A brief respite from the cooler temperatures of the D.C. area, our long weekend in Orlando brought us much welcomed sunshine and temps in the low 70’s. We enjoyed a complimentary stay at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando hotel again. Unfortunately, the lazy river, which we’ve enjoyed before, was closed and for us it would have been too cold to enjoy it anyway. Once again, our swim suits traveled but didn’t get out of the suitcase!
We rented a car and spent a couple days reacquainting ourselves with the area. A plus side to this trip was meeting up with friends, Sam & Darrell, for pizza goodness at their daughter’s restaurant for some good old conversation. Of course the topic of our high school’s upcoming 50th reunion was discussed. We hope that out of a graduation class of over 500, many will want to make the trip back home for this momentous occasion.
Besides the stay at Four Seasons, part of the reason for this long weekend trip was to check out apartments for our future home. At this time, it was only on a what if? But, Karen was offered the job before we left for home. On our first day out looking, we found it! A 2 bed/2 bath 1st floor apartment (Yay! no more stairs or non-working elevators!) with a view of a small community lake! We also looked at a couple of other properties nearby, which were much older and it showed inside and out. I’m happy to have a pool that I can use again as well as a nice walkway around the lake.
Unfortunately, I had another meeting with the floor. As I was getting dressed in the morning before leaving for the airport, I was attempting to put on my damned compression stockings. Got one on no problem. The other…well hello floor! My foot slipped out from underneath me and down I went, in what seemed to be slow motion. Ow! Ow! Ow! And Karen came running. First the knee met the floor, then my right side, with my elbow (strongest bone in the body!) settling into my ribs. I got on the plane an hour later and made it through the weekend. BUT! as soon as we landed back home and put the luggage in the apartment, we headed to Urgent Care. There, after a minimal wait, I was taken to X-ray and it was confirmed that I have a fractured rib. Poor timing on my part for sure! Even though we have moving pretty much down to a science, I cannot lift anything for 2-3 weeks. In case you’ve never experienced a fractured rib, this injury is quite painful. . But I get up each day and do what I can to function and pack all our worldly possessions. We took a very nice donation to Green Drop consisting of items that we didn’t feel we needed any longer, or wanted to move again.
So, what else did we do while in Florida? We napped, Karen met with her new managers, we ate, we napped, we enjoyed the warmer weather, we ate some more! Boy! that new pool and walking track around the lake is going to come in handy! We went to Disney Springs and walked around for the better part of the day, shopping, people watching and enjoying Florida sunshine. We are excited to, once again, get a Florida Resident Disney Pass. Our original intention was to snack our way through the day in a food crawl way, but once we had our first stop at the Cantina for nachos, that did us in. Have you ever heard of nachos with brisket? Well, now you have! “Disney Springs is an outdoor shopping, dining, and entertainment complex at the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake, Florida, near Orlando. The complex opened on March 22, 1975, and has been expanded and renamed over the years. In 2013 plans were announced for a three-year renovation and expansion of the complex, and on September 29, 2015, the name officially changed to Disney Springs.”
A very serious note for those of you reading this who experience mobility difficulties! DO NOT have Uber/Lyft pick you up past the ‘old’ Cirque tent! That walk is way too much to do, with no place to sit and rest. A good drop off point is near the Marketplace. However, I am unsure if you can also pick up there, but I would imagine yes, you can. Better to walk back along the sidewalks of Disney Springs (Downtown Disney) where there are multiple places to sit and rest before continuing on than the other alternative. There are new parking garages nearby as well, if you have your own vehicle. It certainly has drastically changed since the last time we were there, when it was under construction.
From our room at the Four Seasons on the 15th floor, we could see the fireworks at Disney. Some really pretty ones for sure. Imagine what it must cost to put on that 20-minute show every night! We could also enjoy them from the terrace of Capa on the 17th floor, while sipping a cold drink. Add another entry into Karen’s Beers of the World! Saturday’s late lunch and local beer was at the pool restaurant PBG. We enjoyed an excellent dinner with churros for dessert at Capa on Sunday. The food was served by a very personable server who was a delight. Karen met up with a DC co-worker who was on task force and they enjoyed another night of fireworks on the heated terrace.
Before we returned our rental car, we took a quick drive through Celebration. Love that town! The houses and the waterfront shops and restaurants call to me. Luckily, it’s not far from our new apartment so I’m sure we’ll enjoy visiting often. “Celebration is a census-designated place and a master-planned community in Osceola County, Florida, United States, located near Walt Disney World Resort and originally developed by The Walt Disney Company.”
Disney Springs – http://www.disneysprings.com
Celebration, Florida – http://www.celebration.florida.us
Four Seasons Resort Orlando – www.fourseasons.com/orlando
“Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things
cannot be acquired by vegetating
in one little corner of the earth all of one’s lifetime.”
– Mark Twain
Twenty Steps at a Time 