I decided that today would be a utilitarian day. Got up late and drove to Camperworld to replace the hoses stolen on Saturday night. Then to Walmart for some groceries and a couple of t-shirts. Then to the Kissimmee Library to get week 3 sent off to Charlie. Even with the Library’s great DSL line, I still had a hell of a time. I had 43 e-mails every one of which was garbage. Some that peeked my interest took forever to down load the attachments until I quit and deleted them. Finally got my attachment sent to Charlie, then realized that I was running late. I had a 5:30 reservation at Emeril’s at City Walk/Universal Studios. I raced to get there, but ended up with one of the best meals of my life. I have been wanting to do this one for years and finally got my chance. What a culinary experience.
This is what I had for dinner…(not a choice but everything listed), [in small quantities, of course]
Caramelized North Atlantic Salmon with
An English Cucumber Salad, Flash Fried
Arugula Leaves, Marinated Grape
Tomatoes, Traditional Garnish
Vinaigrette, Vanilla Sour Cream and a
Dollop of Louisiana Caviar
Herb Pesto Crusted Alaskan Halibut with
A Jumbo Lump Crabmeat-Peasant Style Orzo,
Saffron Braised Leeks, A Drizzle of Herb Oil
And a Chunky Style Anchovy Marinara Sauce
Oven Roasted Monkfish with Celery Root
Creamed Potatoes, Sautéed Yellow Wax
Beans, Fresh Watercress, Dots of Balsamic
Extraction and a Louisiana Crawfish-
Lemon Butter Sauce
Pan Crispy Mississippi Farm Raised Quail
With a Wild & Exotic Mushroom Bread
Pudding, Seared Sonoma Valley Foie Gras,
Sautéed Haricots Vert and an Assorted
Root Vegetable Ragout
Grilled Demi Filet of Beef with a Blue
Cheese Glacage, Rosemary Roasted New
Potatoes, Crispy Bacon, Sautéed Baby
Carrots and a Red Wine Reduction Sauce
Raspberry Beignet with a Chocolate Oreo Ice
Cream and Macerated Berries
Emeril was not there tonight, but I’m sure that if he was, he would have agreed with me…”BAM”
I have come to the end of my culinary rainbow. After eating at the Inn at Little Washington, Victoria & Albert’s and most of the other fine restaurants around Disneyworld, and up and down the East Coast, there is no place on earth that I aspire to have dinner, with the possible exception of Winston’s aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, CA.
First thing this morning, I tried to call my sister who, according to my brother, now lives in Clermont, FL, about 25 miles from WDW. I tried the number that Earl gave me, but I got a recording that the number could not be reached as dialed. I will try again tomorrow, but I believe that she has an unlisted number. After that, I drove the 8 miles to Universal Studios. After paying $8.00 for the privilege of parking about a mile from the gate, I walked to the gate and then realized that I had left my ticket in the RV, so back and forth again. I had walked 3 miles before I went through the gate. I did not go on The Incredible Hulk or Dueling Dragons. Just didn’t feel up to it. Frankly, I am getting just a little bit theme parked out. I did go on the Spiderman Adventure, which still amazes me. I’ve been on it several times before and it is really high-tech. There are three water rides in Islands of Adventure. I would like to have gone on all of them, but I figured I would wait until the end of the day, so I wouldn’t be walking around wet all day, and I ended up not going on any of them. I did spend quite a bit of time in Jurassic Park and I went to a cool show called Sinbad’s 8th voyage. Finally I went on Poseidon’s Fury. This is one of the best shows in the park and I enjoyed it as much as before. I was going to eat dinner there, but the restaurant that I chose closed at 3:00. I was disappointed and tired. I left the park around 6:00, walked back through City Walk, but decided that I would wait until I got back to Fort Wilderness to eat. I finally ate around 8:00 at the Trail’s End. Had a nice buffet dinner that was worth the wait.
This cold has dragged on long enough. I decided to call Prudential and get their clearance to go see a doctor. Went to the Central Florida clinic right outside of Disneyworld. Saw Dr. Julio. He said I had a virile infection and that there was nothing he could do. It would just have to run its course. Thanks a lot doc! Left there and drove up International Drive just looking at all the sights. Stopped at a few stores along the way including Target where I bought a new electronic organizer. Mine has been acting up lately. Then I went back to the library in Kissimmee and got on the internet for a while. When I left there, I stopped at Macaroni Grille for Mama’s Trio. With a full belly, I returned to Fort Wilderness, and spent some time transferring data from the old organizer to the new one. All in all it was an uneventful day. I have an appointment to get the oil changed tomorrow morning, and I hope to go to Universal for my last day in Orlando. I leave here Friday morning.
My last full day at Disneyworld was a good one. For one thing I felt better than I have felt in several days. I got up this morning and drove to Kissimmee and had the oil changed in the RV and also the generator oil changed. $107. Not bad. I was expecting more. From there I drove to Universal Studios. I had a great day at Universal. It’s been a while since I was at this older of the two Universal theme parks. After walking through the street scenes, I went on the King Kong ride called Kongfrontation, which is a simulation of the great ape taking over and wreaking havoc on New York City. Then I went on the Earthquake ride which is about the disaster in San Francisco. Then on to the Jaws ride, which is a boat ride recreating the movie Jaws. From there I went to a Wild, Wild West stunt show, then onto the Back to the Future ride, a motion simulator that was a little rough. From there it was the Men in Black ride and then on to E.T. and finally the Animal Planet show which was a live show of some very well trained dogs, birds, orangutan and I cant remember what all. I finished the day with an excellent clam dinner at Lombard’s Landing on the San Francisco set at Universal. After that I returned to Fort Wilderness. Getting ready to check out tomorrow and on to the Gulf coast.
Before saying goodbye to Disneyworld, I had to rent a little WaterMouse speedboat and take a spin around the lakes. I was actually only on the water for about a half hour, but during that time, I passed by Wilderness Lodge, The Transportation and Ticket Center, Polynesian Village, Grand Floridian and the Magic Kingdom, before passing back by the Contemporary Resort Hotel and back to Fort Wilderness. Having completed a thorough tour of Disneyworld, I was ready to check out. When I got back to the RV, my bill was on my windshield and I was ready to go. I was headed for the Tampa area down I-4. Stopped along the way at a CrackerBarrel for lunch, and arrived at the Winter Quarters campground just North of Tampa around 2:00. I found a car wash that had bays big enough for the RV, so I stopped and washed her down good. I spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the resort and a little time in the pool. Dinner at the resort restaurant.
Originally I had planned to go to Busch Gardens today, but the campground was so nice that I spent the day there instead. They had lots of activities including several pools, hot tubs, saunas, billiards, ping pong, horseshoes, beautiful gardens and walking trails, so I slept in til around noon, went to the pool and stayed there until dinner time. Had dinner at their restaurant, walked around quite a bit after dinner, and went back toi the RV for a little TV and on to bed.
Left Winter Quarters this morning and drove to Manatee Springs State Park, near Chiefland, FL. It was a nice drive, about half interstate and half local roads through some beautiful horse country. The state park is beautiful. There are quite a few campers here and lots of day visitors. There are natural spring fed lakes with scuba divers diving in them. A large swimming lake with crystal clear water. You can see right to the bottom even when the water’s 6 feet deep. There are several wooden walkways that go ver the cypress swamps and another one that goes down to the Suwannee River. As much as I tried, I didn’t see any manatees. Later I found out that 43 manatees were spotted in all of April last year, so at the rate of one and a half per day I didn’t think my chances were too good. By nightfall, all of the day visitors had left and the place became very quiet and serene. Campers are spread out and there is nothing but RV’s and squirrels and deer.
Only one night here..tomorrow, I push on to Florida’s panhandle and two nights at Carabelle Beach.