She said it wouldn't be boring!-WONDER WB Caribbean cruise - Bonus Posts Wrap up

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]


The next day, after a full breakfast we packed up our bags, checked them with the bellman and headed out to explore. It had been a long time since we did any shopping and Fran heard that there was a Disney Outlet at the Sawgrass Mills mall. The GPS got us there quickly and we discovered that this was one HUGE shopping complex!





Before venturing in, we noticed a Steak and Shake in the parking lot!











Love their burgers!


We were able to figure out where the Disney Store in the Mall was and quickly purchased too much merchandise. I got a cute pair of Mickey shoes (most of the Mickey shoes don’t fit me), we got some computer cases, a picture frame, and a couple pink flamingoes wearing Mickey hats.





This guy is decorating my yard. I need to figure out where to put the other one.





All of which caused us to need to shop here.





Where we got a good deal on a suitcase (one of those fancy schmancy ones with the wheels on the bottom that rotate four ways, and a built in TSA lock) and Fran found a new carry on bag. We filled the suitcase with our Disney Store loot, and then Fran treated me to this.





She shopped in a bookstore while I ate my ice cream cone. Then we headed back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and we were on our way to the airport after rearranging a few of our bags.


We got to our gate in plenty of time and both our flights were pretty uneventful. Because we left so late (around 5PM) we were only served food on the first flight. Fran had some kind of Teriyaki Beef.





While I had some giant ravioli. They were really good for airplane food!





We made it home safely with all our bags and were very happy to see our kitties! I’ll be back with some final thoughts.

 

[Flossbolna]

Wow, anoter update! I know Sawgrass Milss quite well, and the Disney Outlet. It is not as large as the ones in Orlando, but nice enough and since you were in Florida without making it to WDW, I am sure it made a perfect spot for some last minute shopping. I have seen thouse Mickey flamingos and contemplated getting one myself. They are so cute! But I don't have a garde, so it would not make any sense.

Seems like a nice flight back!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Dinner looked lovely.

Oh Sawgrass Mills. We have never been to that one, but have been to do sister malls. Ontario Mills used to be my favourite spot for shopping in Southern California. I love that flamingo.

Corinna

 

[dgbg100106]

I promise you, you will get used to it! There are lots of great features like taggin people @frandandaj or that the threads staz unread until you really look at them. Will be so much easier when one does not have the time to stay on top on all threads. I have used this software before and was getting so frustrated with the old DIS software for the last year or so. So, for me this feels like Christmas! At the moment it seems that some things still need adjusting, but the DIS webmasters are working hard on it. And in a few weeks all the little things should be worked out as well.

I hope so too... Fingers crossed

 

[dgbg100106]

That bread looks amazing and the veal looks so very yummy! I could eat that right now

 

[rentayenta]

Ok let me start by saying it's going to take me a while to get use to this new DIS. Yikes!

Love your butch sweatshirt! Where in the heck is the thumbs up smiley?????

Love that Mater was there. Insert thumbs up smiley...again.

Wow, thats a ton of rain! It scares me when the streets get flooded like that.

Did I mention this new set up is something else?

Those garlic knot things look insane!!!

 

[ACDSNY]

Great car museum, you'll have to keep your eye out for a car with our last name from 1908 - 1923.

 

[mvf-m11c]

The food at Giuliano's Italian Restaurant looks very appetizing.

I can never get tired of Steak n Shake in Florida.

The Sawgrass Mills Mall looks like a nice place to go shopping.

 

[Paula Sedley-Burke]

I totally agree with regard your hole in the wall comment. Some of the best places to eat not much eye candy but my word the food! The prices are beyond cheap on that menu you kindly shared. That chicken photo was bordering on cruel Alison for a carnivore like myself the veal looked amazing. I can't imagine having to twist Fran's arm that much to go back! What a find! The only dissapointment is never having room for something sweet after and I bet they serve some delights. Shame it's coming to an end. Kitty time nearly!

 

[PrincessInOz]

We managed to squeeze in 2 hours at Sawgrass Mills on one of our previous trips. It was no where near enough!!!

That's great looking food porn. I'm trying to be good....and you've made me super hungry now.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

It wasn’t all that late, but we had been at the museum a good 4-5 hours and we were hungry too. I had enjoyed that Italian place so much the other day, I convinced Fran to go back there for late lunch early dinner. The place? Giuliano's Italian Restaurant in the Harbor shops. If you’re in the area, I would highly recommend this place. I didn’t have the pizza, but the pasta, chicken and veal were excellent. Here is the menu.

Everything looks really good! I think you planned this last update just to make me really hungry!

The first time I ordered from here, they asked me if I wanted garlic rolls or plain rolls. I told the guy “that was a silly question”. And he even knew what these things tasted like. O – M – G!!!! These things are so heavenly and garlicky, I couldn’t believe how good they were!

You sound like Julie! She can't get enough garlic on her food.

Here’s to show you, this place was just a hole in the wall, but never discount a hole in the wall that it can’t have some of the best food you’ve ever had in your life.

Words to live by, my friend!

We made it home safely with all our bags and were very happy to see our kitties! I’ll be back with some final thoughts.

Sorry the trip had to come to an end! But I'm glad no kitties were locked in the garage.

 

[afwdwfan]

We found a UPS store that was open Sundays near the hotel, and this was where our savings shriveled up. Shipping and packing costs for the bottles was pretty expensive. Oh well, live and learn.

I didn't think they'd let you ship alcohol across state lines. Not that I've ever tried, but did they know what you were shipping? That is a bummer that you basically ate up your savings in shipping costs.

For Southern Californians like us, we hadn’t seen rain in so long that we were fascinated.

Yeah, yeah, yeah... never rains in Southern California. Seems like I've heard that one before.

And we were even more happy to see Mader’s buddy!

That is just.... wrong.

The first room was the “little” cars. There were some pretty trippy looking cars in here. This is just a small sampling of the pictures that I took.

The European room?

The owner of this collection really seems to like Batman. There was an entire room devoted to cars from the movies. I think one from the TV series was there too.

There is nothing wrong with Batman. You've got to admit, there aren't any superheroes with cooler rides than his.

Who ya gonna call?

Ok, that's about as cool as Batmobiles.

May I present to you, the James Bond room.

Ok, it just keeps getting better.

There were more rooms with Army vehicles, farm vehicles, and I’m not sure what else, put a fork in us, we were done.

I could spend some time in there... that's a nice looking tractor!

See all that ooie gooie garlicky buttery goodness. I could so go for some of that right now.

Oh, you're killing me. I haven't had lunch yet. Looks fantastic!

We made it back to the hotel in time for Happy Hour and grabbed some free drinks from the bar before heading up to the room

That's always a good way to end the day!

All of which caused us to need to shop here.

Well, I guess it is a sign of a successful shopping trip at the Disney outlet when you've got to go buy more luggage to haul your stuff home!

 

[EJ4Disney]

Alison,
Loved the report. Thanks so much!

 

[Leshaface]

Ugh shipping costs! When we were in PA 2 Summers ago, I had taken my grandmothers china, since she was moving to a home so couldn't keep all her belonings. It cost $120 for one large-ish sized boxed. Crazy!

Venti Iced Coffee, 4 pumps classic and percent milk. Sounds good to me!

Woah, so much rain!

That museum is freakin' awesome! I'd love to visit that place one day!

 

[Pinkocto]

Oh my goodness, that garlic bread looks divine!!! and the tortellini

LOVE the flamingo!!!!

Thanks for sharing your adventure with us. Sorry Fran wasn't feeling well at the end but glad she enjoyed the cruise

 

[franandaj]

I'll be back in a couple of days with replies and a recap, but first: Yesterday was Disney Eve. Every year during the first week of February I book us into a 1 bedroom villa at the Grand Californian for Wednesday & Thursday nights. Last year we spent the entire time (that we were not eating meals), asleep. Other times we have made the most of our midweek stay by getting on rides. Who knows what this year holds. I am just looking forward to getting away from my daily life and recent damnation.

For those of you who haven't heard, last week my doctor recommended that I adopt a Sugar Free, Gluten Free and Dairy Free diet. She seems to think I can happily pursue this diet as a lifestyle choice. We think she is going way overboard. Recently she has gone on this holistic natural kick, almost to the point that she is advocating you can cure yourself by "thinking" yourself well. It's not that I have a medical condition which would be exacerbated by eating these foods, I just need to lose some weight. Losing that weight will hopefully allow me to resume a normal diet in moderation, at least as far as I am concerned. Wish me luck.

Fran is doing better. She has a new temporary arthritis drug. It's incredibly expensive and needs to be taken every 12 hours. The problem is she forgets to take it on time which dilutes it's effectiveness. We are hoping that she gets into a drug study that starts in April. Not only is the study drug an infusion based drug, it's free! So we're keeping our fingers crossed.

The move is going slowly. It's hard to see any progress, but we are bringing stuff back every couple days. And we have some stuff currently listed on eBay so that's progress there.

Once we get back from DL we'll need to step up the pace on moving stuff out. I need to get the piano moved by the end of February and just get things out of the old house, whether they go to storage or the new house it doesn't matter at this point we just need to clear that place out. We are keeping the contractor busy with a huge laundry list at our current house. It's small things, but that annoying kind kind of stuff that doesn't work quite right or just things he never finished before we moved in. Nonetheless we hope to.have everything ship shape by my birthday and housewarming party as we have now combined the two into one big event.

But for now I need a couple days off to lick my wounds and have some fun. And chicken dinner from the Plaza Inn is Gluten Free, right?

TTFN!

 

[Flossbolna]

Have a great time at Disneyland!

Sorry for your doctor's strange recommendation. while I totally understand that gluten and dairy are a problem for some people, I don't believe that they are generally unhealthy. and sugar in moderation is not too bad either. However, I can recommend this blog http://www.mynewroots.org/site/ which is from a "holistic dietician". Some of her writings are a it strange, but she has some really nice recipes, so maybe that brings some inspiration? Good luck on the weight loss! Maybe have a look at the WISH board here on the Dis, I am hanging out there for a support group for weight loss and find it very helpful!

My father has a medication that needs to be taken every 12 hours as well and my mother got him a little pill box that has an alarm every 12 hours. Very convenient!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Have a magical time at Disneyland. I hope that the new dietary restrictions will not throw too much of a spanner in the works. I have been on an even more radical diet in the past, but this was short term to exclude potential dietary triggers for a medical condition I have. This was the longest month in my life. The first two weeks were especially bad, but then we slowly started to reintroduce food groups. At the start I was not allowed wheat, gluten, sugar, yeast, dairy, red meat, caffein, alcohol, spices and various fruits and vegetables. In the end the only trigger was yeast.

I am glad that things are starting to look up for Fran. I keep my fingers crossed that she gets on the drug trial.

Corinna

 

[Leshaface]

Not gonna lie, I don't envy this new diet you're going to be on...especially the dairy free, sugar free part I noticed on FB that you've been eating bacon though! Is there an amount that you want to lose until you can resume a normal, moderate diet? DH probably should look into a GF diet because of his ulcerative colitis, but it's hard. If you come across some tasty recipes that you approve of, can you send them my way please?

Does Fran have her phone on her at all times? Maybe a timer that goes off every 12 hours would help?

Have a great, relaxing time!

 

[rentayenta]

I'll be back in a couple of days with replies and a recap, but first: Yesterday was Disney Eve. Every year during the first week of February I book us into a 1 bedroom villa at the Grand Californian for Wednesday & Thursday nights. Last year we spent the entire time (that we were not eating meals), asleep. Other times we have made the most of our midweek stay by getting on rides. Who knows what this year holds. I am just looking forward to getting away from my daily life and recent damnation.

Happy Disney Eve!

For those of you who haven't heard, last week my doctor recommended that I adopt a Sugar Free, Gluten Free and Dairy Free diet. She seems to think I can happily pursue this diet as a lifestyle choice. We think she is going way overboard. Recently she has gone on this holistic natural kick, almost to the point that she is advocating you can cure yourself by "thinking" yourself well. It's not that I have a medical condition which would be exacerbated by eating these foods, I just need to lose some weight. Losing that weight will hopefully allow me to resume a normal diet in moderation, at least as far as I am concerned. Wish me luck.

Moderation is key my friend. Losing weight is about lifestyle changes we can live with otherwise it'll never stick. Wishing you lots of luck.

Fran is doing better. She has a new temporary arthritis drug. It's incredibly expensive and needs to be taken every 12 hours. The problem is she forgets to take it on time which dilutes it's effectiveness. We are hoping that she gets into a drug study that starts in April. Not only is the study drug an infusion based drug, it's free! So we're keeping our fingers crossed.

Crossing fingers for Fran too.

The move is going slowly. It's hard to see any progress, but we are bringing stuff back every couple days. And we have some stuff currently listed on eBay so that's progress there.

Once we get back from DL we'll need to step up the pace on moving stuff out. I need to get the piano moved by the end of February and just get things out of the old house, whether they go to storage or the new house it doesn't matter at this point we just need to clear that place out. We are keeping the contractor busy with a huge laundry list at our current house. It's small things, but that annoying kind kind of stuff that doesn't work quite right or just things he never finished before we moved in. Nonetheless we hope to.have everything ship shape by my birthday and housewarming party as we have now combined the two into one big event.

But for now I need a couple days off to lick my wounds and have some fun. And chicken dinner from the Plaza Inn is Gluten Free, right?

TTFN!

Birthday party!!!!!!!!