bengunn
Pirate Member
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2001
- Messages
- 375
Day 15 Cypress Gardens and the move to Bradenton
Previous episodes:
Prequel
Day 1 The trip to Orlando
Day 2 Animal Kingdom
Day 3 Magic Kingdom
Day 4 Typhoon Lagoon, Shopping and Illuminations Cruise
Day 5 - Islands of Adventure
Day 6 Epcot
Day 7 Seaworld
Day 8 Universal Studios
Day 9 Epcot and the Magic Kingdom
Day 10 Discovery Cove
Day 11 Kennedy Space Centre
Day 12 Disney MGM Studios
Day 13 Blizzard Beach
Day 14 Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios
The Cast:
Richard (bengunn): Chief planner
Kathy : DW, just wants to go on holiday
Josie : DD 20, at Reading University, Assistant Planner, not very good at getting up
Sam : DS 17, just done AS exams, can get up very quickly when he wants to
Friday 30th August
We got going fairly early today, finished packing, took photos of the villa, and ended up leaving at 10:00 (the checkout deadline). We returned the key to the agent and then drove along the I192, to look at the place where we stayed 10 years ago (Days Inn Suites), and on to the I4.
We had decided to make a detour to Cypress Gardens en route to Bradenton, as it was only a couple of hours to Bradenton and we could not get the keys for our next villa until 16:00. Cypress Gardens is a bit off the beaten track, and we did not get there until something like 11:30.
We were fairly appalled at the cost of entry which, even with discount coupons, cost about $120; a lot for some gardens! We were there though, so we went in and wandered round the gardens. The gardens are very good but it was very hot and humid that day. We got a reasonable but expensive lunch (burgers etc.) and, while we were eating it, it poured with rain. By the time we had finished, so had the rain, so we were able to continue out tour.
The left hand part of the gardens is a sort of mini zoo which we had no recollection of seeing on our last visit 10 years ago; either it was not there, or we did not see it, or we had completely forgotten it. The zoo was fairly appalling in fact; birds and animals in tiny enclosures; some miniature deer on an island about 10 feet across with no grass on it at all.
10 years ago, Cypress Gardens seemed to have some tie up with Seaworld and Busch Gardens as you could buy combined tickets; this is no longer the case. I sincerely hope that if there was a tie up, that Busch would not permit the appalling conditions which we saw. I could not recommend this park to anyone now, whereas last time we really enjoyed it.
We left Cypress Gardens somewhere around 14:30 and had a long and tedious trip through various small towns with slow traffic until we eventually rejoined the I4 and then went on to the I75 south. As we drove down the I75, there was a line across the sky; above the line the sky was white; below the line the sky was black and I mean black. We wondered what we were driving into and the answer was an incredible thunderstorm; you could not see a thing; we were driving at 20mph and feeling that we were going too fast; some cars stopped on the hard shoulder under bridges. Eventually it eased off and we came across a car on its side in the central reservation surrounded by State Troopers.
We got to Bradenton and found the agency fairly easily only about a mile from I75. We picked up our key and had to head back towards to I75 for about a quarter of a mile and then our villa was just down a turning. We got to the villa at 17:00 and it was still pouring with rain.
The villa was even nicer than the one in Kissimmee and appeared to be jointly owned by a British couple and an American couple. There were more ornaments around which made it look more lived in. Again there was a lake at the bottom of the garden, this time with ducks.
We unpacked and went out for food at 1930; Josie had a headache, was not hungry, and stayed behind. I cannot remember whether we set out to eat out or get a takeaway but we went back about halfway towards the freeway where we had spotted some shops and parked there. It was still pouring with rain so our exploration was a bit limited; we found a Chinese restaurant which did takeaway so we ordered some food and I went to Wynne-Dixie for various essentials while Kathy and Sam waited in the restaurant. We got back to the villa at 20:00; Josie felt a bit better and was glad that we had got her some food. The food was amazing, it came in those cardboard containers that you see in American TV programs and films (you know people always keep the leftovers in the fridge) and there were free sachets of Soy sauce and fortune cookies. There was loads of food and, guess what, we put the leftovers in the fridge (and threw them away two days later). It was also very cheap; I have only one receipt, which I think was for our second meal for later in the week (there is no date on it), but one chicken and cashew nuts, one chicken with black bean sauce, and one large chicken fried rice, cost $17.65 and was more than enough for 4 of us; amazing value and very good quality.
After dinner, we watched TV and read as we were pretty tired.
Tomorrow: Anna Marie Island
Previous episodes:
Prequel
Day 1 The trip to Orlando
Day 2 Animal Kingdom
Day 3 Magic Kingdom
Day 4 Typhoon Lagoon, Shopping and Illuminations Cruise
Day 5 - Islands of Adventure
Day 6 Epcot
Day 7 Seaworld
Day 8 Universal Studios
Day 9 Epcot and the Magic Kingdom
Day 10 Discovery Cove
Day 11 Kennedy Space Centre
Day 12 Disney MGM Studios
Day 13 Blizzard Beach
Day 14 Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios
The Cast:
Richard (bengunn): Chief planner
Kathy : DW, just wants to go on holiday
Josie : DD 20, at Reading University, Assistant Planner, not very good at getting up
Sam : DS 17, just done AS exams, can get up very quickly when he wants to
Friday 30th August
We got going fairly early today, finished packing, took photos of the villa, and ended up leaving at 10:00 (the checkout deadline). We returned the key to the agent and then drove along the I192, to look at the place where we stayed 10 years ago (Days Inn Suites), and on to the I4.
We had decided to make a detour to Cypress Gardens en route to Bradenton, as it was only a couple of hours to Bradenton and we could not get the keys for our next villa until 16:00. Cypress Gardens is a bit off the beaten track, and we did not get there until something like 11:30.
We were fairly appalled at the cost of entry which, even with discount coupons, cost about $120; a lot for some gardens! We were there though, so we went in and wandered round the gardens. The gardens are very good but it was very hot and humid that day. We got a reasonable but expensive lunch (burgers etc.) and, while we were eating it, it poured with rain. By the time we had finished, so had the rain, so we were able to continue out tour.
The left hand part of the gardens is a sort of mini zoo which we had no recollection of seeing on our last visit 10 years ago; either it was not there, or we did not see it, or we had completely forgotten it. The zoo was fairly appalling in fact; birds and animals in tiny enclosures; some miniature deer on an island about 10 feet across with no grass on it at all.
10 years ago, Cypress Gardens seemed to have some tie up with Seaworld and Busch Gardens as you could buy combined tickets; this is no longer the case. I sincerely hope that if there was a tie up, that Busch would not permit the appalling conditions which we saw. I could not recommend this park to anyone now, whereas last time we really enjoyed it.
We left Cypress Gardens somewhere around 14:30 and had a long and tedious trip through various small towns with slow traffic until we eventually rejoined the I4 and then went on to the I75 south. As we drove down the I75, there was a line across the sky; above the line the sky was white; below the line the sky was black and I mean black. We wondered what we were driving into and the answer was an incredible thunderstorm; you could not see a thing; we were driving at 20mph and feeling that we were going too fast; some cars stopped on the hard shoulder under bridges. Eventually it eased off and we came across a car on its side in the central reservation surrounded by State Troopers.
We got to Bradenton and found the agency fairly easily only about a mile from I75. We picked up our key and had to head back towards to I75 for about a quarter of a mile and then our villa was just down a turning. We got to the villa at 17:00 and it was still pouring with rain.
The villa was even nicer than the one in Kissimmee and appeared to be jointly owned by a British couple and an American couple. There were more ornaments around which made it look more lived in. Again there was a lake at the bottom of the garden, this time with ducks.
We unpacked and went out for food at 1930; Josie had a headache, was not hungry, and stayed behind. I cannot remember whether we set out to eat out or get a takeaway but we went back about halfway towards the freeway where we had spotted some shops and parked there. It was still pouring with rain so our exploration was a bit limited; we found a Chinese restaurant which did takeaway so we ordered some food and I went to Wynne-Dixie for various essentials while Kathy and Sam waited in the restaurant. We got back to the villa at 20:00; Josie felt a bit better and was glad that we had got her some food. The food was amazing, it came in those cardboard containers that you see in American TV programs and films (you know people always keep the leftovers in the fridge) and there were free sachets of Soy sauce and fortune cookies. There was loads of food and, guess what, we put the leftovers in the fridge (and threw them away two days later). It was also very cheap; I have only one receipt, which I think was for our second meal for later in the week (there is no date on it), but one chicken and cashew nuts, one chicken with black bean sauce, and one large chicken fried rice, cost $17.65 and was more than enough for 4 of us; amazing value and very good quality.
After dinner, we watched TV and read as we were pretty tired.
Tomorrow: Anna Marie Island
