, then just can't ever year myself away from Disney!!! Hope your weather improves. We had 5 days solid hard core rain one year. Not fun

 

[juliebro]

Honeymoon island looks absolutely beautiful!!! X

It was stunning!

There's an interesting story about how it got its name too.

Honeymoon island is on our list for October trip, if the weather is good.

Glad you managed to miss the weather and ave a sunny beach day.

Happy birthday to your DH

I hope you manage to get there.
He's had a great day thanks!

Your exploring sounds really interesting. I always plan to explore, then just can't ever year myself away from Disney!!! Hope your weather improves. We had 5 days solid hard core rain one year. Not fun

Weather definitely looking more promising tonight!

We decided in the end to drive out west again in search of the sun. We had a wonderful day. We drove down to Sarasota and found the local tourist information office. They gave us maps and directions to an Amish restaurant that we've been interested in visiting for a while.

Called Yoders, they specialise in good homemade food, particularly pies. We decided to have an early lunch and shared the Saturday special of pulled pork with sides of coleslaw and Amish potato cakes. It was plenty for two and we followed it with some pie. The food and service were excellent and great value too.

After a little wander around the Amish 'village' we drove across the causeway to Lido Key and St Armands Circle. It has a very upmarket feel and there are lots of nice shops selling designer goods. There was a Classic Corvette show in the middle of the circle which we wandered around too. We also drove up to Longboat Key.

We liked all the places we visited and will definitely return.

We droveback and spent some time at Downtown Disney this evening and then shared a sandwich at Panera Bread. We were still full from lunch!

Tomorrow we're going to the Festival of Speed and then to Lakeridge winery.

 

[juliebro]

Our Amish lunch.....



The pies! The choice was vast and they are all made fresh every day.
The one on the left was chocolate peanut butter cream pie. The other was egg custard pie.



Some of the classic corvettes



Lido Key

 

[Cyrano]

And my very favourite picture of the day!


This will have to be my 'desktop' picture when I go back to work!

That is a great photo

You have seen and covered so much on your trip

 

[dixonsontour]

We've been to Tarpon Springs a few times and enjoyed a wander around.

We did the trip to honeymoon island and across to caldesi on the boat when DD was a toddler - well worth a trip.

If you watch the film dolphin's tale the beach where they film the dolphin being rescued is honeymoon island state park.

Enjoying all your updates.

It's rained again this morning in not so sunny Lancashire but has brightened up now - have just risked painting the decking..would rather be in Florida

 

[theminx08]

Honeymoon Island looks stunning.
Enjoy the rest of your holiday. X

 

[juliebro]

We awoke to a dry day today and the forecast was good too, so we stuck to the plan for today and went to the Festival of Speed at Mission Inn in Howie in the Hills. There were many vehicles on display and it was really pleasant walking around looking at the variety - from old to new (and very expensive).

We had arrived at 10 am and left by 1:00 pm. We then went to Lakeredge Winery and did the wine-tasting before going into the Jazz Festival on the vineyard green and settling down to enjoy the live music. It was a really chilled-out and relaxing way to spend a few hours. There's always some people-watching to do too.

After the festival we went to the Santa Fe Cattle Co on highway 27 and ordered a 'Wagon Full' between us. It had steaks, chicken, ribs, onions and mushroom and included a choice of 4 sides. We'd only shared a gyro since having cereal for breakfast and were so hungry that we polished the whole lot off in no time at all!

We then drove over to Celebration and walked around the three lakes before having ice cream and a shake at Kilwins.

Another great day!

Tomorrow we're planning to go back to Busch Gardens.

 

[juliebro]

We've been to Tarpon Springs a few times and enjoyed a wander around.

We did the trip to honeymoon island and across to caldesi on the boat when DD was a toddler - well worth a trip.

If you watch the film dolphin's tale the beach where they film the dolphin being rescued is honeymoon island state park.

Enjoying all your updates.

It's rained again this morning in not so sunny Lancashire but has brightened up now - have just risked painting the decking..would rather be in Florida

Thanks!

We must watch that film about the dolphin. I remember you mentioning it before and your daughter being keen to go to see the dolphin in the aquarium. The captain mentioned it on the Dolfun tour too.

Am hoping that Lancashire is warm and sunny when we get back home!

 

[wayneg]

How did the Santa Fe food compare with Texas or Logans?
I keep seeing the one at LBV but we haven't been in it yet.

 

[dixonsontour]

Wagon full sounds good - we've never been to santa fe either

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

Another lovely day, I think you posted pictures last time of you at the jazz festival and it seemed a good way to spend a few hours.

We walked round the lakes at Celebration on our last day in December, it is great for house spotting, and we came across a gator at the side of the path! Luckily it was small and not interested in us.

Looking forward to your next instalment

 

[juliebro]

How did the Santa Fe food compare with Texas or Logans?
I keep seeing the one at LBV but we haven't been in it yet.

Wagon full sounds good - we've never been to santa fe either

We really enjoyed Santa Fe, but I think a lot depends on the server and who happens to be the chef on a particular night at most of these places. Our server was really good and very attentive. We were disappointed with our server at Logans the other night, although the food was good.

As you know, Manny's is our favourite and we were there again tonight. We both had ribeyes and they were excellent. Our waiter was very good too. Based on our experience this trip, we think that Longhorn would be our 2nd place, Santa Fe 3rd and then Texas Roadhouse and Logan's.

Another lovely day, I think you posted pictures last time of you at the jazz festival and it seemed a good way to spend a few hours.

We walked round the lakes at Celebration on our last day in December, it is great for house spotting, and we came across a gator at the side of the path! Luckily it was small and not interested in us.

Looking forward to your next instalment

Yes. We really enjoy the music festivals at Lakeridge. We think we've been to 4 or so of them now.

We also really enjoy a bit of house spotting at Celebration too. Imagining which one we'd pick if we won the lottery!

 

[juliebro]

Forgot to mention that we got 10% off at Santa Fe through a coupon in one of the coupon booklets. Also, during happy hour the house margaritas are only $1.99! Less than lemonade!

 

[juliebro]

We went back to Busch Gardens today (making full use of our AP which expires on Monday) and had a large breakfast at Bob Evans before we set off.

The weather is now dry but it's much cooler than when we first arrived almost 2 weeks ago. Over at Tampa the temperature was about 79 degrees F compared to around 100 when we were there in Busch Gardens last week. Not complaining though!

Really enjoyed the day. We did some of the things we didn't get round to last time (like the new Iceploration show) but also did again the things we really enjoyed last time too (like SheiKra and Cheetah Hunt).

It was almost 6 pm when we left. We called at Manny's again to eat tonight and managed to get a table as soon as we arrived,although it was still very busy. There were lots of families there as children can eat free on Mondays and Tuesdays.

We only have a few days left now and are planning out how to make the most of them and fit in all our remaining 'must dos'. We're still hoping to do the catamaran trip around Lake Dora and get a visit in to Aquatica.

I'll upload a few pics and post them shortly.

 

[juliebro]

The full wagon at Santa [/[URL=http://s832.photobucket.com/user/juliebro_bucket/media/IMG-20130505-00410.jpg.html]]