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Published: January 31st 2016
Time is running out on our Universal Studios Annual passes. Put your walking shoes back on 'cause we're going again. Remember we have already gone once this year when my cousin was here. No time to waste. We don't plan on renewing these passes. We been there, done it all. We'll miss some of the perks that go along with these passes (free parking, ticket discounts, etc.) but it's time to say "enough is enough." They aren't cheap but what is nowadays? Parking, alone, at Universal is $20. But now it's time to get our money's worth for the last adventure.
It's a nice day: sunny but still jacket weather. Bundle up if you really don't like the wind and coolness. We've decided we should go on the Universal Studios side first. Usually, we head to the Islands of Adventure. Doesn't matter anymore....seen it, done it. We march to my favorite ride: E.T. It is a fun, exciting and fairly smooth ride. You sit on bicycles as you fly through the sky to help E.T. "Go home". Just as much enjoyment as I always remember. Onward, we travel. Somehow we got in line for the Homer Simpson ride. Didn't notice
the time wait when we entered...way tooooo long. Then, I forgot what the ride was like! Eeek! It is a simulated roller coaster ride....all done with visual affects as you sit in a gyrating, thrashing, jerking car --- much too authentic for me. I hate roller coasters so kept my eyes closed through most of this nauseating torment. Whew......it was good to get back into the crowded masses making their way around this amusement park.
We soon found ourselves back in Harry Potter's Dagon Alley. Of course, you all know the prime reason for this stop. Yep.....Butter Beer. I will miss this most of all when giving up our passes. I love, love butter beer! I did get a recipe for it off the internet so if I really get depressed and desperate.....we'll have a Butter Beer party sometime...all invited! We slurped and slugged down the tasty delight and continued through this magical place. Decided not to take the train over to Harry Potter's other world: Hogsmeade. We chose to sit on our special bench outside of Finnegan's Bar & Grill. Good memories of hours spent sitting on this bench in times past. This is where we always watched
the beautiful Mardi Gras parades. We commiserated that we wouldn't get to see them anymore. By chance, I looked at our waning passes only to discover they actually don't expire until February 9th! What! You're kidding! Wow! Wonderful! Sometimes, I really do think I need another eyeglass prescription. What this means is we can return to Universal on Feb.6th for their first of the season Mardi Gras Parade. Hallelujah! Life is good. Happy Days are Here Again! Whoopee. So be ready for a fantastic evening (maybe another full day) back here at Universal Studios....mark it on your calendar with big asterisks. Whew....the heavy pressure now is off us to try to do everything today. My aching knee cries with joy.
Skipping (hah!) along this well treaded pathway, we point ourselves towards the exit. Wait a minute.....we are at the huge movie theater looking at their marquee. Why not? Sure, let's go to the movies. The closest movie showing at this time is The 13th Hour..so we go. That is the movie about the terrorist raid on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killing Ambassador J.Christopher Stevens. It was good but with so much violence. Once embedded within the theater,
Signs
Look at the price of a hot dog combo:$11.99 - crazy!we just move around from movie to movie. Right or wrong...we just do it like vacant, forlorn senior citizens. We missed the beginning of The Big Short but saw most of it....just as well, it wasn't that good. Still able to focus our eyes adequately, we ended this movie marathon by going to Spotlight (Boston Globe's exposure of the molestation by many Catholic priests). This was a very good movie. Aaaahhh. We made it.
But we're hungry our stomachs holler. Ok.....Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. restaurant is right across from the cinema so we "Run, Guenters, Run" right in and ordered a light meal to calm our borborygmus (those growling sounds your stomach makes). Put that in your "word of the day" list. By now, we are slowly dragging ourselves onto the moving walkways to get to our car. It has been a day and a half! Hope you had fun. It was all worth it. My Fitbit says we walked over 10,000 steps, 4.8 miles. Ooooooo.....I can attest to that!
Not wanting to pile a ton of things on you at one time but no choice. Our surprise this year is we are going on another cruise: tomorrow!
Nothing like telling you at the last minute, I know. So start packing your cruise clothes. No time to waste now. The group from Tropical Palms planned this trip right after we disembarked from last year's cruise. We are sailing on the Carnival Sunshine cruise ship. We are all taking a bus to Port Canaveral. We set sail @4:00PM. It is a 5 night cruise to the Bahamas. Monday is a sailing day, Tuesday is a day at Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas, Wednesday will be in Nassau, Thursday is Freeport and Friday we return to Port Canaveral. Whoo-Hoo.....more fun on the high seas. Lulu will make her cruise transformation into "Little Lulu" (the petite, light weight, small cloth doll) that quietly travels in the background with us (in case of emergencies). Because the Internet is mega $$$ on the ship, you won't be hearing from me for at least a week. Be strong. I'll be keeping a diary, of course, so our time at sea will be well documented. No fear, the blog will still be here. So dear friends and family, the bus leaves tomorrow at 11:00AM. Be sure to have your passports and boarding passes in
Two things I LOVE
Cory & Butter Beer! hand. We are all going sailing. All together now: ???Sailing, Sailing, Over the Bounding Main???
UPDATE: Because we have tried to empty our refrig before leaving on the cruise, going out to dinner seemed like the right thing to do. Yeh! Mike (next door neighbor) joined our foursome as we sped off to Cheddars. It is a great restaurant over at The Loop (big shopping area).....food is delicious and made from scratch.....top it off with reasonable prices and it rates high on our favorites list. They have "to-die-for" onion rings! Definitely order them.....It was only around 3:00 when we arrived...we were all hungry. Well, everyone else in the area and around were also hungry. The place was packed and a long waiting line. Why not? Good food and good prices. It will do it every time. But it was only 3:00 pm! Early, for even the Early Birds. The line moved quickly so we were seated without a lengthy delay. The meals were excellent and the comradery better.
Back at the ranch, we were busy getting unloaded when Cory noticed a large Class B Air Stream parked right behind our RV. Soon a lady and her dog stepped
Pure Gold
Dagon Alley out. WOW! Here stood Pat Walck and her little dog, Daffney. Millard came around their rig. What a great surprise. We met Pat & Millard after we bought our RV in 2008. We joined the Allegro Club (Tiffin brand owners). The club originated out of N.Tonawanda (Buffalo, NY) --- it was the closest one for us. We met many nice people in the club but it was Pat and Willard who kind of took us under their wing. Pat told & showed me various hints and ideas about the motor home since they owned the same one but bigger. We had fun times going on outings with this club. It reached a time, though, when it was too much of a haul to meet up with them for gatherings so we wished them all well and bid adieu. By coincidence or miracle, we met Pat & Millard again in Red Bay, Alabama. It was 20012 when we had planned to take our big trip out west. We had the month long delay at Red Bay because by mistake, Cory backed the RV into the church next to our home property. We had to get a new backend cap for our
RV. So here we were and here they were....at the Tiffin Repair place in Red Bay. They had to have some work done on their RV and of course, so did we (we have many back blogs on this lengthy, interesting adventure). We spent hours and days together in the Tiffin Repair Bay Lounge. We went out to dinner together. We made the best of a tedious situation. It was really good when they were there but they left before us. We missed them and their company A Lot! So you can only imagine how excited, happy and surprised we were tonight to see them again. They had tried to get into Disney's Fort Wilderness but it was full. So they are spending the night here at Tropical Palms. We had a nice visit. They got to meet Sandy & Sam. They are going to be traveling around the area for the month of February. We really hope they come back and see us. We have tales to reminisce and more stories to tell. We'll be leaving the light on for you, Pat & Millard & Daffney. Come back.
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MJ and Mike
non-member comment
Wow, BIG Surprise!!!!
Just read your Universal Blog. Glad you got to try Cheddars, it's our new fave place too, hoped to take you there for the onion rings. Aren't they to-die-for? Mayb we can get back to Universal w/you on your last visit, during Mardi Gras... And what's this about a cruise tomorrow? Have a fantastic time, eat lots, drink more, win big and well see you when you get back.