rosie
 4257 Posts
Joined: 14 May 2004
Status: offline |  Posted - 21 Jul 2005 : 16:39:44  
| Day 7 – Sat July 2nd
Well we were on the road again by just after 10am, and we have promised ourselves we will be going back, though at a slightly cooler time of year, maybe this Dec as we are there for 3 weeks….
Anyway the journey home was not half as interesting as the trip down, but a lot quicker, and we arrived back in Orlando around 8pm, travelling back up US1 and the turnpike.
Funny how sitting in a car for so long can make you so tired. We all pottered around for a while, checked email, did some washing, nothing very exciting or strenuous and retired early.
Day 8 – Sun July 3rd
We all woke in our own time and, as has become customary, made our way out onto the pool deck to make the most of the sun. We discussed plans for today and decided to have another “admin” day. We would drive to the airport later on so that the CDV’s could pick up their car (we had just been using our car for the first week)
So it was back into the pool to relax some more…. Hard life huh?
Went to the airport around 4pm, and agreed to meet up again at Dunkin Donuts on John Young Parkway, as we needed to check out the Wal-mart there for some speaker stands we were after for the house.
No luck with the stands but managed to find a few more bits for the villa, as you do. Met up as planned, but as we had already been there a while and snacked on ice cream, we weren’t ready to eat a meal yet, so the CDV’s went off to get some dinner and we said we would see them back at the house later on.
CDV got herself a very nice PT Cruiser in a beautiful electric blue colour, lovely car.
Next stop for us was all the usual villa owner haunts: Lowes, Home Depot, Linen’s N Things….. To pick up a few more “essentials” for the villa. One of my favourite things has been buying all the small things that make a villa so much more welcoming and homely than a hotel.
Before we knew it the stores were beginning to close as it was getting late, how time flies when you’re spending money LOL.
Back to CDV’s house and we spent the rest of the evening comparing what we had been buying and watching some TV.
Day 9 – Mon July 4th – Independence Day
We knew everywhere would be busy today so Mr & Mrs CDV decided on another “admin” day (if only working in a office had this much admin, we’d all be applying for jobs)
We had already made up our minds to visit somewhere that would be marking today, so our first attempt was Celebration….. Well we got along the 192 with no problems; the roads were surprisingly quiet for a public holiday, and turned into Celebration Avenue. We were all set to drive down there when I remembered someone had recommended the Cold Stone Ice Cream Parlour in the little parade of shops at the corner of Celebration Ave and the 192. Since the temperature was once again up in the 90’s, we thought a cooling ice cream would be just the ticket.
We parked up and walked over, and we were about to step inside when Al suggested maybe having some lunch first, then an ice cream for dessert. Like I needed much persuasion for that idea…..
Having also heard good things about Joe’s Crab Shack, which just happened to be opposite, we made our way there instead.
This is a great restaurant if you like seafood. Take a look at all the things hanging from the ceiling….. While we pondered the menu, our waitress took drink orders and I opted for a frozen swirl (a strawberry Daiquiri and Margarita mixed, mmm), Al settled for a coke as he was driving.
For lunch, I went for the surf & turf option, a small filet steak and shrimp, and Al had the coconut shrimp. It was delicious and we were hooked…. I could see a full examination of the entire menu would be undertaken (a bit at a time of course).
After lunch we were too stuffed to sample the ice cream today, so we wandered into Goodings to have a look round in there. What a delightful food market it is. The fruit and veg section looked so inviting I bought cherries to take with us as a snack.
It never fails to amaze me how much attention to detail the Americans put in to displaying everything. I know there is probably a lot more effort in tourist area’s but it is still great to see.
One bag of cherries, some cleaning products, and a new pool toy later, we were on our way back to the car to head down to Celebration for their 4Th celebrations, when I had another brainwave….. One of the things I love about the forum is the sheer amount of information on offer. I recalled a post by a local saying that celebrations in Kissimmee Old Town were a great day out, so change of plans, and we headed eastwards.
Turning right under the Kissimmee sign we headed for the Old Town, to Lakefront Park. Well this place is so popular with locals, there were road closures and police directing traffic, and try as we might, being completely new to the area we were lost and unable to find a parking place.
Oh well it might have been better to have arrived earlier in the day… another thing to add to the ever increasing list of “to do’s”
Back up to the 192, and Target became our next “target”. With a quick detour into the Home Depot on way, then the Wal-Mart… still in search of the speaker stands.
We wandered around Target and picked some more little essentials, then strolled over to Ross. As we crossed the car park Al said he thought he recognised the electric blue PT Cruiser outside Ross…… You guessed it, we found CDV inside with one trolley already full and in search of a second one. We chatted for a while then went our separate ways, us to Joanne’s Fabrics and CDV to Target.
Time was getting on and the stores were closing early because of the holiday. We decided that as we hadn’t had a whiff of a park yet that we would head over to Epcot for the fireworks.
Epcot is probably our favourite park for sentimental reasons; it was the first park we visited on our first day of our first trip 15 years earlier. We were so totally blown away by it, and then subsequently by every other park, that we always make a point to visit Epcot at least once during each visit, even if it is only for the fireworks.
The parking lot was pretty full but being as it was getting late in the day they were now directing cars into vacant spaces at the front of the lot.
We walked down to the turnstiles and put our tickets through the machine and were home again. It still gives me goose bumps and brings a smile to my face every time I see Spaceship Earth.
The number of people in the park was the most we had ever seen, it was heaving, but as we knew what to expect, and having visited so often before it didn’t phase us at all.
Soarin’ was my objective as we knew we had 3 hours till the fireworks (they were on an hour later than usual).
Well the queue was huge, as you would expect on a holiday and with it being the new ride, the board was saying 3 hours, so we ditched that idea, knowing that tomorrow it would be quieter so we would come back to it.
Taking a gentle stroll around World Showcase is a great way to spend an evening so we set off. The crowds were claiming their spots for the fireworks already, and our favourite spot was already taken, so we continued on….
We got to a smoking area that also had a pretty good view of the lake so settled ourselves down for the hour’s wait for the fireworks, and I went off to get some drinks.
I adore the Illuminations display but already knew they would be pulling out all the stops tonight and boy we weren’t disappointed. After Illuminations finished the sky lit up with red, white and blue rockets, fireworks and patriotic music. It was a truly stunning sight and brought a lump to my throat, and I’m English, goodness only knows how the Americans felt.
We always try and take some pictures but no photo’s can do this spectacle justice, although Snappers do come close  .
At the end of an almost hour long show the park slowly began to empty. From past experience there is no point in rushing to get out, so we stayed put and chatted with a family from Ohio. I do love the way so many Americans go on vacation to Disney together as a big family, grandparents, mom and dad, and the children.
We eventually headed for home after another glorious day and a very special evening.
More to come……..
Chapter 6 http://www.orlando-guide.info/forums/topic_22632.asp |
Rosie
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Edited by - rosie on 21 Sep 2005 21:19:30 | | Report this post to a moderator |
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