Monday, September 18, 2006

Vacation Report #1

This is the first in a series of blog entries that I will highlight our recent vacation. We went on a Disney Cruise and had a great time! It was our family, my mom, dad, and sister Tracy.

September 8, 2006
Our day started bright and early. I woke up at around 6:00 and got ready to go. I had loaded the car with most of our luggage the night before, so all I had to do was get cleaned up. We went into the kids rooms and all we had to do is say, "are you ready to go to Florida?" The woke up right away.

We left for Bradley International Airport at around 7:00 am. There were some minor traffic slow downs, but after about an hour of driving, we were in Long Term lot #4, and boarding a shuttle bus to terminal A. We checked right in at a kiosk, took our luggage to TSA and breezed right through security. I was a little worried going through security. No I wasn't smuggling anything, but I had a Yankee shirt on and the main screener was teasing me about it. Clearly he was a Red Sox fan! We breezed through no problems and grabbed a quick breakfast at McDonalds. I don't know if it was the excitement, but I hardly ate anything! Once breakfast was over, we made our way to our gate. Shortly after arriving the gate agent came on and said our flight was delayed a half hour on the ground from its departing airport. When she said the name of the airport, I knew why! It was Philadelphia. That airport is a mess! Well, the plane arrived, and we boarded quickly. I am amazed at how well Soutwest Airline turnaround is! The planes also seem to move faster on the ground. Is that just me?

We were wheels up and heading to our cruising altitude of 40,000 ft. Despite our delay, we arrived in Orlando only 15 minutes late. We grabbed our luggage and went to the Budget Rent a Car kiosk, and found our way to our Ford Taurus. We grabbed lunch...McDonalds again! The kids had their Happy Meals, but Elaine wanted a fruit salad, so I obliged. I don't care for McDonalds, but my quarter pounder was quite good and the service friendly. I called Tracy and told her we were on the Beachline Expressway heading for Cape Canaveral.

Once we crossed the river, either the Indian or Banana, I can't remember which, I saw two Royal Caribbean ships in Port Canaveral. That only made me more excited. Also, the shuttle launch was delayed again and we would get a chance to see it. I have always wanted to see a shuttle go up and to be only a few miles away would be great. In fact, I knew it didn't go up as scheduled because I saw it still on the pad from the plane. I will post about the shuttle tomorrow.

We arrived at the Residence Inn but had to wait for our room. It was being used by some NASA officials and due to the launch delay, they wouldn't be leaving. We were able to get our room and go swimming in the warm pool surrounded by palm trees. Don't you just love Florida?

After splashing around in the pool, we went to a local restaurant right in the Port called Grills. It had great food. We all enjoyed what we ordered. After dinner we went to the world famous Ron Jon Surf shop. I think of it as the LL Bean of Florida. It never closes and features all kinds of tropical wares. Clothes, surfboards, sunscreen and even toys! Jay was upset he wanted a space shuttle toy, then an alligator toy!

We soon went back to our hotel and retired for the evening. We would have a busy day the next day as our vacation would really get started.

More to come!

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