Well here we go, I am going to attempt some semblance of a trip report because it's five in the morning and I am wide awake![msneek]This is a girls only trip, at least the first two weeks is...........I shall then pack up my sister and work colleagues and despatch them back to the UK before taking delivery of a husband for a further eight nights, that was never the intention but DH can't bear to miss out on anything and who am I to argue? Especially if it means an extended stay.[clap]The forward party consists of myself, my sister and co owner Helen ( those of you who remember our "Girls Allowed" trip report from a few years ago will be familiar with her!) and two of my work colleagues, Geraline (Gez) and Lesley.
Geraldine has been to the US several times and to Orlando once, many years ago when her kids were teenagers, Lesley has never been and never really fancied the US, in fact she is a bit anti and would have preferred to go Tenerife!!! It is important we change her mind, as she is the hardest working of the lot of us and the most in need of a holiday! Although to be fair my sister needs the break too, she may be retired on paper but works extremely hard caring for our 90 year old mother and her two grandchildren. Gez works part time and since my retirement in March I "dabble" with work here and there........although sometimes when they are busy I dabble very hard 3or 4 days a week! [msnwink]
Myself, Gez and Lesley travelled from Gatwick on a flight which was only two thirds full, the plane had been refurbished in March according to the steward, the entertainment system was new and the seats were far better than the old ones.........there was actually some cushioning under your backside.........though the size of mine you'd think I didn't really need it! [msnembarrased]We had exit row seats with ample leg room and so there was really nothing to complain about.
Travelling on the second Virgin flight of the day I had regaled the girls with tales of long queues in immigration and had prepared Helen for a long wait as she was arriving from Manchester a couple of hours before us anyway.
How wrong I was, we were through immigration in 15 mins, and had a longer wait for Gez's bag which was one of the last off the conveyor belt, how is it when three bags go on together, one arrives 15 mins after the other two?
Helen was waiting for us as we exited arrivals and we were soon at the car rental desk picking up our mid size SUV from the man who must have taken one look at us and decided not to try the hard sell that the couple with the next agent were manfully resisting!
We chose a Hyundai Santa Fe and were soon on our way. I did think there was a faint smell of cigarette smoke in the car but I could also smell an air freshener so I ignored it, we were all tired and just wanted to get going.
We stopped at Chillis for something to eat as we knew once inside the villa we would not have the energy to venture out again and we were all feeling a bit peckish. It was heaving and we were given the obligatory beeper with the promise of a 35 min wait, so we hovered on the edge of the bar and pounced on a table just as the other party were vacating it, experience pays when it's every man (or pack of hungry women) for themselves!
Chillis gets a lot of bad press on the forum and for sure it's not gourmet cuisine but we have always been lucky and had good food there and this evening was no exception, I had a half rack of the Shiner bock ribs , Helen had fried shrimp, Lesley chose steak, Gez had a salad and we sent back four empty plates, the service was fast and friendly and we had absolutely nothing to complain about. It did what it said on the tin![msntongue]
A quick stop at the seven eleven for milk and water and 5 mins later we were unpacking our bags at the villa.
All in all not a bad start to the trip.
Day 1 Getting into the swing
There was muffled noise and hilarity from the kitchen as I emerged at what I thought was 8am, and congratulating myself for having slept so long, only to find that our departing guests had not changed any of the clocks whilst they were here. I was disappointed to find it was only actually 7am.........last night I had been too tired to notice the discrepancy.
Gez and Lesley were up and about making cups of tea. It was cold, typical early morning for this time of year and I clicked the aircon over to heat, in my mind I was imagining a black mark against Florida from Lesley for its early morning temperatures![msnsad]
Helen emerged looking rough, she has had a cough and cold for a few days and the cough had kept her awake quite a bit overnight.
The pool was cold and we seem to have some problem with the pump tripping so the engineer has been called and we will await his diagnosis. Our last guests only went home the day before our arrival and thankfully they reported no problems which is the main thing.
I made a few mental notes about jobs that needed doing inevitably starting off "the list" that all owners make when arriving and which gets added to the usually long lost of jobs they have brought with them. The nice thing about DH coming later is that most of the jobs will wait until his arrival and the first part of the trip will be a holiday .........yippee![clap]
We were all eventually ready for the off, our plan was to go for breakfast at The Market St Cafe in Celebration, a holiday first day tradition, followed by the bank, the post office and a trip to the supermarket, how the other half live eh? Most holiday makers are knocking on the door of the theme parks on their first day.
We got in the car and almost as one we remarked on the smell of cigarette smoke [sick] so a trip to the airport and change of vehicle was added to the schedule.By now it was glorious sunshine and warming up nicely and I could feel a few marks being added to Florida's tally by Lesley, both she and Gez fell in love with Celebration and as it is our favourite place Helen and I were delighted.
Gez clocked the Corpus Christi church as we came in and as she is practising RC, I offered to bring her to mass tomorrow, it being Sunday and all!
We will need to return anyway as I had forgotten the stuff I needed to collect our park tickets from Kissimmee Guests services, this is not going to be a big park holiday but we have a couple of trips planned.
Breakfast was yummy as usual, four "build your own breakfasts" with Lesley's choices mirroring mine and Gez matching Helen's we were soon fortified and strolling in the sunshine. Celebration looks particularly picturesque all decked out for Christmas and the official Christmas celebrations begin this evening with the lighting of the Christmas Tree, we are planning an evening visit later in the holiday to see it "snow".
We spent a good half hour mooching in The Market St Gallery and will definitely be returning for some bits and bobs.
Back in the car we headed off to the airport to change the car, it was gloriously sunny and nice for Gez and Lesley to see the journey in the daylight.
The lady at the garage could not have been more apologetic or more helpful and we were soon on our way back in a Hyundai Tuscon with only just over 2000 miles on the clock which smelled very sweet.
Next stop Publix! It didn't take us long to pile our cart high with groceries, bottles of wine and a gorgeous poinsettia to bring a bit of Christmas cheer to the place, the tree will go up next week!
We had to go to the liquor store for a bottle of Baileys for the other three (I can't stand the stuff!) Geraldine and Lesley found it amusing to exit the store with alcohol in a paper bag "just like in the films".
It was almost 3pm when we returned to the villa so we decided on some cheese and crackers to fortify us before an early dinner as we knew we were all going to be tired as the jet lag caught up with is.
We sat out on the deck in the sunshine with our books, magazines and kindles and enjoyed what was left of the afternoon. Helen was looking increasingly rough and coughing away, we had bought her a new cough bottle and some Vicks type stuff and planned to give her a steam inhalation later, so we said she should choose what she fancied for dinner and she opted for Carrabas. Once inside though, it became increasingly obvious she wasn't really well enough to go out so we changed our plans to Papa Johns Pizza delivery, a bottle of wine and. DVD!
Garlic and Parmesan breadsticks with marinara dip, two different pizzas a Cinnapie which we ate with ice cream and a few glasses of vino, add to that The Holiday on the DVD player and you have the perfect recipe for a girlie night in! [cheers]No one complained about not going out.
The jet lag and alcohol combined had us all flagging so it was early to bed for us all. Our plans for tomorrow are very fluid so let's see what it brings.
[zzz]
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