Florida on a Whim

Caty and I go to all his shows

A couple of months ago, I saw that Rob Thomas was doing an acoustic tour. I checked for locations in Colorado because Caty and I are big fans. 

Nothing. 

But, I saw that he was playing Ruth Eckerd Hall in my hometown of Clearwater, Florida, where my wonderful sister-in-law Katie handles PR. 

A crazy idea formed. Why not go ... see the concert, visit friends, go to Disney World in a month that isn't horribly hot? 

And, so this silly trip was born. 

After getting it all set up, I decided it would also be a great time to finally go to the Everglades.

Time to see some gators

Caty and I flew in on April 24 (non-stop from Denver to Tampa on Frontier!), arriving at 10:00 p.m. We stayed in downtown Dunedin so we could have easy beach access. Friday was a beautiful day. We went to Dunedin Beach early -- there were just a few cars in the parking lot when we arrived, rented chairs and an umbrella and settled in. 

It was warm, breezy, sunny and the water was warm enough to actually go in. We stayed until early afternoon, then had lunch at Frenchy's Outpost in Dunedin. We had to have the famous smoked fish dip (yummy), grouper nuggets instead of a grouper sandwich (good, but not quite as good as the sandwich) and key lime pie (disappointingly non-limey). We split everything so it wasn't too heavy. Then, back to the hotel to dress and on to Ruth Eckerd.

The adorable Katie

Katie had set us up for a meet and greet (thank you, Katie), which turned out to be a very fast handshake and photo op. But still, I did get to meet Rob.

I will post a photo IF we ever get it (the photographer has "issues"). Followup: NEVER got them; the file was corrupted.

The concert was fabulous -- totally different from any Rob Thomas concert we had seen before. It was acoustic with just Rob, a guitarist and a guitarist/pianist. Our seats were dead center, 10th row (thank you again, Katie). 

A relaxed concert

And, the crowd was generally seated, quiet and well-behaved. We did have the weird woman in 21H, who either thought she was at a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert, wanted to ask Rob a question or had Tourette's. She kept raising her hand and making strange gestures - so distracting. But, just one little gripe in what was a really fabulous show.

Afterwards, we met Donna and Rick for drinks and then tucked in for an early morning departure to Walt Disney World. I hadn't been since about eight years ago, Caty hadn't been in a few years (and had two days left of six non-expiration hopper tickets she bought years ago). Mark and Katie decided to join us.

A new park

Walt Disney World
We drove early and met Mark and Katie at the Best Western in Lake Buena Vista. I had chosen it as our hotel because I had a free night. It is a lovely hotel with buses to Disney. 

After much waffling, we decide to start at Animal Kingdom. 

I was the waffler because I had been disappointed eight years ago. But, we did plan to eat dinner there at Sanaa, which has Indian and African food. It's the one place I made reservations for.

We took the bus, which really should leave a bit earlier than 9 since the park opens at 9. But, still, it was reasonably convenient. From the bus, we had to take a tram and monorail, but we eventually got there. Wow! Has it improved!

Note: I didn't take many pix at Disney because why??????

We took the safari ride, which used to have few animals and a really cheesy "poachers are chasing us" schtick. Well, now, there are lots and lots of animals that are accustomed to the tour vehicles and are, therefore, very watchable. A giraffe even took a close look at us.

Spectacled Owl in bird show

We took a train to the conservation center (very interesting, including actual surgery in progress on a lizard), we went to the Nemo Show (great visuals, AWFUL songs), we had a fabulous and very fast lunch (mediterranean quinoa salad!), we attended the birds of prey show (great birds, an unnecessary and cheesy lost-tour-guide schtick) and walked around the Asia portion, where we saw more animals. We probably did a few more things; I just can't remember. 

Then, back to the Best Western (the wait for the bus was MUCH longer than the advertised 20 minutes) for a quick shower and clothes change for dinner.

Sanaa was fabulous. It's a limited menu, but the naan with nine sauces is worth the trip. 

The best!

Mark's lamb shank was not as tender as he'd have liked and my rice pudding wasn't much more than rice -- but everything else was good. And, during we saw almost every grazing animal. After dinner we walked outside for even closer animal views.

Photo from an earlier trip

Then, off to the Magic Kingdom, where the cooler evening and smaller crowds made for a fun evening. 

We hit the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean, saw the superb fireworks, tried our hand at target shooting in the Buzz Lightyear ride and went to the Carousel of Progress (hey, it's been around since 1964!!!!). 

We were very impressed with all the changes and additions since last we had been there. The Beauty and the Beast themed restaurant added a new castle to the horizon, the adorable Little Mermaid Ride added Eric's castle and a fun thing to do (you ride in clamshells and get to listen to the great songs from that film). Plus, a new tower from Tangled enhances the skyline. And, the park is full of little girls dressed as Disney princesses, many of whom had had hair done at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique.

We had the place to ourselves

Back to the hotel for a few hours of sleep and then we drove to Hollywood Studios, which was not crowded at all.  

We saw the Little Mermaid show, the stunt spectacular, the Beauty and the Beast Show and a 3D preview of Maleficent movie (can't wait). We walked about, had some yummy turkey sandwiches and Caty and Mark did the Tower of Terror.

Mark relaxing before more vigorous entertainment

Then, Mark and Katie had to go, so they drove us back to our car and Caty and I went back to the Magic Kingdom, where we rounded out our day with Splash Mountain (65 steamy minutes of waiting, but lots of fun), Pirates of Caribbean (the line was short), the Tiki Tiki Room (blissfully returned to its original show without Gilbert Gottfried's voice), the Jungle Cruise, the train and a surprisingly good dinner in the Harbour House (a great lobster roll).

The drive to Tampa was tough after three long, sun-fried days, but we made it. Caty flew out in the early a.m. and I started leg two of the adventure.

Trip date: April 24-May 3, 2014