mecllap - M E C Live Long and Prosper

My first blog is at the beginning -- a month-long trip to Europe, about two weeks in 6-7 countries on the continent, and two more in England/Scotland. Wasn't able to add photos as I was going along (and have been dreadfully slow about going back and adding them in. Then Grand Cayman, and some trips to Florida. Have made other short trips here and there as well -- travelling is my main retirement pasttime.

In my blogs, DD refers to my daughter, and DGS refers to my grandson (those are conventions used on disney forums -- the first D is "dear"). I don't know what the capacity is here for pages, but I couldn't figure out how to start a completely new separate blog, without registering under another name (I've been "mecllap" since my first Web days on Prodigy in the mid 90's). I tried the "Trips" button up top but couldn't figure out how to actually get it to work, so guess readers are stuck with all the entries I manage to plug in here.

Disney World and other early summer delights
June 5th 2009 -» June 25th 2009

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Joined on: July 26th 2008
Last Login: November 22nd 2009

Blog Entries: 56
Photos: 93

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Blogs & Travel Journals

by mecllap, order by Date newest first.

By mecllap
November 22nd 2009

Hilton Head (eat at Dye's), last stop, then home North America » United States » South Carolina » Hilton Head

DVC Hilton Head entry
Bambi and Thumper welcome me to Disney Vacation Club at Hilton Head

November 17, 2009 Tuesday Tried to sleep in at BCV, but bed not very comfortable, altho I liked the room overall. Housekeeping knocked on the door at about 8:30, altho checkout isn’t until 11. I was just barely up -- had been trying to doze. Fixed coffee and microwave burrito, chili, cheese, gooey thing that is actually better than it sounds for breakfast. Bought a Disney Vacation Club Member t-shirt for $19.95 in the shop -- may have been the cheapest shirt I saw on property -- they didn’t check if I was actually a member. Didn’t get on the road [View Full Entry]

By mecllap
November 22nd 2009

Arr. at WDW; busy F&W festival at Epcot North America » United States » Florida » Orlando

Saturday, November 7, 2009 -- Cool pool; another move; crowded Epcot Started my Disney visit with a cool dip in the cool pool at Coronado Springs Resort. The water wasn’t too cold to get used to it fairly easily. I took a lot of photos of it before they turned on the water features. They gather all the kids to the bottom of the Mayan style pyramid and sit them on the bottom stairs then go through several steps of getting ready to turn on the water slide. So it’s surprise to the ones who don’t know that water also comes [View Full Entry]

By mecllap
November 22nd 2009

Everglades, Miami, Key Largo -- 3 days North America » United States » Florida » Everglades National Park

Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009 Woke up without alarm at 8:00 a.m. Breakfast in unit, then headed out to go to Everglades NP. Started at Shark Valley; arrived a few minutes before 11, close to when the tram was loading up; had to have bathroom break and get my backpack, so the tram was just pulling out when I got back to the window (I think it was $11.00). They tried to stop it, but it kept going, so they rushed me into a pickup with a driver to catch up with it -- rather unusual (next tram was at 1:00 p.m.). [View Full Entry]

By mecllap
November 18th 2009

Nov. 5 Flamingo Gardens (hope this is not a duplicate) North America

Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009 Looks kinda cloudy and windy again; fixed broccoli omelet for breakfast and then headed out. Woke up early again, darn it -- had hoped to sleep in, nothing in particular on schedule for today. Started the day at Flamingo Gardens ($13.60 for a senior) -- it’s very pretty and worth a visit after you’ve hit your main highlights. The animals and birds appear to be fairly well taken of, with decent habitats (could be roomier of course, but better than I was expecting). Lots of huge, very interesting plants and trees. Fortunately I had my umbrella, because [View Full Entry]

By mecllap
November 18th 2009

Mid-trip Lion Country Safari and WDW North America

Friday, November 6, 2009 -- another busy day; is this really vacation??? Checked out just after 8 a.m. and got on the road north. Took longer to get to Lion Country Safari than I expected; got there about 10. I missed the 869 turnpike and went up Hwy 441 -- which is okay; I prefer non-freeway driving anymore. It’s one of the many nice things about being retired -- don’t have to be in such a hurry to get anywhere. LCS was well worth the side trip; it’s a drive-through wildlife park, mostly African animals. I just did the drive-through part [View Full Entry]

By mecllap
November 18th 2009

Last day at WDW for this trip: Hollywood Studios North America

Nov. 16, 2009, Monday-- Yet another moving day. Shifting today from Animal Kingdom Lodge to Beach Club Villas at Yacht and Beach Club Resort near Epcot. Had to be out of room by 10 a.m. -- not really any animals visible this morning. Took the ice cube chest out empty and moved the car closer, and packed the remainder of the cold stuff in a large plastic bag, so I was able to get that and everything else out to the car in one trip with the Wonder Wheeler beach cart -- I love it. Drove on over to the Beach [View Full Entry]

By mecllap
November 18th 2009

Birthday at Magic Kingdom report North America

Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009 (actually a travel day for me -- am currently at Hilton Head) Wow, it's sure hit and miss for me getting any blogs posted from this trip -- but it's not a very exciting read anyway. And some of the days won't mean anything to you unless you understand Disney jargon (I do try to translate, but sometimes that gets lost from day to day) I will eventually post photos -- it's been a fun trip for me. Here's what I did to celebrate my actual birthday day (the whole trip is my b'day present to myself). [View Full Entry]

By mecllap
November 11th 2009

Backstage Magic tour and castle ice lights North America

Tuesday, November 10, 2009: Backstage Magic tour and castle lighting ceremony Always bring a flashlight when you travel! Got “home” to no power. It had started sprinkling as I was leaving MK, and raining as I looked for my car in Epcot parking lot. It was pouring when I stopped at the Outlet Center, and at the turn-off to the timeshare, the street was dark (at least the signal lights were working). The room keys are battery-operated, so I could get in and find my flashlight in my suitcase. There’s some ambient light here, of course, and there are front porch [View Full Entry]

By mecllap
November 9th 2009

Day at Epcot -- enjoying Food and Wine Festival North America

Sunday, Nov 8: Drinkin’ mah way ‘round the “World” Well, not exactly. I went to Epcot this afternoon (after a visit to the Outlet Mall Disney Store) -- fun to be doing WDW in a leisurely manner -- not trying to get there first thing in the morning, and close the place down at night. I got a Fastpass for Soarin’ -- for 5 hours after I got the FP. It’s the last day of the Food and Wine Festival, and while a little busy, nothing like the mob last night. And I did my ritual ride on the Journey Into [View Full Entry]

By mecllap
November 7th 2009

Another road trip to Florida North America

Well, I don't want to make false promises, since I sure blew it with the totally unfinished/barely started June Florida trip. I'm in Florida again, and at least have written up some entries. Here's a quick synopsis so far: At least temporarily have internet access -- for some reason, it really bothers me to pay extra for internet when I'm travelling. Maybe it's the frugal part of my nature that allows me to watch pennies, so that I have travelling money for these kinds of trips. Have seen lots of interesting things; done way too much driving; weather has been pretty [View Full Entry]

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