Pick Your Seat

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Okie Dokie! You may as well pick your seat, sit back and relax. This is going to take awhile. Our last blog ended with our Royal Carribean cruise. This one will take you along on everything that has happened or that we have done since then. Oh, Boy.….I can hear your moans now. No matter, we are marching on with it all. Like it or Not.

Our microwave finally “gave up the ghost”…..what does that even mean? Google states: “to stop trying to do something because you know that you will not succeed”. I guess our microwave knew it couldn't nuke anything anymore after 16 years of use. Our dear friend, Art, helped Cory to get it out of its spot in our RV. That was a real challenge but they succeeded. We ordered a new one from Home Depot. It was delivered here to our park….goody. Whoa….not so goody….it arrived damaged. I never knew how much I depended upon this appliance until it wasn't there. It was a bummer! Feeling sorry for us? So time passed and we finally received another one (undamaged…whew). Art, & another friend Dave and Cory worked together to get this heavy appliance back into its place…..not an easy task but they accomplished it. Hallelujah! Our life improved immensely. Cory could return to eating his melted cheese and Triscuits evening snack. Thank you! I love our new microwave/convection oven.

Because our hobby of buying and selling antiques & collectibles will always remain in our blood, we found ourselves back in the business FOR ONE DAY! We had brought 3 big tubs of trinkets with us from home (our Polebarn). We set up several tables to sell these wares at the big Flea Market in Webster, Florida. President’s Day is a big selling day at this market. We left TP at 3:30 AM on that morning (yawn!) to get a site on their overflow field. It was cold and raining! Rats! Nooooo. As we sat and slept in our car seats, the rain stopped just as the show was to start. Hooray! We jumped out and put our treasures out on the tables. Great crowd. Vendor Cory loved doing his bartering again. He was born for this. Wheeling and Dealing! We sold well making $700 minus the $45 to set up. We were pleased plus it was great fun being back in the business FOR ONE DAY!

Our friend, Chris, alerted us to a new Ice Cream store down the road. His NJ friend opened & operates it. It's called The Crazy Mason. You can agree with the name once you see the monster-size, cold, fancy delights served in a mason jar. We opted for the banana splits figuring the overflowing jar would kill us. Delish! I scream, You scream, We all scream for ice cream!

Our area in Orlando keeps building and growing. Recently, an expensive resort has been built called Evermore. After Cory told the guard we were just “looking for Waldo”, he let us in. The Conrad has a big hotel and restaurant on the premises. The villas are huge as is their pool. Even though it is very new, they had many occupants….all rental as it is a resort. We never did find Waldo.

Food has been a major draw for us this year…..as you can observe through photos of myself. I just saw a sign that read “You’re Not Fat - You Are Just Easy to See!” I like that! We found a new restaurant….new to us anyway. It's called Fatburgers….appropriate, huh? It has smash burgers….Cory’s favorite. They are yummy. Bring them on. I now wear my Berka on a regular basis now.

We had a wonderful family gathering at the Parkesdale Strawberry Market in Plant City. Our daughter and son-in-law, Kim & Jim, and our granddaughter, Haley, met us there. Of course, we enjoyed devouring their luscious, huge shortcakes. Bring out the scales! Our time together was brief but each moment was a treasure. We hope to be with them again in April. Yippee!

Every year, our good friend, Joe, works very hard to put on a parkwide horserace that all of us long-termers attend. It is a very successful and fun event that everyone looks forward to. Play money is used to place bets on paper horses that have been named and colored by each owner (buyer). Actual horseraces are run on the TVs and the fun begins. Winning play money is used to bid on silent auction items. Thank you, Joe, for another terrific evening of fun here at our park. You belong in the Winners Circle!

Every Sunday, the town of Celebration has a big Farmers Market. Sandy likes buying some olive mixture in a jar. She loves olives! We wander around through all the tents of goodies. They even had some unique ride-on vehicles that passed us by. Whatever floats your boat!

A big, pink Ape paid us a visit one day. He has been making his way through our park. He even hitched a ride with our friend, Paulie. It was a wonderful day when our friends, Jon, Diane & Walt stopped by. “There Are Good Ships, and Wood Ships but the Best Ships are Friendships.” Sandy and I have become master gardeners growing our tomato plants. There will be more to come about them as you read on. Yeah!

We had a fun day with our friends, Mike & Terri. We all traveled to the well-known fish camp restaurant called Cherry Pocket. We haven't been there in a couple of years. What a surprise! It has undergone a nice transformation. It still has many parts of its original unique and rustic decor but it has been enlarged and improved. We liked it both before and now after. Always good food. They even have nice rental cottages besides RV sites. We aren’t convinced we would want to move there but others have made that decision as the sites were full. To Each Their Own. We bought some of their scrumptious Cherry Pocket Salad Dressing (cherry flavor) to bring home…..to die for! Salads are good for us….even with gobs of luscious cherry salad dressing on them.

On the same topic of good food…..listen to this. At Disney Springs is a store called Gideon’s Bakery. Every single time we have walked past it, there is always a long line waiting to go in. We have never stood in this line…..too long plus not knowing even what baked goods were inside. Well, the time finally came. We were outside this curious bakery which had its usual line. I asked how long the wait would be….10-15 minutes. Okay….we could do it. And we did. The inside was small…..that’s the reason for the line. You have to wait for folks to exit before more can enter. Once inside, it was like being inside a Disney ride…..but instead of waiting to ride.….we were waiting to buy food!! Typical for us nowadays. It was highly decorated in Disney style with the typical roped walkways. Finally our turn came. We could select from cookies or cakes or specialty drinks. We chose their unbelievable cookies. Each weighing almost a half pound! Coated inside and out with large chocolate chips. OMG! I thought I was in cookie heaven. I love cookies more than anything. Cory and I bought 3 cookies ($6/each) …..2 original chocolate chip and one triple chocolate chip. Be still my heart. We carried these treasured morsels like tiny, swaddled babies as we continued through the park. We still had to eat at our favorite place: the Earl of Sandwich. Can you guess which item I got? Yup! My favorite tuna melt! Before leaving, Sandy stood close to her Oscar statue that she was so deserving of winning. Once home, I followed Sandy’s suggestion of slicing our cookies into wedges & wrapping them separately. I saved a baggy full in our freezer besides putting the rest in the refrigerator. One small bite performed a new sensation in our mouths. A little bit went a long way as they are so rich. It was glorious! Our cookies were mixed with drool.

A new avenue has opened up for us to enjoy certain areas of Disneyworld. We knew we could take their modes of transportation to their various hotels but how could we avoid the $35 parking fee?? Not that we are cheapskates BUT……..Well….we found the answer and tried it. It worked….we went to 3 Big hotels, used 3 forms of transportation and it didn't cost us a cent! Alrighty! We can go further and do more but that's for another time. We took their bus from Disney Springs to the Floridian Hotel. We saw the fabulous, carved chocolate Easter eggs on display here. No free samples, though. Rats! From here, we boarded a boat that took us to the Polynesian. Here, Sandy and I got free Hawaiian Leis. We got on another bus that took us to Hollywood Studios. Our gondola skyliner awaited us. We jumped on board….. Cory requested a private gondola for the 3 of us…..and took it to the new Riviera Hotel. Actually, it is a huge timeshare. It wasn't as elaborate as we had envisioned. I'm sure the units are beautiful but the lobby was nothing to write home about. I took a picture of a few fake flowers. We got on the bus again…. returning to Disney Springs and our waiting car. Violá. A full and festive day…..all on the cheap!

More food talk! A group of us decided to go out to dinner. We went to a lovely restaurant down the road called Little Italy. It had delicious Italian food and we all enjoyed our time together. Cory loves meatballs so he was happy. Our good friend, Ray, stopped by one day while giving his dog, Cimba, a ride on his fancy golf cart. The Easter Bunny has found a home at our park.

Intermission Time! Take a break. This next tale is long and complicated…..sorrowful but with a happy ending. Breathe deeply. Ready? Okay….Let's go!

Remember the Gideon Bakery cookies?? Remember how I put some in a baggy in our freezer? Keep all that in mind. One evening, I fixed spaghetti and meatballs for Cory & Sandy. I was lazy so used frozen, store-bought meatballs that had been in our freezer for a while. I did make meat sauce though. Cory only likes meatballs and meat sauce…he could care less about the pasta part. After supper, he said he liked the meat sauce but the meatballs tasted like cardboard. He didn't eat them. Even Sandy admitted she threw out the yucky meatballs. Okay….message received. I grabbed the baggy of remaining frozen meatballs from the freezer and tossed them in the garbage. The end.
Not so fast……the tale continues. Each evening, after supper, Cory and I would treat ourselves to one of the small wedges of Gideon cookies. Oh, the delight of them was exquisite. After we had finished off the cookies in the refrigerator, I reached to supply our larder with those still frozen in the freezer. Oh, what unknown bizarre thing is this??? My eyes are quivering! My baggy didn't looked like it contained my wrapped cookie wedges! What the hell are they? Oh, God….No! No! No!

The baggy was full of those disgusting, dried-up, tasteless, nauseating meatballs! You have to be kidding! I fell to the floor. I screamed in exasperation. Tears ran down my face. I contemplated my demise. When I had tossed those inedible meatballs out, I had, in fact, tossed our baggy of treasured cookie wedges into the garbage instead. That's right. Our expensive morsels of goodness had gone into the garbage! A raccoon's joy! Our despair. I contemplated even telling Cory…..ignorance is bliss. But, since we share everything, I spilled my guts. The disappointment on his face and the tears in his eyes were so pathetic. What could I do? The landfill had already decomposed our special treats. We could only commiserate together. A day that lives in infamy. We shared this horrific event with our friends. I know they felt sorry for us through their laughter. With their support, we moved on. It is what it is. The next morning, we had our ritual coffee group gathering. Our good friend, Jim, gave us a bag to open. Wow! This is interesting….the wrapper was for frozen meatballs. Maybe these are better than the ones I had bought….hopefully. Cory loves meatballs! The wrapper was open at the end…..at black box was inside! It couldn't be! I slid the box out…..OMG! Hold me up. I can't move. I was frozen in awe…..catatonic if you want. The box was from Gideon’s bakery and held two of their super, fantastic cookies. What miracle is this? Cory and I held each other in joy, tears streaming down our faces. Our hearts beating out of our chests! How? When? Who? What? Why? The evening before, Jim and his lovely wife, Mary Jane, left the Little Italy restaurant after we ate and told our sorrowful story. They drove to Disney Springs.…..and stood in line to get us these cookies. There are angels on earth besides heaven….they are called Jim and Mary Jane. How can we ever repay them? They have their own children so don't want our firstborn. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. You have saved us from our deep depression. We are happy and joyful again…..carefully storing and devouring these cherished tidbits. Hallelujah! Happy Days are Here again.

As this wasn't enough, Mary Jane presented our coffee group with one of her special delicacies: key lime treats. Ooooh, they are so delicious. We all thought we were dining at a fancy bakery instead of our flapping tent as we savored each bite. Mary Jane puts the Pioneer Woman to shame with her cooking. She is the Cook-Off Queen.

Cory and I traveled over to Port Canaveral recently. Not to watch a launch but to see his sister, Gwen. Gwen, and her friend Sandy, were sailing on the MSC cruise ship out of NYC. Their first port on their way to the Bahamas was Port Canaveral. What a perfect opportunity for a rendezvous. It was wonderful to see Gwen again and meet Sandy. We took them to the RonJon store and onto lunch before they had to head back to the ship. It was so good to spend this brief time with Gwen.

We like to take adventures so when I saw there was a free shuttle to the Central Florida Zoo, I tossed it out to some of our friends. Sure…. let's go. Goody. There were seven of us. We boarded the SunRail train and took it to the Sanford depot. Here we got on the free shuttle trolley to the zoo….oh, goody. We finally got to the zoo…..our train ticket gave us a little discount on our zoo admission. We marched along the entrance path. Oh, goody. We were starved so first things first, we ate. Pricy food….you would think we were in Disneyworld. Now….onto see all the animals. Most were in cages, sleeping far back from any good view. We could see an occasional eye or bunch of fur. We saw some monkeys and other small creatures. The rhinoceros was asleep halfway in a little moat. It's ear flickered so we knew it wasn't dead. The most excitement was seeing the giraffe. Folks were feeding it: $6/lettuce leaf!! No lions, tigers or elephants. We were able to traverse this zoo quite quickly…..as Mary Jane said she could do it in 10 minutes. It did not meet our expectations.….as Sandy said “ It was pathetic as a zoo.” We don't highly recommend it. Joe and Bonnie decided to make the most of it (they see the glass half full) and they lingered behind. We left them there. We had had enough so got back on the free shuttle to board the SunRail and head home. So much for visiting the zoo. The transportation was fun, anyway.

Sláinte! FYI: that's “Cheers” in Irish. A cheerful group of TP friends celebrated St. Patrick’s Day together at Frankie Farrell’s Irish Pub & Grille. Many of them enjoyed the typical Irish dinner of Corned Beef and Cabbage. I had Fish and Chips and Cory’s choice was a Philly Cheesesteak! Maybe that has an Irish background?? All the food was very good. It was a great place to see so many Irish Eyes Smiling. Everyone is Irish on this day!

Yesterday was harvesting day! Remember our tomato plants. Yes, Sandy picked a couple ripe and juicy tomatoes from our big plants that you saw earlier in this blog. What a thrill! We accomplished our goal of having fresh tomatoes right off the vine. I made mine into my first ‘mater sandwich. On, yummers! Just as wonderful as we have dreamed about. “🎶 You Say Tomato, I say Tomato🎶” …….but we don't really care as long as we get to eat them.

Guess what? You have run this reading marathon and have won! Our blog has finally come to an end. It's been a big one, for sure. Hope you held in there for the final lap. Don't forget to check out the 42 pictures we have included. You will need to scroll way down and even go to other pages. If you don't see all 42 photos, after the one showing Cory & Sandy at Gideon's Bakery, it might say “Additional Photos Below”….click on that….view those and then after those photos, go to next page. For some reason, on my “review” page, that's what I had to do….maybe your blog will come out “normal”. Cheers!

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