Part Ten Davenport. (The last Days).
Day seventeen
A bit of housework today, in preparation for us leaving. I cleaned all the windows and the balcony. Then went round and cleaned the ceiling fans and skirting boards. Only two days left and it’s back to Blighty. Jayne has been going through the condo each day doing bits and pieces and so on our last day we will only have to spend the minimal time cleaning and might even get a couple of hours by the pool. As there is only the two of us, the two spare bedrooms and guest bathroom haven’t been touched, so it’s just a bit of dusting.
The only small thing of concern this trip has been the icemaker in the fridge. For some reason it stopped working properly last time we were here. I have been trying to get it going but have now given up. Looking on my favourite website ‘Youtube’, I am told that the icemaker is always the first thing to go, having only an average life of 5 years. A replacement part is $76. I have taken all the details and will arrange for delivery when we come out here again. It is a very easy process to put it in.
Jayne and I had been talking to an American couple in the pool, both schoolteachers and both about to reach retirement age. They live in St Louis and are having a house built in Kissimmee. They had rented a condo for six weeks whilst sorting out the house and other things prior to their move down; they asked us if we had ever visited the Disney warehouse in Haines City. It is a place full of Disney items which have been replaced on the rides and from re-modelling Disney hotels. They said you could buy anything there from hairdryers to massive pieces of furniture. Having given us directions we both set out this morning to find the place, which was off the beaten track. Well we must have been up and down the road a dozen times but couldn’t find it. What a shame, we would have loved to been able to have a bit of Disney history in the condo. After about an hour of looking we eventually gave up and having paid a visit to Haines City itself, we travelled back home. I looked the place up on Google and found that the correct name was ‘Mouse Surplus’ and one person didn’t give it a very good write-up. I then noticed a small piece stating that it had closed down in 2010 and only traded on ebay. Oh well, we had a good look round the orange groves and residential places that we are unlikely to need to go to again.
Another afternoon by the Pool and again a big thunderstorm at about 4pm sent us scurrying up to the condo. Had a drive out this evening and finished up back home to a meal which consisted of all the odds and sods in the fridge. Oh, and a couple of glasses of wine.
Day Eighteen
Well it’s arrived….our last day. All good things come to an end. We went off to the newly re-vamped Bob Evans on the 27 J/W I4. I had to have the steak and eggs together with two pancakes and coffee. Jayne had the spinach and mushroom omelette. Boy, my meal was good. Looks like I will have to skip lunch today. Over to Posner Park as Jayne wanted to have a last look round JC Penny. Flipping heck, we actually came out of there without anything. We took the new road back to Ronald Reagan Blvd. (this road must be 3 or 4 miles long of duel carriageway, and there is no traffic on it). A couple of hours by the pool and we discuss where to go for the last evening. As I chose Manny’s the night before, Jayne picked good old ‘Sweet Tomatoes’. This time we headed out to the one on ‘Crossroads’ at Buena Vista with the intention of going to Downtown Disney afterwards.
We have signed up with Sweet Tomatoes on line and every week they send us coupons. I had the latest one on my IPhone, which was for two meals and drinks for $18. Now this branch is a bit bigger than the one at ‘Rolling Oaks’ where we normally go, but the food is just as good. You can’t beat a large plate of salad, bread, pizza, bowl of chilli, ice cream and chocolate lava cake and a Pepsi zero all for about £6 each and you can go up as many times as you want. One thing I did find out today is that the ice cream is ice cream, and not yoghurt as I earlier reported. The waitress told me that they did serve yoghurt but now swapped to ice cream. There was me thinking I was being a good boy tucking into my second bowl full!
We then went to Downtown Disney, which was very busy. There is lots of entertainment, with live bands playing every couple of hundred yards, for every taste. We went on a boat ride down to the French Quarter, which is all free. Had a look round the hotel which was fantastic and got the boat back just in time to see the new ‘Rainforest’ volcano erupt into life. Those who have never seen it will be impressed. It erupts on the hour and looks even better in the dark.
Back to the condo and squeeze the last drops of wine from the wine box.
Day Nineteen
It's funny but when you arrive for your holiday, going home seems so far away, but we have had a good time. We had breakfast in today and used up all the bacon and eggs. Then it was time to wash the bedding and give the place a last going over. Down to the pool for our last hour of sunshine and swim, then it's back to the condo. and shower.
We had been pre-warned that our flight to Charlotte was about 40 minutes late and so we had a nice meal in 'Ruby Tuesday' in the airport. I had a 'Blue Moon' (they asked for ID, always makes me laugh) and then a quick hour and a half flight to Charlotte. We had to rush to the next gate only to find that flight had been delayed also by 30 minutes. We had really good bulkhead seats with lots of leg room. I was tempted to say the flight was uneventful but in fact we had not one, but two medical emergencies. A lady had been taken ill and a call went out for any medical staff/Doctor. There was not one, but five Doctors on board to assist. Later an elderly man was taken ill, and one of the Doctors onboard looked after him also. I don't know what the Airlines do, but I do hope they reward those Doctors for their assistance. It has got to be worth at least a complimentary upgrade next time they fly. We were nearly diverted to Canada but went on to Heathrow where we were met by Ambulance Paramedics.
I am home now and just finishing off this bit of typing before having a nice cup of tea . For those who have followed these trip reports, I hope you may have found something to assist you in the future when you go to Sunny Florida.
Have a good holiday
Terry
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks