Advertisement
Published: December 31st 2010
As per the normal commencement...weather was good today, warm, some scattered cloud, no wind and no rain.
After late night last night junior troops were slow to rise and even slower to stir into action...but not a problem as both completely happy and a pleasure to have around - even though both a little tired.
Plan was to go to some other outlet mall that had been recommended to Sandy and then have dinner around Universal Studios and then spend late afternoon and early evening in the park for our final day on those passes. Had a quick glance at the map and headed off with route sorted and off ramps identified.
Twenty minutes later we approached the outlet mall and watched it magnify in the windscreen in accord with the levels of excitement displayed by the children at going to yet another outlet mall. A minute later the outlet mall shifted from the windscreen to the rear vision mirror as it became apparent that the road we were using to approach the mall did not actually go to it but rather ran alongside it as it headed on to points north. We were now on some main
arterial highway heading out of Orlando and it was one without off ramps - but luckily it did have toll booths! So as well as driving away from our intended venue, we paid for the privilege. At a toll booth sought directions to the mall in question and had it nicely confirmed that we were going completely the wrong way. The very kind lady in a slow but accentuated southern drawl then gave directions to us and even wrote or described these on the back of our toll receipt. I was unaware that the Egyptians had learnt hieroglyphics from the Floridovians but these directions bore a striking resemblance and were unreadable.
She had said to drive north about 4 miles and at Service Plaza do a U-turn and head back the way we had come to some other alpha numeric carriageway, exit that onto another numeric road, and so on... First issue, I am not familiar with American terminology so as we scanned the road signs for Service Plaza we drove past the service station in the middle of the freeway...actually we were not looking for a street called Service Plaza, rather 'a service plaza'. So we headed north
Waitress signal..
..this means all is fine and you don;t want anything.and without a map, as we had long since driven off the nothern edges of our Disney specials. Finally got to an offramp and so headed East as this was the general direction we needed to be heading but we were so far north heading east was heading nowhere except towards the ocean. Ended up in a part of Orlando that does not feature in the brochures. First thing we noted was that JC Penneys and Macys had been replaced by Pawn shops and thrift shops and their had been a dramatic shift in the ethnic demographic...we were now a distinct minority and I was concerned how welcome a white man with a shaved head might be in these parts. It was unintended but it was interesting and quite apparent that not every one in Orlando is living the American dream.
Eventually we ended up arriving at the mall as intended...our 20 minute trip had taken close to 2 hours. Not all bad as two hours lost in a foreign country is still better than 2 hours walking around an outlet mall. Shoe count moved from 14 pairs to 16 with Caitin and Sandy buying today. Reuben and I
Waitress signal 2#
..this means you would like your waitress to stop by for something. went off and acquired an extra suitcase. Whilst we left home with 2 packs and a third packed inside ... that is not going to cut it now.
Around 5pm went to dinner at Bubba Gumps Shrimp on the citywalk leading into Universal Studios. This was the unquestionable highlight of the day. Food was superb despite it being a theme restaurant. Part of the show is that your waitress tests you on trivia from the movie throughout the service. We scored very highly. Sandy had a dish called 'Shrimp Heaven' and despite having his own meal of shrimp Reubs made very good inroads into this also. Ordered a Mud Pie chocolate dessert...assumed it would be a slice. Unbelievable! This thing was enormous and had murderous intent...it would block arteries like superglue. It became the dessert for the whole family and despite both Reubs and I having the odd sweet tooth or two, we got through around half of it. Ridiculous thing was that it only costs $6...and most customers consume it themselves it seems as it is listed as an individual dessert.
Around 6pm we went into Universal Studios. There was a huge exodus out of the park
Shrimp Heaven..
Shrimp raw, Shrimp Teppanyaki, Shrimp battered, shrimp crumbed... but it was still very busy so took the kids on 3 rides and then left before 8 to have them in bed around 9.
Pleasant enough day as even the worst day of travel is better than the best day at work but certainly not one of the more memorable ones from travels so far.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.043s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 9; qc: 22; dbt: 0.0238s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb
Poppa
non-member comment
Food glorious food!!!!
Looks like Reuben has an affinity for shrimps - will fit in quite nicely if he ever visits the UK and chooses 'Scampi and chips' - MY FAVOURITE PUB/CAFE food - so go for it Reuben! Recall doing something like your trip in LA and getting lost off the freeway one night and ending up somewhere not designated for 'white folks'. Sounds however that despite the 'sightseeing' you did have a good day out but sorry it included more shopping. Looks as if Caitlin has caught the shopping bug...... she will wanting her own AMEX card now! All good here - looks like 40 deg here today in Melbourne for New Years Eve. We went out for brunch with Stefan and Darren this morning and they have friends around tonite for a BBQ. Anyway Happy New Year to you all and loadsa luv too. Well just off now to jump in the swimming pool - will spare you a thought or two!!!!!