Ships & Dip III

What a blast! We had a great vacation and are SO glad we decided to go again. Last year was special because it was the first, but we both agreed we enjoyed this year even more.

Sat 1/26/08
We flew into Fort Lauderdale because the flight to Miami was sold out. It was nice leaving in the afternoon, so we didn't have to rush around and get out of the house too early in the morning. We landed, picked up our rental car, and drove down to Miami. Took longer than it should since there was an accident that had the freeway backed up pretty good. We stayed at the La Quinta Miami Airrport East and it wasn't too bad. There wasn't too much around there, and we didn't feel like exploring the area after dark. So we just ate at the Bennigan's that was in the parking lot and had a pretty greasy dinner. Went back to the room and called it an early night.

Sun 1/27/08
We wanted to get the port early this year to try and avoid the LONG wait to board we had last year. We left the hotel around 11:00am and didn't get to the Hertz downtown until 12:00. It should have only taken about 20 minutes at the most. What a crazy drive! We had no problems until we got to the exit we needed to get off the freeway, where I missed the street I needed to turn onto. I couldn't get over and had to go the other way. Oh great! I'm in downtown Miami and have no idea where to go! So we eventually found the street we needed to go down, but guess what - there's a marathon being run the same morning and streets are closed off! And of course the street we needed to go down was closed off by a cop. I should have just told the cop I needed to get to Hertz down the street, but I turned and started following cars in front of me. We ended up going all the way around, making a BIG circle and finally ending up back on the same closed-off street by the same cop. So this time we told him we needed to get to Hertz and he let us through. Yeesh! All that already and it was only noon. So we dropped off the car, had to wait in another line to return the car, then join the crowd that was waiting on the street to catch a shuttle. There was no organized line and it was pretty much every person for him/herself. Mark got us on a shuttle pretty quick, though his suitcase took a pretty good hit when it fell out of the back of the shuttle while we were waiting and the door was still open.

We got to the port and jumped right in line and what a difference from last year! We were onboard and eating lunch by 2:00! We first went through security and then to get our room keys and concert wristbands. Steve and Tyler were in the terminal, greeting guests and making announcements, calling the different zone numbers. "Zone 5, please approach the counter with your pants off" (Tyler). It was also "Tacky Tourist" theme, and this guy was probably the craziest we saw. (It looked like a thong in the back too).



We did miss getting a photo with the Ladies this year (since last year's wasn't too great), but that's probably why we were able to get on board quicker this year. It was nice to be able to check out the ship, eat some lunch and take our time before the lifeboat drill.

At the lifeboat drill, I had some small talk with a girl and her dad in front of me. Turned out he was one of the New Odds (one of the bands onboard), and right after we got on the ship, we ran into Carol and Dana by the atrium bar, where they were talking to Steve's girlfriend, Christine. After the drill, we threw our life jackets in our room and ran up to the Lido deck to stake out a good spot for the sail away concert by the Ladies. We ended up in the hallway in front of the stage, though not real close. They were loading stage equipment on the ship with a crane and had the right side of the deck closed off. It took a while to open the rest of the deck up and start the show, but once it opened, most of the people in front of us headed over there, while we were able to end up right in front of the stage, probably about three people back. Awesome! Though of course I had the TALL German guy in front of me. But it was still a great concert, loved being outside on the deck, listening to great music. It was a classic moment as the ship horn sounded right during the middle of the song. The look on Ed's face... It went off a couple more times during the show even.

Spring Teaser

It's Monday, January 7th and it's 65 degrees out! I just took Rascal for a long walk and didn't even need a coat, just my sweatshirt. I can handle this kind of winter! Tomorrow's supposed to be nice too, but it's going to go back to being cold on Wednesday I think. Oh well, enjoy it while it lasts....

Merry Christmas!!

Another Christmas day, flown by! But it was a fun Christmas, surrounded by family and reminds me how blessed I really am.

I had to work yesterday on Christmas Eve, until close as a matter of fact. But I got home about 8:30 and Mom, Dad and Ken came over with food for a late dinner. Mom, Dad and Ken went to 7:00 mass and Mark and I went to 10:00 mass. Mom and Dad actually had planned to go to 4:00 mass but the lock on their side door broke and Dad had to go to Home Depot at about 3:00. So...slight change of plans.

This morning we went to my parents for our traditional Christmas morning. Breakfast (donuts, muffins, fruit and egg "mcmuffins"), opening presents and watching the Disney parade on TV. We always go overboard on the presents, but we always have lots of fun. (We almost had Dad believing Mark had won $10,000 on an instant lottery ticket). And the last few years we've set up the camera to take a group shot, and this is this year's.

After a quick stop at home to reload the presents and take Rascal for a quick walk, we went over to Tracey's, to celebrate with Tracey, Jared and the kids, Mom and Dad, Uncle Rich, Aunt Paula and Rachel, Bob and Chris, and Flo (Chris's mom) and Lou. Ate lots of food (Tracey was making stuffed cabbage until 8am this morning before going to bed and getting about 3 hours sleep) and opened presents. Mom and Dad weren't there for too long, Mom wasn't feeling too good today. But I was glad she was able to open her gifts and see the kids on Christmas.

Who let the dogs out?

I finally just finished putting together our Disney trip report (from a month ago already!). Just wanted to share some photos of us before last Sunday's Browns game. I was able to use Uncle Ken's ticket and go to the game with Mark. They played the Texans and won 27-17. It was cold but we stayed for the whole game. Here's us all decked out in our Browns gear before the game, even Rascal joined in on the action (thanks to Mark holding a treat for him).

Disney Trip Reort, Day 8

10.27.07

Why does vacation week always go so fast? It's the best feeling on that first day, when it's exciting to think of all the stuff you'll get to do that week. But before you know it, vacation's already over. It was a really fun week. Hot the first few days, but it was a lot more comfortable as the week went on. The rain wasn't too bad either. (The worst hit while were at Universal).

We ate breakfast at the Artist's Palette, and checked in for our flight outside by the guest check-in. It's so convenient to not have to fit all your luggage in the rental car and drag it to the airport. Our flight left about 2:30pm and were back in Cleveland around 4:30pm. Ken went home, but Mom, Dad, Mark and I hit Pizza Hut for dinner.

Another great Disney vacation, can't wait to start planning for the next one!

Disney Trip Report, Day 7

10.26.07

Our first stop of the day was the Magic Kingdom to walk around again and see a few more things. We rode Haunted Mansion again, and saw Philharmagic again and just took in the atmosphere of one our most favorite places on our last day. Lunch was at Casey's (love the hot dogs and toppings bar and fries with cheese!)

After lunch we went over to Epcot to indulge in the Food and Wine Festival around the World Showcase. Fastpasses for Soarin' were already all gone for the day, so we went over to Mission: Space. Mom, Ken and I went on while Dad went over to check out the festival center.

We started out World Showcase trek at Mexico (tried the quesadilla con chorizo and conga juice) and stopped inside Mexico to see the updated boat ride with the Three Caballeros. We hit a lot of the different food stands on our way around. Here's what we ate around the world:

• Meze - Cucumber and Tomato Salad, Eggplant Puree and Turkish Black Olives with Pita Bread (Turkey)


• Pork Pot Stickers (China)


• Debriziner Sausage and Sauerkraut in a Pretzel Roll, Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce, and Beck's Oktoberfest beer (Germany)


• Insalata Caprese Salad - Mozzarella Cheese with Cherry tomatoes and Basil Dressing


• Kielbasa and Potato Pierogies and Mark had the Paczki (Doughnut) (Poland) I also had a raspberry flavored wine from here, which was REALLY strong


• Grilled Lamb Chop with Caramelized Onions (Austrailia)


• Greek Salad with Pita Bread and Spanakopita - Savory Spinach and Cheese Pastry (Greece)


• Maple Glazed Salmon with Arugula and Roasted Corn (Canada)

I think my favorite was Germany with Greece and Poland not very far behind. Mark, Dad and I also stopped outside American Adventure again to listen to another concert: The Village People (Dad's choice). They only played 5 songs, but I did get Dad doing the "YMCA."

While in the World, we also saw the new updated Canada movie and then claimed our spot to watch Illuminations. Friday night was also extra magic hours at Epcot. We tried to ride Soarin' but the line was still 80 minutes at 10:00pm, so we skipped it and went over to the Living Seas. We all hit Mouse Gear on the way out, but Mark and I stayed in the store a little later. Mom, Dad and Ken went back to the room. We all started packing that night when we got back to the room. (Boooooooo!)

Coming up: time to go home

Disney Trip Report, Day 6

10.25.07

Happy 36th Birthday Mark!

Mom, Mark and I started the day off at Animal Kingdom while Ken and Dad started their day at Epcot. I stopped at Guest Relations to pick up Mark's birthday pin and the cast member behind the desk came out to check our birthday t-shirts. He also gave us fast passes for the safari, which we didn't have the time to use unfortunately. We rode Dinosaur and then went over to walk the animal trails we didn't get to see on Tuesday and to take pictures. Here's one of Mark's favorites:

He got some good gorilla pics too:The morning went quick and we just made it on time to meet Dad and Ken at Le Cellier in Epcot for Mark's birthday lunch. Mark had a 10oz steak, Mom and Ken had a chicken sandwich and Dad and I had the flat iron steak sandwich. They even brought out a decadent (as Dad would say) chocolate birthday dessert for Mark.

We walked lunch off around the World Showcase, I stopped and got a Strongbow in the U.K., we watched the World Showcase Players in Italy perform "Romeo and Juliet," and saw the 4 Tops perform outside the American Adventure.

We hopped on the monorail to go over to the Contemporary for Mark's surprise, a fireworks birthday cruise. (He said he had no idea). We had a really nice boat driver on our pontoon boat. It was decorated with a birthday banner and balloons and I had called the Contemporary in advance to order a white chocolate birthday cake. We left from the marina about 8:00 and he took us on a little tour around there, past the Wilderness Lodge (which looked so pretty lit up at night), past the old River Country (I miss that place, Mom and Dad took us there when we were little and I still remember it) towards the Wilderness campgrounds, and close to Discovery Island which is now a bird sanctuary and you could see all the white birds in the trees settled down for the night even in the dark. We went towards the Magic Kingdom then towards the Polynesian and Grand Floridian before parking right in front of the park. At 8:30, he turned on the speakers so we could listen along to the show and Hallowishes started. It was a great viewpoint to watch all the fireworks burst over Cinderella's castle, especially the ones at the end that went off around the perimeter. Now we'll want to do this every year!

Day 7 coming up: Magic Kingdom and Epcot.