Orlando, Florida |
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Orlando, Florida |
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The first order to business was to rent a car so that we could do our errands. This was very convenient since the hotel had a Thrifty rental desk right at the reception area. Being on a budget like we've never been before, we chose the cheapest car instead of a convertible. The weather didn't really warrant a convertible anyway. In doing our errands, we discovered that we were staying along Fast Food Highway, USA. It was amazing the number of fast foods we saw along Highway 152 in Kissimmee.
After just a day, we couldn't stay at the same hotel anymore because a group was scheduled to move into our floor. Thus, we packed everything into the car and headed out. We didn't know for sure where we wanted to go, we just drove. Seth ended up taking a nap in a closed water park parking lot. Tara wasn't in the mood for napping, so she proceeded to walk laps up and down the parking lot until Seth woke up. We had a coupon book filled with hotels and in the end we chose a Travelodge Suites. It was a great choice due to its location.
We thought about just how convenient travelling with your luggage in the trunk of a car was compared to traveling with your luggage on your back. We pulled right up to the door of our room and carried our luggage a mere 10 feet.
Now that we were settled, we hit the Disney properties again. Fun!
We ended up spending the next two weeks on and off at this Travelodge. Wafflehouse for breakfast followed by Krispy Kreme became a tradition. Seth would also typically vist Krispy Kreme as the last stop before the hotel at night. It was a really glutonous time for us! Our only favorite fast food restaurant missing from our diet over the next two weeks was a White Castle.
One particular Friday night at Subway was especially memorable. We'd been to Subway the Friday night before and decided that this time we'd save money and split a meatball sub (instead of us each getting a six inch sub - Tara veggies & cheese. Seth meatball). So, we walk into Subway and order our footlong meatball sub. Our sub will take an extra 5 minutes since they need to heat up some meatballs. As we wait, it soon becomes apparent that the two highschoolers behind the counter are new Subway employees. The guy is trying to teach the girl how to do things, but she's not quite able to cut bread yet. He shows her how to do it, then turns away to tend to our meatballs. We watch the girl grip the piece of break very forcibly and mangle it as she cuts the middle section out. Such suspense as we wonder if she'll actually make a sub out of this mangled, scrunched up piece of bread. The decision is taken away from her when the guy returns to oversee her, makes the decision that the bread is too bad to be served and discards it. The saga continues with two British customers asking for salad on their subs and a great confusion ensuing due to the fact that "salad" in America is not put on subs, but is a separate dish. Having lived in London, we realize that "salad" just means "lettuce, etc." on your sub. Finally, the entertainment is over since we get our sub and go back to the hotel to eat it. It was worth waiting for!
Our mornings at Waffle House were also very memorable. We were lucky enough to always get a booth in a sun. Tara would sit on the side where the sun streamed in through the window while Seth sat at the opposite side in the shad. It was a perfect arrangement. We ordered the same food everyday. Seth liked a waffle with an extra container of butter. Tara liked one scrambled egg with chunked, smothered & covered hashbrowns (containing ham, onions & cheese). We'd typically split an orange juice or maybe splurge and Seth would get the sweet tea.
We also pigged out a the theme parks. Our favorite snack was a Nestle Toll House Cookie ice cream sandwich. Yum. Yum. Especially if you were restrained enough to let it melt.
Overall, we really enjoyed spending extra time in Florida, but we were
gone each weekend to the shore. Since we needed to stay at a Hilton two
different times while we were in Florida, we had to leave our nice Travelodge.
If Seth was able to maintain his Hilton Silver Card status, we'd receive
12 free night at the hiltons of our choice in 2001. The Hiltons in the
Orlando area were much more expensive than the Hilton's on the Atlantic
coast, so we packed up and headed to Melbourne. We didn't want to see only
the ocean side and Seth wanted to go to Busch Gardens, so we also packed
up the next weekend and headed to Clearwater.
| Category | Rating | Comments |
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| Overall Experience | ||
| Ease of Journey | ||
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| Coolness |
