Brenda and Harlan's Trip Blog

We slept late, and more or less well (the room was a bit cold) and Cookie and Art met us at our hotel after 1:30. We first said goodbye to the rest of the visiting relatives and headed out for late breakfast.

The weather was a bit cloudy so we drove over to Everglade City to see the local sights. This was immediately followed by dinner at a Japanese steak house, more ice cream, and then headed over to Cookie and Art’s place to look at pictures and chat. We got back to our hotel just before midnight.

We woke up a bit late as we were tired. We probably got out of the hotel before noon, and headed toward I75 south. Along the way we spotted the exit to Ybor City and headed over that way, as the salesman at the place where Brenda bought her Ameribag said that one could get a great cuban sandwich in Ybor City.

We drove around where we thought it should be, and decided it would be better to just call the salesman back and ask him where it was. That helped – we found a likely restaurant and got the sandwich. Yum!

We headed south on I75 and stopped off at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate place near Ft. Meyers. Horrid traffic in the mall there. We got the necessary foodstuffs and headed in to Marco Island. The traffic was kinda crummy.

We stopped off at Harlan’s relatives (Aunt Cookie and Uncle Art) and after a few minutes we headed over to the hotel to check in. From there we met up with more relatives and headed out to dinner (and conversation) followed by some ice cream.

We left the hotel around noon and headed to Tampa for a day of errands and good food.

We stopped in Tampa to visit a restaurant that Harlan has wanted to visit for at least 8 years. It is called Bern’s Steak House. We made reservations for 5:00pm. We first visited a shoe store that contained a selection of purses Brenda has been looking for since Asheville (called Ameribag). She finally found the size, color and style she wanted and purchased one from Happy Feet Plus in Tampa. We then went to the post office to take care of some errands.

We finally arrived at Berns about 5:10. The entrance was beautiful with paintings and lighting reminding Brenda of the Biltmore estate. We were seated and given a large 30 page menu describing the history of the restaurant as well as detailed descriptions of appetizers (35 types of caviar on 2 pages, for example), salads, dressings, side dishes, vegetables, meats, sauces, and cooking times and the effects of cooking times and methods on the meat. All the vegetables are grown on their own farms and are organic. Harlan had the Kobe beef Delmonico steak. Brenda had the crab encrusted snapper. We each had French onion soup and salad (with 4 different dressings on the side) before the dinner. It is by far the best food we have ever had….ever….ever….ever. We then went for a short tour of the kitchen and the wine cellar. They have about 100,000 bottles of wine in their cellar…some date back to the 1800’s. Now for the best part…the dessert. They have a separate room upstairs for dessert and coffee. Each booth upstairs is very private, enclosed in dark wood with murals on the walls and a choice of music to play for our dessert dining experience. There were 4 pages of desserts and about 30 pages of dessert wines and other alcoholic ‘after dinner’ drinks. Harlan had the carrot cake with macadamia nut ice cream and Brenda had the chocolate-chocolate-chocolate dessert. Awesome. Not too sweet. We may just have to stop back here on our way out of Florida.

We left the restaurant about 8:30 and headed south on I-75. After making several phone calls to hotels we discovered all the hotels were booked from Tampa to Marco Island because this is the tourist season for Florida. We ended up turning around and heading back to the north side of Tampa to stay at a Comfort Inn.

We got on the 9:50 bus to the Animal Kingdom, where we went to the “Flights of Wonder” bird show and took some pictures and then went thru the “Maharajah Jungle Trek” exhibit and took more pictures. Both of these were most enjoyable for us and we’d do them again. We ate lunch at some chicken place and it was surprisingly bad. The good news is the portions were small.

We headed off to the Disney/MGM park, where we got “FastPass” things for the Tower of Terror. We headed off to the MGM Studios Back Lot Tour, which was OK (we wouldn’t do it again). On the way back to the Tower of Terror Harlan got a FastPass to the “Rock n Rollercoaster with Aerosmith” (which Brenda had no interest in trying). The Tower of Terror was (H: Really Great and Lots of Fun! I wanted to do it again and again.) (B: something done for Harlan and not to be done again.) (Harlan thinks Brenda probably enjoyed it a little more than that…). We next visited the MuppetVision 3D show, and it was by far the lamest 3D thing we saw at the park. Brenda says it was the worst Disney event she has ever seen. “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” was next, and while it was lots of fun it was humbling to get so many correct answers so quickly still never hit the 10 “best score” lists. Brenda wanted to do this one again and again. They have used this set for the TV show several times in the past.

By now, it was time for Harlan to do the “Rock n Roller” thing, and he thought it was lots of fun and something Brenda would just be real unhappy doing. Next on the list was the “Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular”, which was OK. Brenda liked it. Harlan realized that no matter how far away he is from the “flame” effects they are still hot. Several of the performers in the act were either stunt actors in the movie or stunt doubles for the stars.

On to the Magic Kingdom. More baby strollers than we could ever imagine! They could even rename it “Baby Stroller Land”. We immediately went to Space Mountain, where Brenda sent Harlan to enjoy it. (Not as good as Rock N Roller, and it would be better in the first seat of the first car so one would not know what was about to happen.) Probably another good choice, given that Brenda did this ride with Gary, Eddie, and Carol in DisneyLand years ago. It started to rain, but it only rained for about an hour.

We ate dinner at some restaurant that still had seating (it was getting close to fireworks time), half a broiled chicken and some bbq ribs, then watched the fireworks. Our view wasn’t great, but the show was better than the one at Epcot.

After the fireworks we headed straight to the parking lot to catch the bus, which we discovered had left early. Brenda called the bus company and was told that the guy actually left 5 minutes after he was supposed to. His clock must keep different time than our watches, our cell phones, the GPS clock we checked a bit later, or the cable TV time. Rather than wait around for another hour and change in the wet outside, we took a cab back to the hotel (and beat the bus by a couple of minutes).

To summarize: Animal Kingdom is great. Epot is pretty good. The Magical Kingdom has good fireworks.

We’re looking forward to spending tomorrow night in a hotel with a jetted bathtub and decent internet access so we can upload pictures.

We woke up this morning and Brenda called around to see if there were other ways to save money on tickets to DisneyWorld. Nothing worth pursuing. We decided to take the 11:15 free shuttle from the hotel, and it may have only been 30 minutes late.

We arrived at Epcot and eventually decided to get a pair of 2-day “hopper” passes that let us visit as many of the 4 local parks as we want each day. We went to The Living Sea, and it was mostly OK. The best part was the turtle talk with Crush, an animated turtle that interacted with the audience. From there we walked across the park to the China area for lunch, and it was less than 3 times the price of what we’d pay for the same food back home. Not too bad. After lunch we walk back across the park to the Test Track, which turned out to be a giant advertisement for GM cars. Brenda decided that she did not want to go on the “test track” ride, so we headed over to “Imagination”, which turned out to be an advertisement for Kodak. They also had “Honey, I Shrank the Audience” which was a lot of fun.

From there, we took a bus (with a suitable wait) to the Animal Kingdom, where we went straight over to the Kilimanjaro Safari, which was a lot of fun and we bemoaned the fact that Brenda did not bring the video camera. We went to the Pangani Forest Exploration trail, and that was interesting too, even though we wore out the batteries in Harlan’s digital camera. We’d like to return here with both fresh batteries and the video camera.

Next we went to Discovery Island and saw “It’s Tough to be a Bug” which was also really fun. We walked around Discovery Island for a while and decided on dinner at Pizzafari, which was OK. After dinner we waited for a bus back to Epocot, and arriving there we took the monorail to the ticket center and back again. We visited “Spaceship Earth” as it had no line, and it was OK. We walked around a bit more and found a spot to watch “Illuminations”, the fireworks display. Pretty good! Our feet were getting real tired by then.

After the fireworks, we looked (unsuccessfully) for a refrigerator magnet and waited even longer for the shuttle bus back to the hotel. It was only a bit late. We got back to the hotel around 10:40 or so, and brought up some supplies from the car (the camera battery stuff). We did forget to bring up the video camera, so we’ll have to get it in the morning and make sure its batteries are charged.

There’s a chance we’ll rest tomorrow and do our second day at DisneyWorld on Thursday, as Harlan has some blisters.

We left the south side of Atlanta around 10:15 and decided to catch breakfast on the road. Brenda hopes she has seen I-85 and I-75 in Georgia for the last time (crowded, construction, and not real scenic). Around mile-mark 100 the GPS gizmo said there was a Perkins just east of the highway so we searched for it. Much new construction and no Perkins. We ate at Shoney’s and it was pretty bad. On the way from the gone Perkins to Shoneys we noticed a TJCinnamon (or something). Therefore, after the lousy breakfast we decided to try the cinnamon stuff. The iced buns looked old and gross, the pecan ones looked scary, so we got the “twists” and were impressed by their high cost and poor taste! Now we know.

Getting back on the 75 south, we passed a billboard that advertised “Visit the Crime and Punishment Musem! Eat at the Last Meal Cafe! Take exit NNN and head toward the Chamber of Commerce”. Harlan was disappointed that he could not get a picture of this billboard.

Brenda was pleased that I-75 looked much better after we crossed into Florida. We started seeing signs about how we could save money on “attractions” in Orlando, so Brenda first called our hotel to see what they had. After she stopped choking with laughter at the prices of the tickets and learned we could save money by attending a sales pitch at a timeshare (visions of the similar South Park episode went thru our heads) we stopped off at the “Orlando Visitors Bureau” located conveniently inside a Chevron station. There we learned several things, including that they are also a “front group” for a timeshare that would give us about $45 off of each of our 1-day tickets if we agreed to show up at 7:30am for a breakfast buffet and a 90 minute sales pitch. We considered and declined.

We did make good time, however, and made it to the hotel around 7pm. Being ravenous, we took the disney literature and the recommendation of the “Guest Services” person (who is pitching for yet another timeshare) and ate at a seafood restaurant about 3 miles away. The prices were high and the food was just OK.

It’s really strange going from places where we are the only ones there to a place where it is the height of the busy season.

That’s about all we can remember at the moment – we’re Tired and are still deciding if we’re gonna stay here for 2 or 3 days, or maybe even 1. The good news is we can apparently buy multi-day passes at Disneyworld and what we don’t use we can sell on Ebay.

We made it to Brenda’s parents place at around 9:45, and had delicious sour cream pancakes (different from the recipe used by Harlan’s great grandmother). After breakfast we chatted for a while and took some pictures (finishing the roll of 35mm from Chimney rock plus a few from somewhere “earlier”). Every time Harlan went outside for something it started to rain.

We left Pinehurst around 11:30 and headed to Atlanta. (Eve sent us off with a bag of her chocolate chip cookies – very tasty!) On the way we passed thru Polkton NC, the birthplace of L.L. Polk. I suspect they meant this guy. We passed by our first cotton field for this trip. We also passed a truck with a trailer completely loaded with what turned out to be plastic “pens” about 12″ by 12″ by 24″ or so, which were filled with live adult chickens. Brenda was surprised to discover the chickens were alive and that they would make eye contact with her. Harlan was wondering if the ones in the middle of the “packing” had any trouble breathing. Probably not an issue when the truck was moving at highway speeds…

We decided to stay at a Comfort Innl on the south side of Atlanta, as we have a long drive ahead of us in the morning and wanted to shorten this leg if possible. Brenda suggested that Harlan meet his friend Tim without her, so we’d get some “apart” time, and then Brenda could be sure to be in the hotel room in time to watch the Saturday Night Live special on TV and also not be bored with a lot of shop talk (Harlan and Tim worked together about 20 years ago and there was sure to be computer talk at dinner).

Tim suggested eating at Fogo de Chao, noting it was his favorite restaurant and even more fun to be at than Disneyworld (or was it Disneyland?). The description of the food was insufficient to sway even Brenda from her plan, as she noted there was a Golden Corral next to the hotel and we have been meaning to try the food there for a long time.

Harlan headed off for dinner with Tim, and was very happy with the conversation and the food (even bringing some of the cheddar cheese bread puff roll things back for Brenda). As there is now a Fogo de Chao in Houston, we may have to be careful/choosy about where we eat there. Tim asked about our trip and when he heard about our travels to South Dakota he asked if we visited the Corn Palace. He had not heard of Wall Drug, however. On the way back to the hotel Harlan missed a turn in the rain and passed by the Museum of Patriotism and was about to be scared of what it might contain when he noticed the Center for Puppetry Arts across the street, and initially misread the title as “the Center for Puberty Arts” and just decided to stop thinking about what he had seen and kept driving.

Brenda did go to the Golden Corral and discovered that it was seriously mobbed and had a long wait to get in. The bottom line is she didn’t eat there, she headed over to the Taco Bell for a spicy chicken burrito (her favorite), and was happy that Harlan brought back the little bread muffins. Harlan was happy to discover that while he asked for 2 muffins, they gave him 6. This meant that he got to eat one or two more…

We’re planning to be on the road by 10 or 11 in the morning (the Golden Corral does breakfast…) and hope to be in Orlando/Kissimmee by 6 or 7 tomorrow night.

We slept in for a while and made it over to Brenda’s parents house about 1. The presoaked oatmeal went on the stove about 1:15, and it was ready to eat about a half-hour later. Brenda and Don (her dad) liked it, and Harlan prefers oatmeal cooked in milk (as opposed to water). Eve (Brenda’s mom) prefers the quick oats.

After brunch, we played several hands of bridge, and think we’d like keep playing after the trip.

Eve started a wonderful sirloin tip dish early, and around 6 Brenda started the baked potatoes while Harlan started the brussels sprouts about 6:15. Dinner was pretty much ready to go just after 7.

After dinner we chatted some more and read about interesting places in a US road atlas.

The plan is to be there about 10 in the morning where we’ll make sour cream pancakes for breakfast and then we’ll head to Atlanta (for dinner with Tim) about noon.

We slept in to nearly noon, and as Brenda needed to make a business call at 1pm we stayed at the hotel until after that was finished. We then spent/wasted another half-hour dealing with the hotel in TN where we left some luggage, learning what they would and would not do for us. We eventually decided it would be easier if Harlan opened a FedEx account and arranged for FedEx to pick up the package and ship it to Florida, where we’ll be in a week.

We arrived at Brenda’s parents house (thanks for the punctuation lesson, Eve!) around 2:30 and started cooking brunch. Being good food-obsessed people, conversation centered around what we’d be doing for dinner that night and Saturday night. After brunch we headed over to the high-class food store (Fresh Market?) to pick up dinner supplies.

Back at the ranch, we threw in a load of laundry and went thru the 35mm pictures we had developed earlier in the trip. Around 7pm, we cooked and ate dinner and dessert.

After a bit more conversation (including a phone conversation with Brenda’s brother, Don), we set aside a cup of steel-cut oatmeal to soak (to reduce cooking time in the morning) and left around 9pm.

The alarm went off at 8, and we started moving around 8:30. We were out of the hotel by 9:30 and headed to the Huddle House for breakfast. It is clearly a WaffleHouse clone, and Brenda says she’d go back. From there we set off to get Harlan a haircut, and eventually found “Attitudes” where we were expecting to find the Biltmore Barber Shop. The store is owned by a transplant from Manhattan, and she was thrilled to have customers show up who came from somewhere besides Asheville. We all had pleasant conversation while Harlan was getting trimmed, and we were on our way to Chimney Rock Park by 12:30.

Chimney Rock Park is where they filmed “The Last of the Mohicans” and lets just say that it has a lot of stairs. When the current roll of film gets used up we’ll have a bunch of pictures to upload. We hiked up to the top of the 440′ waterfall, and the views of the surrounding countryside were very good. The weather today was really good.

Interesting trails, similar to Starved Rock (boardwalk trails) except here the trails are mostly on the edge of the mountain.

We never got a really good look at the waterfall.

Around 3:30 we headed off to Pinehurst. We took Route 9 north to I40 and headed east. Route 9 was really pretty, but Brenda was still thinking about “Deliverance” and was glad we had a new car.

We stopped for a quick bite around sunset and discovered that we left a laundry bag at the hotel in TN. We’ll call them tomorrow about having it shipped somewhere.

We got to the Comfort Inn in Pinehurst around 8pm, checked in, and immediately went over to Brenda’s parents’ house (there I go wondering if I punctuated this properly). Beautiful little place (little is relative – it’s way bigger than the spaces of Brenda and Harlan combined). The astonishing thing is that they happened to have a “family sized” Sara Lee Pound Cake in the fridge, just for us! This is the same size that we use at home as “the single serving”. However, as both Brenda and Harlan are still trying to implement their “lose 30 pounds each, sooner or later” plan, we declined. At least until tomorrow, as they also have Breyer’s French Vanilla ice cream. We spent the evening in delightful conversation.

Brenda’s Mom and Dad took a nap this afternoon (they usually rise around 6am, and fall asleep around 9pm), so by 10:30pm they were still going strong while we were wearing out.

We headed back to the hotel with the understanding that when we woke up in the morning we’d head over there for (a possibly late) breakfast.