I am so sorry there’s been a terrible lack of updates this week
: my work days were hectic and full (probably not surprising right before a long weekend) and the sun has actually been shining here in SE Michigan this week. That meant we kicked some major butt in the lawn care/property maintenance department here at the house, which has definitely made me a happy girl. Other than a cloudy, rainy and possibly stormy morning in the forecast today, the balance of the Memorial Day weekend is supposed to be hot, sunny and dry……so hopefully, more progress will be made outdoors and our backyard transformation will continue moving right along. I hope all my American readers have a great Memorial Day holiday planned!
In the meantime, I want to at least get a start on the next entry in this trip report. Without further adieu, let’s kick off
Day 2.
Saturday, May 5th: Cinco de Mayo. Or, as someone so candidly suggested, “Cinco de Drinko”
While my heart had been yearning for a Disney Day in this vacation (and we had toyed with the idea of adding a day at one of the Disney parks to the itinerary in the early planning stages), our house purchase and killer tax bill put a firm kibosh to that plan as the early months of the year unfolded. With moving costs, furniture and décor purchases, and our massive payment to the IRS, we had vowed to be somewhat frugal on this trip and try to have as much fun as possible without breaking the bank. We didn’t even bother making a breakfast reservation for a character meal for this vacation in an effort to be financially responsible: and that, as you know, is quite unusual for us. We usually sneak in at least one morning meal with Mickey somewhere along the way.
I wasn’t disappointed, really. We had so much other great stuff planned that being disappointed would really be quite petty. I decided it would just be something I could look forward to on a future trip, instead
.
A few days before our departure, I was lounging downstairs [covered in a blanket of cats
] watching TV in the late evening when I receive a Facebook message from
@chiamarie (who, for simplicity purposes, I will simply refer to as
T for the purposes of this report). T and I had long since been chatting about the upcoming trip here and there over the preceding months via various modes of electronic communication, and had made plans to get together for dinner on whatever evening would work best with her hectic schedule. And when I say hectic schedule, let me assure you that that’s the understatement of the year: not only does she work full time for one of the major park families in Orlando, but she somehow manages to juggle part time work for one of the second organizations. She often works as much in two days as I do in two weeks
.
When she messaged me that particular evening, we were chatting about the trip and how excited we were that it was finally on the horizon. She asked about our specific plans for the weekend, and I told her that we didn’t really have anything firm in place, just making sure we were available at some point to meet up with
@JaxDad and his family before they returned home in the late afternoon on Sunday. It turned out she was off from both jobs on Saturday, and asked if we would like to join her at EPCOT, and admission would be covered through her CM guest passes.
I cannot even begin to tell you how this young lady makes my heart burst with all of her kindness
. She is truly one of the sweetest, loveliest people that I’ve ever been lucky enough to meet. I keep telling her that I want her to be my daughter in law, and she laughs at me like I’m kidding around. Who’s joking?
I’m totally serious, kid
.
We messaged back and forth for a long time that night, weaving the plans together as I typed away on my phone and chattered non-stop to Steve. He happens to think the world of T as well, so he was easily pulled into the frenzy of excitement as our Disney Saturday took shape. There would be two stipulations on the day, though, that were laid out quite clearly for me by Miss T:
#1, I would be required to put on my big girl panties, man up, and ride Test Track
. No chickening out allowed. She would be booking Fast Passes and I would be stretching my boundaries. Apparently, it was time
.
#2, I would be having a margarita from the tequila bar in Mexico. It was Cinco de Mayo, after all, so it was nearly a
requirement…..right?
She was also a bit horrified that I’d never had a margarita before (I’ll pause a moment here so you can all be shocked).
There ya go
.
IN MY DEFENSE........I’m not a huge drinker. After spending 10 years on medication to control seizures (where drinking was a complete no-no), I just never got in the regular habit after that medication was no longer an issue. Yes, I'm a light-weight
... And I’ve never been fond of the tequila that I’ve sampled since then; of course, as T so rightly pointed out, not all tequila is created equal, so that may be part of the issue. She assured me I’d enjoy something fruity from the margarita bar (“it tastes like juice!”) and that it would be our second “must” of the day. Bottoms up
.
I was much more nervous about riding Test Track than drinking a margarita, but for T, I would gladly do both. Steve and I could hardly wait until Saturday. I may have even done a little dance as I packed my mouse ears in the suitcase on Thursday night
.
**SIDE NOTE**
When we moved into our new home, I purchased a beautiful wooden sign from Hobby Lobby for our master bedroom. We mounted it above our headboard, as I thought it was a wonderful sentiment to wake up to in the morning and to be reminded of before bed each night. It was also the inspiration for the title of this trip report.
As we sat in the airport waiting for our flight home, we remarked at how grateful we were for all the lovely little highlights of the trip, and how blessed we had been over the course of the week. We were so thankful. While the trip may have taken a completely different shape than it originally started out to be last December, it was so perfect in SO many ways .
Picking a name for each trip report is always the thing I struggle with after each trip. This time, it came very easily.
@chiamarie , we are so grateful, thankful and blessed to know you! [and the offer for a blind date with a good looking bachelor from Canada is always open if you change your mind ]
On Friday night, we texted with T and set up a meeting place and time at EPCOT: sometime close to park opening (9 am) outside the Joffrey’s Coffee kiosk.
Saturday morning, we were both up at the crack of dawn (partly out of habit, partly out of excitement) so we decided to grab a quick but hearty breakfast before heading to the park. We donned our matching t-shirts that we had purchased the night prior [since Steve was being a good sport about partaking in the matching Disney wear, I let him pick the T’s …. the grey would not have been my first choice, but he was happy so who was I to veto them?] and headed out in search of breakfast.
Fast and filling were my two requirements…..we didn’t want to keep T waiting because we were being gluttons….so Steve, quite predictably, slid us swiftly over to Golden Corral. It’s just around the corner from the Vistana, and traffic was surprisingly quiet that Saturday morning so we were seated at a table in no time. I had a coupon for 50 cents off each adult breakfast buffet, so the total with tax (excluding tip) was under $20. Steve would eat his cost (and half of mine too!) in bacon alone
.
I don’t think there were six tables occupied in the restaurant, including ourselves. You could easily have shot a cannon through the building and not hit a soul. It was quiet and peaceful and a nice way to start out our first morning in Orlando. It was also a very nice Golden Corral experience: generally its not the food that makes Golden Corral a questionable choice, it’s the behavior of some of the clientele. We had an attentive server that was helpful but not intrusive, the food options were plentiful and well stocked, and we both got well fueled for a long day of walking at the parks.
As we were eating breakfast, we received a check-in from the Pet Nanny. Violet and Dash were doing great (she texted me some fun photos of them partaking in their customary morning antics) but she wanted to let us know that the power to the house had still not been restored. She indicated that all neighboring traffic lights seemed to be operating, so she wasn't sure if it was a localized issue to our house only, or if other folks on the street were also still without hydro. Steve and I chatted a bit about it as we ate, and opted to give it the balance of the day: we told Morga that if it was still an issue when she came for her nightly visit with the cats, we'd escalate things a bit more then. DTE is often a bit slow in getting power restored after a storm, but surely they'd have it on 24 hours later. Right???
It's not like we were buried under 3 feet of snow or a thick coating of ice. It was just a passing rainstorm, after all.
Having concluded our breakfast, the drive to EPCOT went super smoothly……all of Orlando seemed ‘quiet’, with noticeably light traffic on the roadways
…..and we were driving under that magical archway within minutes.
Parking lines were pretty short and moved very efficiently. We were very fortunate to get a great spot just a short walk from the entrance, something that would prove extremely beneficial later in the day
[more on that when the time is right].
We headed over to our designated meeting space, and promptly received a text that T was on her way …. she had the same idea we did, and had stopped for a bite to eat before arriving. We amused ourselves by taking some photos while we waited.
While the sun was blazing in the sky at that point
, the weatherman predicted that showers would be an issue as the day wore on. It would be warm (hot by Michigan standards), with temps in the high 80’s/low 90’s but not sticky humid. We had sunscreened our pasty white northern skin before leaving the villa, and I was prepared with both an umbrella and a canister of Banana Boat in my purse: whatever was needed later in the day, we would be ready
.
I was firmly enthralled with people watching when Steve called to me from behind: our favorite Floridian had arrived and somehow I had totally missed her as she walked by. T was here!
Let our EPCOT day officially begin!
More EPCOT up next
.