Two4Disney

Revisiting a few of our Favorite Places

2012-01-29T17:09:00.002-05:00

"That's why we live in Florida," said the friendly bartender at the pool bar at Saratoga Springs after serving us our Grand Marnier Margaritas on a gorgeous, sunny day in Orlando. But, first, let me back up.

This morning we woke up early (or, at least I did), and I suggested to Rich that we attend the 8:30 liturgy of St. Nicholas Byzantine Church (instead of 10:30), and then we could have breakfast at Earl of Sandwich at Downtown Disney.

(Background info: We were visiting an Eastern Catholic or Byzantine Church because, for one thing, we we originally converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church before being welcomed into the Roman Catholic Church, And every once in awhile, we enjoy participating in the liturgy of St. John Chrysostom).

So after a wonderful church service, we drove over to Downtown Disney, got our breakfast sandwiches (BLT for me and Ham and Cheese for Rich), two coffees, and sat at a table overlooking boats and water near the Margarita Bar - one of our favorite places. The smile on Rich's face says it all - we were back at two of our three favorite places this weekend - the first one was yesterday at the Cantina de San Angel in Epcot's Mexico.

After we finished breakfast, well, we couldn't just go home - not yet. So we did our favorite walk over to Saratoga Springs, enjoying water views of Downtown Disney, and the peacefulness of this DVC resort. We plan to eventually stay here (we had ressies last May but ended up in a pool home).

We were going to stop at the gazebo, but my knee was feeling fine so we continued on to the pool area, sat down at our favorite table near the bar, and ordered margaritas and chips. We chatted with the bartender, and soaked up the Margaritas and the beautiful day! This is favorite place #3 - and we were back! Woo hoo !

An All A Twitter , AP, and Epcot Day

2012-01-28T18:51:00.002-05:00

Two4disney is now on twitter - updates are in the sidebar and you can follow us by searching for "two4disney." Our first tweet was about our trip to Epcot today.

Yesterday, we wrote what our plan was for today. This post is to tell you the actual.

The Plan: to renew our Premier pass with plans to visit Disneyland later this year.

The Actual: we ended up doing what we did last year - renewing the Disney World pass with the discount (Premier passes are not discounted), and then upgrading once we have firms plans to go to Disneyland. We don't plan to renew this rental house lease so we'll be moving this fall and that will complicate when we get back to Disneyland.

Today was a beautiful day - sunny, a bit cool in the morning, but warmed up to perfect temps. After renewing our APs, we strolled to our favorite place in the World - World Showcase, Mexico, specifically. I've been craving Margaritas and tacos.

We had planned to catch a few rides, but by the time we arrived at the park, it was 10:30 so we decided to focus on the AP and lunch, with a stroll around our favorite Lagoon.

Interrupting this report to talk about my knee. We'd intended to ride the tram to save my knee but it wasn't working yet so we walked to the entrance. We walked through Future World to World Showcase. We walked around World Showcase. We walked through Future World back to the front entrance. And then we caught tram. The tram stopped way beyond our parking row. But the good news is - my knee survived! It didn't hurt at all today. Now back to lunch.

The Cantina was always a favorite stop for us, but it only gets better - not only has the menu improved so that we could get lunch (instead of a snack) and a Margaritas on the rocks - woo hoo! Your only choice before was a frozen Margarita and I prefer it on the Rocks (frozen is FAB during the summer heat). I grabbed a table, and Rich got us smoked beef brisket tacos and margaritas on the rocks. YUM!

After lunch, we strolled around the Lagoon, stopped in at Italy wondering where the new wine bar will be located, stopped in at Japan looking for the new sake cocktail bar but didn't see it, and then made our way to France to get our favorite dessert - lemon tart for Rich and a cream puff for me - the most amazing whipped cream in the world!

We stopped in at Mouse Gear and Rich grabbed a Mickey coffee mug to match my Minnie mug (he'd been using his Tigger mug because they didn't have a Mickey mug in this set before - can you believe it - lol). He also got a blue Mickey shirt he'd had his eyes on. We used our points for our purchases, and then we were done - feeling well satisfied and happy to be back.

Time to Renew Annual Pass

2012-01-26T14:17:00.009-05:00

The end of January is approaching and it's time to renew our Annual Pass. But which one? We've had a Premier pass (which gets us into Disneyland and Disney World) for a couple of years now because we were living in Las Vegas and traveling to both. We thought surely once we moved back to Florida, we'd just renew the WDW portion with a Florida resident discount. Ha!

I think the pass (and this blog design) says everything about us - California - Florida, Disneyland - Disney World. Yep, that's us. Because by now we realize we'll never completely put down roots in Florida. It's a great place to live right now, but we'll be traveling back to my home state of California frequently. (For one thing, Martha's Bookstore on Balboa Island has invited me to a book signing for my latest novel Letters on Balboa Island - woo hoo!)

I wouldn't be surprised if our retirement years brought an RV into our lives. Disney World for Food & Wine in the fall, hang out on Florida beaches through the winter, head back to California for the spring/early summer, up to the Pacific Northwest in August and September and back to Florida. Ah, yes, I can see it now...

The Weekend Plan: Epcot to renew pass, ride a few rides, and grab a Margarita in Mexico! Si!

The Back Road to Disney World

2012-01-22T01:04:00.023-05:00

Hey, it's about time! There is finally a back road to Disney World from the North Orlando/Seminole County high tech corridor. Woo hoo! This is exactly what I had in mind when we lived in Altamonte Springs.

I checked it out earlier in the week and so then we drove it together Saturday morning. This is part of the Maitland Extension and there is still some construction where 414 connects to 429 (toll roads), but it is a huge improvement and it is going to be awesome when fully complete. And it could be instrumental in being able to move closer to our old stomping grounds. In the meantime, it's a great way to travel to Disney and back!

Rich was just impressed as I was with the completion of Winter Garden Village. We stopped in at Barnes and Noble, browsed the books, had a Cappuccino and mini Red Velvet Coconut Cupcake, and then we drove over to see the expansion of our previous church in Dr. Phillips. Of course, we couldn't resist a stop at the Shrine - it has become our Mother Church - and then we headed for lunch at Downtown Disney.

Ever since one friend mentioned the bacon wrapped meatloaf with mashed potatoes at Wolfgang Puck's Express (we were missing the garlic mashed potatoes they used to have), we'd wanted to try it. Well, we arrived at DD about 1:30 p.m. and there was no parking anywhere near the Marketplace. By this time we were tired and hungry, so we drove over to the Pleasure Island area, thinking we'd grab a bite at Cooke's of Dublin. But it was busy, there were no tables in the shade, and it would take 15-20 minutes for one of their fish pies. So, we made an instant decision to have lunch inside at Raglan Road, which turned out to be a FABulous choice!

We've eaten here several times, and we prefer lunch over dinner because it's more relaxed. Here are our menu choices:

Kathy: Lobster Club - lobster and avocado salad, crispy prosciutto, watercress and citrus herb mayonnaise with the most amazing "Potato Salad" ever!! (Rich tasted the potato salad and thought it was divine!)

Rich: Irish Meatball Sandwich - Guinness meatballs in a red wine tomato sauce with Parmesan cheese with chips (fries) - I tasted the meatball sandwich and it was quite yummy!

We also had each had some kind of tasty beer - so perfect for the meal - but I'll have to find out from Rich which one we had. (Was it Harp?) Actually, Rich said we had thought about the Harp but we ended up with Smithwicks - really nice flavor!

It was 80 degrees out and so it was quite refreshing to have lunch inside. This time of year you get more of the senior crowd and a group of 3 couples were sitting near us laughing, chatting, and discussing who had the most beer - lol! They were having so much fun - I remember thinking, "I want that to be us when we're that age."

We drove home the back way, and before we knew it, we were home. Today was a good day and exactly why we moved back here in the first place.

The "It's All In The Timing" Scouting Report

2012-01-17T13:02:00.002-05:00

Oh my goodness, I'm in love! That's what my dad said when he first heard Diana Krall sing Peel Me a Grape - lol! But this is not about music - it's about a new community.

Until now, I have not seen anything around here to fall in love with. I kept telling Rich, "Not going to buy anything, not going to commit to anything unless I'm in love." And the irony is, guess where I found love? Not far from our old stomping grounds here in Central Florida.

Okay, just the idea that I can refer to anywhere in Florida as my old stomping grounds is pretty funny. Readers of this blog will be familiar with my southern California stomping grounds I've gone on about. But life is funny and like I said before, the same place can feel different depending on the order in which you experience it. And it's all in the timing...

The exciting part is that the shopping that was just a promise over 5 years ago has come to fruition - and it's far exceeded our expectations!! And this is where all of the new build communities that we're used to are taking place. I was so excited driving around, I was practically Tigger bouncing out of the car! But the new homes are not just in that nearby community we'd spotted before, but somewhere between that and our job. It may be doable! Woo hoo!

Driving around our old stomping grounds - Summerport, Independence, and Windermere - I kept asking myself, "What was I so afraid of before?" Well, hey, after living in Las Vegas for 4 years, I realized how good I'd had it in Windermere. I really have changed. It's changed. I was not ready for it before. It was not ready for me. Now we're both ready, although Windermere would be too far from our job and that's okay. There are communities between here and there that would work. And besides, we really did not enjoy hearing the fireworks that loud every single night - that really was too much!

When we were in Las Vegas, we'd ask each other and ourselves, "Why would we move all the way back to Florida after leaving?" Well, we figured that somehow we were just meant to scout it out back then, and then we'd know where to return to at this time. It really is in the timing.

PS - Must tell you about the Sun Pass we have - you load it with credits from your credit card, and then attach it to the front windshield so that when you drive on these toll roads, you just get in the prepaid lane and zip through - usually without even stopping. It's fabulous!

The Poly Report

2012-01-15T20:55:00.012-05:00

Well, yesterday's Spa outing was not enough Disney fun for us this weekend. So, after soaking up a bit of sun out on the Lanai while Rich filled the pool and grilled some hot dogs, we went to the Poly for sushi for dinner. This is one of our favorite things to do, and we hadn't been back since we moved here.

We used our Tables in Wonderland to valet at the Poly, and then wandered around the property - first downstairs and then upstairs to the Sushi Bar. It was a good thing for us there were a couple of seats overlooking the monorail station, tiki torches, and lagoon because the lounge area by the O'Hana restaurant has now been turned into the official O'Hana check-in area and is closed off to everybody else. Bummer! We remember enjoying some tropical drinks with some friends there, listening to our favorite Poly singer. Now they have a TV screen.

I had the Tempura Shrimp (delicious - doesn't taste like sushi at all for those who are adverse to sushi - was liking having fried shrimp and rice) and Rich had Tuna Poke, which looked so delicious - I may have that next time. We also each had a Habanero Margarita, which, as I've mentioned before, actually tastes better here than at the Grand Californian (hard for this California girl to admit) - but the tall, narrow glass isolates and intensifies the habanero compared to the short, round glass at the GF (pictured).

The Tuna Poke wasn't quite enough for Rich so he ordered the Upside Down Pineapple Cake and we shared it - it was delicious!

While we sipped, noshed, and enjoyed each other's company, we noticed the energy at the resort and we commented on how much fun it was to be able to drop in once again on a moment's notice and also to be able to meet up with friends. We're looking forward to doing both in our future.

We then soaked up Hawaiian music while strolling the grounds, noticed the lit-up castle, the Grand Floridian, and that the movie playing on the beach was Nemo. There were a few hearty souls watching it. We were wearing our sweatshirts due to the below normal temps here in Florida, so we didn't stay out too long. But we did stop in at the gift shops and bought a tube of aromatic body lotion, and then we drove home.

We were actually thinking how nice it would be to live a bit closer to WDW, even though last time we thought we lived too close. But once you've lived within view of the Las Vegas Strip, living that close to WDW doesn't seem so bad. lol!

Christmas Decorations at WDW

2011-12-27T13:50:00.000-05:00

Here are a few shots of Christmas decorations around Walt Disney World. Some were not as grand as before - such as at the Boardwalk and Yacht Club. But Wilderness Lodge, well, I realized there's some extra special about being there actually on Christmas Day itself and not just another day during the Christmas season. We may want to make this an annual thing. Or we may fly back to Disneyland and stay at the Grand Californian since we're missing that just a bit.

The Yacht Club Tree

Yacht Club Village

Yacht Club Train

Beach Club Gingerbread Carousel

Beach Club Gingerbread Castle

The Boardwalk Inn

Wilderness Lodge Tree Top

Wilderness Lodge Tree Bottom

Ft. Wilderness Tree

Our Christmas Adventures

2011-12-26T17:16:00.002-05:00

Thought we'd insert a post about some of the many Christmas activities we've enjoyed at Disney World this Christmas season before posting some of the pics.

We had barely unpacked the house when we discovered some friends were coming down for their Christmas trip. And they invited us to the Bay Lake Tower (BLT) Grand Suite for a little get together - whoa! Was it amazing!

Last year we'd toured their two-bedroom water view suite at BLT and were impressed with that! But the Grand Suite, Magic Kingdom view, all decorated with Christmas lights and Mickey ornaments etc was jaw-dropping. I mean, can we just move right in? Wow! The laundry room, alone, would be worth it!

It was so much fun being available to meet up with old friends and to meet new ones, too. This makes the cross-country move worth it!

The other fun thing we got to do because we now live in the Orlando area was enter the lottery for tickets to the All Ears Dessert Party and private viewing of Osborne Lights!

After tasting some chocolate treats and posing with Mickey and Minnie for holiday photos in the Animation Studio after hours, we were escorted to the Osborne Lights area.

Now this is the only way to do the Osborne lights - we are spoiled forever! It felt like it was just the two of us viewing the show - we saw things we'd never noticed before when in the crowds. Last time we never saw that side street area, which is one of our favorites.

The only thing they could have improved was shelving the loud, raucous music for quiet, slow, romantic tunes. Oh, you mean, it wasn't just us there? lol! We thought it was just for us.

We'd planned to fit in another evening at Disney the next weekend, but I was sick and we had to skip the Candlelight Processional this year. But that's okay, we have it on CD and love listening to it in our home.

Next up was the dinner at Flying Fish, which Rich wrote about in the previous post.

Christmas Eve started off in a funk. As much as we were excited about a Florida Christmas, it's been a few years since we'd actually experienced one. In the meantime, we'd had more traditional Christmas celebrations in Las Vegas - if you can imagine that. But with cool temps and even snow one year, Vegas was more traditional than Florida in the 80s.

The other thing about Christmas in Florida is that there are so many visitors and it's almost impossible to get anymore near church for a Christmas Eve service. After circling two different ones, we finally found a parking place and a seat.

Christmas Day we were still in a bit of a funk, but by the time we had Christmas gift fun with kittiesm they were excited and it got us into the spirit.

For Christmas dinner, we decided to be playful and go to Ft. Wilderness, one of our favorite Disney hangouts at Christmas because the campers decorate their campsites and golf carts - some of them are quite amazing. We had a casual buffet meal at Trail's End Buffet with an assortment of traditional hoilday foods and a few southern specialties thrown in. All tasty food and it was fun to try different things. But the dessert was the yummiest - especially the pecan bars (I remembered how WDW had the best pecan pie I'd ever had before). I paired my pecan bar with a small slice of pumpkin pie and the combo was even better.

Afterwards, we walked over to Wilderness Lodge - not many know how to find that - and it was much longer than we'd remembered. My knee was killing me by the time we got there, but I sat in a chair, stared up at the amazing Christmas tree and Rich got some aspirin and water in the gift shop. It felt so good to be taken care of by Rich and Disney.

After enjoying the atmosphere for awhile, we made our way to the boat dock and boated back over to Ft. Wilderness - should have taken the boat both ways. Anyway, the funniest guy, George the bagpipe player, was on our boat, and he was a hoot. We all had fun chatting with him and listening to his pipes. It felt like old family and friends enjoying a fun Christmas Day at Ft. Wilderness together. And what started off as one of our worse Christmas days ended up being one of the best.

And by the time I'd sweated all day at WDW (it's hotter and muggier there than in our neighborhood), I finally remembered what I loved about having a Florida/Disney Christmas.

Holiday Meal 2011

2011-12-24T15:12:00.013-05:00

By Rich

When we lived in the Bay Area, we established a holiday tradition of treating ourselves to a meal in a fine restaurant near Christmas.

This year, because we once again live in Central Florida, our holiday meal was at the Flying Fish Cafe at Disney’s Boardwalk.

The traffic coming south on I-4 from our house was quite busy, but we managed to pull into the valet at the Boardwalk resort just a few minutes shy of our 5:35 p.m. reservation. We made our way to Flying Fish and were seated promptly. We had a table for 2 near the window.

Soon, our server Tony greeted us. He was very friendly and attentive, and he was surprised that we knew what we wanted to order so quickly. Hey, it wasn’t our first rodeo at Flying Fish. Our menu was:

Wine

Kathy & Rich

Deloach Barrel to Barrel Pinot Noir
Russian River Valley

Appetizers

Kathy

Our Signature Flying Fish Cafe "Crispy Maine Coast Jonah Crab Cake"
Savory Vegetable Slaw, Roasted Red Pepper Coulis, and Ancho Chile Rémoulade

Rich

Chardonnay-steamed Maine Acadian Farms Dutch Mussels
Fennel, Chiles, Pesto Crema, and Grilled Sourdough Crostini
Entrees

Kathy & Rich

Our Signature Flying Fish Café "Potato-wrapped Red Snapper"
Leek Fondue with a Veal Glace, Red Wine, and Cassis Butter Reduction

Dessert

Kathy & Rich (Shared)

Spiced Red Anjou Pear Upside Down Cake
Candied Ginger Ice Cream, Apple Cider Reduction, and a Matcha-Green Tea Tuile

Kathy & Rich

Espresso Martini
Van Gogh Double Espresso Vodka, Godiva Chocolate Liqueur, and Monin Espresso

Description

Everything was spectacular. From the moment we sat down, we were so thrilled that we took on the challenge of making our way back to living in Central Florida. It has been, and continues to be, somewhat of a difficult time getting settled, but as we sat there, we knew it was all worth it.

The appetizers are two of our favorites. Kathy’s crab cake was delicious and almost a meal in itself. Rich’s mussels were some of the best he’s had. The pesto crema was especially yummy.

Of course we both had to have the potato-wrapped snapper. This latest preparation is our favorite, and every bite was a delightful experience. The best ever.

We chose to drink the recommended pairing wine, the Deloach Barrel to Barrel Pinot Noir. It was a very strong and spicy Pinot Noir that paired perfectly with the snapper.

We decided that since this was our holiday meal, we would splurge on dessert too. We split a serving of the fantastic pear upside-down cake with ginger ice cream. Wow! And if that wasn’t enough, we both enjoyed a decadent espresso martini. The martini could definitely have been a dessert in itself.

After Dinner

After lingering over our sumptuous meal, we walked around the Epcot resort area loop, stopping in the lobby of the Beach Club, Yacht Club, and Boardwalk to gaze at and photograph the Christmas decorations. The gingerbread displays were especially lovely this year.

We also stopped in at the Screen Door General Store where we picked up another Disney Santa Mickey Fiber Optic Tabletop Christmas Tree. This is our second one, but we had to have the one with the red base.

After an incredible dinner and a pleasant holiday stroll, we headed home to relish the new memories we had created for this year’s Christmas.

Christmas in Florida

2011-12-22T10:05:00.005-05:00

Our Christmas gift this year was our move back to Florida. As much as I'd resisted it, I kept hearing the whisper that we were moving back. After 3 trips to Orlando, with excitement and reservations, we accepted the job offer that would bring us back. And the wonderful thing is, I love being back. It's different this time. We're not in Tampa Bay surrounded by those from Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana. Nothing wrong with that unless you're not from there. (I do miss many things about Tampa Bay, tho).

We're also not literally just outside the gates of Walt Disney World either, where it's so much in your face, along with other tourism, that it really gets to you after awhile. No, this time we landed in the same place we targeted 8 years ago. We're away from the tourism but close enough to spontaneously drop in. We're in the mini high tech corridor, which makes sense since we lived in Silicon Valley for 20 years. Not only that, but you can also feel the SoCal influence here (where I grew up), more than ever before. There are now 3 Del Tacos in the Orlando area - you know there's a SoCal presence when you find Del Taco around.

At first, you may think Del Taco is just another Taco Bell. Yes, it's fast food, but no, it's not Taco Bell - this is quality fast food. This is authentic Mexican food, at least SoCal fast food-style. You can taste the flavor in the seasoned meat - whether in a taco, burrito, or double Del Cheesebuger (which we actually slightly prefer over In N Out - another California fast food institution.) Anyway, it's fabulous to have that taste of home so far away.

But you know what? I'm not feeling the geographical distance this time around. Maybe because we moved straight from Las Vegas instead of the Pacific Northwest. Or maybe it was that last flight from L.A. to Orlando that only took 4 hours. Or maybe it's because I'm not getting east and west mixed up. I usually have a great sense of direction, except when I'm back east. But this time around, no problem, I'm feeling totally at home.

Last year at the beginning of the Christmas season, we were staying on the top (10th) floor of the E-Ticket club level of the Disneyland Hotel, peering out the window and missing the fabulous water view of Bay Lake Towers, thinking Florida was in our future. Well, here we are. And I don't think it's a coincidence that the 3 new Christmas songs we've heard this year are all tropical. This one happens to be my favorite (BTW, it's expected to be 83 degrees on Christmas Day):

All I Want for Christmas is a Real Good Tan by Kenny Chesney:

"The Move"

2011-11-29T15:33:00.000-05:00

Our early Christmas gift this year was the opportunity to move back to Orlando the way we'd imagined it after visiting WDW from our home in San Francisco in 1999. But our time in Orlando was cut short when we moved to Orlando in 2003 (after only 7 weeks, our job took us to Tampa). Before we left Florida in 2007, we had the opportunity to live outside the gates of WDW for one year, but discovered that was way too close. We love it in the area where we are now - farther away from the touristy areas, but close enough to visit often.

We started this blog back then - it was our lifeline to the outside world when we sometimes felt like a fish out of water. Well, this time around, it all feels familiar and comfortable and then there's Facebook so we're not sure how often we'll update this blog. But, we wanted to add some of the pics depicting our cross-country move - this time along the southern route (I-10), 3 cats in a Mustang. But Residence Inn really helped us out this trip, and it wasn't as painful as the other moves.

Movers loading our belongings in Las Vegas

First night: Residence Inn, Phoenix

Rich at rest stop, somewhere in Arizona

Gas stop, New Mexico

Border Patrol - frequent sight in West Texas
Second night: El Paso

Third night: San Antonio
Chesters (best burger in San Antonio)

Welcome to the east side of the Mississippi River
Fourth night: Baton Rouge

Welcome to Mississippi

The Gulf of Mexico - what a beautiful thing

Welcome to Florida
Fifth night: Tallahassee

Kathy and her Florida Palm
Sixth night: Altamonte Springs - Orlando area

Movers unloading our belongings in Florida

2011 Food & Wine Festival Part 2

2011-11-14T15:56:00.000-05:00

Had to take a break to get security installed while I continue to unpack the kitchen. Why, oh, why did we collect so many Disney wine glasses and coffee mugs? lol! There's still so much more to do to get settled so I think it's time to continue the Food & Wine trip report and then schedule in some more fun to remind ourselves why we made such a big move. It's 81 today and I'm feeling the humidity - especially coming from the dry desert. Heck, after Last Vegas, even SoCal felt humid, so you can imagine what we're feeling here in Florida.

We weren't sure we'd get back to Florida before the end of the Food & Wine Festival but we made it last week, which was the last week of the festival. And we spent that last $30 almost to a dollar - I think on the last item we purchased, we had to chip in $2 - not bad. We did everything we'd hoped to do, although if we'd had time for a third round, we might have done it. Here's what we tasted on our last round:

We'd heard Belgium was a very popular booth so we hightailed it over there at opening (in the opposite direction from last time) and we were first in line. We ordered the Steamed Mussels and Roasted Garlic Cream and Belgium Waffle with Berry Compote and Whipped Cream. Well, the CM told us that the waffle was the most popular item and we noticed that everybody around us was having nothing but the waffle - lol! We loved the Belgium booth because they had tables and chairs and umbrellas - the most comfortable booth of the festival.

Mussels, Waffle, and a Stella Artois

Next, we stopped in at Portugal and had the Linguica Sausage with Onions, Peppers, and Olives and paired with the recommended red wine, JM Da Fonseca Periquita.

Hops & Barley was next where I had the Maine Lobster Roll (hard to get on the west coast) and a bottle of water. This time it was sunny and warm and it was time for some water. Rich grabbed another Sausage in Pretzel Roll in Germany and we took our snacks and sat down at the Tangierine Cafe.

Next was the Cheese booth and we had a thimble of Cheese Fondue with Sourdough Bread, paired with Sterling Pinot Noir - it was fabulous!! Not sure either of us had had cheese fondue since the 70s - we must have more. And the pairing with the Pinot was fantastic!

We had to do a repeat of China and I got the Black Pepper Shrimp with Sichuan Noodles again but this time Rich tried the Xinjiang Barbecue Chicken Stick. We also got the Dragon's Hollow Chardonnay to go with both. I love that pairing - delish!

We were definitely full by now so we made one more stop at the Dessert & Champagne Booth and this time tried the Lemon Chiffon and the Moët & Chandon Ice Imperial.

And that wraps up another Food & Wine Festival. We were sorry to see it end, but this one will surely be memorable.

But Disney is already getting ready for Christmas and we're looking forward to experiencing several events there this season.

Christmas Tree at Epcot

2011 Food & Wine Festival Part 1

2011-11-14T12:03:00.000-05:00

Do you remember the Will We Move Back to Florida? trip report? And how the answer was no - even though when we visited the Orlando Shrine, we heard the whisper that yes, we would be moving back? Well, we've just moved back and it's time to catch you up on our trip reports, meaning, the Food & Wine Festival. For those who do not know, the festival offers mini bites to pair with cocktail sips as you stroll around World Showcase Lagoon. All Ears has more information here.

We didn't think we'd make it to the festival this year because we'd gone to Disney World in May and Disneyland several other times. But when Rich was asked to fly to Orlando for a job interview the first week in October, I went with him and we snuck in a day at the Festival. He got the job, we moved cross-country, and we even managed to get in a second round the last week of the festival. So, here are some of the highlights from Part 1:

We always start in the direction of Mexico. On our way, we stopped off at Argentina for the Beef Empanada, Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri sauce and picked up a Frozen Dragon Berry Colada in the Caribbean, added a Ribeye Taco and took them to the Cantina to enjoy our finds. The man sitting next to us asked where we got the skewer. Guess it looked pretty good to him, too.

Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri Sauce (yum!)

Beef Empanada

Frozen Dragon Berry Colada (fabulous!)

Cantina de San Angel

We made our way to China, one of our favorite booths, and I tried the Black Pepper Shrimp with Schuan Noodles (yum, yum - my favorite). Rich had the Pork Pot Stickers. We try to share items, but Rich is allergic to shrimp, crab, and lobster, and I love shrimp so we get different samples then.

Germany is a favorite stop and we always get the Sausage in a Pretzel Roll, Apple Streudel, and a German Pilsner.

Sausage in a Pretzel Roll

German Pilsner

At Singapore I had the Shrimp Cake and Singapore Street Noodles, but skipped the Singapore Sling. We had the Sling last year, but didn't like it at all. I've had the original in Singapore, and it should be served in a tall, cool glass. See the difference in the pics?

Raffles Hotel, Singapore - the original Singapore Sling

Epcot Food & Wine Festival Singapore Sling -
short plastic cup with no ice - too sweet and too warm - Ick!

It started raining pretty hard about now so we ducked into Rose & Crown and had a couple of Boddington's. What a fun, lively crowd - didn't spoil the day at all - in fact, it was a highlight.

When the rain let up, we stopped off at Ireland and I had the Lobster & Scallop Fisherman's Pie. Hey, it sounds like I'm doing all the eating but when I had Shrimp or Lobster, I do believe Rich had an extra beer. :)

And for our last stop, we had the Tres Leches Verrine paired with Moet & Chandon Imperial Champagne at the Desserts & Champagne booth. We still had $30 on our card and we wondered if we'd get back to the Festival before it was over.

Next: Food & Wine Festival, Part 2

Toes in the Water, Ass in the Sand

2011-09-20T11:18:00.000-04:00

Now for some beach fun, ala Zac Brown. And when we say "beach fun" - we mean it's all about the ocean, sea breezes, and salty air scents - with a hint of Coppertone.

When we arrived at our hotel in Fountain Valley Saturday morning, we were able to check in around 11 a.m. and then head for the beach. We drove down Beach Blvd to PCH (Highway 1) and then north to Newport Beach. We parked and walked our favorite walk along the beach rentals.

Frat boys hanging out on beachfront patios, older couples sipping margaritas in dive bars, and women who'd been around the block a time or two asking for help to put up umbrella to shade their dog - lol - the latter approached Rich because he looked safe since he was sporting an Angels baseball cap - lol!

All of this sparks characters for present and future writing - my next novel is called "Letters on Balboa Island," due out later this year.

We strolled the sandy beach one way and the sidewalk the other way. We stopped in at a small cafe and I had a fish taco and Rich had a hot dog - we could have also had Korean BBQ - what an eclectic little place. We love the new parking meters where you can insert your Visa instead of fumbling for quarters - 1.50 per hour - it also beats paying an all-day pass of $15.00. Then we made our way down to Balboa Island, which isn't really an island - it's a Peninsula but there is a ferry holding 3 cars if you'd rather do that - either for fun or for convenience because it drops you off in the middle of the Peninsula.

After that night at Disneyland (see previous post), we were ready to never return to Disneyland but hightail it out of California for good - this was feeling rather like deja vu when we left the Bay Area over 10 years ago because we couldn't put up with the stress living in such an edgy place. Because incidents like the night before could and did happen on a regular basis. But the locals restored our faith in California (or perhaps just in SoCal) when we ate breakfast at Norm's (seen in Men of a Certain Age).

This is the kind of local place you go to on a regular basis, where you can still read the Sunday paper on an early Sunday morning and feel at home. The food was tasty (we both had the steak & eggs special), and we enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere while we talked, ate, and sipped our coffee.

After breakfast we made our way to Huntington Beach. By this time the sun was peeking through the morning clouds (even though I grew up here, I can't quite get used to this - it seems to happen more and more these days). We parked on the right side of the pier because on the left side, they were hosting the US Open of Surfing. We walked the beach, toes in the water, ass in the sand ala Zac Brown Band, sat for awhile and then walked the pier where we watched the surfers in wet suits. We compared this experience with our New Smyrna Beach experience last October when we walked in the water at 9 o'clock at night and then later in the week body surfed on Cocoa Beach without a wet suit.

But then I thought about what a great idea a wet suit is for that middle-aged body - just think what it could cover - lol! But wet suit or no, the good news is, every time I spend time walking on the beach, my knee seems to heal - walking on the beach is one of the best low-impact exercises for injuries.

And then as hard as it was to leave my old stomping grounds, we had to drive the four hours back home, feeling satisfied that we could drive back on any weekend.

"Disneyland Resort" Trip Report

2011-08-15T06:28:00.000-04:00

When Disneyland expanded with DCA, the Grand Californian, and Downtown Disney, many of us were resistant to the attempt to make Disneyland more like Walt Disney World. And this was especially true about calling what we'd always known as Disneyland - gasp - the Magic Kingdom. No, no, no! They eventually dropped the Magic Kingdom idea for Disneyland Park. We've even rebelled against that. Until now.

The reason for our change of heart is that we, for the first time, saw Disneyland and environs as a full-blown, Disney World-like resort. How did this come about? We stayed offsite at the Hyatt and shuttled in.

Over the past 3 years, we've mostly stayed onsite - two times we stayed off site - the Anaheim Hilton and the Embassy Suites Santa Ana. We didn't especially love these experiences as much as before - we were so used to staying onsite like we would at Disney World. But this past weekend, we gave staying offsite another try. But instead of parking in the parking garage, we tried the shuttle that the hotel provided. And it worked really well. Especially after our last trip staying at the Disneyland Hotel and realizing the extra walking from the hotel was just too much wear and tear on our feet and knees these days.

The shuttle was efficient and convenient - leaving the hotel on the half hour and returning to the hotel at twenty minutes past and ten minutes til. And there were so many shuttles in the shuttle area, which was quite convenient with great access to the parks. It was like WDW transportation, especially since, for the first time, we noticed the Disneyland shuttles to/from the overflow parking lot (the recently-acquired property that used to be a strawberry patch down the street). Plus the baggage check wasn't as overwhelmed from the shuttle side because it doesn't have the huge parking lot shuttle crowd, which, unfortunately, is the same access to Disneyland Park as the hotel guests. The one huge benefit onsite guests get is being able to enter DCA through the Grand Californian.

Highlights

Instead of our usual blow-by-blow trip report, we'll just mention some of the highlights.

Purpose of Trip: To get away from Las Vegas and the desert - necessary about every 4-6 weeks. Also, a combo birthday/anniversary celebration.

Hotel: The Hyatt Regency - the onsite hotels were way too expensive this week - with the third week in August one of the notoriously busiest of the summer. We got a great rate for an Executive Suite at the Hyatt and the shuttle service was included at the Hyatt - not all hotels on hotel row provide this complimentary direct shuttle service.

Date: Friday, August 12 to Sunday, August 14 - our 3-night trips were starting to feel too long so we thought we'd try going for just 2 nights and it worked better for us. We just needed a quick getaway - not an extended stay.

Crowd: We thought it was busy on Friday but it got worse on Saturday. And the crowd was different than the usual local crowd with northern Californian residents - there were obviously out-of-staters and it had a different feel (no, we don't consider ourselves out-of-state because Las Vegas is just a suburb of L.A. - lol). We saw New York license plates just to name one.

DCA Progress: Things looked quite different just from last month's trip. The new DCA sign was up, allowing regular gate access, which was a welcome relief. However, the direct route to Paradise Pier was blocked off and everybody had to traipse through Condor Flats and Grizzly Peak, which is rather narrow and congested. Plus, we missed our "quiet" time in this area. But we got a new look at Cars Land (pics below) while we sipped wine at the Golden Vine Winery - fun, fun, fun!

Food & Drink: We had such a blast tasting a new wine at the Golden Vine Winery, that we stayed for two glasses - lol! We tried a new red blend, which we love): Rosenthal Surfrider 2006 Hang Ten red blend from Malibu. This is the second wine we've tried wine from Malibu and we're quite impressed.

They've turned the old Pizza Oom Mow Mow area into 2 restaurants and 1 huge seating area instead of just the pizza place and play area for kids - Boardwalk Pizza & Pasta, Garden Grill and Bayside Brews. It's a huge improvement.

We decided to try the BBQ Chicken flatbread and it tasted just like the old pizza, which I could have lived without. But the Greek skewers from the Garden Grill were delicious! We skipped the beer and headed back to the winery, but ended up at Hearthstone Lounge for our last night instead. We were glad we made that choice because the winery didn't have the same vibe as the previous night, it was more crowded, and we enjoyed the more quiet atmosphere at the GC.

We made our usual stop at Cocina Cucamonga one night, but couldn't get to Brrrbank Ice Cream because of the rehab - so glad we stopped there on our last trip. At Disneyland, we shared a churro, although I'd been on the lookout for a Mickey Bar. It seemed that by the time we approached a stand, they had just closed. Unless there's a heatwave, it's harder to find ice cream at Disneyland when you want it.

Carnation Gardens: Stopping by for some big band dancing is always a highlight.

Downtown Disney: Love, love, love the nighttime atmosphere here. So hard not to be staying at the GC and harder yet to leave the property after such a special night. For our last stop, we picked up David Wayne's newest CD. We teased his wife about it finally being available. She said, "Guess you got the email" - lol - and David smiled and nodded while playing.

Side Trips: We always make a side trip to the beach and this time we decided to return to the Queen Mary in Long Beach, where we had a yummy lunch and a longing to book another cruise! But the drive back was brutal and we missed our Disney bubble. It seems I'm fonder these days of Disney's California Adventure than I am of California itself - lol!

Weather: Perfect weather - the usual morning overcast that burned off by mid-morning, leading to an afternoon in the high 70s, cooling off to the high 60s in the evening. The morning we drove home, it was 71 when we stopped for breakfast but when we stopped for a shake in Baker, it was 103 - huge, huge, huge contrast! Couldn't help but notice - lol!

And now for a few pics of the highlights of our trip:

New Entrance to DCA

Golden Vine Winery

Entrance to Cars Land

Radiator Springs Progress

Carnation Gardens

Blast to the Past Trip Report: Table of Contents

2011-07-10T20:14:00.000-04:00

We've organized our latest trip report to Disneyland by including links to each piece below, much like a Table of Contents.

Hope you enjoy the trip! Feel free to leave a comment.

Thanks,
Two4Disney aka Rich & Kathy

Blast to the Past Trip Report: Teaser
Blast to the Past: Day One, Part One
Blast to the Past: Day One, Part Two
Blast to the Past: Day Two, Part One
Blast to the Past: Day Two, Part Two
Blast to the Past: Day Three, Final Thoughts

Blast to the Past: Day Three, Final Thoughts

2011-07-10T20:07:00.000-04:00

We started off the day with room service breakfast, but the service had slipped. They brought toast instead of muffins, and they forgot to bring a table to serve it on, so we had to wait while they ran back and forth. Anyway, we know that Disney room service is hit and miss - nobody does it better than Las Vegas. lol!

Then, with sore feet, we decided to take the Monorail in to Disneyland Park. The CM was digging through the bags of the people ahead of us so we, not having bags, slid by. But she rudely stopped us saying, as if we were in kindergarten, "One at a time." We explained we didn't have any bags and she insisted, "Oh, we check more than just bags." We told her it was ridiculous because WDW has "no bag" lines for their parks. Like an uptight school marm, she stood her ground.

We really hate the way Disneyland forces you to wait in the bag check line when you do not have any bags. We were tempted to stop in at the Town Hall and complain, as our ex CM friend, Nancy, instructed us to do anytime we had a problem at Disneyland. But we decided to put on our happy face and have a good time at the happy place.

The monorail took us to the Tomorrowland station, where we disembarked next to the Nemo Submarine Ride. The line didn't look too long (under 30 minutes) and it was mostly in the shade, so it looked quite attractive to us. Somewhere along the way, the dad of the two kids in front of us asked his kids, "Are you hungry?" Much to his disappointment, they said, "No." So he left the kids anyway, to get some food. We'd forgotten all about him, but the small boy was goofing off on the rails, and kicked me in the stomach as he jumped down. Surprised by the painful attack, I yelled out, and he apologized. I appreciated his apology, but I kept one eye on him after that - lol!

Then the dad returned with a big breakfast burrito and some fruit and that's when I remembered who the kids were with. I'd wondered why the parents in front of the kid didn't try to supervise the kids better, but those weren't the parents. His dad had left the kids in line because *HE* was hungry. Geez, Dad, eat before or eat later.

We enjoyed the Nemo submarine ride, but having ridden it before, the surprise factor was gone, and, therefore, the wow factor. It was fine.

Then we decided to use our Fast Passes that the Disneyland Hotel had given us as part of their summer promotion package for the new 3D, 50 Option, Star Tours Ride. And was it a blast! It was such a group thing - everybody cheering on - we were in it together. I could see how you'd want to get back in line over and over again. We were so happy to learn that this redo is being tested at WDW and should be open to the public soon, if not already. We love this new version of an old ride!

By this time we were hungry, so we left the park and stopped in at Tortillo Jo's at Downtown Disney. It was so relaxing and soothing to be there at lunch time. The last time it was busy dinner time during the Christmas Season.

FAB: Top Shelf Margarita

Entrees:

Rich: Tortilla Jo's Pork Ribs - Tender baby-back ribs with tequila-habanero BBQ sauce, served with sweet potato fries and roasted corn on the cob with red pepper butter.

Kathy: Two blue corn tortillas filled with shrimp and avocado - topped with salsa verde, queso fresco and roasted corn and black bean salsa. Served with red rice and vegetarian black beans.

Everything was delicious, and we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. After lunch, we made our way through Downtown Disney, hoping to stop by Basin and pick up some new lotions. But our Basin was no longer there! Oh no! I've run out of my favorite lotions since our May trip to WDW. So, we ordered them online once we got home. But we do wonder what happened to Basin at Disneyland?

After our nap, we made our way back to the pool and enjoyed some hot tub and relaxing in the lounge chair time. We noticed that Disneyland Hotel pool now has drink/food service like the Grand Californian does. If any of the WDW hotels have that, please let me know. But the main difference may be that many of the pools at WDW have a bar right in the pool area.

As for the evening - well, we bought tickets to the Angels/Dodgers game at the Big A, but after we purchased the tickets, they changed the time of the game from noon to 5 p.m. Well, we were just too tired to go out to a game, so we skipped it. This is the second time we've done that. We obviously book too many things on our "short" long-weekend trips.

We were tempted to have dinner at Tangaroa Terrace again - we were loving it that much - but decided we were just too exhausted. We'd relax in our beautiful room one last night, pack up, and have dinner and a glass of wine in the room.

We decided to share the steak sandwich, and oh my goodness, this was one of the best steak sandwiches ever! The grilled onions were amazing. I'm drooling now. We each had a glass of one of our favorite wines, Cupcake Merlot, and we listened to Alturas, the Bolivian Band, and saw the fireworks all from our fabulous corner room. It was a magical ending to a magical weekend.

The next morning, we checked out, retrieved our car from valet, and drove home. The traffic was light - not many were traveling on the 4th - and we were home in no time.

Final Thoughts: Although we loved our room and the new Retro Monorail pool/Tiki Bar/Tangaroa Terrace area, and would love to stay here again once the entire pool area is finished, there's just too much walking from the Disneyland Hotel. We miss staying at the Grand Californian - it's just so much more centrally-located - it's begun to feel like home to us.

I get quite nostalgic about my Southern California childhood because we moved away before I was ready to leave. But after years and years of returning, I may be cured, at least as much as I ever will be. The photos of the present me in my favorite places really helped, I think, connect the past to the present, giving me some form of closure. And that is the best birthday gift of all.

Here's the result: side-by-side pictures of me then and me now standing in the same place on Main Street at Disneyland.

left to right: Step sister Sherry, Mother, Me (then) and Me (now)

Thanks reading! Until next time.
Two4Disney

Blast to the Past: Day Two, Part Two

2011-07-09T14:06:00.000-04:00

After we returned to the Disneyland Hotel, we rested in our room, took a little nap, and when we got up, we went down to the pool. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we were a bit annoyed by the pool because we had expected the entire pool area to be open but only the slide area was. There was one hot tub and a small pool, besides the splash area for the slide, but all of the chaises were located on the far end away from the pool.

With the warm temps, it was hard to find a lounge chair. We found two regular chairs, so we put our stuff down and then hiked around the slide area to get to the pool area on the far side - not loving walking on my bare feet and without my cover-up - lol! We splashed around there for a bit, and then made our way back to the crowded hot tub. After soaking for a bit, we found a couple of lounge chairs under an umbrella and finally really relaxed. Ahhhhh... it was wonderful and we were so content to sit there.

Staring at the old Disneyland sign and Monorail pool slide, I became quite nostalgic. It fooled me into thinking that I had blasted to the past and if I drove back to my childhood home, all would be the same. My family and friends would still be there, our house would still be new, and it would be a safe, family neighborhood instead of the Vietnamese crime-ridden neighborhood with bars on the windows area (aka "Little Saigon") it is now. Sigh!

Finally, we dragged ourselves away because we were getting hungry. So we went back to the room, changed into our evening clothes. The wind was picking up and the temps were dropping as it does in a desert area - and we stopped into the new Tangaroa Terrace for something to eat and grabbed a table next to Trader Sam's Tiki Bar. We could still hear the musicians play, so it was a nice place to sit.

Rich had Fish n Chips and I had Teriyaki Steak. You order the same way you do at Captain Cook's at the Poly with the touchscreen kiosks. It worked well and the food was quite tasty.

After we finished eating, we walked over to the Monorail but the wait was going to be over half an hour because there was only one monorail. Sigh. We weren't up for all the required walking to get to Disneyland so we headed for DCA through the GC, which is reason enough to stay at one of the resorts for that special access.

We love the Grizzly Peak area of DCA - our favorite shop is Russian River Outfitters. We would stop there on the way out (for my new Eyeore t-shirt), but first we headed for the new Little Mermaid ride. We knew that the ride vehicles were like the Nemo ones at WDW, so we expected the ride to be at that level. What a disappointment. This is definitely a kiddie ride - it was a walk-on. I'm not sure if it'll ever be that popular.

After Mermaid, we were going to go to Toy Story, but the rides in the Paradise Pier area would shut down in a few minutes for the World of Color Show. We're not that happy to have this extra show or any show at a Disney park when it means that rides are shut down. To us, the whole point of being there is for the rides and atmosphere - not the shows - we hate it when they get in the way of enjoying what we're there to enjoy.

We skipped the Toy Story idea and thought a nice glass of wine at the Golden Vine Winery would be the perfect thing to do. It was dark out, the temps were pleasant, and we thought a nice table for two, sipping a glass of wine would be so romantic. Ooops! Too late. They had already closed and were cleaning up.

Disappointed, but not giving up, we then marched over to Soarin Over California. Now, I've said it before and I'll say it again - this is the way to ride this ride. It has its own land and outside entry, and you don't have to wander all over a big building, including escalator like you do at WDW due to it being retrofitted.

Then, before the park closed, we were able to share a strawberry sundae at Burrrbank Ice Cream; one of our favorite ice cream treats at Disneyland. Unfortunately, they've done away with the outside seating during the redo to allow for more room to get past this area, so we stood up and shared the sundae. We made our way back to the Disneyland Hotel, sore feet, heel, and knee, and fell into bed, with the fireworks on the headboard singing us to sleep.

Next: Day Three, Final Thoughts: Disneyland Resort Birthday Trip

Blast to the Past: Day Two, Part One

2011-07-06T19:42:00.000-04:00

We'd planned on driving by the old stomping grounds combined with a beach trip sometime during the trip, so we decided this would be the day - a good way to rest our tired feet. We ordered room service and it was delivered in about 20 minutes - we shared an American breakfast of eggs, bacon, pastries, coffee, and juice.

We'd been expecting temps from 82-85 and packed accordingly, but when we arrived, the highs were more like 89. And that means humidity in Anaheim when it gets that hot, especially compared to Las Vegas. And I'd brought the wrong pair of black shorts - these were like capris than shorts - so we thought we'd do a bit of shopping - I could use a couple of summer items.

I took the wheel of the Mustang and drove down Harbor Blvd. to my old stomping grounds. I wrote all about the emotion of that experience on my Flip Flops and FABs blog so I won't repeat it here. Then Rich took over and drove us to Irvine where we'd thought about living when he was in talks with a couple of Irvine companies. At this point, we wondered if it was still a possibility.

After shopping, we drove down PCH (Pacific Coast Highway, Highway 1) and stopped at Billy's at the Beach, which I'd noticed on an episode of "Real Housewives of Orange County." They're famous for their Mai Tais and they were the best I'd ever had.

Billy's Famous Mai Tai

(I didn't realize there was a topless lady on the glass until after I'd posted it on Facebook - lol.)

Along with those Mai Tais, I had fish tacos (superb!) and Rich had seared ahi tuna. We had a wonderful view of the Channel, and the table of 4 old guys and 1 young gal - not sure what was going on with them except that she was trying hard to impress them...

We drove down PCH until Beach Blvd and Huntington Beach was completely packed - not a parking spot in sight. Beach Blvd. was busy, too, and we were reminded of life in SoCal - no thank you! Been there and done that. Ha! This trip was working its magic - putting the past to rest. Yee haw!

We cut over to Harbor Blvd, which wasn't quite as busy and made our return to the Disneyland Hotel for a brief rest before our evening activities.

Next: Day Two, Part Two: Pool, Tangaroa Terrace, and DCA

Blast to the Past: Day One, Part Two

2011-07-06T19:13:00.000-04:00

We intended to take the monorail into Disneyland Park, but what looked like a short line was going to be a 30-minute wait. So, we walked the length of Downtown Disney and entered through the front gates. It always annoys us that there is no "bag-free" line at Disneyland like there is at Disney World. And when you mention it, they get all snippy about the super importance of the bag check line (more on that later). Grrrr!

Anticipating big crowds this weekened, our main goal was to soak up the atmosphere and to see if and what rides we would ride. Feeling quite hungry, we thought we'd see which counter service restaurants were the least crowded. Bengals Barbecue had a long line so we popped into the place next door - Riverbelle Terrace and shared the Tennessee BBQ Pork, which came with a couple of sides. It wasn't bad - wasn't good either. But we were hungry and it was filling. It was fun to try a place we hadn't tried before.

We made a beeline for Pirates, especially since we didn't get to ride it at WDW in May - it broke down just as we got in line. We always remark on how much longer this ride is here than at WDW - and how much the bayou scenes remind us of our backyard in Land O Lakes, Florida (Tampa Bay) - lol!

When we got out of Pirates, Fantasmic was in-progress, so we stopped to see the end of it. Then, with the huge crowd squeezed into such a small space, we made our way out of the park. We were hoping to catch some of the fireworks on the way out, but the "special 4th of July" fireworks must have been too special - they were delayed. So we marched on. By this time our feet were killing us - the theme of this trip, for some reason. Maybe we'd become used to staying at the Grand Californian, which is closer to the parks and definitely saves on your feet.

We made our way back to the Disneyland Hotel through Downtown Disney - peeked into World of Disney to see what was new - and then fell into bed, I think. I'm relying heavily on my Facebook postings and check-ins to remember what we did when - lol!

Next: Day Two, Part One: Time for a trip down memory lane or what can we do that doesn't require much walking?

Blast to the Past: Day One, Part One

2011-07-06T14:03:00.000-04:00

Note: Please disregard typos, fragments, weak nouns, and weak verbs, etc. I'm slapping this stuff down like hash - I must save the good stuff for my novels - lol.

I have so much other writing to get to, so I may as well get started posting our thoughts about our recent trip to Disneyland Resort, including nostalgic visits to my old childhood home and high school.

We left our home in Las Vegas on Friday, July 1 at about 9:30 a.m. and drove to the Disneyland Hotel, for a combination 4th of July and birthday trip. We stopped in Barstow at Original Tommy's for an early lunch and arrived at the Disneyland Hotel at around 1:45 p.m. The traffic was a bit heavy right around the California Check Point station, so it took us a few minutes longer than usual.

We valet-parked the car, noticing that the fee went up from $17 per day to $22 per day. When we told the front desk it was my birthday (early birthday), we were given the usual birthday pin, which I ended up never wearing, but I have added it to my birthday pin collection - lol!

Our king room in the Adventure tower was ready and much to our pleasant surprise, it also had the same FABulous Disney headboard as our E-Ticket Club room had over when we stayed during Thanksgiving. You turn on the lights and fireworks display and "When You Wish Upon a Star Plays' - need I tell you how romantic that is? Talk about seeing fireworks - lol!

But because we had booked a standard view, we expected to overlook a parking lot or something else unnoteworthy, but we got a Downtown Disney view on the third floor - guess at that level, it's considered a standard view. We were thrilled to be at the tree level since trees are a rare sight in Las Vegas. lol!

The first thing we had to do was to upgrade our WDW AP to the Premier we had last year. We didn't think we'd go to Disneyland this year due to the DCA construction so we didn't renew it. It was closer to walk to the Annual Passport Center in DCA so we went there. They still had us in the system and we were upgraded in no time. It's so appropriate that it says "California" and "Florida" on the AP - we are so both places!

We wandered through DCA and noticed the changes/progress, exited through the Grand Californian (the best way to get to either park, IOHO,) and stopped off at Hearthstone Lounge for our favorite Habanero Margaritas. This drink is now on the menu at the Poly and believe it or not, it's even better there because the glass is tall and narrow and the habanero is more pronounced.

It was hot and humid for Anaheim and the lounge was packed with families. I think they were probably serving more cokes than FABs. It was annoying that our favorite little seating area was taken over by the little kids next to the big table where a family hung out. Why couldn't the parents keep the kids from hogging the adult chairs? I suppose we could have insisted on sitting there, but weren't up for making a scene.

After our refreshing drink, we made our way back to the Disneyland Hotel to rest. One thing we must mention: Disneyland seems to take more work than WDW, believe it or not, because when you stay at the DL Hotel, you must walk to the parks - there is no transportation, except for the monorail. But you begin strolling through Downtown Disney, take a sidetrip to DCA and the next think you know, you're entering Disneyland from the front entrance.

Years ago, before Downtown Disney, you wouldn't dream (at least, I didn't) of walking from the hotel to the front entrance to Disneyland - there was a shuttle. Now the only shuttle is from the parking garage to the front gate. Your best bet is to take the monorail but there is often a half hour wait or sometimes the monorail isn't even running so you can't rely on it.

We napped in the room, absolutely loving our corner room with the awesome view of the trees - so peaceful - it was worth the stay just for this alone. Afterwards, we made our way down to the pool.

We'd heard that the pool was open and so we interpreted that to mean that the redo was finished. Not so. The only side open was the Retro Monorail pool, a hot tub, and a small pool, with the lounge chairs near the slide and the hot tub - not the pool.

There is a much larger pool area on the other side that is still under construction. So we were a bit disappointed by that. But the retro-ness was awesome - they've done a wonderful job!

The real draw for us was Trader Sam's Tiki Bar and Tangaroa Terrace so after freshening up in the room, we went back down and ordered drinks and appetizers in Trader Sam's Tiki Bar.

There was a wonderful Hawaiian band and we were treated to a couple of Hula dancers, too, since the lead singer's family was sitting in the audience. We were totally swept away to Hawaii. It's too bad that the Poly at WDW no longer has lounge entertainment - at least they didn't the last time we were there in May.

Rich ordered the HippopotoMaiTai and I had the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum! We shared the Kalua Pork Flatbread - totally delish!

HippopotoMaiTai

Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Rum

Next: Day One, Part Two: Nighttime at Disneyland

Blast to the Past Trip Report: Teaser

2011-07-05T03:38:00.000-04:00

We just returned from Disneyland and thoroughly enjoyed the new retro Monorail pool (with original Disneyland sign), Tangaroa Terrace and Trader Sam's Tiki Bar.

But this is just a tease - I'll be writing up the trip report in detail. In the meantime, you can read about the story behind the story, why we moved back west after following our hearts and moving to Florida, and why Florida may be in our future after all, all on Flip Flops and FABs - Blast to the Past.

Next: Day One, Part One, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki Rum

Moving Adventures Recap

2011-06-06T19:33:00.000-04:00

Just to catch you up, when Rich and I went to Disney World for the first time together in 1999 and stayed at the Yacht Club, we decided then and there we had to move to Orlando. Many Disney fans have this same idea. Most are from the north - we were living in the San Francisco Bay Area at the time. This was at the height of the dot com boom and Silicon Valley was overcrowded, overpriced, and overstressed. We had a few Florida job bites, but no job offer. So, when Rich was offered a job transfer to the Silicon Forest office in Hillsboro, Oregon, we took it. We were that ready to leave the Bay Area.

We were excited. We bought our first home together - a brand-new tri-level townhome that we both picked out separately on the internet. We were faxing our options, buying new homeowner's insurance, new appliances, and having a ball. Everybody we worked with was so fabulously friendly. Life moved at a slower-pace and it felt goooood! We so recall the day the long-haulers packed up our stuff and while they were still filling out paperwork in the cab of the truck, we high-tailed it out of there in our California Mustang and our two cats.

We drove the two miles down Redwood Shores Parkway to Highway 101 North, crossed the San Francisco Bay on the Bay Bridge, merged onto I-80 East and then exited onto 505N. You could have heard the Woo-Hoos from miles around. We were in Heaven! After over 20 years of busy, busy, busy freeways, we were on a highway that resembled a two-lane country road. We always point back to that "moment we can never betray" - meaning, we could never move back to the Bay Area.

In the meantime, we did get our chance to move to Florida, and we loved it. But I got homesick for the west. And when Irvine called, where I had grown up in southern California, we put into motion the plan to move back west, leading us first back to Oregon and now Las Vegas. Would this be close enough to California to not move back? Hopefully, so, because there is quite a price to pay to living in the state of California. But the longer we lived in the desert, the more we began to long for Florida where there is water, water everywhere. Even my beloved SoCal was looking a bit too brown around the edges. And if you've read our last WDW trip report, you know we said we probably wouldn't move back. Still, we have to get out of the desert.

With that goal in mind, we almost betrayed "the moment we can never betray." We began to toy with the Bay Area again. It all started during the Sonoma wine tasting weekend and our stay at Timber Cove Inn on the wild Sonoma Coast. Having regular access to this would be quite appealing, we said to each other. We knew if we contacted Silicon Valley companies, we'd most assuredly get a job offer and we could be on our way immediately. Still, we held off. Until last week.

Anxious to get out of the desert, Rich contacted a company on Tuesday, and by Thursday they'd set up an interview. All weekend long we pondered, "Should we go through with the interview or cancel it?" Finally, we decided Rich would go through with the interview just to get more information and then we could talk about what to do next.

Of course, they loved him. It seems like a fabulous job right up his skill alley. The job would be perfect for him. But then I reacted to "the moment I can never betray." I felt the answer knock me off my feet, run its course through my body up to my neck and shoulders. My body knew the answer. It always knows. It said, "Do not betray the moment you can never betray." I was wiped out. I slept most of the day. Suddenly, Florida was looking quite appealing again.

So, what's next? Rich has a few more bites in SoCal and even in Florida. But after living all over the country, it's getting harder and harder to say yes to anyone. Eventually, we're going to have to. I wonder where that will be.

"Will We Move Back to Florida?" Trip Report TOC

2011-05-31T03:44:00.000-04:00

If you would like to read the "Will We Move Back to Florida?" Trip Report in order, click on the links below:

Prologue: Backstory for the Trip

Day One: Travel Day

Day Two, Part One: Epcot

Day Two, Part Two: Tables in Wonderland Special Event

Day Three, Part One: The Shrine

Day Three, Part Two: The Poly and the Grand Floridian

Day Four: Tampa Bay

Day Five, Part One: The Magic Kingdom

Day Five, Part Two: Animal Kingdom Lodge

Trip Report Pics

Hurricanes, Tornadoes, and Earthquakes

Day Six, Part One: Downtown Disney

Day Six, Part Two: Back to the Poly

Day Seven: Travel Day/Final Thoughts

If You're Thinking of Moving to Florida

If You're Thinking of Moving to Florida...

2011-05-27T12:21:00.001-04:00

People move to Florida for mostly one of three reasons: they're Disneyphiles, Parrotheads, or escaping the snow. But once they arrive, they become rather possessive of the state and may try to scare you with horrible stories so that you'll stay away. You know - like the heat, humidity, bugs, and hurricanes. But moving to Florida is so much more than that. People move down and then move back north and then move back to Florida again. What scared them away? Well, it's probably more about the culture and the people than the weather. lol!

First of all, you must pack your sense of humor if you want to survive Florida. Florida is a humorous state. Just think about all of the wacky novels set in Florida. Rich's humor was inspired daily and he wrote a novel and some nonfiction based on his Florida experience. With people from all over, there's bound to be culture clashes and it's all good viewed humorously. And I haven't even mentioned the snowbirds. :)

So, we thought we'd share some of the things we observed during our years living in Florida. I can't write it humorously the way Rich can, so I'll just tell it like it is. My BFF when I was working in the IT Department at Disney was from New York - he and I bonded immediately because we were both far more direct than the other transplants. He used to greet me every morning with, "Hey, Kathy, are we having fun yet?" And then he'd say, "Selling hot dogs would be more fun." lol! The ladies of Tampa and the Disney ladies with their little white doggies were also a blast! There are some fun people down there. But here's a little insight, so you'll be a little more clued in when you first arrive.

For one thing, your experience will be different, depending on what part of Florida we're talking about. They say that when it comes to Florida, "the farther north you go, the more southern it is." Generally speaking, Northeasterners head straight down 95 to populate South Florida (Miami, Fort Lauderdale, etc), Midwesterners jump on 75 and head for Tampa Bay (those from the Great Lakes love the Gulf Coast), Disney fans view Orlando as the Mecca of all things Mickey, and Jacksonville, well, it's really in Georgia - lol!

There are exceptions, of course, and relocation demographics have been changing in recent years. This is especially true in Tampa Bay because it's more affordable than South Florida or even Orlando. Our neighbors in Tampa were from New Jersey, New England, and Philly (they're the ones with the Eagles blow-up figures in their yard during football season.)

So, what about those from California or the west coast? Not many of them are willing to stick their necks out for bugs and humidity - lol - but if they're Disney fans, they'll probably land in Orlando. Our vet and also the owner of the townhome we rented in Orlando were from Fremont (SF Bay Area), where I'd lived for several years. Rich's coworker and husband in Tampa had driven their cats in an RV from the SF Bay Area. Guess it was Bay to Bay for them.

The fun thing about Tampa Bay is that when you say you're from the "west coast" - they joke about you meaning the west coast of Florida. I love that - made me feel more at home. And there seems to be some sort of synergy between our Anaheim Angels and the Tampa Bay Rays - the Angels announcers mention the Rays frequently - love both of our teams!

Obviously, my homestate of California was settled by those from the rest of the country - it also depends on which part you're talking about. The Southerners went to the Central Valley and the Midwesterners settled in Orange County. My best friend who lived across the street was from Cincinnati.

Las Vegas also has people from all over, and besides California, there's a huge influx from the Midwest. My manager is from Pittsburgh, co-workers from Ohio, Wisconsin, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Southern California. One nail technician is from Michigan and the other from Maryland.

I asked the woman from Maryland if it was difficult adjusting to the culture out here. And she thought not. She said, "Everybody adapts to the culture here; becomes a part of this place." And that's the general difference between those who move to Florida and those who move west. (I do wonder about the co-worker from Ohio who brings back buckeyes and drags people to her cube to look at her Ohio pictures - and the manager who plasters his office with Steelers memorabilia - they seem to be holding onto the past more than others - lol!)

Many, if not most of those who move to Florida from the north (and it's assumed that everybody is from some place up north), do so to escape the snow. They're not really looking for a brand new life, the way the people who move all the way out west are. So they don't really become a Floridian. In fact, after one hurricane, a small town on the Gulf Coast was really working together to recover. And a guy in the newspaper article was quoted as saying how unusual that was for Florida, because most hold on to their old identities.

People will come up to you and the first thing they'll do is ask, "Where are you from?" And if you don't say "Ohio" or wherever they're from, they move on because they're looking to bond with people from their homestate. I understand that - living in Florida is so foreign to them and they want the comfort of finding people from home.

We were definitely fish out of water, geographically, because we were from the west coast. When people heard we were from California, they didn't know what to say after that. The challenge is in finding a common bond - one reason why living in Orlando helped us bond more with people, although the beach side of us was feeling out of water - lol!

However, lifestyle-wise, we were more comfortable and used to living this way than those from the north. We chatted with a real estate agent in Orlando who was from California (we found more Californians in the Orlando area because of the Disney connection), and she said those from the north don't like some of the floor plans. They'd say, "How am I going to have Thanksgiving with my big, heavy, dark dining room furniture in this small space?" The real estate agent chuckled and said, "They don't understand that in Florida, we cook our Thanksgiving dinner out on the grill and serve it by the pool." lol! We totally got that and we chuckled along with her.

You know, of course, that in writing this, I'm longing for Florida again - lol - in spite of feeling like a fish out of water. And you just never know - Rich has 2 frontrunners in his job relocation search - one is in Irvine and the other is in Orlando. You just never know what'll happen next.

"Will We Move Back to Florida?" Day Seven

2011-05-26T06:05:00.001-04:00

Travel Day/Final Thoughts

Larry, one of our Disney friends who's been having more than his share of tornado brushes this spring, wrote on his Facebook wall, "Life is too short - don't postpone your joy." So true! These tornadoes are certainly reminding me to enjoy the present. We make so many plans for the future and forget to pay attention to each day, each moment.

I've been writing this trip report at a rapid pace (I hope my writing hasn't been too cryptic), and you may have jumped in with this post and haven't had time to start at the beginning. But I wanted to get it all written down, not only because I need to focus on some writing deadlines, but writing the report has been giving me great joy, reliving the trip, experiencing the emotion all over again, with the opportunity to analyze what it all means.

So, on our last day, we had one last morning swim, packed the car, checked out and stopped one last time at the Shrine for daily mass before our long flights home. The Orlando Shrine really is a special place to us, and nothing like a little prayer time before getting on a plane. Besides, we needed to check in with the Lord and ask him, "Are you sure you said Tampa? I don't think we heard you right." lol! I don't know if you're a praying type or not, but I'll say this, "We didn't hear him say anything this time." It was as if he was saying, "I already told you what I had to say." But, of course, by this time, we figured we had no clue what he was trying to tell us - lol!

We dropped off the rental car and was about to check our luggage in at the counter, but, thankfully, for us, a porter took us aside and asked if we wanted to do curbside check-in. Well, it's a good thing we did. As it turned out, our bag was 8 pounds overweight. This was our big experiment of traveling with one checked bag and we failed. We asked for something to put in the stuff we pulled out, and he found a plastic bag for us - don't know what would have happened if we had brought the bag up to the counter - I doubt they would have found anything for us.

So then we stopped in the Disney store and bought one of their zipper bags to stuff our extra stuff in - lol! And before we knew it, we were off to Atlanta, where we had to wait 3 hours before flying home. So, we ate a meal in Atlanta and were then seated in Business Class! Woo hoo! The *only* way to fly - espeecially for a long flight.

Immediately, they took my drink order and I asked for red wine. I took a few sips, the plane took off, my wine practically spilled and she took it away, promising more after take-off. Later, I asked for white wine - the red was a bit strong - and I had a couple of glasses of that. I asked for a headset and listened to the "Love" channel on Satellite Radio, putting me in touch with my favorite songs from my youth, and then the sun set for 3 of the 4 hours of the flight home - it was magnificent!

There were several bumpy parts to the flight, and I said more than one prayer - oh, how much I hate to fly these days! But Business Class made it all tolerable. Music, wine, and a sunset - not bad at all. Before we knew it, we were home in Vegas at around 9:30 p.m. - try to schedule your flight to arrive at night in Vegas - the neon lights will astound you. You'll be singing "Viva Las Vegas" in no time! And then you'll be reading The Tom Jones Club - lol!

We picked up our one bag, got the car from the lot and were soon home with our kitties. They were so excited to see us and we were so excited to see them. They are so sweet! They're still following me all over the house, afraid I'm going to leave again.

The trip didn't happen exactly as we planned, but it fulfilled what we intended it to be - a week out of our lives to feel like we still lived in Florida with visits to Disney World, the beach, Tampa Bay, the Shrine and other favorite stops. But each mile on the plane took me a mile closer to my home and that felt the most fabulous of all.

There's so much for me to love about the west - my childhood memories, my adult memories of meeting and marrying Rich and starting our fabulous life together, wine country, mountains, desert, ocean, and the people we bond with naturally because we have so much in common. But new friends and new adventures are a real lure, too. That's what I remember most about our time living in Florida - the adventure of it all.

But this vacation did what all vacations should - make you feel like "there's no place like home."

When we started this trip report, we asked "Will We Move to Florida?" and we answered no. But sometimes we're still tempted to say yes. The real answer is maybe. If an opportunity presented itself and we were willing to give up our life in the west, we just might. But only the Lord knows for sure.

Travel Day

In the meantime, I'll think of Florida when I slather on my Hawaiian Tropic on my walks around the neighborhood and when I breathe in the moist air from our humidifier before I go to sleep.

But in keeping with Oprah's final words on her final show where she said that your real job in life is to figure out your calling, I'll share with you what I wrote down on one of those nights in the pool home when I couldn't sleep, trying to figure out what role Florida would play in my future. And I wrote these words:

"I was born to tell the truth" and "I don't belong here."

And perhaps that's how God really speaks to us.

Keeping you in our thoughts, Disney friends, wishing you happy trails and pixie dust for all!

"Will We Move Back to Florida?" Day Six, Part Two

2011-05-25T16:34:00.000-04:00

Back to the Poly

Before heading over to the Poly, we stopped in at the All Star Vacation Homes office to use their computer for our flight check-in. And we were able to upgrade to Business Class - woo hoo! Whew! What a huge relief for that long flight home - Orlando to Atlanta isn't bad - there were 2 seats on each side - but the long Atlanta to Las Vegas leg is what we were concerned with.

When we arrived at the Poly, we left the car with valet and then wandered a few shops. I'd seen this swimsuit cover-up at the GC that I'd been wanting for years so when I saw it again and still wanted it, we decided to go ahead and get it. Then, we made our way upstairs and to the Sushi Bar. Boy, was it packed!! And tons of people were standing around waiting for a seat. So we went over to the Kona Cafe and put in our name for about a 30-45 minute wait, I don't quite remember.

In the meantime, after stalking the Tambu Lounge for empty seats, we eventually we sat down and ordered 2 Habanero Margaritas. Now, we're a big fan of these at the GC - if you've read our trip reports before, you may recognize the pic on the left.

But at the Poly, they were served in a tall glass. And they were even yummier! We think it's because of the narrowness of the glass, the heat from the habanero was more concentrated! Really, really loved these!

The people next to us got up and another family snagged the 2 chairs and asked if they could have an extra one by our table. We said, yes, of course, and the guy looked at us and said, "You were sitting next to us at Boma last night," and we all got a big laugh out of that. So funny and that's just some of the fun at Disney World, connecting and running into some of the same people.

We sipped our drinks some more and I noticed that the Sushi Bar didn't look quite as busy as it had before. So, Rich took a peek and came back and said there were a few open seats. So, we dropped off our beeper thingie at the Kona Cafe and took our drinks over to the Sushi Bar and were seated, overlooking the foliage again. We watched the male duck protect the female duck in the pond - so cute!

So I ordered the Shrimp Tempura Roll and Rich ordered the Tempura Hamachi Roll. And when the server came back with our order and said, "Who ordered the shrimp?" and I said, "I did," Rich added, "I'm allergic to shrimp."

Well, the server was savvy enough to know that the Tempura batter on the Hamachi Roll was fried in the same batter as the shrimp and would be cross-contaminated. So, he took it back and had it prepared without the tempura batter. It had a Citrus flavor instead and was delicious. We applaud the Disney people on being so allergy-sensitive.

After our dinner, we strolled the grounds and made our way out to the beach overlooking Bay Lake and watched the Electrical Water Pageant (you can see the gator in the pic below) for awhile before returning to the pool home to pack and get ready for travel day.

We were just getting into the swing of things and already planning a return trip to stay at the Grand Floridian or the Poly. From now on, we'll stay onsite, unless we're driving in for a day trip from Tampa - lol!

Next: Final morning, travel day, and final thoughts.

"Will We Move Back to Florida?" Day Six, Part One

2011-05-25T15:56:00.000-04:00

Downtown Disney

Time to wrap up the trip report. Writing this I can see how very little of the parks we did on this trip. lol! We had the trip planned so differently - we'd even created a table listing time carved out for every park, ADRs with the appropriate reservation numbers for meals at Flying Fish and Artist Point, and even planned a Yak Attack. None of that happened. Perhaps because the real focus was on living like we used to, like a local, and we did spurts of Disney activity mixed in with other Central Florida activities.

Plus it was hot and crowded, and when we were locals, we adjusted our activities, depending on these two things - it makes all the difference. And, as it turns out, it seemed that we were doing many things we missed on our October trip, so guess it all works out overall.

So, after our morning coffee and breakfast - by this time we had cereal and grapes in the house - and morning swim, we went to Downtown Disney. Our intent was to stop into Paradise 37 for lunch, and our iPhone app said it was located on the West Side. So, we parked at that end of DD. We walked and walked and saw that it was really in the Pleasure Island area. Checking on allears.net, I see that they've listed in as being in Pleasure Island - wish we had known that then - lol!

It wasn't up for lunch yet and looked more like a fun night-time spot, so we kept walking and found ourselves at Raglan Road. We'd had dinner there years ago so lunch seemed like a good idea. And we did enjoy lunch more - it wasn't as busy, the service was outstanding, and we enjoyed the atmosphere in the bar with fabulous Irish music.

Appetizer (shared): Dalkey Duo Sausages

Entrees: Rich: Heavenly Ham
Kathy: Fish & Chips

Drinks: Two Hearted IPA beer

The food was delicious and we couldn't finish the appetizer - needed 2 more people to accomplish that. And had I known the sausages were coated in batter, I wouldn't have ordered the fish and chips because the texture was too similar. So, Rich and I shared bites, which was much appreciated.

Lunch was fabulous - great atmosphere, food, and all-around fun time together.

We then made our way to World of Disney where we picked up some Mickey coffee (we were out back at the house), a Minnie Mouse key chain, and a Minnie Mouse clutch purse, where I can store my credit cards and house key for short trips and walks around the neighborhood at home.

Back to the pool for our regular afternoon swim and nap. We really loved the dip in the pool and then lounging around afterwards. Heavenly!

Next: Return to the Poly for more Sushi!

"Will We Move Back to Florida?" - Hurricanes, Tornadoes, and Earthquakes, Oh My!

2011-05-25T11:50:00.001-04:00

With more deadly tornadoes leveling the heartland, I can't help but think about our own brushes with natural disasters. I grew up with earthquakes in California but the scariest one was the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake when I was living in the San Francisco Bay Area. That Tuesday I would have driven across the Bay Bridge at around 5 p.m. to do some freelance work for McGraw-Hill Publishers in Berkeley. The earthquake struck at 5:04 p.m. and a part of the Bay Bridge ripped apart, sending cars into the Bay.

Thankfully, I'd decided to visit my family in Oregon because my cousin and her youngest daughter were visiting from Utah so I joined them at the beach house. At the time, my mother and step dad were living in their Oregon coast home just on the weekends so there wasn't any cable or radio or any way to find out what was happening.

So, the way I found out about the earthquake was when my brother called us and told me on the phone. I tried calling my home in San Bruno on the San Francisco Peninsula and got no answer from the man I was married to at that time. I started to panic. I kept calling, but no answer. So, I called my sister in Portland and asked her to come and get me - I needed to be in contact with what was going on.

She made the hour and a half trip, picked me up, and drove me back to her townhouse in Portland. I kept calling home but no answer. We cracked open a bottle of wine, watched the news, and kept calling. No answer. When we finished the bottle of wine, we walked over to Albertson's to pick up another bottle.

The news media made it sound as if the entire Bay Area was destroyed. But, sometime during that second bottle of wine, it began to occur to us - they kept showing the same places: The Bay Bridge, North Beach, the Nimitz Freeway, and Santa Cruz, where the epicenter was. This was probably about 2 a.m. and we'd finished the wine. So, I stopped calling and we went to bed to sleep for a few hours. At about 5 or 6 a.m., I called again and the phone picked up - calls were finally going through. And I discovered that everything was okay.

Rich and I didn't know each other back then and he has his own experience to share about cats hiding, things falling onto the floor and his power going out. His parents couldn't reach him until about 5 in the morning. All was well, and then Rich went to work. But, scary it was. He thought about leaving the Bay Area then and perhaps moving to the Boston area, where his parents were then living. But then we wouldn't have met. :(

When Rich and I moved to Florida, naturally, we lived there during those 2 really active hurricane summers. When the first one, Hurricane Charley, was expected to go right up Tampa Bay, the water softener guy was installing our water softener system and freaked me out because he said our 9-foot sliders would shatter. This was our first hurricane experience and we didn't know what to do. We watched the neigbhors - were they boarding the windows? A few did but most did not. Thankfully, for us, the hurricane changed directions and we were spared.

Several hurricanes later, one actually flew over our house. We sat in bed and Rich took his Florida boating exam on the laptop. We never lost power, although the house next door all the way to the end of the street did. We were especially thankful we were spared once again, especially since we have 3 furry kids. We lost a couple of palm fronds and a couple of trees snapped behind our house, but we were lucky! When the house inspector inspected the house when we sold it, he praised the workmanship of the roof - Lennar had exceeded the code several times over (in the pic of our house, the house to the right lost their power).

While living in Orlando, there were no more hurricanes, but there were tornadoes just north of us. We began to be aware that Florida doesn't just have hurricanes, but also tornadoes. And where do you hide? No basements or shelters there - other than your bathtub. There was even an earthquake in Florida when we lived there. It seems there's no escaping natural disasters!

When we moved back west, we thought we were finished with hurricanes. Surprise, surprise. When we went to Kauai in 2009 to celebrate Rich's special birthday, guess what? We sat there on the island and a hurricane zipped right past us. No wonder we felt like we were back in Florida when we were in Hawaii. And the hurricane season has been far more active in the Pacific than the Atlantic while we've been back.

So here's a warning, Floridians - Should we move back to Florida, you just know the hurricanes will be back - lol!

On a more serious note, my prayers are for those affected by these deadly tornadoes. I wish you all safety!

"Will We Move Back to Florida?" Trip Report Pics

2011-05-24T07:05:00.001-04:00

I can't sleep. My mind is still reeling from the shocking news about the loss of Passporter Disney friends in the MO tornado. I peeked into Passporter and read some of the tributes to Lorie and Glenn. I read about a special memorial that will be held at Epcot on June 3. And I began to miss living in Florida and being able to meet up with these special people.

So I thought I'd insert a few extra pics from the trip, including the pool home and some of the highlights from the Flower & Garden Festival - the reason for the trip in the first place. Our week was the last week for this year's festival and, believe me, living in the desert, we couldn't get enough of the grass, flowers, and trees!

Simply stunning!

Admiring the foliage

Agapanthas - quite common in California, happy to see them here!

Admiring the Blooms

The Butterfly House

Bambi and friends inside the Butterfly House

Cars Topiaries (a theme for this trip)

"I Just Can't Wait to be King" - special meaning in our house -
our Skipper's mantra when he was a kitten and the Queen was still ruling - lol!

African Cats Sculpture

Elephants and Giraffes

Rose & Crown - one of our favorite places!

Pool home living room looking outside onto the pool/lanai

The Pool - loved having our private pool after being out in the hot, Florida sun!

The front kitchen with side entry (not our favorite layout but fun to try a new one)

Dining Room -
this was the first time we didn't have guests
while we were staying in Florida pool home

Our boys would love this room because they have a smaller version of
Lightning McQueen and Tomater, which they love to play with

Minnie & Mickey on the other bed
(taken at night so it's a bit dark - the other room had a beach theme)

And, yes, we gathered up all the comforters and spread them on the master for a more comfortable night's sleep - and it worked! :)

"Will We Move Back to Florida?" Day Five, Part Two: Boma

2011-05-23T14:45:00.000-04:00

Animal Kingdom Lodge

We've been trying to get back to Jiko for years now - first, we missed a Jiko dinner with Bob & Larry right before we left Florida due to Rich's dental surgeries.

Then we missed the second Jiko dinner with Bob & Larry and other Passporter friends last October (thankfully, we got to see them and more at the Dessert Party later in the week).

Niece Emily couldn't extend her stay and we wanted to spend her last night in Florida having dinner with her and her dad at JBs Fish Camp in New Smyrna Beach. But the conversation that night really led to an insight into my issues with Florida. :)

Again, my apologies for so many missed Jiko dinners. So, it only serves us right that we couldn't get into Jiko on this trip.

But we really wanted to visit Animal Kingdom Lodge again. After all, it was there at the Valet Desk where I met the real "Mr. Unobtrusive," that inspired the Mr. Unobtrusive in The Tom Jones Club. So, we left the rental car with the valet, courtesy of our Tables in Wonderland card, and I looked around but there was no sign of Mr. Unobtrusive on this trip - lol! We stopped in at Zawadi Marketplace and Rich found some cool-looking lounging pajamas - blue plaid with Mickey subtly hidden in some of the squares.

Then we went outside for a bit of a look at the animals on the savanna - such fun! On to Victoria Falls, one of our favorite lounges at WDW, where Rich went up to the bar to get us each a glass of red wine - Pinotage. We didn't see any servers on this trip - perhaps, this is the result of a budget cut? On our last visit, the CM was about to return home to Africa the next day and was so helpful - she even went downstairs to check us into Boma. We missed her. :)

This is such a fabulous lounge - it's located a half-level below the lobby and a half-level above the restaurants. The atmosphere is so awesome, I can honestly say it's just as good as hanging out at the Grand Californian for me - I can be just as happy in either place. For one thing, the same architect designed both, as well as Wilderness Lodge - all 3 of our favorite places. We wandered down to the restaurant level right before our ADR time and sat around for about 15 minutes and then we were seated. Both restaurants were very busy.

We got the alternate menu from the time before so they didn't have my favorite - Potatoes with Afritude - but they did have some yummy pasta and cous cous salad, watermelon and tomato salad, avocado salad and an assortment of other salads - the salads were my favorite part of the meal - and the Durbin Chicken that Rich loves so much. The ribs were outstanding, too. Our waiter recommended the Curry Chicken Soup and Rich loved that. We enjoyed the little dessert mousse bits, such as the Zebro Domes and the Butterscotch/Caramel Cheesecake. It was a great end to a fun day and a great meal and we went home satisfied.

During the night, I couldn't sleep. A lot had been happening - family stuff, our feelings of being back in Florida - and I needed time to take it all in and to process it. I got up, sat on the couch, and wrote some notes and realized the issue for me about living in Florida is what I told Emily at JBs Fish Camp. It's that, due to complicated circumstances, "My family is southern California - that's where my best memories are - and I can't call it on the phone or email it or text it. The only way I can experience it is by being there. And Florida is so far away from that. If I could ever get over that and the right opportunity presented itself, then maybe we could move back to Florida, although in tough times, there's something comforting about being "home."

Next: Don't remember but something to do with Downtown Disney.

"Will We Move Back to Florida?" Day Five, Part One

2011-05-23T13:21:00.000-04:00

In honor of my Disney friends I met on Passporter.com and the loss we all share of Lorie Lippoldt Holland, who lost her life in the Joplin, MO tornado, I will continue this trip report to celebrate what we all have in common - our love for Disney.

The Magic Kingdom

I don't remember what we had for breakfast, other than coffee, but we headed for our secret parking spot (can't mention it or it'll disappear - used to park at our not-so-secret spot at Ft. Wilderness campground when we lived there but now there's a gate there) and took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom. It was a beautiful day, the humidity was low, but it was still quite hot. I think it was in the mid-90s for our entire trip - about 10 degrees warmer than usual for that time of year.

It was also more crowded than we expected it to be for early May - perhaps Easter being late this year influenced the post-Easter crowds or perhaps it was because it was Mother's Day week or perhaps there's so much pent-up longing to travel and have fun and the economy is picking up that it's just plain busier these days.

The other thing that slowed me down was that the day after we booked the trip, I told myself it was time to get my walking program started again and I must have been too enthusiastic because I twisted my knee and I'm still recovering. Walking isn't too bad but standing around in lines is brutal.

We totally love soaking up the scenery at Disney - these days it really isn't about the rides, although we wanted to catch some of our favorites - plus the fact that we go to Disneyland often and the rides at the MK are so similar to the ones at home. But, Pirates is a must. We headed for that immediately, but we noticed the line was backed up to the front - this never happens - it's always a walk-on for us. Well, then we heard the CM announce that the ride wasn't working. Oh dear.

We sat down at a nearby table and chairs and chatted about what we were thinking of things so far, and what we wanted to do next. It was so pleasant having our impromptu chat in the park - we love this kinda stuff! And, sure, we always love to ride Pirates, but it isn't as good as it is at Disneyland - everybody knows that - lol! So we moved on, walking along Rivers of America in Frontierland, which we truly do love at WDW - it's quite spacious and pleasant - one of our favorite areas at the MK.

Our next stop was the Haunted Mansion - we love this new twist with the stairs going nowhere at the MK, which Disneyland doesn't have. We'd heard something about this new interactive queue and wondered what that would be like. Well, for the most part, the tombstones are like the ones at Disneyland and while there was some interactive stuff not at DL, it just slowed down the line and we really could have lived without this new addition. We loved how you used to be able to just walk right in - unlike DL. So, to us, this was a move backwards.

Then we were off to Peter Pan. This line moves so slowly and my knee was hurting so much, but I kept trying to stick with it. Finally, I had to give up - I was in too much pain! So we rode our fun and faithful PeopleMover, which DL no longer has. It's a must ride for us when we're at the MK at WDW.

I can't help but miss Disneyland when we're at the MK at WDW - this is the part about WDW that is so much better at DL. The Fantasyland rehab should make the MK a lot more interesting, and I can't wait to see how that turns out. We walked through the rest of the park, recalling what we did with Rich's Brother Bob when we were there together last October. By this time it was getting hot and I needed to give my knee somewhat of a rest, so we boated over to Ft. Wilderness for lunch. Now, I could ride on Bay Lake all day long - these days that is my favorite ride!

The Trail's End used to be a buffet and we used to stop by here often when we lived nearby. Parking in the Ft. Wilderness lot and then walking to the lake was a favorite activity of ours. You can't just pull in and park there now - not without checking in at the gate. We would have been so disappointed by this if we still lived nearby.

Now it's been transformed to a sitdown restaurant with some yummy southern pickings - we loved it. We love the atmosphere, the food, the service. It's so laid-back - you feel like you're at Grandma's house, especially if you grew up with a southern grandma - or step grandma, like I did. I could live at Ft. Wilderness.

Anyway, our boat landed, I took a swipe at the tetherball in the sand (my tradition since I used to have my own tetherball in my southern California backyard), and we walked over to the restaurant. We were seated right away next to a party of four from Alabama, who were chatting about the Fried Green Tomatoes.

Even as a west coaster, I knew about fried green tomatoes before the movie brought it to the national radar. I had some green tomatoes in the backyard of my apartment and, so my step dad told me how to make fried green tomatoes, and I lived on those things for weeks - lol! You know how it is when you're young and in your first or second or third apartment (I moved practically every month back then - my stepdad was getting tired of moving around that heavy sofa bed for me - lol). Anyway, there's never enough money for food so I appreciated those fried green tomatoes. Anyway, back to the trip report.

Rich ordered their famous chili for an appetizer and I had a couple of bites. Then he had the Fried Green Tomatoes as his main course, paired with some Sweet Tea. And I had the spicy shrimp and andouille sausage over Grits - the best grits I'd ever had - very smooth - with a diet coke.

We boated back to the MK, and then hopped on the boat over to the GF - have I told you how much I love boating on Bay Lake? lol! We walked the grounds and then over to our secret parking spot. :) It was back to the pool home for another afternoon of pool and nap before dinner at Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

PS - We tried to get a last-minute ADR at Jiko, but couldn't so we booked Boma, which is also a favorite. We were determined to get back to AKL one way or another. More on that in part two.

Next: Animal Kingdom Lodge

"Will We Move Back to Florida?" Day Four

2011-05-22T17:46:00.000-04:00

Tampa Bay

I've been in a west coast mood this weekend and I knew I couldn't write today's post while I was in the throes of that. I knew my heart would be swinging towards Tampa, once I wrapped my head around writing this particular post. But now I'm ready to get back to the report...

While waiting for the repairman, we drank coffee. But after the repairman left, we went back to bed for a nap. Sometime that morning, we had a swim and ate some muffins. Trying to get some energy for a late start, we decided we'd drive to Tampa to visit our old stomping grounds and to visit our favorite Causeway - Dunedin Causeway. This Causeway is so reminiscent of the first time I experienced Florida on the Causeway leading to Miami Beach back in 1982 - when I flew into Miami from San Francisco for my first cruise and trip to WDW. I was hooked on Florida from that moment!

When Rich worked in Tampa but we lived in Orlando, he worked at home 4 days a week but had to drive into the Tampa office one day a week. After awhile, I used to accompany him and keep myself busy in Tampa all day, going to the movies, the Causeway, the book store, lunch or whatever I could do to keep busy for 8 hours. I'd then pick him up, and then we'd drive home, through the gates to Walt Disney World, around the Disney property to our townhome behind Cinderella Castle. Those were some crazy days. Anyway, one of my discoveries on Tampa day was Tijuana Flats at West Chase.

Rich had introduced me to Tijuana Flats cuz he used to frequent one on Dale Mabry near where he worked. But I discovered the newest one located in the West Chase area - one of our favorite areas of Tampa Bay and as we drove through West Chase once again, I was awestruck by the lovely green, grassy grounds with golf courses and waterways - a site for my sore desert eyes.

By lunch time, we arrived at Tijuana Flats, ordered our usual - tacos for me - burrito for Rich, with an assortment of fiery hot hot sauces from the hot sauce bar, and sat outside where I used to sit and soak up the atmosphere. I remember sitting there once thinking I could never decide to move away from Florida while I was sitting there.

While were were soaking up the atmosphere, enjoying the food, and having "a moment," Rich called his brother Bob, who loves all things beachy and currently is living in a northern inland state, to tell him where we were. We have this thing where we rub it in when one of us is in Florida so that we can enjoy it even more and the other can live vicariously through the other. It works both ways. The last time they were driving through Tampa Bay to watch spring training games, they called us and we made a few recommendations, including this particular Tijuana Flats.

Anyway, so caught up in the moment, we announced that we were moving back to Florida. Later, when we thought we probably weren't, I asked Rich, "What about Bob?" And Rich said, "Oh, Bob's used to us." lol!

After lunch, we headed for the Dunedin Causeway, pulled over and did a little walking on the beach and in the water. The tide was out and many tourists were sitting in the water in their beach chairs. We were wishing we'd been more prepared so we could have spent the day there. Anyway, we got back in the car and headed for Gulf to Bay, aiming for Sand Key Beach in Clearwater and then toward St. Petersburg before heading back to Orlando.

This was the night we had an ADR for Flying Fish, but after the night before, tromping around the hot, crowded Boardwalk, we were done with that. And after our long Tampa day with not much sleep the night before, we would stay in and save up some energy for the Magic Kingdom the next day.

So we jumped in the pool, and sometime that night had some ice cream, pizza, wine, and chips.

Next: The Magic Kingdom

"Will We Move Back to Florida?" Day Three, Part Two

2011-05-20T18:50:00.001-04:00

Okay, it's Friday night - let's wrap up this day with dinner and drinks.

Dinner at the Poly, Drinks at the Grand Floridian

We first tried the Kona Cafe Sushi Bar last October with Rich's brother Bob and niece Emily. We enjoyed it so much we decided to try it again. We found a couple of chairs overlooking the waterfalls and lush foliage outside with views of the monorail whizzing by.

Rich ordered the Nigiri Salmon/Tuna/Hamachi combo and I ordered the Kona Crab Cake Roll. We shared bites and everything was delicious. We skipped a FAB this time, deciding to wait until we got to Mizner's Lounge at the Grand Floridian.

We peeked into some of the shops and wandered through the property, admiring the views of Bay Lake Towers, the Contemporary and the Grand Floridian across Bay Lake at the end of a gorgeous sunset. This is a fabulous view and a great spot to be for sunsets and for fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. Nothing like finding a quiet spot on the beach with your sweetheart - it's so romantic.

We walked over to the Grand Floridian and our first stop was Basin White, which carries some of our favorite body lotion products - a must in the dry desert - and bought 3. Have I told you much I love the GF? I can't help but think of Chiron and her fabulous first class flight, GF concierge on her first trip to WDW - isn't that awesome? Some day, I wanna do that!

Then it was to our favorite lounge, Mizner's Lounge, for cocktails and music. First, there's a pianist in the lobby that alternates with a jazz orchestra in the mezzanine. Fabulous music and great atmosphere. We chatted with a couple from Maui - long trip for them - and we thought we had it bad. :)

Rich ordered his usual 12 year Macallan Scotch neat and I had a Grey Goose Vodka martini on the rocks, which you can almost see in the picture - lol!

Can you see the pattern of how we like to do Disney after doing it so many times? We also adjust what we do, depending on the heat and the crowds, which both make a difference. But these are some of our very special moments. These are the moments we recall later that lure us back for another long flight across the country... so romantic...

We strolled back along the path next to Bay Lake back to the Poly and stopped off at Captain Cooks for a cookies and milk bedtime snack and muffins for tomorrow's breakfast. Feeling so content...

Thanks to Tables in Wonderland's free valet, along with Rich's practice of tipping in and tipping out, the valet practically begged us to come back soon! lol! We love valet service!

Are you wondering if we'll get back to the parks? First, it's a Tampa Bay beach day and a long night of sleeplessness due to the pool alarm battery going off every 10 minutes with a middle-of-the-night handyman visit.

Next time, we hope to stay at either the Poly or the GF - no more of these pool homes for us on vacation!

"Will We Move Back to Florida?" Day Three, Part One

2011-05-20T17:06:00.000-04:00

The Shrine

It's a good thing Rich took notes about the trip; otherwise, I'd forget entirely what we did and when we did it - lol! And because we do have those notes, I've decided to plow through and get the report written and posted so I can get back to working on my manuscript edits. Until I finish this report, I'm going to be too distracted. :)

Anyway, the next morning we decided to sleep in, enjoy our Krispy Kremes and coffee out by the pool. And then we had a nice, long, morning swim. We are so loving having our own private pool! Then, we planned to attend noon mass at the Shrine - a place we worshipped practically weekly when we lived in Orlando.

Now the Shrine was built solely for the purpose of supporting Orlando tourists - but we weren't the only locals attending. They always seemed surprised when we told them that - lol. The Shrine in Las Vegas is more practical - they know many of us are locals - in fact, the locals sit in the far right pews and when we shake hands and greet one another, we all say, "Hi, we're locals." lol!

A little something about us - Rich grew up in a Protestant Pastor family and I was a third generation Jehovah's Witness. But when we got together, we were both part of a big Orthodox conversion movement in Northern California - in fact, our parish was once a Vineyard group who all followed the pastor into Orthodoxy - a very, exciting time for us. I was baptized and we were married in the Orthodox Church. Anyway, the Orthodox and Catholic Churches are sister denominations and the Catholics honor that sisterhood, either as an Orthodox or if you choose to become a Catholic transfer, depending on the local bishop.

Before mass, we went into the Shrine's super special Adoration Chapel and said some special prayers, asking for guidance about living in Florida. As you can see, the Shrine was filled with gorgeous roses of every color imaginable in honor of Mother's Day. There's also a nice gift shop with Christian books, tapes, bibles, and other gifts - all worth a look even if you aren't Catholic or Orthodox.

Coming out of this so refreshed and rejuvenated with much to talk about, we decided to have lunch at nearby Chevy's, one of our favorite West Coast Tex Mex restaurants. It's located in Crossings, just outside Downtown Disney.

Rich is now a fan of Don Julio Anejo Tequila so he ordered a shot of that and I ordered my usual Classic Margarita on the rocks, but made this one a Cadillac. We also had tableside guacamole and this is the best guac either of us had ever had. The spices were just right! For my entree, I had 2 steak tacos and Rich had a combo of beef enchiladas and a carnitas taco.

The food was delicious and we felt so at home after the Shrine and the lunch at Chevy's. Even now I can recall how special all of that felt. Maybe we'll go to Chevy's after church this Sunday in hopes of reliving that. And the truth is, in that moment, feeling so spiritual and close to God, we thought for sure he was telling us "Florida." So what happened?

In the meantime, we went back to the pool home for a swim and a nap. What a life!

Next: Dinner at the Poly; drinks at the Grand Floridian

"Will We Move Back to Florida?" Day Two, Part Two

2011-05-20T13:30:00.000-04:00

After writing/reading yesterday's post, Rich and I had quite a conversation about Florida last night. We asked ourselves questions like, "Were we too hasty in our conclusion?"lol!

But this morning, driving through the desert, feeling the warmth of memories surround me like a child's security blanket, I can't really say. With a family history of living in southern California and traveling to/fro the desert, including Las Vegas, the pull on me to stay west is strong. Anyway, back to the trip report.

Part Two: Tables in Wonderland

As soon as realized we were going to have to do the parking/walking thing at the heat of the day - 5 p.m. when it topped off at 96 - we regretted booking this event. But we soldiered on. The good news is that the humidity was quite low for Florida - still 96 is hot - with or without humidity. We did our usual parking at the Boardwalk Inn parking lot that opens to the public for after 5 p.m. parking and then walked through the Boardwalk and over to World Showcase, heading for the American Pavilion. We checked in with the CMs but it was too early to be admitted so we sat on a bench in the shade and chatted with a CM.

I'm embarrassed to say that I had become "one of those" people, posting on Facebook, when the CM clearly wanted to chat with me. And because I was in the middle of writing a post, I only gave him half my attention. I regret that because we were having an interesting chat about how much the world has changed recently and talked about the old days when cars didn't have power steering, etc. He was pretty funny.

Eventually, we were escorted inside, upstairs on the second floor and led into 2 separate rooms where tables and chairs and couches, etc. were set up. We were offered our choice of either the Blue Monkey or the Flower Power Frosty Adult Beverage (FAB). We took one of each and sat down on a loveseat and observed our fellow diners. I swear to you, Jack Lemmon was alive and well and was sitting across from us regaling his table mates with tales of the Bronx - lol.

Waiters approached us with yummy appetizers, and we kidded them now and then. The FABs were so-so - we each got a refill but ended up not drinking the whole thing.

The appetizers we tried were the following:

Meatballs wrapped in plantains
Meatballs done 2 ways
Oregon Bleu Cheese and Nut Lollipops
Deviled Eggs

These were the best deviled eggs I'd ever had. The waiters kept coming around with these same offerings so we ended up leaving before the other 2 were served. But we'd already decided we didn't need to hang around to hear Davy Jones - we'd heard him before at Epcot and we'd heard him while waiting to be seated for this event. So we were hungry for something more and thought this would be the perfect to get some of those fabulous meatballs at Tangierine Cafe in Morocco. We used to eat these all the time when we lived there and we tasted some on one of our recent trips. But guess what? No longer there. Ack!!!

So disappointed, we moved on to our regular walk around the Boardwalk, looking for ice cream. We stopped in at Beaches & Cream for a No Way Jose, but the wait time was too long. Not drawn to any of the sundaes you can order from the ice cream window, we marched on around to the Boardwalk where we got a scoop of ice cream at SeaShore Sweets, one of our favorite stops.

Back in the pool home, we took an evening swim - ah, so delightful! We could get used to this! After a glass of wine, a bite of sandwich, and a few chips, we went to bed.

"Will We Move Back to Florida?" Day Two, Part One

2011-05-19T20:08:00.000-04:00

Day Two: Epcot

I'm a bit depressed this week, realizing that Florida is not going to save us from the desert, so I thought I'd continue posting the trip report. Maybe it'll help me re-evaluate things. :)

Thankfully, we slept well our first night, in spite of the crazy bed situation. Rich made us coffee and we indulged in our Florida tradition - chocolate frosted, cream-fllled Krispy Kremes - woo hoo! I'm not usually big on desserts, but for my last meal, I'd have to choose these Krispy Kremes - lol!

We had a fabulous morning swim and we were so excited to be in our Florida pool home. It reminded us so much of our house in Florida and we felt totally comfortable living here for the week. At this point, in fact, for the first half of the trip, we thought we were moving to Florida.

After our swim, we dressed and drove our rental car under the Welcome sign to Epcot, parked in the lot and knew that since we were in front of the trees, the trams wouldn't be running and we'd walk to Guest Services to activate our WDW AP renewal. We actually prefer this so this made us happy! Yippee!

After our APs were activated, we walked through the front gate and took pictures of some of the Flower & Garden topiaries. Spaceship Earth looked a bit busy so we made our way to Journey into Imagination to see our friend Figment. We've been to WDW so many times, that it's easy for us to stroll along and see what we feel like doing.

We were enticed to walk through the Butterfly House as part of the Flower & Garden Festival. I must interrupt the progress of this report to tell you how hungry we were to see anything green, let alone beautiful flowers. Oh my goodness! We knew this was reason enough to move back to Florida. When I pictured the brown desert in my mind's eye, I just knew Florida was the place to be. So what happened? More on that later.

By this time, we wandered through World Showcase, and because we were thirsty, we stopped in at the Rose & Crown Pub. Ooops - it didn't open until 11:30 and it was only 11:00. Darn! Didn't they know these desert rats were terribly thirsty in the Florida humidity? lol!

We stopped off at one of the F&G demo booths, and began chatting with this couple whose son not only lives in Las Vegas, but lives in our exact community. They tried to give us some of the same tips they gave to their son about what might grow in the harsh desert. We told them we were moving back to Florida. :)

We hadn't ridden Maelstrom in Norway for some time, so we were definitely drawn to the water ride. We had such fun, and bought a white stuffed bear in the gift shop - it reminded us of our cat, Skipper.

By this time, it was getting close to our ADR at San Angel in Mexico. This is the place we must stop in on the first day, which tells us we've arrived at WDW! The first thing we noticed is that they'd rearranged the tables so that nobody really gets a view of the boats floating by - one of the reasons we like this restaurant since it's the replacement for Blue Bayou inside Pirates at Disneyland. Oh well...

We'd heard there were mixed reviews of this restaurant from one of our WDW friends, but the waiter told us this was a brand-new menu, just a week old. We couldn't wait to try it. And it was really delicious. Here's what we had:

Lunch Entrees:

Kathy: Pork w/sauce & veggies (it was the daily Chef's choice and we didn't write it down). I thought I was in the mood for beef but when I saw the dish served to the ladies next to me, I knew I had to have it. :)

Rich: Tampiquena Con Chilaquiles - Grilled beef tenderloin served with Chilaquiles (layers of fried corn tortilla, green toa chicken enchilada topped with ranchera sauce and esquites)

The food was quite delicious and the service was quite good. The only negative was the strange line-up of tables. The waiter had a difficult time serving us because of that.

Drinks:

I had a classic margarita, and Rich is now hooked on Tequila after our Tequila tasting event last October. He had the 1800 Don Julio Tequila and a side of Sangrita (don't ask).

We returned to the pool home for a nap and swim, although the pool was so refreshing, I think we actually skipped the nap. We were tired, and if we didn't have tickets to the Flower Power Tables in Wonderland cocktail party later that night - back at Epcot, we probably would have stayed in.

Day Two, Part Two next.

"Will We Move Back to Florida?" Day One

2011-05-19T13:13:00.000-04:00

Day One: Travel Day

We had to get up early to catch our flight out of Las Vegas to Orlando with a 3-hour layover in Atlanta. This was so not the fun part. Unfortunately, on the first and long leg, we had seats in a row of 3, although Rich managed to snag us the exit row. I was so happy to get the exit row because I thought it would be so much easier to get up and use the restroom from my window seat. Not so.

We were seated with that one guy you don't want to be seated with. He was loud, obnoxious, and rude. And, yes, he was from New York - lol! He couldn't stop telling everybody that he was a chef and you could trust him because he wasn't skinny. He kept talking about his size (think Chef Paul) and that was annoying. He could have been a gentleman and stood up when I tried to squeeze by him to use the restroom. I'm not skinny either, but even Rich had a hard time getting by him. But that isn't the point - he should have been a gentleman and stood up. Instead, he was intent on wearing his headset and ignoring our needs. Believe me, I try to never have to use the restroom on the plane, but it couldn't be helped. We talked about upgrading to Business Class for the flight home.

At last, we'd arrived in Atlanta, and it was time to get something to eat. The choices were poor and I don't remember that being the case in Atlanta from my trips there before. Perhaps we were in a different terminal, which really wasn't very nice. We found one place to sit down, eat a hot dog, drink a beer, and relax the 3 hours before the flight to Orlando. Thankfully, the plane to Orlando had 2 seats on each side, so we had our own row - yay!

When you fly from the west coast, it takes all day to get east and with the time change, it's late when you arrive. We landed around 7:30 p.m. rented a car, checked in at All Star Vacation Homes, originally discovered via the All Ears site. This would be our third time renting a pool home from them, and the main reason was to live like a local for one week - we loved the Florida lifestyle from before and we thought this would give us the best experience to help us make our decision about moving back. We stopped off at Winn Dixie to pick up a few necessary items like coffee, Krispy Kremes and wine, and then arrived at the pool home at around 8:30-9:00 p.m.

We explored the home, took a dip in the pool, which was absolutely heavenly having our own private pool, and then went to bed, where we encountered Problem #1. The king bed in the master was downright deplorable. The springs were pushing into our backs. We both feared a night on the bad would leave us crippled for our active, Disney World vacation. We tried all of the beds in the house, which were even worse. We contemplated sleeping on the couch and love seat, but that reminded us too much of the night we slept in our chairs our first night living in Orlando - lol! We called the All Stars office and the person who answered the phone had no authority to do anything about it. We were stuck until morning when her supervisor would call us.

To get some kind of night's sleep after a horrendous travel day, we piled several comforters from the other beds on top of the master, and managed to sleep pretty well, but pondered what the solution might be for our stay. We might be able to switch houses, but we were really loving the other details of this house that we had chosen specifically, so we weren't sure what to do.

The "Will We Move Back to Florida?" Trip Report

2011-05-19T12:56:00.000-04:00

Prologue

Like many Disney fans, moving to Florida was our dream ever since our first trip to Walt Disney World together in 1999. We flew first class from San Francisco, transported to the Yacht Club via a private town car, and fell madly in love with the grounds of Walt Disney World.

Four years later, we were living in Florida; first in Tampa Bay and then that last year, literally just outside the gates behind Cinderella Castle in Windermere; so close the fireworks reverberated throughout our townhome community, startling both us and the cats so much that we would never want to watch fireworks ever again - lol!

Four years after we arrived in Florida, we were missing our home on the west coast - I grew up just 8 miles from Disneyland in Southern California, lived 22 of my adult years in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a few years spread around in the Pacific Northwest; Oregon mostly. Rich spent close to 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area also. In fact, that's where we met and married.

We've been back west four years now, but, still, Florida was calling us. We had such a special time living there and it was a dream come true. Plus we were able to meet up with friends we had made on the Passporter Boards and Rich's family on the east coast. But did we want to move back or was that a distant, but fond memory? It took us 3 trips over the past 16 months to make our decision, which we feel confident is final.

We won't string you along, keep you guessing. The answer is, no, we're home now and, Lord willing, we plan to stay home, which for us is anywhere in the west. But if you would like to follow along, peek into how we did WDW, which is probably different than most because we used to live there, and see what other Central Florida attractions we love, then, please, pull up a chair, get comfy, and join us for the ride.

Califloridians

2011-05-03T13:15:00.000-04:00

Last year, we ended up with a Disneyland Annual Pass and a Disney World Annual Pass so the Disney company automatically gave us the Premier Pass that's good for both parks. We had a blast using it, too! And we hoped that by the end of the year, we'd know where we were headed next - back to California or Florida. So far, there is still no winner...

We've had phone interviews from both states, but we haven't found the right opportunity, although there are some opportunities brewing. But no clear winner. Not yet, anyway. And if we had to choose our favorite, well, it depends on the time of day and what mood we're in. It's a very close race.

This year, because DCA is undergoing a total rehab, we decided just to renew the Disney World AP and focus on going there. It's been six months since our last Disney World trip and five months since our last Disneyland trip and we're definitely craving a Disney fix.

I remember the first time we flew back to Orlando (January, 2010) since we moved back west (June, 2007). When the plane flew over Tampa Bay, I saw the lights below and my heart said, "Stop the plane. Our home is down there." I swear I could see the trees in our backyard.

On our last trip to WDW in October, we had an amazing time with old and new Disney friends. We also had the most fabulous evening with Rich's brother and niece at JB's Fish Camp in New Smyrna Beach on Emily's last night there and my heart spoke volumes. I think the conversation went something like this, "Oh darn, you, Florida." lol!

Just when I knew I'd stay on my side of the country, I realized Florida was seeping into my soul again - or maybe it never left. Because once we lived in Florida, we couldn't completely eradicate it from our hearts. Nor our bodies - we just don't seem as comfortable, weather-wise in California since we moved back. We're always too cold!

It's a close race because we loved the more relaxed, vacation, Florida lifestyle. But the other pull on my heart is nostalgia for my home state of California - that's a strong emotion that's hard to leave behind and the reason we moved back west in the first place. There's comfort in living in a place where you understand the culture and speak the same language.

We just returned from a trip to SoCal and we're headed to Orlando next. But I can't predict which place will eventually win - Florida or California - we have family/friends in both places.

The truth is, every morning I would choose to live in Florida. But every night, I would choose to live in California. Because the truth is, we've really become Califloridians, living in the desert where there is no ocean and no Disney. lol! In the meantime, we enjoy visiting both - 4 hours from Disneyland by car and 4 hours from Disney World by plane.

Paradise: Day Three - The End

2011-03-05T12:10:00.000-05:00

Today's report will be more of a mind dump, rather than written in any particular order. For one thing, Ensenada is just seventy miles from the border, and we spent the entire day out to sea - doing practically nothing - lol! The 4-night cruise stops in Catalina and they could easily do this in 3 days, but how would they make all of that money in the casino? Talk about a captive audience - lol!

We had hoped the spend some time out by the adult pool in the aft but the weather cooled a bit and clouded over, making it too cold for that. We had breakfast in the buffet again, lunch in the dining room (service wasn't so good - not enough servers for the lunch crowd but the "American" lunch in the buffet looked awful), dinner was in the dining room where our server greeted me with a big, "Christine!" They also asked if we wanted a glass of Pouilly Fuisse, remembering last night's wine. Nope, I rarely drink the same thing twice in a row. Instead, we ordered a glass of Pinot with Rich's Salmon and my Shrimp Curry. For dessert, we had baked alaska and it was the best we'd ever had.

In the morning, we finally attended an Angels' event - the chat with members of the team (apparently, nobody had made it to dinner so we were glad we hadn't sacrificed ourselves for that - lol), autograph signings, Q&A, etc. It was a lot of fun to get the inside scoop on the team.

We also spent some time sorting through the photos and finally decided on one with the two of us on formal night and one fabulous picture of Rich - one of the best I've ever seen of him - so having that was a must!

We napped, read, relaxed, walked around the ship and packed for our early getaway. Because we were in a suite, we'd have early departure - even earlier if we only had carry-on luggage.

That evening we also danced to a wonderful retro band near the casino and spent more time in our favorite lounge - the Rotterdam Bar - and saw those same people with their drinking game - lol! Our server was so amazing - he not only remembered my drink from the night before but we knew the code for our cabin. How does he do it? We were sorry this was our last night in this lounge - it was simply the best experience - and on Carnival, no less.

The funny thing that happened at dinner every night was when the magician stopped by the tables to do a few tricks to hopefully entice you to attend his show. Well, we really don't like magicians so we kinda laughed and joked around with him, so then he thought we were his biggest fans. So every time he saw us, he'd stop by and engage us in his tricks. That'll teach us - lol!

When we finally retired to our cabin, we ordered that wonderful cheesecake for our last bed-time snack - oh we were going to miss this. The next morning we waited for our priority disembarkation in the library and I noticed this one guy I thought I once knew from the SF Bay Area - only I couldn't quite place him. I think he may have been an elder from a church I used to attend. He stared at me, I stared at him and it will forever remain a mystery. Don't think he was somebody I really wanted to talk to again anyway. But it seems that every time we're in SoCal, we meet up with people we once knew in the SF Bay Area.

We decided against retrieving the two bottles of wine that Carnival confiscated - we didn't want the hassle of carrying those back on the plane. The shuttle back to LAX was far more efficient than before and before we knew it, we were flying home (in the air for about half an hour) and back home in Las Vegas. It had been a surprisingly fun cruise and one of our best!

Paradise: Day Two Part Two

2011-03-04T12:48:00.000-05:00

We must have had a very long nap because neither of us remember what we did after - except go to dinner. What to do post-nap and pre-dinner has always puzzled us on a cruise, but I think we've gotten very good at taking long naps so it didn't seem to be as big of a problem - lol!

Oh, it was formal night so we did get a bit dressed up - it is Carnival, though, so Rich wore a tie and dress shirt - no jacket - and I wore a pair of nice pants with a flashy red jacket I'd picked up for the cruise.

We made our way down to the Elation dining room where the anytime dining is located on the port side of the ship, while the middle of the dining room and starboard side is still traditional dining. We were greeted warmly and a hostess led us to a table. What makes anytime dining work better on Carnival than on any other ship we've tried is that the tables can easily be made up into different sizes but they're all located near one another so the waiter can take your order and a couple of surrounding tables at the same time. In the past, we've felt ignored at our table for two while the waiter busied himself with the larger tables. Here, that didn't happen. Well done!

We were greeted by our servers as Rich and Christine - lol! Somehow, that's how he heard my name and he called me that for the rest of the cruise. I gladly answered to Christine - it was kinda fun. Rich ordered the tasty Bass, with a nice, crispy skin, unusual for a cruise. I had the surf and turf - the lobster was very good. We each had a glass of Pouilly Fuisse. And when the lights went low and the waiters began singing Amore, we were impressed. We were dreading a big clapping, singing, loud waiter atmosphere that we imagined would be Carnival. For dessert, we had some yummy butter pecan ice cream.

We stopped off at the Rotterdam Bar right above the Destiny dining room and outside the Comedy Club. We found a private spot on a small couch where Rich had a cigar and MacCallan Scotch and I had a Ketel One vodka martini. The waiter was awesome, and he would remember our drinks the next night. It never really feels like a cruise until you've found that one, special bar, and we'd found ours. We were sorry we'd missed one night of it already since we only had 3 nights.

A group of guys were playing some kind of drinking game where they'd drink a shot, stand up and say something like "We're all the same" and then sit down again. We saw them the next night, too, and had no idea what kind of game they were playing, but they were having fun and weren't obnoxious at all. One table seemed popular with the crew, stopping in for a cigarette break and it was the best people-watching fun.

Rich had taken off his tie by then, but when we walked by the photographers, we decided we'd pose, since we were all dressed up. Rich put his tie back on, and the photographer was just amazing - he knew exactly how to pose us. Neither of us are good at this naturally, and it takes some expertise to get a good picture out of us. They turned out so well, we bought a couple of them the next day, although it was a bit challenging to decide which ones to get since one of us would be happy with the way we looked but the other one wouldn't be - lol!

When we arrived in our cabin, we got into our jammies, and so impressed with the cheesecake from the room service from the night before, we indulged in a slice before bed. We got hooked on this kind of bedtime treat when we were staying at the Disneyland Hotel with the E-Ticket Club. :)

Paradise: Day Two Part One

2011-03-04T12:19:00.000-05:00

We got up early and made our way down to the buffet for breakfast by about seven a.m. There was a variety of tasting foods and we found our way back to our favorite little half-booth/table. When we returned to our cabin at about eight a.m., Rich called the dining room to request a dining assignment change from late night seating to "your time" or whatever they call it. The woman who answered the phone was quite helpful - volunteered to send a message to the Maitre'D and told us she'd let us know later that day.

Then we waited in our cabin for some kind of announcement that we were free to leave the ship for Ensenada - that's the way it's worked on all of our previous cruises. Finally, it was getting close to nine o'clock and our tour was scheduled to leave at nine. We made our way down to the shore excursion desk and she informed us our tour had already left? What? We didn't even know we'd cleared customs. But she called the tour guide and the bus was still there so we were told to hurry and we made it. Whew! The photographers were a bit upset when we blew them off - no time for pictures - sorry!

The first time I'd been to Ensenada, I took the La Bufadora/winery tour and was quite impressed. Well, all of these years later, I didn't know what to expect in Ensenada and while that winery is no longer in operation, the wine region has exploded in the inland area.

It was a gorgeous day in Ensenada - sunny and in the 70s. First, we rode the bus up into the hills to get to the first winery we would tour, stopped off at a picture taking spot overlooking a bull ring/vineyards.

And then went on to the winery where we were given a tour of the barrels. We noted that some of the barrels were from Pennsylvania.

We've been to several wine countries - Napa, Sonoma, Oregon, Washington, etc. and when we were here, we felt like we could be in Napa or even Italy - the Mediterranean climate was so similar. Wine in Mexico? Not your first thought when you think of Mexico. We sampled several wines in the tasting room and the owner was a fabulously, feisty woman - lol! We had a great time!! BTW, there were several Angels fans on the tour - one lady, posed with her Rally Monkey in several locations for some sort of content and she told us how she had bought some property south of Ensenada for retirement.

The next stop was at a very small winery, compared to this large one. There we enjoyed sampling different wines on a patio overlooking the vineyards and they gave us some amazing pizza to go with our wine. Fabulous wine and pizza in Mexico? Who knew? We also picked up some jalapeno jam (awesome) and some kind of brittle.

After our three- or four-hour wine tour, the bus dropped us off near the ship, although you could get off in town and shuttle back later. We stopped in at the shop near the dock and picked up a t-shirt for Rich and a beautiful cross. The tour guide was wonderful and we were so happy they'd waited for us - would not have wanted to miss this tour. We almost didn't go after the problems in Mexico in Tijuana and Mazatlan, but we felt totally safe in Ensenada and we were glad we made the tour.

The first winery had given us two bottles of wine to take home, but the Carnival wine police made us turn them over to be picked up after the cruise. Before returning to our cabin for a nice, long nap, we stopped off at the Pizzeria and had a slice of the most amazing Greek pizza ever. This is what I remembered from my first cruise - the pizza is awesome!

When we arrived in our cabin, we found a note from the Maitre'D waiting for us, acknowledging that he had honored our request to change our dining assignment.

Paradise Cruise Trip Report: Day One

2011-03-02T13:25:00.000-05:00

In a recent post, Angels Fan Cruise, we hit the highlights of the cruise, but we find ourselves talking about this cruise so much, we thought we should pinpoint more of the details in order to remember them later. Let's see how much we do remember a month later.

Who: Rich and Kathy
When: January 28-31, 2011
Where: Long Beach to Ensenda, Mexico Round Trip
Why: Angels Fan Cruise
Ship: Carnival Paradise

Getting There

Because the cruise was in January and we'd be risking snow on the two passes between Las Vegas and L.A., we decided to fly instead of driving the usual four-hour drive to Disneyland plus an hour to the port. Also, this was the first time we'd cruise from this port since living in Las Vegas and we weren't sure how we'd feel about driving there beforehand.

A few days before the cruise, my back went out and the massage didn't quite heal it in time. So, the extra walking from the airport parking lot to the terminal, dragging luggage part-way, etc. wasn't a good choice after all. Next time, we'll more than likely cruise a different time of year and drive in the night before, stay overnight, and fit in a little extra SoCal fun.

We booked Carnival's transfer just to not have to worry about how we'd get from LAX to the Port. This proved to be annoying cuz the bus took forever to get there. There was some mix-up and we had to wait for another bus. The transfer back to the airport went a lot smoother.

Embarkation

Because we were booked in a suite, we had prior check-in, which was so convenient. The check-in desk was right next to the bus drop-off and the special boarding area. Everybody else had more of a hike to check-in. Plus, it was great boarding the ship before everybody else. We chatted with some other Angels fans while waiting until noon to board.

They took a couple of photos on the way in, which turned out hideous - lol - mostly because we were standing there with our carry-ons and sweatshirts.

The Paradise

As we mentioned in the other post, we were quite surprised by Carnival, as experienced on the Paradise. The atrium wasn't gaudy as we'd expected and the service was really good, if not some of the best we've had on a cruise.

Upon boarding, we headed for the buffet to get some lunch and the Carnival staff was very helpful in pointing us in the right direction. Today was Italian day and we found several items that were tasty, different pastas, fish (although a bit salty), and some yummy cookies.

We then toured the ship - noted a cozy little sitting area above the aft pool - will spend some time there - and checked out the dining room. Because we were on a group cruise, we were assigned late seating so that we could sit with the team. Ha! We tried changing to the flexible dining but travel agent insisted we wanted to be with the other Angels fans.

We hung out by the pool until our cabin was ready. Unfortunately, we were a bit hounded for drinks while sitting there - not enough people onboard yet - lol! We were saving our drink for the sailaway and the Angels Cocktail party.

By this time, we were allowed to enter our cabin, we met our fabulous room stewardess - the best we've ever had and our first female, and sat out on the tiny balcony and took pictures of Long Beach, which was beautiful today (if you overlook the smog in the background). Then it was time for the dreaded lifeboat drill. We've sailed on all of the mass market cruise lines and, so far, Princess does this best. It wasn't bad on Carnival. Most assignments were in lounges, but we were assigned to the pool deck. The good news was that we could stay put while the others later had to make it to their actual muster stations.

We had feared a three-day party boat atmosphere on this Carnival cruise but the closest thing we saw to anybody drinking too much was the guy in front of us - he looked three sheets to the wind and we thought for sure he'd pass out any minute. We felt sorry for his wife and the couple they were traveling with. Not a pretty sight, for sure.

Sailaway

Soon we were on our own again and we headed back to our cabin to wait for Sailaway, one of our favorite times onboard the ship. But sailaway was a bit delayed. In fact, we were going to have to choose between having our Sailaway champagne in our balcony or attending the Angels Cocktail party. We chose the Sailaway - this is our favorite part about cruising - we weren't going to miss that!

By this time, the sun was setting and we'd been on board all day long - we were ready to roll!

Dinner

We were so exhausted after getting up at 5:30 am and traveling that we ordered room service and went to bed early. The next day, we would go to the Maitre'D to request changing our official late seating dining assignment to the flexible one because we learned a long time ago that we really don't like to eat that late (8:30) and sit with strangers for hours at a time - lol! We love to interact with our fellow passengers, but in a more relaxed, casual way.

Room service was efficient and there was rather an extensive menu, but we didn't always get what we ordered. But we were too tired to care. I think we got something simple like a sandwich and dessert. And then we allowed the motion of the ocean to rock us to sleep. Zzzzzzz...

Orlando Meets Las Vegas

2011-02-24T18:25:00.001-05:00

My love for Disney definitely influences my writing and I'll post some snippets from my published novels and share a few backstories about living 2 miles from Cinderella's Castle at Walt Disney World.

For example, in THE TOM JONES CLUB, look what happens when Copper, an Orlando concierge (originally from Ohio), meets a woman named Mona, the president of The Tom Jones Club convention. The setup is this:

Mona, sitting in "The Rat Pack Lounge" in an Orlando theme park resort (hmmm... where could that be?), is eavesdropping on Copper and Johnny, after offering them jobs in Las Vegas. But Copper is reluctant to go to Las Vegas or anywhere west of the Mississippi.

Let's peek in:

Mona excused herself and strategically and moved over to a table over by the window, seemingly out of ear shot, and fiddled with her cell phone, giving the illusion of making business calls.

But she was well aware that Copper continued to sit there in the comfy chair, glued to the seat as her mind seemed to be considering the possibilities. She didn’t even notice when Johnny sat down in Mona’s chair.

“You should do it, you know.” Johnny said.

Mona peered out of the corner of her eye to see Johnny fiddling with a cigarette—unlit, of course—as if he felt he should look the part of a musician as well as be one. He placed his bowler hat on the table, attempting to block Mona’s view. That was Johnny for you. He had been reluctant to get involved, but she’d eventually persuaded him. Mona knew his sweet spot.

Copper's lime green eyes flashed. “But to leave this opportunity here? For what, I’m not even sure, except a weak promise for some sort of position in Vegas—the land of ‘what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.’ I’m not sure that would be wise.”

“I’m going.” Johnny said.

“What? Going where? To Vegas?” Copper sounded as if she could barely bring herself to spit out the word Vegas, as if it would somehow tarnish her for admitting she'd ever heard of it.

“Yep. Mona’s offered me a fantastic opportunity to play in the band for the opening acts in the main showroom.”

“Is that what you want, Johnny?”

“It’s a fantastic opportunity.” Johnny sounded genuinely excited by that, and Mona vowed to make sure he didn’t regret it.

“But I thought you wanted to be a solo performer? Isn’t that why you went to New York for two years?”

Mona winced at Copper's question, thinking it probably wasn’t the most sensitive thing she could have asked. Johnny had taken off to prove himself as a soloist in New York and had recently returned to the hotel, and that was partly her fault, leading him to believe his father was in New York.

“Yeah, but what better place to be noticed than in the showroom of a major hotel?"

Mona could tell Johnny was nervous because he played with the unlit cigarette even more vigorously until she thought it would crumble underneath his fingers. Easy now, Johnny. Don’t give her a reason to become suspicious and pull back.

“Why us, Johnny? Have you asked yourself that?” Copper would not be swayed easily.

Johnny said nothing, so Copper seemed compelled to fill the silence. “Look, you’ve got your demons and I’ve got mine. But I vowed to never travel west of the Mississippi."

So, it was only a matter of time before Mona, Johnny, and Copper found themselves zooming in over the bright lights of Sin City.

And when they meet Lucky, their lives are changed forever.

THE TOM JONES CLUB

When Lucky arrives in Las Vegas to score her last business deal before starting a new life, the last thing she expects is to be pulled into the web of a woman with claims on the past.

Until that flight to Vegas, I was the girl who looked like a million bucks on the outside, but felt like the poor starving girl on the inside.

Until that flight to Vegas, I was the girl who had no trouble attracting men, but who went home alone.

Until that flight to Vegas, I was the girl who never had a “best friend forever”--never trusting women--or men for that matter.

But all of that changed when I met Mona, Copper, and The Tom Jones Club.

Lucky was called a Keeper by one agent and The Tom Jones Club won a query submission contest by another agent.

PURCHASE your digital copy at Bookstrand, Mobipocket, Nook Book (BN.com), and amazon.com in paperback and on Kindle.

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Angels Fan Cruise

2011-02-24T12:42:00.001-05:00

Our recent cruise on the Carnival Paradise was my tenth cruise - we had booked so many #10 cruises and then canceled them for one reason or another - I began to wonder if we'd ever cruise again. We thought that when we lived in Florida we'd cruise all the time because it was so easy to get to a cruise port. True, but we were so caught up with the local beaches and Disney World that we didn't feel we needed to cruise.

We also don't cruise for some of the reasons others do cruise: for example, group dinners, food, shows. For one thing, we tend to socialize with people on a casual, one-on-one basis - not at a table for ten night after night. Oh boy, that drove us crazy and one reason we almost gave up cruising entirely. We also don't cruise for food - gourmet or otherwise. We live in Las Vegas and have traveled to Hawaii and other fabulous spots that have a lot better food than found on a cruise ship. And the shipboard entertainment is never going to be as good as what we have here in Las Vegas. So why do we cruise?

We love to be at sea - especially after living the in the desert for three years. We also enjoy a self-contained environment where you can eat, drink, have a little fun and then wander back to your cabin without getting in a car and driving home or back to a hotel.

My first cruise was on Carnival (before I met Rich) and I loved it, but Rich was always a little - no, make that a lot - lol - reluctant to cruise Carnival. His first cruise was on Celebrity - supposedly the best of the mainstream lines (turned out to be our worst cruise) - and we'd tried the others - Holland America, Princess, NCL, and I'd also sailed RCI. But he never wanted to step foot on a Carnival ship. But when he heard about the 3-day Angels Fan Cruise to Ensenada, he changed his mind. How bad can a Carnival ship be for 3 nights, he thought. And at least the Angels would be onboard - surely, they could make up for a bad cruise.

The big surprise? Carnival is now his new favorite cruise line. Why? Well, they did several things better than anybody else:

"Your Choice" dining (service didn't suffer like on other cruises where we'd tried this)
Cabin service (had the best service ever by a friendly and efficient stewardess)
Photographer (for the first time, we found a ship photographer who knew how to pose us to get the best photo possible)
Aft adult pool - we love an aft pool on a ship
Bar service - maybe we could put it all under "service." Carnival knows its customers - there's a reason why they're the most popular cruise line and it's not just because of the price. The servers remembered our names, what we liked to drink, and our Sail & Sign card number.

What fell short for us:

The food was hit and miss - some was very good, some not so good. But just as I remembered from my first Carnival cruise, the pizza is some of the best I've ever had.
No wraparound promenade deck - a must for us.
The bed may tie with NCL for being rather hard.
The weather in January - we get a bit claustrophobic when it's not quite warm enough to enjoy the outside space as much as we would like - kids underfoot more during the day, etc. - some ships handle this better than others.

We found this 3-day cruise to be full of fun, lively people but not the drunk crowd we'd heard about or you might expect from a short cruise out of L.A. Okay, so there was that one older guy during the lifeboat drill - he must have been drinking since he boarded the ship cuz he looked like he was about to pass out - lol!

But whatever cruise line we sail, one thing is still true - we love the shipboard life and the interaction of people onboard the ship - our way. It's no wonder my first published novel Real Women Wear Red is set onboard a cruise ship that happens to be cruising the Caribbean - it's not about the Caribbean - it's about the characters onboard a ship.

Reflections of 2010

2010-12-31T16:39:00.000-05:00

2010 was our year of "living Disney bicoastal" as we announced on this blog in early 2010. When we bought an annual pass for Walt Disney World in January to meet up with our Colorado friends, for the first time, we had an annual pass for both parks on both coasts. So when the Disney folks fulfilled my dreams and created an annual pass good for both parks, they automatically sent us one. So we had the super duper bi-coastal annual pass. And we made the most of it.

We went to Disney World in January. We went to Disneyland in April, May, July, and November. And we made second trip to Disney World in October for the Food & Wine Festival and to meet up with friends and family. We were hoping that by the end of this year of bi-coastal Disney living, we'd be able to make up our minds about where to live - closer to Disneyland or closer to Disney World. Growing up near Disneyland and then living near Disney World, I(we) know what it's like to live in each place. And we can't seem to chose. We were hoping that frequent trips to both would push us in one direction or another. At the end of 2010, we still didn't know. For now, we remain in Las Vegas and travel to both.

For now there isn't a choice to make due to the economy and housing market. But should things change, and we hear rumblings of change to come perhaps in 2011, if not 2012, we want to know which place to choose.

In the meantime, the expiration date for all of our annual passes - Disneyland, Disney World, and the super duper combo pass - is coming up at the end of January. So, we're in deep discussion about what we should do - renew Disneyland, Disney World, both or none...

Here's hoping for pixie dust for you and for us in 2011...

Christmas Decorations

2010-12-02T16:00:00.000-05:00

By far, the best, best, Christmas attraction is the Haunted Mansion Holiday. It may be worth the trip to come out in the fall just to ride this.

We mostly shopped, rode a few rides such as the newest Monorail. Oh my Goodness! It's so high-tech and awesome! This took us by surprise because we weren't expecting such an interior transformation. And when staying at the Disneyland Hotel, it's quite convenient to take the monorail into Disneyland Park, which drops you off in Tomorrowland.

It's A Small World holiday decor seemed even more enhanced than before. The sky snowed as we approached and there was this interesting light show going on on the facade. We strolled Toontown, took pictures of Minnie's white tree - just like the one we have this year. That was always my dream - to have a little house like Minnie Mouse. I think we had that in Tampa - lol!

We rode Pirates of the Caribbean and noticed how looooong the ride seemed after just riding it at Disney World. We also took a spin on Pooh located where Country Bears used to be. The atmosphere in that wooded area is awesome.

Golden Horseshoe

Splash Mountain

Castle with Blue Icicle Lights

It's A Small World

The Grand Californian

These pics look a little fuzzy but maybe we were too excited to stand still long enough to snap them. lol! The shopping and the decorations alone were worth the trip - great way to kick off the holiday season.

Newport Beach

2010-12-02T15:39:00.000-05:00

So, the next morning we hopped in the Mustang and drove to the beach via a couple of my childhood homes. Ah, the old homesteads are looking rather shabby these days, but I can still feel what it felt like to live there so many years ago!

House in picture was where I lived from the time I was 7 to 13 - my basketball hoop was in the driveway, tetherball out back, and baseball on the cul-de-sac. The tons of ivy and palm trees that were my step dad's pride and joy have long disappeared. Before the real estate bust, this house was selling for close to half a million - can you believe that? We paid $16,000 back in the day...

It was a beautiful day at the beach and Newport Beach had some tough competition after bodysurfing at Cocoa Beach just 5 weeks before! This was the first time we'd visited Florida and SoCal that close together. And while we didn't actually get in the water at Newport Beach, we did stroll along the sand and had an awesome lunch at the pier. And this is the beach and pier where I hung out the most as a kid. Nostalgia counts are huge!

Looking back at the beach from the pier

Surfers were out but waves were small

Tuna sushi and a Land Shark beer for Rich

And amazing baked lobster California roll for Kathy
with a Land Shark beer

We couldn't help but compare it to Cocoa Beach and, ironically, a little Steel Drum music was playing while we ate our lunch. Still partially full from last night's Napa Rose meal, I couldn't finish this incredible lobster roll and Rich is allergic to it so he couldn't help. But how I wish I had some of that right now. Anyway, we headed back to the Disneyland Resort for a rest and later a glass of wine in the E-Ticket Club and then nighttime Christmas decorations fun at Disneyland Park.

Best of Disneyland

2010-12-01T13:23:00.001-05:00

Even though we had such a fabulous view of Disneyland park, Downtown Disney, and DCA from our top floor room of the Disneyland Hotel - and even better in the E-Ticket Club 2 doors down, I couldn't help but compare that view to the amazing view we saw at our Disney friends' Bay Lake Towers room overlooking Bay Lake at Disney World - just 5 weeks earlier! But then we're water people.

But I do wonder how much a Disney World fan can really enjoy Disneyland - is it even worth the time, money, energy to make the trip? Can I even recommend that they come out and see Disneyland? Not without some hesitation. So, I'll list what I think is the best of Disneyland and what's less than best at Disneyland.

Less than Best of Disneyland:

Transportation - flying into LAX is a much bigger effort than the Orlando airport. And renting a car and/or taking some kind of airport shuttle is not riding the Magical Express bus to Disney World. And the approach to the Disneyland resort is much more ordinary with motels, strip malls, aging housing, billboards, etc.

Length of Stay - Disneyland isn't big enough to spend a week there - 3 or 4 days max unless you're using this as your home base to see other sights.

Accommodations - Unless you're staying at the Grand Californian, which is really superb with the feel of Walt Disney World, you might be a bit disappointed with the Disneyland Hotel and certainly with Paradise Pier.

Parks - DCA is a bit chopped up right now while Cars Land is being constructed. But, even then, it's still not that big of a park. And that leaves Disneyland, which is the same as the Magic Kingdom, with some important differences. And that's where I'll spend some time discussing the best of Disneyland.

Best of Disneyland:

Proximity - Once we rode down the elevator from our bird's eye view and strolled the streets of Downtown Disney, the best of Disneyland Resort hit us - the intimacy, the vibe, and the proximity of Disneyland Park, DCA, and Downtown Disney - this is spectacular and you can get hooked on the convenience.

Intimacy - the Annual Passport picture and greeting by name, the community feel, the interactions with the CMs all seem more intimate than Walt Disney World and this is where the smallness becomes a feature - not a bug. :)

Grand Californian - our favorite hotel of all of Disney with the best restaurant (Napa Rose and the Napa Rose Lounge and outdoor firepit). You also get hooked on that special entrance to DCA. Best pool service with food and drink delivery and best lobby bar with Hearthstone Lounge.

Disneyland Park - much better atmosphere and attractions, such as Pirates of the Caribbean, the original Tiki Birds (get your Dole Whip inside the attraction waiting area for speedier service), New Orleans Square, ToonTown, Holiday Haunted Mansion (the best HM ever!), It's A Small World at Holiday and year-round, Winnie the Pooh, Alice in Wonderland, Nemo inside the Subs, Monorail inside the park (drops you off at the subs), train ride with Grand Canyon diorama, updated cars at Autopia, Mr. Toad, the MATTERHORN, INDIANA JONES, and individual shops on Main Street.

DCA - By far, Soarin' over California was created for this park so the access/theming of this land is far better than Soarin' retrofitted inside Epcot, Grizzly Peak rapids (Rushin River Outfitters), Golden Vine Winery and tasting room, the Trattoria, and Radiator Springs in Cars Land is going to be awesome.

Downtown Disney - great vibe for strolling, shopping, eating, drinking, with a variety of eclectic music - guitar, south american, violin, jazz, etc. We especially enjoy Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen.

All of this off the top of my head - I may be forgetting something or you may have your own favorites at Disneyland that I have not mentioned.

But is it worth a cross-country trip? Only you can decide.

Now back to the report.

Napa Rose ~ Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-30T13:06:00.000-05:00

Warning: If you're not hungry before, you may be starving by the time you finish reading Rich's report on our Thanksgiving dinner at Napa Rose.

Napa Rose Thanksgiving 2010
by Rich

We were planning to have Thanksgiving dinner somewhere in Orange County, but when our plans changed so that we were staying at the Disneyland Hotel, we decided to try to get a reservation at Napa Rose. Fortunately for us, there was a cancellation, and we were able to reserve a table for two for 6:45 p.m.

Although we arrived a little early for our reservation, we were seated promptly at a table for two near a window. The service was wonderful, as usual. And the food … well, Andrew Sutton strikes again. This man is a culinary genius.

1st Course

Kathy

Sautéed Autumn Portobello Mushrooms
Fried Sweet Potato-Brie Cheese Dumplings and Truffled Pumpkin Essence

Rich

King Salmon Potato Cake
Apple Wood Smoked Bacon, Frisée and Dried Apricot Vinaigrette

Rich’s Comments: The salmon potato cake might have been the best course of the whole night. The execution was flawless, with the fresh salmon flavor mixing perfectly with the yummy potatoes. Bacon is always a welcome ingredient, and the vinaigrette added a nice sweet touch. I also tried a couple bites of the portobello mushroom dish, and was wowed by the deep, earthy flavors, counterbalanced nicely by the dumpling.

Kathy’s Comments: I loved the Portobello Mushrooms and cheese dumplings, but I had a taste of Rich's salmon potato cake and I agree - it may have been the best course, although perhaps it tied with my dessert.

2nd Course

Kathy and Rich

Wine Country Harvest Squash Bisque
Braised Beef Short Rib and Tuscan Kale

Rich’s Comments: This soup was sumptuous. Its golden color was an immediate draw. Squash is not one of my favorites, but this thick, rich soup was a delight. And the added flavors of the beef and kale made it practically an entrée.

Kathy’s Comments: This would have made a fabulous entree - the beef short rib was amazing!

3rd Course: Entrée

Kathy

Roasted “American Heritage” Bronze Turkey
Grandmother’s Ragu of Sonoma Mushrooms, Smoked Bacon and Corn Bread Stuffing

Rich

Pan Roasted Wild Striped Bass
Fried Clam Corn Meal Fritters, Jalapeño Tartare Sauce and Rich Tomato Sauce

Rich’s Comments: After the first two courses, I wanted something lighter, so I chose the bass. The fish was cooked to perfection with the crispy skin on top. The fritters, sauces, and the texture of the bass lifted this entrée above an ordinary fish dish. The taste of turkey I had was delicious, but the corn bread stuffing was awesome. I didn’t try the vegetables (big surprise), but the whipped potatoes were a nice accompaniment.

Kathy’s Comments: I decided to go traditional just to see what Andrew Sutton could do with turkey, although I was tempted to order the Buffalo - I loved it at Artist Point at WDW. By the time the turkey arrived, I was full and the turkey wasn't anything super special - and so much of it. But the dressing, well, let's just say, for me, Thanksgiving isn't about the turkey - it's about the stuffing and it was the best ever! But this was my least favorite course.

3rd Course: Dessert

Kathy

Pumpkin Pie Crème Brûlée
Whipped Cream and Dried Cranberry Pear Conserve

Rich

Warm Country Apple Crisp
Fuji Apples with Walnut Caramel Ice Cream and Spiced Cider Caramel

Rich’s Comments: Andrew Sutton is amazing in that he can create wonderful savory dishes, but he also has a hand in the sweet dishes too. The apple crisp was rich and satisfying and paired well with the ice cream and caramel. My only knock is that apples slices were quite large, requiring lots of cutting. This was probably the weakest dish of the night, although still good. I ordered this because I am not a fan of many pumpkin dishes. But the pumpkin pie crème brûlée, done in Andrew Sutton’s signature “inside out” design was excellent, and a better dessert than the apple crisp.

Kathy’s Comments: Normally, I can take or leave creme brulee. But I've had Andrew Sutton's raspberry creme brulee before and I know it's the most amazing dessert - it's a whole new approach to creme brulee with a crust on top that oozes a raspberry filling when you cut into it. Rich voiced the concern that it may be a traditional creme brulee and not what I've come to expect from Andrew Sutton, but to my delight, it was his usual creme brulee style with pumpkin and whipped creme filling oozing out. This may be the best way to enjoy anything pumpkin.

Wine

As Larry pointed out in the comments, we forgot to mention the wine when we first posted the report. A bit before dinner, we stopped off at the ETicket Club and had a glass of Merlot. So for dinner, we each just ordered a glass of MacMurray Ranch Pinot Noir and impressed the waiter with our story about visiting MacMurray Ranch. He was so sure we'd drink the whole bottle, he left it there to tempt us. We were way too full, though, to eat or drink one more thing so we had to disappoint him. :)

Full Menu

The full menu for Napa Rose Thanksgiving Dinner 2010 is recreated below.

1st Course (Choice of…)

• Sautéed Autumn Portobello Mushrooms

Fried Sweet Potato-Brie Cheese Dumplings and Truffled Pumpkin Essence

• King Salmon Potato Cake

Apple Wood Smoked Bacon, Frisée, Dried Apricot Vinaigrette

• Maple Leaf Farms Duck Risotto

Wild Rice, Pine Nuts, Leeks and Huckleberry Essence

• Ahi Carpaccio and Lobster Lentil Tian

Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Lemon Gelée and Crème Fraîche

2nd Course (Choice of…)

• Wine Country Harvest Squash Bisque

Braised Beef Short Rib and Tuscan Kale

• Autumn Endive and Spinach Salad

Dried Cranberries, Goat Cheese, Candied Almonds and Persimmon Vinaigrette

3rd Course: Entrée (Choice of…)

• Roasted “American Heritage” Bronze Turkey

Grandmothers Ragu of Sonoma Mushrooms, Smoked Bacon and Corn Bread Stuffing

• Grilled Montana Buffalo Filet Rib-eye

Sweet Potato “Tots,” Chestnut Apple Puree and Cranberry Chimichuri

• Pan Roasted Wild Striped Bass

Fried Clam Corn Meal Fritters, Jalapeño Tartare Sauce and Rich Tomato Sauce

• Vegetarian Feast of Thanks

Baked Swiss Chard, Artichoke and Goat Cheese Soufflé

Sweet Potato Gnocchi in Hazelnut Brown Butter and Butter Squash Coulis

* All Entrées are served with “Family Style Vegetables” *

Including: cranberry Relish, Roasted Harvest Vegetables and Whipped Potatoes

4th Course: Dessert (Choice of…)

• White Chocolate Pumpkin Crème Brûlée with Dried Cranberry Pear Conserve

• Warm Country Apple Crisp

Fuji Apples with Walnut Caramel Ice Cream and Spiced Cider Caramel

• Best Hot Chocolate topped with Hazelnut Cream Filled Doughnut

• Our Signature Holiday Chilled Cranberry “Soup” with Lime Coconut Semi-freddo

Thanksgiving/Christmas Kickoff at Disneyland Resort

2010-11-29T13:17:00.000-05:00

With the AP rates for Thanksgiving and December beyond what we wanted to pay, we originally booked a hotel room in the Irvine area to give us access to Disney, the beach, and SouthCoast plaza - all my old stomping grounds - for the long Thanksgiving weekend.

But not long before the trip, Rich decided to check the rates again and they were too good to pass up at the Disneyland Hotel. Then we checked availability at Napa Rose for Thanksgiving dinner and while they were booked at first, the CM called us back and told us they'd had a cancellation. As one Disney friend put it, we were experiencing a "pixie dust storm."

The pixie dust didn't stop there. When we checked in, we were upgraded to the most amazing room on the top floor of the Disneyland Hotel, facing Disneyland Park, Downtown Disney, and DCA. It was one of the newly-remodeled rooms and 2 doors down from the "E-Ticket Club" - and for an extra fee, we had full access to Concierge, complete with Christmas tree, Christmas music, and view of the "Believe in Holiday Wishes" fireworks show with piped-in music.

We started off the day with coffee, juice, pastries, bagels, and/or cereal. There were afternoon snacks of chips, salsa, fruit, cookies, evening wine and cheese, and late night milk and cookies. We were treated like and felt like we were family.

Disneyland Hotel Porte Cochere

Concierge Level: E-Ticket Club

We must tell how about the incredible King room we had, complete with copper and wood headboard complete with Sleeping Beauty Castle etchings, light-up fireworks, and song that played, "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes." There's no way my Monday morning brain can find the words to do justice to the experience but here is a photo, although it is also a weak substitute for the real thing:

Disneyland Hotel king bed room

View of Matterhorn from room

Bathroom

Mickey lamp in bathroom

Sunrise view (with the Grand Californian in the distance)
from room about 6 a.m. every morning

Next: Thanksgiving dinner at Napa Rose, DCA, Disneyland, the beach, and childhood home

Post WDW Food and Wine Trip Thoughts

2010-11-22T17:56:00.001-05:00

When we first returned from our trip to Florida last month, we were so exhausted and overwhelmed by the trip that we didn't really expound on more of the highlights. It always seems to take a little distance from a trip to really take in the fabulous things that were experienced.

Exchanging photos with some of our friends, we were newly-inspired by several experiences and pictures of places. So, we thought we'd post a few of the pics of scenes we took with a quick note of what each place meant to us.

3 Tequilas at the Food & Wine Tequila Tasting

This was held inside the new Tequila Bar inside the Mexican Pavilion at World Showcase. On our last trip, we had peeked into the tequila bar and the whole cave atmosphere didn't appeal to us. But after experiencing this tequila tasting and armed with more knowledge about the different kinds of tequilas, we'll be sure to stop in on our next trip to WDW.

The hats of Rich, Brother Bob, and Kathy at Whispering Canyon inside Wilderness Lodge

We had avoided Whispering Canyon before - I mean, we had already experienced Prime Time Cafe where we were scolded to eat our veggies - lol - so who needed more scolding? But with Rich's brother Bob, who is a card, it was the perfect place to regroup and relax over an adult beverage and lunch after a long morning/afternoon at the Magic Kingdom. Afterwards, we barged in on friends staying at Bay Lake Towers and they so generously gave us a tour of their swank surroundings.

When Bob joined niece Emily, Rich and me at the pool home, we headed for the Poly and that new sushi place. "You're talking my language," Brother Bob said. And after some sushi at the Poly, the four of us walked over to the Grand Floridian, shopped at Basin, and topped off the day with a nightcap and a little jazz at Mizner's Lounge. Wonderful evening, as always, at Mizner's and so fun to share it with family.

Dinner at JBs Fish Camp in New Smyrna Beach

After a fabulous day of food and wine tasting at the food booths with Brother Bob and niece Emily, Rich and I were persuaded to spend Emily's last night at New Smyrna Beach dining on seafood and gazing at the sunset overlooking the Causeway, with heavy hearts that we couldn't join friends for dinner at Jiko.

After dinner, we drove over to the Atlantic and walked on the beach and in the water - incredibly warm even at night in mid October. This is the real Florida and what continues to call to us... Emily called this day one of her "top 5 days" of her life. We agree - it was spectacular!

Under the pier at Cocoa Beach

We had such fun at the beach that Tuesday night that we returned for a day trip on Thursday. We body surfed and had a fabulous time!

Lunch at Grills Seafood at Cocoa Beach

Brother Bob, Rich, and I had lunch and a beer at Cape Canaveral overlooking the cruise ship port. Our tough-talking, no-nonsense waitress had lived in Hawaii (Whispering Canyon was nothing compared to the "real thing."). But we decided, if you can't live in Hawaii, Florida may be the next best thing stateside.

So now we're totally missing Florida and will probably renew our Premium Annual Pass that covers both Disneyland and Disney World. That seems to be the only solution for now. :)

More on Disneyland Food and Wine Festival

2010-11-12T12:15:00.000-05:00

From Al Lutz's MICEAGE blog (Not surprised by this either):

"The sudden decision to cancel the Food & Wine event for at least the next two years took many folks by surprise. After several years of increasing the events scope with minimal increases in profits, the nail in the coffin for Food & Wine was none other than this year’s Halloween trick or treat parties. That only proved to Disney that up-sell events can be held at the parks that actually rake in huge profits, instead of merely scrape by after huge investment and resources are poured into it like Food & Wine had been doing. While the Food & Wine team had been creating two different logistical plans for the varying stages of construction the park would be in during the spring of 2011 and 2012 that could have proved workable, it was an easy excuse to use to cancel the event due to 'construction.'

"There’s absolutely no guarantee, and no current plan, to bring the Food & Wine festival back in 2013. What Disney will be looking at before they make that decision is how DCA performs after its billion dollar makeover is completed in 2012. Food & Wine at DCA was copied from Epcot earlier in the decade as part of the push to drive higher attendance to the under-performing park. Unlike the Epcot version however, the DCA festival didn’t drive tourists to head down to stay at local hotels and hit up the festival. Instead the DCA version mainly drove attendance gains each year from the growing pool of Annual Passholders who had already purchased their park tickets. Since most of the food and beverage offerings were sold at barely above cost after all the festival overhead and labor was factored in, the profits from the DCA version were a weak fraction of what Disney World enjoys when the much larger and more elaborate Epcot version rolls out each year."

Update on Disneyland Food and Wine Festival

2010-11-04T13:13:00.000-04:00

We were a bit disappointed to learn that there will be no Food & Wine Festival for 2011 and 2012 at the Disneyland Resort - for the complete story, click here.

It doesn't surprise us, though, with the DCA expansion going full-steam. In fact, last year's festival wasn't quite as good - to us - as the previous year's because the Wine Reception event, held on Friday and Saturday evenings under the stars, for example, was cancelled due to that area being refurbished.

Having attended 3 major food and wine festivals this year (Disneyland, Disney World, and Taste of Sonoma), maybe we've had enough food and wine festivals for awhile. :) But we're even happier that we did travel all the way back to Florida for the second time this year and attended the festival with friends and family.

The Matterhorn

2010-10-29T15:32:00.000-04:00

I grew up near Disneyland so the first time I went to Disney World in Florida, I entered the Magic Kingdom and asked, "Where the heck is the Matterhorn?" I was horrified it wasn't there. After all, at Disneyland, the Matterhorn is the real icon - not the Castle.

And no wonder - Sleeping Beauty Castle looks teeny-tiny even squatty looking after living near Cinderella's Castle at WDW for a year. Cinderella's Castle is definitely the iron for all of Disney World, if not for all of Disney. Often, commercials will advertise Disneyland but show the Disney World castle.

One of the best moments in "Soarin'" is at the end when the camera whisks you over Disneyland at Christmas with the Matterhorn and fireworks over Sleeping Beauty Castle. I got so homesick living in Florida that I'd cry every time I saw that. And when we moved back west and rode Soarin' at DCA, the audience clapped - we were kindred spirits - and it felt wonderful to be back home.

So I was excited to see this new pin of Minnie with the monorail and the Matterhorn. The monorail at Disneyland is another icon - it whisks you right into the park and drops you off at Tomorrowland, which the monorail at WDW does not do.

Disneyland may be smaller and less grand than Disney World, but it has something special - intimacy, a feeling of family, and the spirit of Walt Disney - and many of us who grew up near Disneyland in the early days would rub shoulders with him in the park.

15th Annual Epcot Food and Wine Festival

2010-10-25T14:06:00.000-04:00

The Food and Wine Festival is our favorite time of year to be at Disney World. For one thing, it's held at our favorite park, which is Epcot, and not only our favorite park, but our favorite part of our favorite park - World Showcase. This is the one thing we miss at Disneyland. The rest of Disney World, we don't really need - we have Disneyland and are more attached to it - it's our home park. But Epcot was the reason I visited WDW for the first time in 1982 - for the opening of Epcot.

We hadn't been to the Food & Wine Festival since we left Florida in the summer of 2007 so it was especially exciting to return this year. In addition, we rented a pool home, invited family and got to catch up with family, friends and even met friends and family of other friends. It was definitely a full week. The other thing is, since we'd left Florida, we'd had leanings and thoughts and questions about whether we'd move back if given the opportunity. This week in the pool home would offer us glimpses into how we felt about that, and we'll add our thoughts at the end. In the meantime, here are the highlights and lowlights of the trip.

Highlights

Getting out of Dodge - Just getting out of Las Vegas was a real highlight. We were so ready to see something other than neon lights, casinos, and dirt. Changing planes in Dallas was a real thrill - water, trees, grass - wow! Plus the fabulous Tex/Mex in the airport - could we live here? lol!
The Pool Home - We loved our home in Florida and Florida homes are all quite similar so it was fun to experience one again - especially since that seemed to be the huge draw in considering moving back to Florida. The backyard pool is an added bonus.
The Food Booths - Love, love, love World Showcase and the food booths are an added bonus. We began the trip by strolling the booths together and ended them the same way. In-between, we strolled, tasted, and sipped with family and that was a blast. The beer in the Rose & Crown pub with family was a true highlight.
The Tequila Tasting Event - How fun to discover why I prefer Silver tequilas over other tequilas. This event was fun and informative.
The Beach - Dinner at JBs overlooking the intracoastal at sunset at New Smyrna Beach was fabulous. The warm stroll on the beach afterwards was also fabulous. The day trip to Cocoa Beach, swimming and bodysurfing was simply a blast - the water so warm was amazing.
Nostalgic Visit to the Magic Kingdom with Family - Rich and his brother got to ride Carousel of Progress together for the first time since the New York World's Fair in 1964. Lunch at Whispering Canyon and antics was a fun first for us.
Private Tour of Bay Lake Towers - Our dear Disney friends were so gracious to show us around their two-bedroom villa at Bay Lake Towers. Swanky! Need I say more? lol! Wow!
Seeing Old Friends/Meeting New Friends - We met up with old friends and met new friends/family at the 3D Dessert Extravaganza, which included a special viewing area for Illuminations. Fun group all-around - needed more time with them, though, especially a ladies FAB meet - so wish we could have had that - maybe for the next meeting of The Tom Jones Club in Vegas.

Lowlights

Humidity - This may be a given, but coming from Las Vegas, October felt more like August to us. The humidity really hit us and we were sweating and struggling to find the energy we needed for the parks. If we were still Floridians, we'd be thinking how perfect the weather was. :)
Bugs, Bugs, and More Bugs - I'm one of those people who is hunted down by bugs because my blood is so delicious - lol! I brought Off and it helped where/when I applied it. But those suckers will crawl inside my clothes for a nice bite of my flesh. And be forewarned - it takes about 24 hours for you to notice so don't think you've gotten away with anything if you're not itching/scratching right away.
3D Dessert Extravaganza/Illuminations - It wasn't exactly how I pictured it when we decided to get tickets. For one thing, I imagined it would be held in an outside venue by the Lagoon in front of Italy and we'd sample desserts/liqueurs in that viewing area with a much smaller group, in a more intimate setting. And once I realized it would be held inside where the Party for the Senses is held, I expected a hostess to introduce the event/talk about the event like other Food & Wine events we've been to. Plus, Illuminations isn't nearly the show it once was.
The Pool Home - Since we lived in Florida there are now laws about pools and the need to have an alarm and fence around the pool. It was our understanding you were required to have one or the other but the pool home rental had both. This ruins the whole indoor/outdoor Florida pool home lifestyle. The entire house is designed to focus on the pool and with a fence around it, the view is blocked somewhat. Also, the point of having multiple sliders and even pocket sliders is to leave the sliders open so you can mingle in/out. But with the alarm, you can't have the slider open AT ALL!!! Not good - I love to keep the sliders open during the cooler weather to allow fresh air into the house.
Photos on Facebook - We have good friends who share our view of not sharing personal photos of ourselves and friends/family on Facebook. But so many people will take your pic, post it on Facebook, tag you, etc. without asking you. So, how/when do you bring up the issue, if it's a problem for you?

When my picture was snapped while I was standing dripping wet after a wave wipeout in my swimsuit and towel, eating an ice cream, I asked that it not be posted on Facebook and that's exactly where it showed up within minutes. When we brought it up later, apparently my request wasn't heard. But I didn't want the people on the beach to see me looking like that, let alone people on Facebook. I made my request but it didn't help if the other person didn't hear me. At least, they took it down once they realized what had happened.

The other awkward moment is around the accessibility of cell phone cameras/videos/Facebook when meeting family/friends at food events. I want to relax and enjoy myself and not worry if my mouth will be open or have some strange expression on my face or an unflattering angle showing up on Facebook. People need to be more sensitive to others preferring not to have their pics all over Facebook. I've decided, other than my author page, Facebook just isn't for me.

There are times/places where just snapping a picture is inappropriate. For example, I remember dining at a fancy French restaurant in San Francisco, took a picture out of ignorance, and was approached by the maitre d' about the inappropriateness of that. Also, you don't snap pictures inside Vegas casinos, either. There is such a thing as privacy, for whatever reason people prefer it.

Final Thoughts

The whole point of a vacation is to take you away from your normal life so that when you return home, you appreciate home. This vacation was a total success because it did exactly that. I may have been conflicted about where to live before but one thing I do know - my home is right here - in Las Vegas just 4 hours from my Orange County. I'd like to think that somehow we could actually return to Orange County for good, but if not, Las Vegas is the next best thing. I don't really have wanderlust - I just want to be home - my real home.

Sonoma Trip Report Day 3: Photos

2010-09-10T13:18:00.002-04:00

The Tasting Room and Restaurant (pool opens late fall)

Motor Car in the Movie Gallery

Back view of the1948 Tucker

The Tasting Room Upstairs (several more downstairs)

Our guy, Neal, boxing up some wine

Sonoma Trip Report Day 3: Francis Ford Coppola

2010-09-10T13:00:00.002-04:00

Coppola's New Sonoma Winery

by Rich

After a long and winding drive along the Sonoma Coast and the Russian River, we finally arrived at the Francis Ford Coppola Winery in Geyserville. The visitor center is beautiful, albeit still under construction. This facility just opened in July. The main building is completed, but the rest of the property won’t be completed until later this year. When finished, the property will include two swimming pools with private cabines (changing rooms with showers), a pavilion with bandshell, and four bocce courts.

Movie Gallery
We entered the main building and made our way to the Movie Gallery -- a museum of Francis Ford Coppola memorabilia from his movie work, including several Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards, Don Corleone’s desk from The Godfather, and the original automobile from Tucker: The Man and His Dream.

Wine Tasting
Before long, we couldn’t resist heading over to do some wine tasting. The downstairs tasting room was crowded and noisy, but then Kathy spotted the somewhat hidden upstairs tasting room that had a much more pleasant ambiance.

Neal, our friendly wine server, started pouring us wines from the tasting menu, and before long, we were signing up for membership in the Coppola Wine Family. We will receive shipments of two to four bottles of wine four times per year. We chose the red wine only option.

By joining, we got all our tastings for free, plus we bought a bottle of Director’s Cut Cinema at a 30% discount. We took this bottle back to Timber Cove Inn to enjoy later that evening.

Director’s Cut Cinema
Spicy, full-bodied red wine made from: Cabernet Sauvignon grown in Alexander Valley, Zinfandel and Petite Sirah from Dry Creek Valley, and Cabernet Franc from Knights Valley. A deep, dark, rich wine.

We tasted the following wines:

2009 Sofia Blanc de Blancs
Created by Francis for his daughter Sofia’s wedding, Blanc de Blancs is a blend of Pinot Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscat. The bottle actually wears a “dress.”

2009 Director’s Pinot Noir
A North Coast Pinot Noir with some fruit from Mendocino County where the mild daytime temperatures and fog create cool evening conditions perfect for Pinot Noir grapes. A delicious California Pinot Noir.

2008 Diamond Collection Claret
This ultra-premium Claret is a blend of Cabernet, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot and Malbec. A Coppola signature red wine.

2008 Rosso
Made from a blend of Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah, mostly from Lodi where extremely warm daytime weather is offset by cool afternoon breezes from the San Joaquin Delta. A wonderful red table wine.

2007 Archimedes
Named for Francis’s Uncle Archimedes, this is a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon from Alexander Valley and Cabernet Franc from Knights Valley. This is the top-of-the-line wine produced by Coppola, and is normally $4 per 2 oz. taste or $50 for a bottle.

Lunch
We chatted with Neal a bit as we tasted the wines, and before long we realized the time for our lunch reservation at Rustic, the on-site restaurant, was approaching. We made the reservation the day before via OpenTable online after it was recommended to us by the Coppola wine server at the Taste of Sonoma.

Soon after we arrived downstairs at the hostess station, we were seated at a table for two outside on the terrace overlooking the vineyards. The table was shaded by a large umbrella. A perfect spot for lunch.
When we mentioned we were Wine Family members, we received two free glasses of Rosso, a free appetizer, and 10% off our lunch bill.

Appetizers (Shared):
• Bean Curd Crostini with Balsamic Sauce
• Pettoles (like a savory beignet)

Entrées
• Kathy: Rigatoni & Meatballs
• Rich: Habit-Forming Ribs

Desserts
• Kathy: Rustic Fruit Tart
• Rich: French Lemon Tart

The food and wine were incredible, and the service was impeccable. And what can we say about the breathtaking setting overlooking rolling hills of vineyards. Wow! It was a totally delightful lunch.

Afterwards, we made sure we had our bottle of Cinema as we headed to our car and back to the view of the ocean from our Timber Cove Inn balcony.

Kathy's Comments: This is definitely a place we're anxious to return to. Something about it was so Disney - with an added Hollywood/Sonoma touch. It was so delightful to enjoy a fabulous lunch alfresco among the vineyards. Or maybe there's something about vineyards that are so familiar and homey to me - my stepdad's family owns a vineyard in California's Central Valley. But instead of growing grapes for wine, due to the very hot climate, they grow Thompson seedless grapes for raisins - you know - the California Raisins. I lived there while my stepdad was stationed in Monterey. While living in Southern California, we visited a couple of times a year and August was especially fun because they'd send us home with a big crate of Thompson seedless grapes - our favorite!

Also, if I may name drop a bit, one of the women I met online early in my writing/blogging days was Adrienne Brodeur, who was the first editor of Coppola's Zoetrope: Allstory magazine. We chatted on the phone during my agent search and she was most gracious to me in offering suggestions. I never forget those who go out of their way for people.

This wine club is the best we've ever seen or been a member of and they call you family. And you know - I do feel like family with them.

Sonoma Trip Report Day 2: MacMurray Ranch Photos

2010-09-09T12:30:00.002-04:00

MacMurray Ranch - open for special events only

One of several food and wine tasting tents

Picnic tables to sit, eat, drink, and talk comfortably

Kate (the redhead) in the MacMurray Ranch wine booth

Fred's Redwood tree (he planted it in the 40s) and the Prune Barn

Fred's saddle

Fred's painting (he painted this)

The MacMurray ranch house

The reverse side of the MacMurray Ranch sign (beautiful vineyards all around)

Sonoma Trip Report Day 2: MacMurray Ranch

2010-09-09T11:44:00.000-04:00

Taste of Sonoma

MacMurray Ranch

by Rich

It was a beautiful, sunny, 82 degree day as we pulled into the grassy parking area on the property of MacMurray Ranch in the Middle Reach of the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County wine country. MacMurray Ranch was purchased by actor Fred MacMurray in 1941. Fred raised award-winning cattle on the ranch for 50 years.

The ranch has been owned since 1996 by Gallo Family Vineyards (450 of the ranch’s 1500 acres are now planted with Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah, and Zinfandel vines) and managed by Fred and June Haver’s daughter Kate. We met Kate at the Winemakers Dinner last year at Disneyland. She invited us to visit the ranch, but we didn’t know when we would get the chance -- until now.

We felt the history of the ranch as we walked toward the event we were attending -- the Sonoma County Wine Country Weekend Taste of Sonoma. And we felt very privileged to be here -- the ranch is open to the public only for a few special events like this.

Because we purchased discounted tickets for this event with a Visa Signature card, we were invited into the Visa Signature Lounge where special wines and local cheeses were being served.

After enjoying the lounge for a while, we ventured to the other tents representing the four appellations of the Sonoma wine country: Alexander Valley, Dry Creek Valley, Russian River Valley, and Sonoma Valley.

Some of the food and wine we experienced in the tents were:

Vineyards
Ashton Vineyards, Balletto Vineyards, Buena Vista Carneros, Chateau St. Jean, Deerfield Ranch, Deloach Vineyards, Delorimier Winery, Ehret Family Winery, Everett Ridge Winery, Francis Ford Coppola Winery, Frick Winery, Geyser Peak Winery, Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards, Hartford Family Winery, Harvest Moon Winery, Hook & Ladder Winery, Kendall-Jackson, Kenwood Vineyards, Kokomo Winery, MacMurray Ranch, Mill Creek Vineyards, Rancho Zabaco, Ravenswood Winery, Roadhouse Winery, St. Francis Winery, Simi Winery, Stryker Sonoma Winery, Terlato Family Vineyards.

Wines
Barbera, Bordeaux, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Carignane, Chardonnay, Cinsaut, Fumé Blanc, Grenache Blanc, Malvasia Bianca, Marsanne Roussanne, Meritage, Merlot, Petite Sirah, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, Primitivo, Rosé, Sagrantino, Sangiovese, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Syrah, Viognier, Zinfandel, as well as special blends like the new Director’s Cut Cinema (Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Cabernet Franc, and Petite Sirah) from the Francis Ford Coppola Winery.

Food
Bear Braised Prawn over Creamy Polenta with Montasio Cheese and Spicy Coulis (Hopmonk Tavern), Burrata Beef Tartar BLT with Heirloom Tomato Jam (Simi Winery), Gruyere Cheese Gougere, "Mano Formate" Guanciale, Grilled Fig, Argula & Fig Vin Cotto (The Girl and The Fig), Kobe Beef Slider (John Ash, Vintners Inn), Ricotta & Pork Meatball, Brioche Bun, San Marzano Tomato Sauce (Estate), Summer Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho with Caviar (Mosaic Restaurant), Zin Biscuits with House Cured Ham (Zin Restaurant).

This does not cover all the food and wine we enjoyed. We did not, however, come close to trying something from all 200 wineries and 40 food booths.

Between visits to the tents, we relaxed at the picnic tables set up on the property and took in a lovely view of the ranch house that Fred had renovated for his family.

We also visited several other interesting places:

Gloria Ferrer Bubble Lounge
We enjoyed the Blanc de Blanc and their other special bubbly blend with some snacks.

Grilling Station
After watching a couple grilling demonstrations, we tasted the grilled angus beef with roasted poblano sauce.

Sonoma County Marketplace
We wandered through the vendors’ booths, stopping only once for a sample of the microbrew beer from Third Street Aleworks Brewpub.

The Prune Barn & Kate MacMurray
The highlight of the day occurred when we visited the Prune Barn. Here Kate MacMurray was giving a history of the ranch and her family, as well as explaining the pictures and memorabilia displayed in the barn. After listening to Kate’s talk, we explored the barn and its memories. Then we got to talk to Kate personally and remind her that we met her at the Disneyland Food & Wine Festival. She was so sweet, talking with us, holding our hands, and telling us how happy she was to see us again and how grateful she was that we were supporting this wonderful event and the charities it helped. Kate is a very special, gracious woman, much as you might imagine her father was.

Shortly after visiting with Kate, we stopped by the Visa Signature Lounge again to try all the cheeses and some more wine before departing the ranch after an incredible day of wine, food, history, and the personal touch of Kate MacMurray.

Next post: Photos from this event

Sonoma Coast Photos

2010-09-08T18:24:00.002-04:00

The view from our room at Timber Cove Inn

Down by the sea

Beach at bottom of cliffs

Sun about to set

The sun is getting closer to setting

The sun has set over a layer of fog

Sonoma Trip Report Day 1: Timber Cove Inn

2010-09-08T18:09:00.002-04:00

This trip came about because of what I mentioned in the previous post - after a long, hot, dry Las Vegas summer with outings only to Disneyland and the beach, we were craving something a little more rustic. And we got it at Timber Cove Inn on the Sonoma Coast.

It had been 12 years since our last visit to this rustic hideaway on the ocean. Since then we had lived in Oregon twice, Ohio for a year, Florida for four years, and Las Vegas now for two and a half. What would it feel like to return to Sonoma?

We were happy to learn we could fly directly to Santa Rosa from Las Vegas, avoiding the big 3 airports in the San Francisco Bay Area. From Santa Rosa the drive to Timber Cove was about 1-1/2 hours but the last few miles are on narrow, curving, winding roads.

As it turned out, we found out our flight would be 2 hours late - only after we were already at the airport. This was not happy news because we'd planned on arriving before dark and hoped to pick up some picnic fixings and some wine along the way to enjoy an evening meal in our room. This delay put us driving in the dark on a very foggy evening and it was quite a tense drive. At that time of night, cows are known to come down from the hills and hang out on the side of the road - and they took us by surprise when we saw the first one inches from the car.

But we arrived safely and after checking in at the front desk (you used to check in at the bar - this would be the first of a few changes that took place after the remodel just 2 years ago), we made a reservation for dinner in the waterfront dining room.

The dining room seemed more rustic this time - plain tables with no tablecloths like we remembered - and the menu had changed. Instead of entrees such as seafood pasta, the entrees were all protein-based such as salmon, halibut, steak, chicken, lamb, and risotto. Rich ordered the steak and I ordered the risotto and we shared. Both were absolutely delicious and the serving size was not too large, which we were concerned about with eating so late at night. By the time we finished dinner, it was close to 9:30-10:00 pm. (The next night we shared the Halibut and the Salmon after hearing rave reviews at the firepit.)

Friday night is locals night and there was a Latin band/singer in the lounge and grey-haired Bay Area ex-hippie types were dancing - especially one group of women. I chuckled because it was so Northern California. As a brief note, Rich and I met while living in the San Francisco area - he lived there for 18 years and it was 22 years for me for an average of 20 years. :)

Our room was at the far end of the main building. All rooms at Timber Cove Inn are funky, to say the least. We had the room with the strange jacuzzi so deep you'd have to have a ladder to climb out of it, and a sauna of all things. So 1970s. But the fireplace was wonderful (gas - not wood like before). When we went out to sit by the firepit after dinner, we discussed the individual weirdnesses of our rooms.

Unfortunately, one Bay Area woman (I knew it before she even said where she was from. In fact, I blurted out, "What part of the Bay Area are you from?") was dominating the conversation, and you could tell the rest of us wanted to throw her off the cliff. lol! This was not my idea of a good time - especially on my vacation. But I suspect she'd had a little too much wine to drink so I'll have to overlook her obnoxious behavior. But the romantic, private setting we'd enjoyed before was starting to feel like group camp out by the firepit. You never know who you're going to be sharing it with, but the San Rafael dentist sitting closest to us did play a little trick on her.

Here's how the firepit conversation went. When you arrived, the obnoxious woman from Alameda would say, "New person, new person, you have to tell us where you're from" and when you did, she'd say, "I'm sorry." Ha, ha, ha! She didn't like my answer when I said I was from all over. She didn't like it when I said I'd been having adventures. She especially didn't like it when I said I was now living in Vegas.

So what did the dentist say when she made a point of saying, "There's a child here" as if that was a terrible thing? When asked where he was from, he said he was the poor white trash living in the trailer park down the road. That shut her up - for a moment. Actually, he made a point of telling all of us he was paying $400 a month each for 3 slips for his little vacation on the ocean.

Finally, her little group left and the rest of us (most from Orange County in Southern California) had a fun, normal chat around the firepit. We left that group close to midnight. How ironic it took a little firepit on the ocean to keep us up that late when we live in a town that stays open 24/7.

I'll post some pictures taken of the coast in the next post.

The Napa Rose Lounge

2010-08-04T17:30:00.001-04:00

Okay, so I've really been feeling sorry for myself this summer - sick of the Vegas heat with no place to go - while the rest of the world - the people in my world - are off to Hawaii, the Pacific Northwest, San Francisco, and Tahiti. lol! At least in Florida we had the beach and Disney. But, there are two things about a Vegas summer that are better than a Florida summer:

The summer heat doesn't last nearly as long in Vegas - 3 months compared to 6 months.
The heat in Vegas isn't quite as bad due to low humidity - it's all about the sun and the desert is what they must have been thinking about when they coined the phrase "made in the shade." It makes a huge difference. Nighttime is heavenly in the desert and there are no bugs.

I've loved living vicariously through every trip, but about every 6 weeks we must escape, so we head off to our happy place - SoCal - and end up staying over at Disney's The Grand Californian with day trips to the beach. And we often find ourselves at the Napa Rose Lounge.

The first time we went to Napa Rose, we had the Chef's menu with wine pairings. The food was fabulous, the service was fabulous, and the meal was paced to our pace, which lasted about 3 hours.

But since then, we've discovered the Napa Rose Lounge, where we can sit more informally, but enjoy the same great food and service. It's a great mix of casual elegance. We're so tempted to put in a Lounge in our own home - a nice table with two comfy chairs where we can sit and talk and sip wine and eat a little snack.

For this visit to the Lounge, Rich ordered us each a glass of red wine (don't ask--I don't recall) and then ordered one of their famous appetizers for two:

Seven Sparkling Sins - An Array of Tantalizations Featuring Spicy Beef & Peanut Roll, Curried Crab Taco, Seared Ahi Nacho, Shrimp in Cucumber Wrap with Lemon Dill Creme, Citrus Cured Salmon Corn Cake, Tangierine Grilled Scallop and Grape Leaves Stuffed with Pheasant.

We hadn't tried this before because Rich is allergic to shellfish, but we decided to go ahead and leave the shellfish to me (oh, darn), and he could double up on what he could eat. And it was all pure deliciousness.

We love sharing appetizers, small plates, tapas, etc., and this is one reason we enjoy the tasting booths at Epcot's Food & Wine Festival - we'll be there soon - the payoff for staying home most of the summer.

Now, here's the best part - for dessert and after "dinner" drinks, we always head out to the Napa Rose Lounge fire pit. The servers are always so solicitous about whether we're okay when there are others already sitting out there. They figure we want to enjoy a quiet, romantic alone-time. But the truth is, we always enjoy the chats around the fire pit with other people - most often our ex San Francisco Bay Area neighbors and we have much in common with plenty to talk about. This time we had a nice chat with a couple and their 2 knowledgeable and interesting adult sons, and after awhile, they headed back to the parks, and gave us some alone-time.

When we first sat down, we ordered drinks - Scotch for Rich (12-year Macallan), and a glass of Disney's Magicale sparkling wine for me. Usually, it's too sweet for me, but it seemed perfect as part of my dessset. And also dessert - the yummiest dessert ever:

Tahitian Vanilla Creme Brulee - with Lime Marinated Raspberries and Passion Fruit Sauce

This is just amazing. I don't think I have the words to truly explain how the bite into the creme brulee explodes in your mouth as it becomes one with the raspberries underneath and then becomes something totally new and different. WOW! I'm craving it right now! How many more weeks until our next trip? Yep, we'll manage to return sometime before our F&W Festival trip to WDW. I'm feeling much better now! :)

Golden Vine Winery and Wine Country Trattoria

2010-08-03T18:39:00.001-04:00

Golden Vine Winery

So picture this - sunshine, 70 degrees, low humidity, slight breeze blowing in the wind, the scent of grapes and oak mingling, the two of us sipping a nice glass of wine, and feeling mighty happy. Yep, that was us at the Golden Vine Winery at Disney's California Adventure (DCA) just two-and-a-half weeks ago. It feels like forever.

The Golden Vine Winery, where you can sip wines by the glass, chat, relax, and people-watch, is one of our favorite spots in all of Disneyland and certainly DCA. While the Wine Country Trattoria was undergoing a renovation, our beloved Golden Vine Winery was closed. Gasp! It was so painful - lol! At least, we had the Food & Wine Festival to keep us busy during interim. Yet, we couldn't wait for it to reopen.

Rich had a glass of Pinot Noir and I had a glass of Zinfandel - and, while we don't recall the the names of the wineries, but we do recall speaking of Bob & Larry. :) But the weird thing about it is the wine is served in plastic wine glasses so when my glass got a bit low, a gust of wind blew up and spilled the rest of my wine. I was a bit disappointed, but we were on our way to Disneyland with a nightcap at Hearthstone Lounge for another glass of wine, so I overcame the temptation to get a refill.

Wine Country Trattoria

We'd had our eye on this restaurant ever since we first saw it, but had never gotten around to dining there. Recently, they remodeled it and changed the menu, and from all reports, it's even better now. We chose to dine al fresco, and it's one of the loveliest locations in all of DCA - next door to the Golden Vine Winery, and next to the venue we were seated in for the Wine Reception at last year's Food & Wine Festival, also closed this year during the renovation.

After some yummy warm bread was delivered to our table, the CM took our orders.

Appetizer (Shared): The Italian Slice - Our version of an old favorite! Diced Pepperoncini, Kalamata Olives, Roma Tomatoes, Cucumbers and shaved Parmesan with Red Wine Vinaigrette.

Entrees:

Kathy: Quattro Pomodoro, rustic blend of Tomatoes, Garlic, and Basil

Rich: Alla Vongole, Clams, Parsley, Garlic, Olive Oil, and White Wine

Wine: Russo, The Don Nero d'Avola IGT, Sicilia, Italy

The funny story I'm going to tell on ourselves is that when we saw the words "Italian Slice" and "Kalamata Olives," our first thought was "Kalamata Olive Flatbread" from Jiko. Actually, it was a wedge of lettuce - imagine sharing that. But, as it turned out, it worked out well. The CM gave us an extra plate, and we weren't too full for our entrees, which were actually quite filling. lol!

This was our first time dining here, and we'll definitely make a return visit. The location alone is worth it, and the food is quite tasty!

July Birthday Trip at the Grand Californian

2010-07-28T14:46:00.001-04:00

For my July birthday, we recently spent a long weekend at the Grand Californian at Disneyland Resort. The GC seems to be the only place we want to stay when we head for SoCal these days. And because it was my birthday and the World of Color was new this summer, we thought if we booked a park view, we might have a slight chance of watching the World of Color from our room - and we did - sort of. Here are some of the lowlights and highlights:

Lowlights

Our room wasn't ready when we checked in and we must say, we had the worst CM we've had at the GC. Usually, they're efficient, friendly, and inquisitive, asking questions like, "Any celebrations for this trip?" Usually the answer is no or something silly like, "The weekend" or whatever. But this time we had something real to celebrate so, of course, she didn't ask.

Anyway, she took forever going back and forth to the back room, and we hoped it meant we were getting some fabulous upgrade - like a villa perhaps? (We were so envious of the lady next to us checking into the villas). Nope. It just meant our room wasn't ready. Rich brought up my birthday and so she gave me a "Happy Birthday" button and an "I'm Celebrating" button for Rich. Okay, nothing too special that we haven't done before - lol!

The other lowlight was waiting forever to get drink service out by the pool. Usually, we sit by the main pool but this time our room was located with the DVC villas and so we sat out by the new pool and another jacuzzi (sorely-needed). But each server would stop taking orders right next to us and we thought we'd never get served - a big reason we changed our ressies and stayed at the GC, imagining that great drink service out by the pool. :)

Highlights

We headed for our favorite lobby bar - Hearthstone Lounge, and we each had a yummy Habanero Margarita - the best anywhere. This probably looks familiar to you because we always order this on every trip - lol!

We sat and relaxed and drank our drink and kept checking the cell phone for a text message that our room was ready, but it was finally the official check-in time and still no word so Rich went over to the front desk while I relaxed with the rest of my drink.

Rich was gone for some time but when he returned, he reported he had talked with a much better CM and they got us a park view overlooking the "World of Color" area - woo hoo!!!

The "Mulholland Madness" ride was right off of our balcony, so it was pretty noisy during the day, but at night, this ride shut down for the World of Color, which takes place in the lagoon in front of the Mickey wheel.

It was a beautiful sight at night, and you could hear the show either by leaving your slider open or by tuning into the Disneyland Resort channel on the in-room TV. There were 2 shows a night during our stay - one at 9:00 and then again at 10:30. (The villas have a more head-on view of the show). Anyway, in-between shows, there were fireworks at Disneyland Park at 9:30, so it was a busy, noisy night. But after living 2 miles from the Magic Kingdom in Orlando for a year, we were used to fireworks shooting off outside our windows - lol!

More Highlights

Some of the highlights of the trip were:

Strolling Disneyland Park at night when it wasn't so crowded because so many were flocking to World of Color at DCA
"Pirates of the Caribbean" - short line and a must-do on every trip
Pinocchio's new candy store in Fantasyland
The new "It's A Small World" with characters introduced throughout the attraction like Lilo and Stitch in Hawaii
Date Night at Disneyland - dancing to a live Big Band in Carnation Plaza
Eating a churro in Fantasyland - it has to be done here or it isn't the same - lol
Listening to David Wayne at Downtown Disney
Soaking up the Grand Californian - wish we could live here
Enjoying FABs out by the pool - when we finally got them
Enjoying a glass of wine al fresco at the Golden Vine Winery now that it's reopened - yay!
Discovering an outdoor fireplace - in addition to the big fireplace in the lobby and the Hearthstone Lounge and firepit at Napa Rose Lounge - love these outdoor fire venues at the GC
Wine Country Trattoria - first time ever and it was just remodeled - love this area and will write about it in a separate post
Sharing a Monterey Clam Chowder bread bowl at Pacific Wharf Cafe and dining alfresco waterside in DCA
Napa Rose Lounge - we're hooked on this fabulous lounge where you can sit comfortably and have the same fabulous food/service as the restaurant - and the fun chatting out by the firepit over drinks with other Disney fans afterwards - more on that in separate post
Lunch at Duke's at Huntington Beach - we always take a day trip to the beach and Duke's is one of our favorite places to soak up good food, drinks, beach views, and Hawaiian atmosphere
Chef Michael Chiarello's "Napa Style" at South Coast Plaza - did a bit of shopping and would love to decorate our home in Napa style

Well, that's all I can recall for now - but will eventually get around to posting our thoughts on our first experience at Wine Country Trattoria and our return to Napa Rose Lounge.

Overall, it was another wonderful trip and it keeps getting harder and harder to return home to Vegas. We either have to move closer to Disneyland or closer to Disney World again. This 4-hour drive or 4-hour flight thingie isn't working. :)

Disney's Food and Wine Festival 2010 Finale Part 2

2010-06-18T18:13:00.002-04:00

TASTE: FOOD + WINE + LIFE

By Rich
For our second visit to this year’s Disney’s California Adventure (DCA) Food & Wine Festival, we decided to focus on the main event for us -- Taste: Food + Wine + Life. We had gotten tickets early at a discounted Annual Passholder rate.

The night of the event arrived, Saturday, May 28. We had already scouted out the location, so we headed into DCA via the Grand Californian entrance and arrived at the event location. Unfortunately, we were told that to get into the event, we had to go outside DCA and sign in at the table near the entrance gates. Huh? When did this plan come about? We had received no information about where to meet, so we were quite frustrated.

Dutifully, we headed out of the park, found the table, and signed in. Then we got in a long line with everyone else. Why in the world didn’t they let attendees who already had park admission go right to the event? Duh!

While in line we met a mother and daughter who we chatted with for awhile. The daughter had also been to the Party for the Senses at Walt Disney World, so we compared notes about the two.

Kathy's Note: We had a blast chatting with these two women while waiting in the long line and gave them our phone number when asked at the end of the evening. It was the daughter's first trip to Disneyland, so we gave her some tips and tricks, which she was so happy to receive. I always wonder what people will think when they're regular Disney World park-goers and they go to Disneyland for the first time.

But chatting with these ladies made me miss Epcot's Food & Wine Festival so much - it really is far superior to the one at DCA - just too small of a venue so everything is scaled back. The daughter couldn't believe we were handed cards with every menu item listed. Apparently, the Party for the Senses has a huge number of items and listing them on a card would be impossible.

Back to Rich: Finally, at 7:30 we were finally led into the park and into the venue. It was crowded. The early birds had already gobbled up the seats at the tables, so the rest of us were left to fight the crowds for standing room at smaller tables. (Apparently, at Epcot, you can pay extra to reserve special tables - something new at last year's Festival - we're thinking it's probably worth it.)

The Menu

Andrew Sutton, Napa Rose
Grilled Salmon Cone

Jason Martin, Steakhouse 55
Buffalo Short Rib Cassoulet

Sean Layne, Big Thunder Ranch Barbecue
Petite Lamb Chop

Moises Carranz, Blue Bayou
Cast Iron Prawns

Martha Sigala, Cafe Orleans
Beef Braccole & Chicory Fava Bean Puree

Darrin Finkel, Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen
Cajun Boudin Stuffed Quail

Wendie Huffman, House of Blues
Smoked Cowboy Steak Sliders

Marcel St Pierre, Club 33
Blue Foot Chicken Gougere and Purslane Sabayon

Nick Weber, Catal Resstaurant & Uva Bar
Piquillo Peppers with Goat Cheese

Greg Stillman, Naples Ristorante
Gazpacho with Avocado & Spicy Rock Shrimp

Jean-Marc Viallet
A delightful suite of tempting sweets to celebrate the art of flavor

Special Guest Chefs:

Chef Jamie Gwen
Steak & Mushroom Reuben Sliders

Chef Anne Burrell
Chicken Milanese & Escarole Salad

Favorites

Despite the crowds, the long lines for food and wine, and general chaos, we managed to try most of the tastings and plenty of wine. We also had some beer tastings too.

Rich’s favorite tastings: Grilled Salmon Cone, Petite Lamb Chop, Chicken Milanese & Escarole Salad, and several yummy desserts. Runners Up: Buffalo Short Rib Cassoulet and Piquillo Peppers with Goat Cheese. Least favorite: Steak & Mushroom Reuben Sliders – the meat was so chewy it caused the mushroom to fall on my shoe.

Kathy’s favorite tastings: I think I liked everything, even the Steak & Mushroom Reuben slider - mine didn't fall on my shoe - lol! But the two most memorable were the Petite Lamp Chop and the Grilled Salmon Cone.

The Chefs

The true highlight of the evening was meeting, chatting with, and getting a photo of Andrew Sutton, the amazing executive chef of Napa Rose at the Grand Californian. The wonderful thing about Andrew is that he is an incredible chef, but he is also very humble. He took the time to talk to us (and pose for a photo). When we mentioned that we had had his tasting menu, he proceeded to tell us how they chose the items for the menu. Unbelievable. If we get back to the Food & Wine Festival next year, I want to sign up for the event where I can cook with Andrew in his kitchen.

Jason Martin of Steakhouse 55 sure knows how to cook a steak (as he should), but he is not comfortable with crowds. He basically stood there and passed out plates of food.

Jamie Gwen was very friendly, although her sliders were not very good.

Anne Burrell presented a yummy plate of food, but she hid behind a sign, acting as if she would catch something unfortunate from the rift-raft visiting her table.

Kathy's Comment: The previous night we were almost run over by Chef Anne Burrell as she was heading for the Hearthstone Lounge to pick up her entourage and then head off somewhere - she was probably late to some event, but her behavior was rather rude. Contrast that to the gracious humility of Chef Andrew Sutton - a pro is a pro is a pro.

The Entertainment

Kathy's Comment: From what we understand, entertainment at the Party for the Senses at WDW is often La Nouba (Le Cirque). Well, the opening entertainment here was what we're calling a California-style Latin band - this type of music seems to be quite popular at Downtown Disney and we love it. But, later, this music was replaced by some loud, crazy, bartender showman who had 2 volunteers come up on stage and prepare a drink. He was rather lame but one of the guests was absolutely hilarious and we enjoyed cheering him on. But right after that, we decided it was time to duck out. lol!

Summary

After trying most of the food, much of the wine, and a couple of the beers, we decided to head out. We were tired, and we wanted to head over to Downtown Disney to listen to Alturas, the fantastic Bolivian band, and buy a couple of their CDs.

The friendly guys at the beer tasting booth rinsed out our beer glasses and put them in plush bags. Then, as we headed out of the venue, a CM put our wine glasses in another bag.

Overall it was a fine event. The food was delicious (mostly), the wine was plentiful (although the servers knew absolutely nothing about the wines they were serving except whether they were red or white), and the souvenir glasses are lovely.

We would do this event again? Probably not. Too many people in too small a space and too few tastings. Unfortunately, DCA does not have the space that WDW has for these events, and they suffer because of that.

If I can just cook with Andrew Sutton next year, that will make the 2011 DCA Food & Wine Festival worth it. I leave you with a description of the Napa Rose Cooking School:

“Napa Rose Cooking School: Disney Executive Chef Andrew Sutton leads this hands-on course. Each class creates and enjoys a four-course meal, expertly paired with wines, and each class member goes home with a white chef’s coat embroidered with the festival logo. This rare opportunity takes place in the show kitchen of the renowned Napa Rose restaurant at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa.”

Disney California's Food and Wine Festival 2010 Finale Part 1

2010-06-13T16:44:00.001-04:00

We stayed at the Grand Californian for the kickoff weekend of the Food & Wine Festival in April and returned to the Grand Californian for the Finale - mostly because we had booked the Taste event, which is the culmination of everything that has gone on before during the festival. It's similar to the Party for the Senses at Walt Disney World - more on that in Part 2.

But pulling up to the Grand Californian is like coming home - this was the first time in our new Kona Blue Mustang. BTW, we were concerned how the 4-hour drive would feel in the Mustang, but it was fabulous. What it lacks in luxury, it more than makes up for in fun and fit - it feels like you and the car are one.

On our last trip, we booked a standard room and were upgraded to a pool view on one side, just off the lobby with a fabulous mezzanine view. We were serenaded to sleep each night to piano music. This time we also booked a standard room and while we weren't upgraded (holiday weekend), we were pleasantly surprised to be overlooking the courtyard with tall pine trees and the monorail swooshing by just outside our balcony. In some ways, it was the best view yet, and we found it to be so relaxing.

Highlights

Here are some of the highlights of the trip (in no particular order):

Our fabulous room at the Grand Californian
Lunch and drink service out by the pool - perfect pool day!
Alturas Peruvian Band/David Wayne music in Downtown Disney
Glotini and Ecotini FABs in the Hearthstone Lounge
Pirates of the Caribbean - the BEST!
Haunted Mansion - we so miss the new WDW update, but this is fun, too!
Train from Main Street to New Orleans Square
Tribute to Captain EO - seemed rather dated but still fun to see again
Winnie the Pooh - in the old Country Bears Location - made us hungry for cake and, what do you know, there was a cupcake shop right outside and we each had one - yum, yum!!
Lunch at Hungry Bear overlooking the canoes - haven't eaten here in years
Dinner at Rancho del Zacolo - a "must" on every trip
Lunch at Cocina Cucamonga - carne asada/chicken tamale combo
Day One Disneyland Exhibit
Soft serve ice cream at Catch a Flave next to the Coppertone billboard
Chatting with WDW fans while in line for Taste - fun to offer Disneyland tips
Taste - Food & Wine Party Extravaganza - details in Part 2 written by Rich
Celebrity sightings
Huntington Beach - lunch at Fish City Tacos - drive down PCH to Dana Point, including Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, and a drive through Laguna Hills
Househunting in Huntington Harbor - could so live there
Driving the Mustang (Kathy) through the old neighborhoods

One of the most interesting new attractions for us was called "Day One Disneyland" - where the Bank of America/Annual Passholder office used to be - right next to the newly-returned "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln."

We bought a replica of an original ticket book - each ticket shows describes each A, B, C, D, E ride. Way COOL!! Check out pics of the Gallery over on Mice Chat.

On one of our trips last year as we drove down Katella to stop and fill up the tank at our usual gas station before entering the freeway, I glanced out the window and said sadly, "Either we move here or we stop coming here--I can't keep leaving." Leaving this time was the hardest ever - I didn't want to go back to Vegas. But it was good to see our home again and our kitties. We are blessed with the best pet sitter we've ever had and we know our kitties are well cared for.

But we can be just as swayed to embrace the Florida lifestyle, too, should an opportunity present itself. We're just as undecided as ever about what we'd choose - Orange County, CA or Orange County, FL - Disneyland or Disney World - Huntington Beach or Cocoa Beach. We love them all!

F&W Festival West: Final Day

2010-05-02T14:01:00.002-04:00

We were looking forward to attending church in Huntington Beach for the first time today. I grew up in nearby Westminster from the tail-end of the first grade through the seventh grade (then on to Santa Ana and Fountain Valley). This part of Westminster has changed greatly since my childhood as it is now known as Little Saigon. (In my day, most were from Ohio and other midwestern states). But Huntington Beach today feels like the Westminster of yesterday.

We inhaled the fresh salty scent of the ocean air as soon as we stepped out of our car, and walked into church and my senses immediately transported me to the past. The people were friendly and welcoming and we felt totally at home - we could so see us living here - if we could find something decent to live in for less than half a million. :)

After the service, we drove to Newport Beach, intending to eat brunch at our favorite Bluewater Grill. But we arrived later than usual and the parking area was full. Then we remembered noticing The Cannery across the Channel, which had valet parking, so we chose to eat there instead. And what a great decision. We were seated out on the patio overlooking the Channel where yachts were docked.

The link above shows the menu and this is what we had:

First of all, our waitress delivered a fresh basket of bread, including hot cornbread with whole kernels of corn - delish - quite tasty with the Bloody Marys, too. Then our entrees were delivered:

Rich: Brendon's Filet Tournedos & Eggs w/ Skillet Onion Potatoes

Kathy: Seafood Omelet - Shrimp, Scallops, Blue Crab Meat, Chipotle Cream Sauce

We were surrounded by a jovial crowd, celebrating birthdays, and praising the Lord - who says southern Californians aren't Christian? lol!

After our wonderful brunch, we drove down PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) to Laguna Beach and then back to Disneyland through Costa Mesa.

Sometime during the afternoon we made our way back to Hearthstone Lounge at the GC - our server remembered us - very nice lady, I must add. The service throughout the GC and our entire SoCal trip was superb. We remembered the Habanero Margaritas from a previous trip so we each ordered one of those. The Habanero adds a nice kick to the Margarita.

There's an assortment of seating areas in the Hearthstone Lounge. We found our favorite comfy overstuffed chairs by a window, and as soon as they were vacated, we claimed them. A group had several tables squeezed together but as soon as the 2-sofa seating area was available, they changed places, too. We couldn't help but notice the two guys who ordered the Blue Glo-Tinis. I used to insist I would never drink a blue drink but tried one once and they are scrumptious - may have to try this next time.

Later that day we returned to the Festival and tasted the Italian wines - we've had better Italian wine or maybe these wines needed to be paired with food.

I keep wondering what we ate later that day, and I suspect this is the day we had the cheese plate and quesadilla I reported on yesterday - I thought we were eating way too much yesterday. lol! Next time, I'll have to take notes.

This was the last night we'd be serenaded to sleep by the lobby pianist and it was so fabulous. Suddenly it dawned on me why everybody plays "Hotel California" - it seems to be the theme song for Downtown Disney/the Grand Californian/DCA area. Very fitting! Here's a Downtown Disney favorite, David Wayne on guitar with Carlos Lopez on drums:

We did our usual shopping at Basin, and stocked up on body lotions that are a necessary part of life in the desert. After shopping at DD, we popped into the Pizzeria for a snack to take back to the room and grabbed a Greek salad. It was tasty, but to make it a great salad, they should add some Kalamata Olives! :)

We packed our bags, went to sleep, and the next morning we ordered room service breakfast. Here, again, we must praise the GC service. In re-reading our WDW reports, one morning AKL had a two-hour wait for room service breakfast - we cancelled after the first hour when they reported it would be another hour, So, we are thankful, indeed, every time the GC follows through with outstanding service, including fast room service delivery.

We would have been terribly sad to leave the GC, except that we'll be returning later this month. It truly feels like our home resort.

If we're hoping that 2010 is the year we finally decide where we'll live next - Southern California or Florida - it's going to be quite a ride because we are torn in two equal parts between our two favorite places. So, in case you're keeping score:

2010 Score:

WDW = 1
Disneyland = 1

F&W Festival West Day 2 Part 3

2010-04-29T05:28:00.001-04:00

Before I get to our evening at Disneyland, I wanted to mention that we went back to the Festival Showplace to try the Artisanal cheeses, a quesadilla, and a glass of wine from the Star Lounge while observing some of the wine talks from afar. Rich had the "XYZin," which we thought was a clever name, and I had the "Magicale" that the CM recommended in the Festival gift shop. Magicale is a sweet, Disney sparkling wine, best with dessert, I would think. Anyway, this was a pleasant break from things, and we enjoyed the atmosphere. For a full list of F&W offerings, check out the list on Allears.

For additional pics, see Laura's blog on Allears. BTW, we met Laura standing in line at the Sweet Sunday event last year and every once in awhile you meet somebody who you basically disagree with on everything - lol - so the profiterole she thought was too dry was heavenly to us. She also posted videos of the new World of Color she was able to observe being tested from her DVC GVC (Grand Californian Villa) - so check them out.

This was the first time we'd seen what it's going to look like during the day and we were a bit unpleasantly surprised at how you can view the mechanical part of it during the day. Guess the water wasn't all that deep when they first built this area. We're disappointed that this seems to have ruined what little water Disneyland has compared to Disney World.

Anyway, on to Disneyland. We waited long enough for the 6:30 parade to be over, and then headed into the park. We arrived at that magical time when the sun is setting and the old-fashioned lamps are lighting up on Main Street. We strolled through the mark and got in the short line to ride Pirates. It was a blast, as usual, and it's hard to ride the teeny tiny version of Pirates at WDW - on our last trip to WDW in January, we couldn't help but notice how obviously lacking several scenes are - how could Disney be content with such a mini-version of such a popular ride?

We took the back way past Big Thunder Mountain, Big Thunder Ranch and to Fantasyland - a favorite route at Disneyland to us. We got in the always long line of Peter Pan (about 30 minutes), and noticed how we were the oldest people in line - lol! We were the grandparents without the grandkids - ha! We feel much more in our league at WDW with more people our age (and way older) enjoying Disney without kids.

From Peter Pan, it was a short walk to the Carnation Plaza Gardens where a band was playing and the crowd was dancing. Yep, it's "Date Night at Disneyland" - a long-held tradition that Disneyland keeps alive. There are Southern California Big Band Dance Clubs who meet there every Saturday night to dance. Casual dancing there is also my tradition - I've been dancing there from way back when. So, we jumped in and bopped around a bit ourselves, and it was such a blast. Ah, I could just live there. Sigh!!!

After strolling, riding, dancing, and browsing, we found our way to my favorite place in all of Disneyland - Rancho del Zacalo - yes, it's a restaurant but it's a dining experience - dining al fresco next to the Big Thunder Mountain ride where you can hear the crowds (kids) laughing, screaming, and having a great time with bits of the BTM soundtrack (the mining town) in the distance. It's simply magical sitting there in the dark. We find it hard to ride BTMR at DL because it just feels better at WDW - somehow the seats are padded more and you're not thrown around - but some may prefer that effect - lol!

Here we each ordered the Carne Asada/Enchiladas combo plate - we could have shared this, in retrospect. We noticed the heat lamps were on - we were sweating - guess those poor southern Californians were cold - lol! Ironically, we feel extra warm coming in from Vegas because, and this really shocked us, it feels so humid in SoCal. We always thought of SoCal as dry, but when you're living in the desert where the humidity is as low as 7 percent at times, you really feel the humidity in CA.

We had another fabulous day and night at one of my favorites places on earth - it really is my "happy place."

F&W Festival West Day 2 Part 2

2010-04-29T04:50:00.001-04:00

Okay, so now I've even lost my notes so I'll really have to wing it - lol!

But at some point we decided to try the beer tastings. What we love about beer today is the variety - the microbrew phenomenon of the 90s has burst into regular breweries coming up with tasty and different beers, such as Coors' Blue Moon and Michelob's Shock Top - both citrusy and refreshing.

Another favorite was the Hana Brewing Company's Walua Wheat Ale with tropical passion fruit. This is difficult to find, although we were told there was a store that carried it in nearby Tustin - not going to help us here in Las Vegas unless we make a stop on our next Disneyland trip. Oh darn! :)

Jimmy Buffett's Land Shark was tasty, too, although we prefer the other 3 because they're more fruity. I suspect the Land Shark might be a better choice in hot, humid Florida. :) I'm getting mighty thirsty just thinking about these wonderful beers - and I've never been much of a beer lover - except for microbrews.

The serving portions were so large - the same 4 pours for $10 deal - I began to get tipsy and knew I'd better eat something halfway through the tastings. We asked if we could leave with our passport and come back in and the CM said we could. A hamburger on a plate walked by just then, and I realized I was starving. So we went to the nearby Taste Pilot's Grill next to "Soarin'" and the special menu item for the Festival was a pulled pork sandwich so we got one of those and a Wild Bleu Yonder Burger - Basted with tangy steak sauce and topped with bleu cheese crumble. We shared them and they were both delish.

Restored to some semblance of sobriety, we headed back to the beer tasting for the final 2 pours, saving Blue Moon for last because we were familiar with it. Wow - I can't want to go back and do this again. lol!

After all that, we probably then went back to our room for a nap or a rest before going to Disneyland for the evening. After all, it was Saturday night and we know what that means - "It's Date Night at Disneyland." I'll write about that in a separate post.

In the meantime, it's almost 5:00 and time for some of that Shock Top we have in the fridge. :)

Food and Wine Festival West: Day 2 Part 1

2010-04-26T19:01:00.002-04:00

We sat down to talk about what we did on Day 2 and realized we really can't remember the order we did everything - we didn't take any notes so we're doing well to remember anything - so I took some notes from our conversation about what we did. So here's day 2 in no particular order, except for maybe having the coffee in the room part in the morning.

After the weekend at Mandalay Bay where no in-room coffee could be had outside of room service or the coffee bar downstairs, we rejoiced in the fact that Disney is so good about providing a coffee maker and coffee in the rooms. Housekeeping is so fabulous that you can request extra coffee and they'll happily provide that - extra towels, robes, and turn down (without even asking) - love Disney service and love the service at the Grand Californian especially.

The night before we had purchased our favorite Mickey shortbread cookies from the GC gift shop (love that gift shop), so we had a couple of those with coffee for our breakfast. After everything we had done the day before, we woke up tired. Originally, we had planned to go to Disneyland this morning, but decided to sleep in, relax, and head for DCA when the Festival opened because that was our focus on this trip.

We were curious what special F&W menu item Pizza Oom Mow Mow might be offering so we headed in that direction. But it was closed and we couldn't see anything from outside, we kept walking around the Paradise Pier loop and jumped into the Toy Story line - can't pass up riding Toy Story.

When we first saw a pic of Toy Story at WDW, we were envious of the inside line with the theming all around. Well, after that experience, we realized how claustrophobic that is and appreciate the DCA Toy Story alfresco line - can get quite hot but it was very pleasant on this day - weather in the 70s on this trip. And there was something strange (to us) about the way Toy Story at WDW took off in the right - we're used to taking off in the left (okay, this may not be true, but this is what it felt like to us). I managed to get my highest score ever (nothing to brag about), but, still, Rich always out scores me. For some reason, I did better with Buzz Lightyear but so prefer Toy Story that we don't even do Buzz anymore.

After TS, we walked by Catch a Flave and it was open. We'd been talking about how amazingly delicious the DCA ice cream offerings (B-u-r-r Bank's Ice Cream and San Andreas Shakers) are but hadn't tried Catch a Flave. Paradise Pier knocks both our socks off because it's so reminiscent of our childhoods - mine at SoCal beach and Rich on the Jersey Shore.

There's the big Coppertone sign that we both remember as kids, and then Catch a Flave - soft serve just like when we were kids. So we each got a cone, sat on the bench, and ate our ice cream while people-watching. Then came the Green Men and I wanted to get up and shop but Rich said, "Oh, they'll just pass by." Ha! They stopped right in front of us and did their Army show. It was definitely time to pop into the shop and get some cool stuff.

A certain top caught my attention right away, and I decided to purchase it with our Reward Points, of course. We continued to run into issues with the cash registers not recognizing our new passes, but the supervisor would come over and fix it for us. Having the Premier Pass also started a conversation about how often did we go to both parks? We're curious how many people have this Premier Pass.

In the store, I noticed the pictures of The Pike and POP (Pacific Ocean Park) where my mother (middle girl in pic to right) hung out with her sisters when she was a kid. She took me there when I was a kid while they were still open. I remembered riding the roller coaster that jutted out over the Pacific Ocean (so scary!) shown in the artwork. The coaster in the background of my family picture is of The Cyclone Racer.

Sometime after this we wandered over to the Festival Showplace to taste the other food samples we hadn't tried yesterday. So we shared a mini white cheddar cheese bread bowl (delish) and the pulled pork sliders (yum, yum!)

Strolling DCA and stopping for a nosh now and then is a very satisfying way to spend the day.

BTW, on the way to DCA from the GC, Rich and I were walking along the GC corridor when all of a sudden I heard Rich shout, "Art!" There, sure enough, was our ex-boss (manager's manager) from the Silicon Valley company where we met. Art was instrumental in hiring both of us, so we owe Art our gratitude for our initial meeting. Art and his wife were down from the Bay Area to celebrate his wife's birthday. We chatted for a bit - it was great to see some old friends from our old stomping grounds, especially after moving east and living in Florida for almost 5 years. We've been reconnecting with the west coast and old friends ever since we moved back and that's been such a blessing.

Our problem now is that we feel tied to both coasts, including friends from both places, and no matter which choice we make about where to live next, we will sorely miss the other. If only we could live in both places. In the meantime, we have this Premier Pass, allowing us access to both parks - Disneyland and Disney World - pretty awesome!

Food and Wine Festival West: Day 1 Part 2

2010-04-26T16:54:00.001-04:00

The other night we celebrated posting the first day of our report on our two4disney blog by sipping a glass of our favorite Stone Cellars Chardonnay (discovered at WDW's Saratoga Springs Artist's Palette) in our 2010 Food & Wine Festival wine glasses sitting on top of our special F&W glass-etched coasters (coasters available to AP holders only). Woo hoo!

I had the nagging feeling that I had left out a bunch of stuff in yesterday's report, and Rich (thank you, sweetie!) reminded me of the following:

After the nosh at the Festival Showplace, we did the California wine walkabout in the Taste of California Marketplace. For $10 you are given a passport and an opportunity for 4 tastings. We had to laugh because they were "out" of the California passports and we were given one for Italy - on the first day? lol! We were approached by the usual schmoozers while standing in line and one local said, "I didn't like the Italian wine - I like our wine better." Okkkkay... People like that give us Californians a bad name (grin).

But we must admit, after tasting the Italian wine the next day, we agree - maybe Italian wine goes better with food. Anyway, because we didn't have the CA passport, I can't remember which wines we had but they were really quite good. I think we'll repeat this event next month and, hopefully, get a real CA passport.

Last year the walkabouts and food tastings weren't as visible as this year because the usual locale was undergoing remodeling. This year, there was more remodeling going on in the Golden Vine area and we so missed that venue. The problem with this year is that the Festival Showplace where the food samples are located is far from the wine walkabouts. One woman brought her cheese plate with her to the wine booths - not a bad idea because all of this drinking makes you hungry - wait until I tell you about the beer tastings - lol!

Anyway, after this walkabout, we walked back to the Showplace to purchase some F&W Festival items, such as the wine glasses and the coasters. There was some gorgeous artwork for sale that we'd love to have, but we're not sure about purchasing it this year. But this is when we went back to the resort for a swim in the pool.

After all of this walking and tasting and swimming, we were hungry again so we entered DCA through the special GC gate (love this), said hi to the friendly week day CM there - Chappy from Brooklyn - and walked back to the Pacific Wharf area to check out some menus for some of the special Festival items not usually on the menu. The item that got our attention was Cucina Cucamonga and the Anaheim Chile Relleno with local Anaheim chiles. We shared it and it was scrumptious!

Then we walked over to Disneyland to stroll around Main Street and to pick up some atmosphere and music in Downtown Disney. The ability to stroll between parks is awesome and one of the special things about Disneyland - it may be smaller but there's an intimate, almost family communal feeling about it.

As usual, a busy travel day - we always pack a lot in - no wonder I forgot half of it. :)

Food and Wine Festival West: Day 1 Part 1

2010-04-23T16:57:00.002-04:00

Our Passporter friends called this the Food & Wine Festival West and we thought it so appropriate, we titled our Disneyland trip report that. lol!

We left our home in Vegas about 9:30 a.m., stopped in Barstow around noon for lunch at Del Taco and arrived at the Grand Californian (GC) around 1:30 p.m. - pretty good timing with traffic, lunch stop, and rest stop. Much to our delight our standard room was upgraded to a pool view - woo hoo! And the room was ready when we arrived - this is a first for the GC. Not only that, but the room was located just off the lobby mezzanine area on the third floor, which meant we were serenaded by piano music throughout the day, and most importantly, at night before falling asleep. Wow - does it get any better than that? Oh, did we mention that we always valet park at the GC - gotta love that.

The service at the GC is just superb - the best of any Disney resort we've stayed anywhere. And maybe because it's also now a DVC property (Disney Vacation Club), they say "Welcome home" at the guard gate and you wish you could just move right in. So, we settled into our room and then headed to the ticket window to activate our Premier Passes. Because we just happened to have a Disneyland Annual Pass and a Disney World Annual Pass, Disney mailed us two Premier Passes, good for both parks as premium passes. Of course, we kept taking the CMs (Cast Members) offguard with this pass and the registers weren't all ready to accept it and give us our discounts automatically - often a supervisor had to come over and override it. We're hoping this is fixed by our next trip.

Once we had our brand-spanking new Premier passes, we entered DCA for the food and wine tastings, being held for the first time in the Stage 12 of the Hollywood Pictures Backlot (now called the Festival Showplace) on Hollywood Blvd. We saw the tracks for the new trolley were already laid, but won't be up and running until next year sometime. We chose 3 food samples and 2 wine tastings to share and grabbed a table outside. Friendly, friendly service all around. These are probably our favorites of all the samples, although we managed to try everything over the weekend.

Note: The food samples are very limited at DCA and why last year we booked so many special events. But our favorite event from last year wasn't offered this year so we opted to choose one special event and spend the reset of our time doing the tastings. We are so looking forward to returning to Epcot's F&W - Food & Wine Festival East - this fall because it really is outstanding.

Pictured at left is the Beer Battered Halibut, which was light and tasty, Ahi Tuna with Peanut Slaw, which was my favorite, and an especially yummy Ghirardelli chocolate profiterole. So, we shared the glass of white wine with the savory snacks, and shared the red wine with the dessert. A really delicious start to our Food and Wine tastings.

After this, we enjoyed a nice relaxing swim in the pool and spa, and then wandered over to Disneyland for some fun atmosphere with a brief stop in Downtown Disney to listen to guitarist David Wayne, accompanied by Carlos Lopez and to pick up 2 more CDs. Check it out:

Food and Wine Festival West: The Plan

2010-04-21T16:53:00.002-04:00

We're packing our flip flops, getting ready for the first of two trips to Disneyland for Disney's California Food & Wine Festival, held at DCA. Those who've followed our Disney blogs for any time know that Epcot's Food & Wine Festival at Disney World is our favorite time to be at WDW.

So we were thrilled to know that Disneyland also has a Food & Wine Festival - last year was our first attendance and we had a blast. For one thing, schmoozing at the MacMurray Ranch (actor Fred MacMurray's daughter) Winemaker's Dinner, we felt like Hollywood royalty as Kate shared stories of her father and Walt Disney and other Hollywood celebrities. We shared a table with a fun couple who were wine lovers and foodies - had their own wine blog - and traveled to the Oregon wine country where we had lived a couple of times briefly. And they introduced us to Kathy - the wine representatative from Gallo, the parent company of MacMurray Ranch Vineyards, who was hosting the event.

The following night we attended a wine tasting party, met a fun-loving ex-CM, Nancy, who hung out with us until we closed the place and then were reunited with Kathy, hugs all around like we were old friends. We introduced Kathy to Nancy and then after closing, we crashed Disneyland Park, while Nancy parted the parade crowd, had fun watching the local dancers for "Date Night at Disneyland."

Tip: Have learned that drinking copious amounts of wine is the best way to deal with parade crowds. :)

The following morning we attended Sweet Sundays, a favorite event of ours at Disney World, but one we did not particularly enjoy at Disneyland - we wouldn't do this again. But the main reason we booked so many ticketed events last year was that we'd heard the booth tastings weren't as plentiful at Disneyland - especially last year due to space constraints while one of the venues was being refurbished. This year, however, our favorite event - the evening wine tasting - isn't offered - and the booth tastings have returned in a new venue and we're looking forward to trying those.

This is the plan for the first trip to the Food & Wine Festival. On the second round, we have tickets to DCA's version of WDW's "Party for the Senses" and we're really looking forward to that. We haven't attended "Party for the Senses" - hoping to in our October WDW trip - and it'll be fun to compare them.

See AllEars for a sneak preview.