Welcome to Madam Tussaud’s, Orlando

Posted on December 27, 2015December 27, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Getting to the Orlando Eye was easy enough. They even had free parking! Once in the entertainment complex there were three attractions, Madam Tussaud’s, Sealife and The EYE.

I can’t remember the last time I went to a “Wax museum”. I think it was the House of Frankenstein in Lake George, NY when I was just a teenager. I suggested we do the attractions in the order of interest topping off the day with the ride on the EYE.

Turns out Madam Tussaud’s was the best! It was lots of fun.

The displays were all interactive so you could take pictures with everyone from Marilyn Monroe to ET.

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I got to dance with Michael Jackson

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and see how it felt to be a white house secretary while Joe and Obama looked on.

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There are photographers sprinkled about but they don’t bother you and since Joe and I both had cameras we hardly saw them at all. Of course when we first entered we had the “airboat” ride with attacking alligators. Act scared they said!

Madam Tussaud

The categories were things like “I will call it La Florida” with Juan Ponce de Leon.

Or People Change the World….Neil Armstrong…Martin Luther King

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Arts and Culture and Play Time

Music …Elvis and Michael

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Big Screen to Big Time…Oprah. Joe Loved Oprah.

A night at the Movies…We couldn’t get near John Travolta as Danny Zuko. All the “Pink Ladies” were lined up for their photo op.

Finally there was the A list with celebs like Will Smith, Leonardo Di Caprio, Brad and Angelina and more.

Tons of fun!

Epcot 2015

Posted on December 20, 2015December 20, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Please understand that my plan for Disney was to spend one day at the Magic Kingdom to photograph decorations and hopefully get some shots I can use for Christmas cards.

Hidden Mickey

That was it. The rest of the time I planned to check out other venues like botanical gardens that I hadn’t been to before. I am not now and never have been a Mickey fanatic.

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Those plans got side tracked very quickly when I told my friend Joe that I was coming to Orlando in December. I booked the dates in March and that led to a continuous series of emails and phone calls with everything Joe wanted to do while I was in town. It pretty much revolved around the Disney parks.

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After much suggesting, pleading, assuming and just charging forward, Joe finally convinced me to book the Candlelight Processional with dinner. The two possible narrators while I was in Orlando were Neil Patrick Harris or Whoopie Goldberg . I enjoy both so it came down to when we could get a reservation. Dinner/show spots were all sold out so we settled on lunch/5 pm show. I booked Thursday because, I confess, I was doing this more to appease Joe than because I wanted to go so I wanted to get it over with. Thursday was the last night Neil Patrick Harris was the narrator. By having a 1:15 lunch reservation at Les Chefs de France it pretty much guaranteed we’d be spending the day at Epcot.

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Joe met me for breakfast at Kenzie’s and then we headed for the park. Epcot was beautiful as are all of the parks at Christmas. We enjoyed a few rides/shows before scrambling to make our reservation for lunch.

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We had a small two top (that’s restaurant speak for a table for 2) right next to the window so we could watch Father Christmas and other characters pass by. Lunch was acceptable. I’m just a plain and simple person when it comes to food so french cuisine is just “over the top”. Sometimes a grilled cheese should just be a grilled cheese.

I chose Les Chef de France because I wanted escargot but I’d just had that in New Orleans and it’s not an item I can eat every day. My favorite part was the dessert, puff pastry with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.

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Joe had the mousse.

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Then with several hours to kill we went Soaring. This is a really popular ride and usually has long lines so I had never been on it before. All I can say is that it’s terrific. I hated to have it end. I guess it’s as close to flying as you’ll get unless you are one of those glider suit people.

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Kris Kringle was entertaining all comers with a series of Holiday Stories. He was funny even if he looked a bit intimidating.

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We followed up with a visit with Tigger and Poo Bear and then it was time to get in our seats for the main event.

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Love Poo Bear

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And Tigger!

Poo bear

The Steamboat Natchez

Posted on December 4, 2015December 4, 2015 by Dusty Roads

Back at the Lighthouse we considered our options for the afternoon. The paddle wheel steamboat Natchez was right there at the dock so we decided to take a ride up the Mississippi. We had about two hours before our trip so we went in search of lunch. The menu on the Natchez didn’t “speak” to me.

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Instead we had lunch at the Gumbo Pot on Decatur St.

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We both tried the Po’boys. I had shrimp and Sandy had hamburger. They were HUGE! and very good.

We also had a little excitement. It was clear that a storm was approaching as the wind began to gust pretty good. Suddenly it caught one of the umbrellas and over it went right on another table. That certainly got everyone’s attention while the waiters hustled around taking down the umbrellas so it wouldn’t happen again.

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After lunch we made our way to a table on the dock where we could watch the river traffic while we waited for our turn on the Natchez. We had a front row seat for the steam Calliope concert.

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Boarding was like going on a cruise. Photos were taken to documents our trip.

Natchez

The cruise was fully narrated and there was a jazz band playing inside.Both of us did a lot of our New Orleans souvenir shopping in the gift shop.

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Remember those sugar cane fields we saw from the train? Well we got to see where a lot of that goes when we sailed past the Domino Sugar Refinery.

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The narrator pointed out areas where the docks had been destroyed by many things from Katrina to fires. We passed huge ships and other refineries. The river it self was really wide and bustled with barges and tug boats.

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In spite of the “iffy” weather it was a great ride.

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Back on the dock we spotted a street performer. His “shtick” was to pretend he was walking his toy dog and freeze in place in mid-stride. Still pictures really don’e do it justice but he was quite good and very personable. His tip bucket was the white bucket you can see in the picture.

Sunken Japanese garden

Posted on November 21, 2015November 21, 2015 by Dusty Roads

As we left the Buckhorn Saloon and boarded our tour bus the first rain drops splashed on the bus windshield. It looked like our luck had run out and the rain was finally going to move in.

Since the rain was light and sporadic we continued on to the last stop on our tour, the Japanese Gardens sometimes called the Sunken Gardens.

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These gardens, bridges and waterfalls are situated in an old quarry. What a great way to beautify what could have been an eyesore.

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There is supposed to be a small train that runs through the grounds but the rain seemed to have sidelined it as other than catching a glimpse when we first arrived, I didn’t see it again.

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I loved the tower when you first arrive. It made me think of the mysterious Newport Tower in Rhode Island.

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Newport Tower

In spite of the rain and overcast it was easy to see how pretty this area is with bridges, Koi fish and waterfalls.

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I can imagine this would be a beautiful place to explore in more detail or to just sit quietly and appreciate the beauty of nature.

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Anticipation

Posted on August 8, 2015August 8, 2015 by Dusty Roads

In the words of Carly Simon

Anticipation, Anticipation
Is making me late
Is keeping me waiting

And that’s where I am with travel right now.

It looks like work has really slowed back to a manageable/ normal pace. I even have another weekend off! But this time I have a sick kitty so I’m sticking close to home to keep an eye on him. It’s Buddy and he woke me up this morning vomiting. Cats throw up but this is different. He’s not barfing hairballs but just clear bubbly fluid. Fingers crossed he’ll bounce back quick.

So I took the time to get my travel plans pinned down and submit my time off requests at work.

The first trip planned is late fall and it’s an Amtrak vacation. Sandy & I will fly into San Antonio for 3 days. We’ll get to experience the river walk