Totally unexpected visit!

[IMGONNABE40!]

Some of you may know that I spent 6 weeks in FL during the final phases of my mom's illness. She died on 11/17 and we buried her on 11/22. Guess where we headed on 11/23? Yup--Universal!

Didn't expect to do that. My 5 year old nephew was watching SpongeBob the morning of 11/23 and I commented to my DH that it is too bad that my nephew would not get a chance to see Universal before heading back to Connecticut since he is such a SpongeBob and Shrek fan. I said something about driving up for the day and dismissed the thought since we would not have FOTL. Next thing I knew, I was on the phone and didn't I get a good rate for that night at RPR! I put 2 rooms on a 1 hour hold (AP rate $149) and woke my sister to see what she thought of the plan. We were on our way by 2PM and checking into RPR by 5:30 that day! My DH and I were even upgraded to an executive suite due to my Loews Platimum! DH did not even ask for an upgrade. I could not help but remember back to July when Mom was here with us and DH and I got her and her DH an executive suite (their Christmas '03 present).

After check in, we headed to Margaritaville for dinner. Oh, except for my son who wanted to go shoot hoops in the HRH pool. DH took him to HRH and ordered a meal from the Beach Club, then met us at Margaritaville. We were told that there was a wait of 90 minutes for a table, but with our room key, it would only be half that amount of time. We headed over to the Lonesome Palm for a few drinks before dinner. We waited 2 hours for a table. This was due to a Jimmy Buffet concert that night in Orlando that was being simulcast at the restaurant. The tables were not turning over. When we were finally seated we did enjoy watching the concert. We had to get DS from HRH by that time since the pool closed at 9PM. He played the ring game in the bar while we ate and joined us for dessert. Of course we toasted mom who had been here with us just earlier this year.

My sister and her family bought one day tickets for Universal the next day and we spent most of the day there. My nephew loved Jimmy Neutron and MIB but was afraid on Shrek. DH and I did slip in a quick visit to IOA to ride The Hulk and Spiderman--while our son went, where else, to HRH to shoot hoops in the pool! We all met for dinner at NBA City before heading back to Punta Gorda to spend Thanksgiving with my mom's husband and our two brothers and their families.

I think it was a good idea to make the trip. My sister struggled with whether going the day after mom's funeral was appropriate. The kids had been so good through the wake and funeral and all that I convinced her that they deserved the break and that mom would want us to carry on. Besides, we were staying with my mom and her husband and my step father had had houseguests continuously for 7 weeks and I thought he could use a break from all of us as well. It turned out to be a good trip, although thoughts of mom were never far off. All the more so since she had met my family at UO on two of our previous trips and we shared several memories there. Amazingly enough, I zoned out on Spiderman and got off the ride not really remembering having been on it--thoughts of my mom were that strong.

Well--I'm running on here. Thought I'd just let you know about my surprise, spur of the moment trip.

And guess what? Our scheduled vaction to UO is only 20 days away!

 

[Motherfletcher]

Sorry to hear about your Mom, Christine. We did the same thing when my FIL died. I hope you will still have enough reasons to come to Florida. You should be happy that you were able to take her to the on-site hotel (RPR?).

 

[Selina]

Hi Christine,
So sorry to hear about your mom. I did wonder where you have been. I'm glad the trip to Universal helped to ease the pain of it all. Lots of us now are over on IOA Central and chat on the "Miscellaneous" Forum under "Dis Banshees thread"......since our Barry was banned from the Boards....( a long story and one that he will be happy to tell (albeit over there!) ). Every time we tried to talk about it over here - the Moderators would delete the threads and when Barry tries to come back under a different name - they quickly find him and delete that too!!! It's a shame because Barry is a really nice guy and knows so much about the parks. IOA Central has really grown since he settled in over there, especially since we all joined him!!! LOL

 

[AlexandNessa]

Hi Christine. So sorry to hear of the loss of your mom, but glad you were able to remember her with a happy trip!

 

[Figment22]

I'm very sorry to hear about the loss of your mom but I think you did the right thing by going to Universal with your family. Back in 1994, my in-laws lived in Winter Haven and my MIL was in the final stages of her battle with breast cancer. We knew that she wouldn't be with us for much longer so we made several trips to FL that year, with one in November and then a Christmas trip scheduled for December. We rented a four bedroom house in Kissimmee for my in-laws, my family of four and my mother who was also travelling with us. Well, my MIL passed away on 12/21 and was buried on Christmas Eve. We were all saddened and worn out from the whole experience and so on Christmas Day we went to Epcot! It truly made us all feel a bit better. You and your sister shouldn't feel at all guilty. You have to do whatever you can to go on living your life.

Again my sympathies on your loss.

 

[SpideyHulk24]

Glad you made it back! Sorry about your loss!

 

[damo]

Sorry to hear about your Mom. I know the last weeks were very difficult for you. I'm so glad that you are able to get out and enjoy life again and what better place than Universal.