We ended up having much more time than planned at the Philly airport. Our 7:39 departure time was changed to 8:45. So we had plenty of time to eat and shop, etc.
I decided that since the night would get very late, I should have another coffee. I walked to a nearby coffee and snack shop and asked if they had iced coffee. The young man said he did not. He said, "I have hot coffee." I replied that I was not in the mood for hot coffee, was there anywhere else nearby that would have it? He wasn't sure, but directed me way back toward the middle of the terminal. I said I didn't have time to go that far. So I asked, "Do you have ice?" He said he did. I said, "So could you fill a coffee cup with ice and then put coffee in it?" He said, "Then it would be cold." I said, "Yes, that's what I want." He reluctantly agreed to do it and said this would be a first for him. He put ice in a cup and I had to tell him to please fill it all the way to the top with ice. Then he obediently put coffee in the cup, leaving just enough room for me to add cream, as I instructed him to do. I walked away from there, sipping that delicious iced coffee through a straw, and wondered, "What rock has he been hiding under???" I told Lori about it when I got back to our gate, and she was just as surprised as I was, and so were the ladies sitting across from us who heard my story.
So we landed in Orlando very late. Hunter was sleeping by then and Lori was carrying him until he finally woke up and could walk. We had to wait forever at baggage claim and then had to go out to car rental and decide on an SUV that would be big enough. It was about a half hour from there to the hotel where Lori's conference was being held. We were trying to hear the GPS lady directing us from my phone, but Hunter was in the mood for singing VERY LOUDLY!! Half the time he was just making songs up, and we even liked some of them. They kind of had a minor Hebrew sound and rhythm, hahahaha!! By the time I decided to take a video he was singing a more familiar tune.
At last we arrived, but then Lori needed to take the car to a distant parking lot and get the shuttle ride back, so Hunter and I got out with all the luggage while Lori took Austin with her to the parking lot. The lobby was a beautiful place to wait, and Hunter was reading.
It was 2:00 AM when I was finally in bed on the pullout in Lori and Anthony's suite on the 12th floor.
I did not notice until morning that outside my room was a large private deck!
Sunday
We went down for a late breakfast in the morning.
All the food on the buffet was beautiful and delicious. And like everything else, the place was gorgeous.
Hunter loved the fruit. Austin was more interested in trying to solve his 7x7 Rubik's Cube. He did eat some cold cereal - out of all those choices, lol!!
The views from the windows and decks were AMAZING!! It was a spectacularly beautiful place!
Then we got ready to head down to the pool area. Again, what a beautiful place! There were several different pools and rock formations with "tunnels" you could walk through to get from one place to another. There was also a beautiful lake.
After a while Lisa, Sophie, and George arrived from Tampa, and we had a lot of fun together for the rest of the afternoon.
George left to go pick up Dick and Anthony from the airport. We got ourselves changed and ready for dinner.
We were planning to get a shuttle ride to The Polite Pig, a favorite BBQ restaurant at Disney Springs. But alas, we had missed the last shuttle (8 pm), and besides, a very bad storm was descending upon the area.
So after the guys arrived, we went down to the main restaurant (where we had eaten breakfast) and were informed that there would be an hour-long wait for a group our size. So we put our name in and then went up to the lobby, deciding that we would just get something to snack on from the little lobby restaurant. The server told us it would probably take an hour to get the soft pretzels we ordered! But she promised she would put it in as a rush order.
Anthony said, "What's the chance we would go down to the main restaurant when they're ready for us and then we would still have to wait another hour for our food down there?" We decided to just stay where we were. We pushed a few round tables together, put the kids on a couch at the one end, and we had an AWESOME, relaxing time right there in the lobby. Looking at these pictures just makes me want to go back there and do it again. Our server was great, and the food was too. And there WAS a really, really bad storm most of the evening. The lightning was pretty spectacular in a place with so many windows.
That night Dick and I had our own room, which was right adjacent to Anthony and Lori's suite, with a door that connected them. So it was like a big two-bedroom suite with living room, kitchen, and deck.
George, Lisa, and Sophie had a room on the 6th floor. We were just thankful they were able to be in the same hotel. The nutrition conference that Lori was there for was huge. There were people walking around everywhere with conference badges on. Lori tried to stay incognito as long as possible, haha!
Monday
Lori was not the only one that needed to plan our time together around a work schedule. George and Lisa had to do that as well. They had come in two cars from Tampa. George regularly works two days a week in Orlando, so on Monday he was working until late afternoon. Lisa had to go back home for her first cross country practice that morning. It started at 8 AM! I decided to go with her to keep her company. I took these pictures of the lobby at 5:45 AM, the time we met to leave for Calvary Christian High School in Clearwater! I had gotten a delicious iced coffee at the little market place cafe in the lobby.
So we had time to catch up as we made the almost two-hour trip. I always love the beauty of going across the Tampa Bay. The lower picture is of Calvary Christian High School.
When we got there I enjoyed getting to meet some of the other athletic staff members. I especially enjoyed sitting on the bleachers with the cross country team as Lisa introduced herself and gave them all kinds of information and expectations.
I went along out to the track where they were having timed try-outs. It's a really beautiful campus.
When we left after practice we went to a doctor's appointment that Lisa had scheduled, then to Panera for lunch, and finally back to Orlando. We were having all kinds of giggles over some Snapchat videos she had made. Maybe I'll share some of them later.
Of course we had been keeping in touch with the rest of the gang back at the hotel. Lori had reserved a cabana, which in this case was called a grotto because it was in a "cave," and they assured us they were having a great time relaxing in the shade! We couldn't wait to get there!
The picture on the left is our grotto from the outside, the picture on the right was our view from inside.
It was SO comfy!! We did play in the water, but I didn't even get any pictures of it that day.
Of course Lisa and I were so sleepy from our early morning trip. I couldn't help taking a funny picture of her totally sacked out beside Hunter, and Anthony sacked out on the other side of him. Later I found out Dick had taken a picture of me sleeping with my mouth hanging open, hahaha!! Those pictures will remain for our family's eyes only!! Here are the approved ones!
Lori had to leave around 4:00 to get ready for a reception she had to attend. The rest of us had to pack up and go back inside around 5:30 when a storm came up and everyone was chased out of the pool.
We decided to order in and eat on the deck that evening. But that stormy weather once again had other plans for us!
It did stop raining, but it would drizzle from time to time. We hung out as much as we could out there because we loved it so much. But for the most part we were inside eating all the goodness Lisa had ordered in - pizzas, bread sticks, eggplant, and more. Can't remember it all. We talked and laughed and watched American Ninja Warrior on TV. Another wonderful evening for my memory bank that I wish I could do all over again.
On top of the world out there on the deck!
I'll end this post here and do another one about our Tuesday and Wednesday later.
3 comments:
Great times and great memories! It's so great that your Tampa fam could be there too! I am always amazed at how big Hunter is! He grows six inches a week, I think!
Wow - what an amazing time! It's so nice to do something like this with family. The memories you made!
I can't believe that coffee place never heard of iced coffee.
Your hotel was amazing!
And Sophie! I remember when she was just a little thing and now she is a stunning young lady.
What an amazing trip!
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