Part 10 The Bee Team
It's about five years since my last visit to Florida and we had picked the development where the rented villa was more or less at random. Montego Bay is near mile marker 13 and was fine for us, about 15 minutes from Disney. For future reference I was keen to check out the locations of the other 'estates' where villas are for rent as I had only seen them on a non scale map. Riding round the countryside is not Barbara's cup of tea though so we dropped her and Rachel off at an indoor market near Old Town. We had a good tour round on Old Wilson Road and south and north on US 27. There were some really nice looking developments around there. Some though getting a little bit in the boon docks as they say and on the whole I was happy with Montego Bay and the proximity to dozens of restaurants.
We also had a tour around Celebration first by car then on foot. For those of you who don't know, Celebration is the town that Disney built. It's supposed to epitomise small town life, good neighbourliness etc. There are a lot of byelaws designed to keep the neighbourliness good Like you have to mow your lawn regularly and not have a garishly painted door etc. In Market Street, (the main street) in December they have snow every evening on the hour each night. Weird. A bit Stepford Wives don't you think. Creepy. I meant to get a haircut before leaving the UK but I was a bit busy. Now, in Celebration, my hair felt uncomfortably long., Not reg'lation if you follow me.
We went back to the market area to meet the girls and Barbara told me there was a barbershop nearby so while they finished their shopping I went to get a haircut. The shop was empty except for the barber. He had a lot of pictures of models heads on the wall so you could select your style. I normally just have mine brushed back so I asked for a Robert De Niro. He said " No problem." and went to work. When he'd finished he held a mirror at the back of my neck and asked if I liked it.
"Are you talkin' to me." I said " Are you talkin' to me. Well there ain't nobody else here. You must be talkin' to me."
Not a bad impression I thought.
There were the usual stalls in the market like shoes, luggage, ornaments etc, but there was this one guy selling medical supplies, and I don't mean aspirin neither. He had scalpels, clamps, forceps and all kinds of surgeons' instruments. Dentists stuff too. I know medical care is expensive over there but they don't do DIY surgery surely. That wouldn't suit us. Judging by the bookshelves I put up I'm not sure I'm ready to remove a loved ones spleen.
We went to Sea World in the afternoon. We saw Clyde and Seamore and the pirate mime again. Funny, funny show. We went to see Pets Ahoy, which was a pleasant diversion. The stage is set up like the miniature sea front of a resort town that is populated by cats, dogs of various sizes, birds and a skunk. The trainers must spend hours and hours with the animals. There must be a lot of animal trainers in Florida with all the different shows and attractions. And as difficult as it may be to train an eagle, an otter or a walrus, on balance I think the most remarkable trainers are the guys and girls who train the bees on Splash Mountain. They have those bees flying in close formation around that hive every time a boat full of tourists enters 'the laughing place'. How do you communicate with a bee? When a dolphin does something right the trainer gives it a gobful of fish. What do you give a bee as a reward? Some nectar or pollen I suppose.
We went on Wild Arctic. The boys were a little disappointed as they thought we were going on a runaway lorry coaster. They thought I said Wild AR-TIC! I'm not sure about this attraction. I think the whole helicopter sim thing and the commentary is a bit cheesy. I'm sure the polar bears get good care but they were the only animals I saw in this park or at Animal Kingdom where it didn't seem right to have them in captivity.
Daniel and I managed to get one ride on Kraken. I may have been mistaken but I think there's only one car on the track. This makes waiting a bit stop start. Usually on coasters two or three cars follow each other round. Poor Connor once again got captured in the queue for being an inch too short. It really was a shame. We had rain after that and it wasn't just a shower. It was nearly five o'clock anyway so we went home for TV, coffee, and a change of clothes. Dinner was at the Hard Rock Cafe. All five year olds don't realise where pork, bacon and ham come from and will happily eat them. The Hard Rock though call a spade a spade and call barbequed pork in bread A Pig Sandwich and Babs loves them. Rachel's verdict however was "Skustin."
To be continued...
Ken
It's about five years since my last visit to Florida and we had picked the development where the rented villa was more or less at random. Montego Bay is near mile marker 13 and was fine for us, about 15 minutes from Disney. For future reference I was keen to check out the locations of the other 'estates' where villas are for rent as I had only seen them on a non scale map. Riding round the countryside is not Barbara's cup of tea though so we dropped her and Rachel off at an indoor market near Old Town. We had a good tour round on Old Wilson Road and south and north on US 27. There were some really nice looking developments around there. Some though getting a little bit in the boon docks as they say and on the whole I was happy with Montego Bay and the proximity to dozens of restaurants.
We also had a tour around Celebration first by car then on foot. For those of you who don't know, Celebration is the town that Disney built. It's supposed to epitomise small town life, good neighbourliness etc. There are a lot of byelaws designed to keep the neighbourliness good Like you have to mow your lawn regularly and not have a garishly painted door etc. In Market Street, (the main street) in December they have snow every evening on the hour each night. Weird. A bit Stepford Wives don't you think. Creepy. I meant to get a haircut before leaving the UK but I was a bit busy. Now, in Celebration, my hair felt uncomfortably long., Not reg'lation if you follow me.
We went back to the market area to meet the girls and Barbara told me there was a barbershop nearby so while they finished their shopping I went to get a haircut. The shop was empty except for the barber. He had a lot of pictures of models heads on the wall so you could select your style. I normally just have mine brushed back so I asked for a Robert De Niro. He said " No problem." and went to work. When he'd finished he held a mirror at the back of my neck and asked if I liked it.
"Are you talkin' to me." I said " Are you talkin' to me. Well there ain't nobody else here. You must be talkin' to me."
Not a bad impression I thought.
There were the usual stalls in the market like shoes, luggage, ornaments etc, but there was this one guy selling medical supplies, and I don't mean aspirin neither. He had scalpels, clamps, forceps and all kinds of surgeons' instruments. Dentists stuff too. I know medical care is expensive over there but they don't do DIY surgery surely. That wouldn't suit us. Judging by the bookshelves I put up I'm not sure I'm ready to remove a loved ones spleen.
We went to Sea World in the afternoon. We saw Clyde and Seamore and the pirate mime again. Funny, funny show. We went to see Pets Ahoy, which was a pleasant diversion. The stage is set up like the miniature sea front of a resort town that is populated by cats, dogs of various sizes, birds and a skunk. The trainers must spend hours and hours with the animals. There must be a lot of animal trainers in Florida with all the different shows and attractions. And as difficult as it may be to train an eagle, an otter or a walrus, on balance I think the most remarkable trainers are the guys and girls who train the bees on Splash Mountain. They have those bees flying in close formation around that hive every time a boat full of tourists enters 'the laughing place'. How do you communicate with a bee? When a dolphin does something right the trainer gives it a gobful of fish. What do you give a bee as a reward? Some nectar or pollen I suppose.
We went on Wild Arctic. The boys were a little disappointed as they thought we were going on a runaway lorry coaster. They thought I said Wild AR-TIC! I'm not sure about this attraction. I think the whole helicopter sim thing and the commentary is a bit cheesy. I'm sure the polar bears get good care but they were the only animals I saw in this park or at Animal Kingdom where it didn't seem right to have them in captivity.
Daniel and I managed to get one ride on Kraken. I may have been mistaken but I think there's only one car on the track. This makes waiting a bit stop start. Usually on coasters two or three cars follow each other round. Poor Connor once again got captured in the queue for being an inch too short. It really was a shame. We had rain after that and it wasn't just a shower. It was nearly five o'clock anyway so we went home for TV, coffee, and a change of clothes. Dinner was at the Hard Rock Cafe. All five year olds don't realise where pork, bacon and ham come from and will happily eat them. The Hard Rock though call a spade a spade and call barbequed pork in bread A Pig Sandwich and Babs loves them. Rachel's verdict however was "Skustin."
To be continued...
Ken
