Sue Holland
07-05-2009, 12:18 PM
Who/When/Where:
Who: Sue (50), DVC member
Dates: July 2 - 5, 2009
Travel Method: Personal car
Resort: Disney’s Vero Beach Resort
Experience: 8th Trip since 1998
INTRODUCTION: Years ago we came to Disney’s Vero Beach Resort fairly regularly (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 twice, 2002). I think after that my vacation time became more controlled, so other than 2 nights during Memorial Day weekend in 2005 I haven’t been back. I used to head to WDW whenever 4th of July was a long weekend, even though my park pass is blacked out. I was there for Comedy Warehouse – relaxing by the pool during the day, laughing with friends at night. Now that Disney has closed all of the clubs there’s no reason to spend any vacation dollars up there – especially since the Orlando area is disgustingly hot & humid this time of year!
With WDW out of the picture, I settled on Vero since the Atlantic Ocean is cooler than the Gulf of Mexico (near home) so hopefully it’ll be a little more comfortable on the beach there vs the beaches at home. Besides, I can’t have a 3-day weekend and not go somewhere, lol! The holiday falls on a Saturday, which means we have Friday off from work. I’m working in Gainesville that week, so I’ll leave at 11 on Thursday and make the 4-hour drive to the resort. The resort is technically not in Vero Beach, which is a good thing! If you’ve ever seen Vero Beach you’ll understand. The beach used to be disappointing, but I think it might be wider now thanks to some renourishment (if that didn’t get swept away last hurricane season). It will never compare favorably to Hilton Head, but I don’t have the time to make that trip.
I won’t arrive until 3-4 pm, but that means my room should be ready! At Vero the only way to ensure an ocean view is to book an ocean view room in the Inn. The 3 smaller buildings have the studios, 1br & 2br villas and there are very few views of the beach, which seems silly. The Inn is the main building, and the rooms have 2 queen beds plus the dvc kitchenette area. When booking you either book ocean view (facing the beach) or garden view (parking lot, street & trees). I don’t know that it’ll be comfortable enough to sit on the balcony, but I’d rather view ocean vs parking lot from within the comfort of my air conditioned room!
The resort used to have binders full of menus from local places, so I’ll peruse them and select a dinner spot each night – unless I decide to get something from the pizza place next door & stay in some night. SB’s games are scheduled each evening. I’ll bring breakfast stuff and eat that in the room each morning, then grab something from the pool snack bar for lunch (unless I have leftovers). The days will be spent by the pool or on the beach, depending on my mood. It’s not likely I’ll do any of the activities, because this resort is extremely little-kid oriented and I’m not sure they’d have anything of interest (unlike at Hilton Head that at least puts a few token things in there for adults). There will most likely be afternoon thunder/lightning storms, but that’s a good time to shower & relax in the room. Overall it’ll be a nice, relaxing trip – exactly what I’m looking forward to.
Originally I’d booked through Sunday night, figuring I’d drive to work (in Ft Myers) Monday morning. But, I came to my senses and canceled Sunday. It’s a long boring tedious 3-hour drive through rinky dink towns, and I’d rather get home Sunday afternoon & do laundry & read mail since I’ve already been in Gainesville for 5 nights before continuing on to Vero. Besides, 2 days (Fri, Sat) of the beach is plenty – normally I only go for 2 hours at a time, and only in the morning (at home). Finally, the Friday after I get back I fly up to CT for 6 nights, return for 3 and then go to Gainesville again so time at home is at a premium.
The plans so far are:
Thursday, 7/2: Work Gainesville, Publix, Dinner somewhere
Friday 7/3: Beach/Pool, Dinner
Saturday 7/4: Beach/Pool, Dinner
Sunday 7/5: Beach, Drive home
DAY 1 – Thursday 7/2/09
Who: Sue (50), DVC member
Plan: Work Gainesville, Drive to Vero, Publix, Dinner somewhere
Actual: Work passed quickly enough, and I was on the road shortly after 11am. When I checked Mapquest earlier, both the turnpike route and the local route took the same amount of time, so I opted for the cheaper & more scenic local route. I passed through small town Florida, and some of it was very pretty. I found 1.25 acres of waterfront property selling for only $85,000! At the community next door to me a normal lot on the river was $500,000 10-15 years ago, so north/central Florida is a bargain if you can stand living in the middle of nowhere. Once I got to I-95 for he last 120+ miles I had intermittent harrowing rain. It never fails – when I leave Gainesville I’ll get a terrible storm at some point.
The trip passed quickly, with several work issues and conversations with SB. We found out recently that one of his best friends (& co-worker) was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Unfortunately, it IS cancer and it’s a high stage 3 almost stage 4. At this point he may have a couple years left – not enough to see his kids grow up even. I mention that because several readers knew of the initial diagnosis.
It was still raining lightly when I approached the resort, and pulled into the parking lot across the street since I was still on the phone. I love A1A around here because there’s never any traffic! I pulled back across the road and stopped at the security/welcome center. The security cast member was very friendly, and soon I was parked at the front door. Inside the lobby it was very noisy (as usual) – since it was raining more people then usual were inside. There was a line at the front desk – I was shocked! They had a sign for key pick-up/online check in so I walked up there but there was no cm. When I asked, I learned they don’t do it here. Ok, but get rid of the sign!
Anyway, my wait was very brief, and they had my packet all put together and my room was ready. She offered to go over anything I wanted to know about, but I remember enough about my previous trips to be ok on my own. I went out to the car and drove around to the end of the building to enter the parking area underneath. I found a spot near the elevators, grabbed the only luggage cart and unloaded the car. When I got up to the 4th floor I saw the other cart. Evidently someone on my floor is just too lazy & rude to return the cart for the next guest.
My room is at the end of the hall, on the ocean side. The hall zigged and zagged a bit, and so does my room. It’s a studio, but not all 1 room like most studios. Coming in through the door there’s a mini kitchen area (microwave, fridge, coffee maker, toaster, mugs, paper products, sink) and then a hallway containing the closet. Past that is an empty mini-room with windows that look out to the walking path to the out building and beach cottages on this side. Across from that is the bathroom – sinks outside; toilet & tub inside. Beyond that is the bedroom, and one wall is a slanted ceiling. That maks the room look a little smaller in my opinion, but I’m still happy with the room. My balcony is slatted, so when I sit out there I’ll be able to see the beach. The solid balconies are not attractive to me – you can’t see unless you stand up.
I took some photos of the room and got unpacked. The resort has wireless internet now and it’s free for dvc members so I decided to turn the laptop on and get online before I went out. However, I couldn’t get to either internet explorer or firefox. I finally called the front desk – here when they answer they call you by name (Holland family) each time, which is nice. The computer person had left for the day, but she gave me a couple phone numbers to try. While I was on hold with the first one I figured it out. With this new laptop the first time it’s anywhere I have to allow the wireless connection for some reason. Once I did that, it worked like a charm. The only thing I don’t like is the access code changes at midnight Saturday, so I’ll get booted off until I get the new code. Usually I get online when I arrive and don’t get off until I leave for good.
Once I saw the internet access was working I took the luggage cart and walked back to the elevators. The other cart was still there, so I grabbed it and waited for an elevator since I could fit both in there. But, before the elevator arrived a family of 4-5 adults & teens arrived, so I pawned a cart off on them and offered to let them take the first elevator if they’d return the cart to the garage (that’s where they were headed). However, when the elevator arrived 2 workers were in there installing a railing. The other family said I should go, so I took 1 cart and entered the elevator. I’d noticed how beautiful the elevators are, and I found out they’d just recently redone the interiors. I’ll try to take some photos when I’m alone in there. The floor is a beautiful ceramic tile and the walls are a pretty wood with some décor to them. I was impressed. The workers were disappointed that the doors have already been scratched up, but that’s what happens when members & guests don’t take care to act right.
It was still raining, so the parking under the building was great! I drove over to the mainland and headed north on Route 1. I passed the Publix and kept driving and driving but never saw any signs that I’d eventually reach civilization (restaurants). Obviously people in Sebastion don’t eat out. I made a u-turn and drove back to Publix, taking care of more work stuff along the way. The Publix was pretty decent – not the best Publix but not the worst. Publix is always a safe bet, unlike the other grocery store chains in Florida.
Once I was inside I realized I had no idea what to get. I ended up with some cut fruit, a yogurt, some cherries (no clue why – haven’t eaten those in years) and a piece of chocolate cake (now THAT sounds like me, lol). Overall, I don’t think the trip was really necessary. I drove back to the resort (in the rain) and dropped the groceries off in the room. I’d only had a yogurt in the car at 11am since breakfast, so I was hungry for real food and wanted to be waited on. I went down to the lobby and wandered around checking things out. I really had no interest in either of the resort’s restaurants. In hindsight I should have eaten here, though.
I stopped at the front desk and as expected they no longer have the menu books but the cast member gave me a 3-page double-sided list of restaurants. The only problem is, there’s no address and no indication of what the hell they serve <g>. Basically you blindly pick a place based on the name and they’ll tell you how to get there. I didn’t have time for that, so I asked if there was anything on this road (A1A – the road the resort is on). She circled the area map and told me Ocean Grill, Mulligans (not listed) & Bobby’s was off a side street about 7 miles away.
I went back to the car and drove south on A1A. I found the side street easily enough and then drove around the area looking for the restaurants. Bobby’s was a steakhouse in a hotel/motel, so that didn’t appeal. There wasn’t much else in the area, either. Mulligans looked too casual – it was a beach bar & I was dressed a little better than that (and I was OLDER than everyone I saw in that area, lol). I parked by Ocean Grill and luckily they have a menu posted outside. It’s a great place for seafood lovers, and it’s right on the beach with a great view. But, it was gray, cloudy, raining, and almost entirely seafood. I hate seafood. The one chicken dish didn’t appeal (it had crab with it) so I decided to continue looking.
I went back to A1A and continued south, figuring surely I’d get to the real Vero and find lots of fabulous restaurants to choose from. LOL – what a food I was! I drove almost to friggin’ Ft Pierce, lol! When I finally turned around I passed through several towns before reaching Vero again. I headed over to the mainland thinking surely I’d find Applebees, Chilis, perhaps a Bonefish Grill, but no such luck. I drove and drove and finally backtracked and ended up at a Panera Bread. Talk about disappointing, lol – I should have just gone back to the resort but I wasn’t thinking.
At Panera I ordered the tomato & mozzarella hot panini (dumb choice when there are miles to be driven) and a pecan sticky bun that looks WAY better than the lousy ones at Boardwalk Bakery, lol! We’ll see how it is tomorrow morning <g>. I drove back to the resort, and ended up using a quarter tank of gas on this little adventure – and it took me 1.5 hours! I parked the car under the resort and don’t plan to start it again until I go home on Sunday!
What kills me is there’s a great little pizza/Italian place right next door, and we used to walk over there. That’s what I’ll be doing tomorrow <g>. Back in the room I grabbed the ice bucket to get some ice and then went back to the room to eat my panini. I had some wine chilled and had brought a plastic wineglass from Epcot, so I was all set. The panini was huge, but I ended up eating less than half. It had sun dried tomato pesto, and I hated that. I scraped it off and there wasn’t much left to the panini. I ate what I could stand and threw the rest away.
SB’s game got rained out, so I don’t have that to listen to. By 7:30 it was looking like it was trying to stop raining, although it was still extremely humid (temps were mid 70’s). I updated the report while drinking my wine. I’ll hold the photos until the end, since there won’t be as many as there’d be on a cruise or a WDW trip.
A little before 8 I noticed the rain had stopped, so I put on my Croc flip flops (much more comfortable now, but I don’t think I’d risk hours in a theme park) and headed downstairs. The stairwell by my room doesn’t go to the first floor, so I ended up with the choice of the garage or an unmarked door. I chose the unmarked door and came out at the cast member’s break area along the side of the building (out of sight). I was shocked/disgusted by the many ashtrays everywhere – yuck! I startled a cast member eating her dinner, so I apologized and headed towards the front door. I passed through the lobby and out to the walkway along the grass.
The boardwalk is all new – not sure how many times it’s been destroyed & rebuilt after storms, but this one looks very sturdy and long-lasting. The sand here is not nice at all. At home our sand is white powder. Here it’s very coarse and is light brown – like light dirt. At home even our “dirt” is white sand. Instead of pebbles we have shells when we dig to plant flowers, lol! There were a lot of broken shells near the top of the beach, but it wasn’t very uncomfortable. Once I got down to the wet sand it was very smooth. The drop-off is still fairly steep to my eyes, which was the main thing I didn’t like about the beach here years ago. Back then Chris & I would have played in the ocean, but this beach wasn’t good for that back then and it’s looking the same again now. That didn’t keep some people out, though!
I headed south and just walked along the edge of the water. There seems to be more condos along the beach than there used to be. It was a nice quiet walk, without a lot of other people. One guy was fishing from the shore while his 3 young sons played in the sand. If he’s catching fish from the shore, I don’t want to be in that water! I walked for about 45 minutes, and then went back inside.
I ate some of the cake, finished up the report and later hung out online with some cappuccino. Hopefully the next 2 days will have better weather at least for the first half of the day. If it rains once I get off the beach, I don’t really care!
One thing I noticed while driving around – this area all along A1A is very nice. It must be just inland that’s so trashy in Vero. Everything along the coast is attractive and well-maintained. I think there are a lot of new communities since we were here many years ago, and I doubt 1.25 acres of waterfront property can be found here for $85,000 ;-)
Tomorrow I’ll head out to the beach in the morning, will listen to SB’s double header at 4 and will get dinner from Orchid Island Pizzeria next door!
DAY 2 – Friday 7/3/09
Who: Sue (50), DVC member
Plan: Beach/Pool, Dinner
Actual: I forgot to mention yesterday – I noticed one drawback to this room. When I get up to go to the kitchenette area, it’s a LONG walk!! I almost need to pack a snack & change of clothes, lol. Anyway, last night I slept with the drapes open (of course) so I’d wake with the sun. At home we get the sunset but here we get the sunrise. This is also an accessible room, which explains no kitchen cabinets and close door knobs about the height of my knees.
I slept very well – all that searching for dinner wear’s a person out, lol! I woke at 6:30 (it was light outside) but didn’t get up until shortly after 7. The sun was quite a ways up the sky by then, but partly obscured by lots of clouds. I checked the weather – the sun should be coming out, but around 1pm the storms are expected again. I tried sitting on the balcony but it was incredibly humid & felt hot even though it was only in the 70’s at this point. There was no breeze, either – hopefully it’ll be better down on the beach.
I made some cappuccino and ate the pecan sticky bun. Now THIS is a sticky bun – it was so much better than that godawful thing they pass off as a sticky bun at the Boardwalk Bakery! By 8am the first family had set up camp on the beach, but it was still so cloudy I wasn’t rushing out there that early.
A little after 9 I headed downstairs and out to the beach. I’d brought a lounge chair from home so there was no need to rent one. I don’t like the rentals anyway. Not only are they ridiculously expensive ($28/day for 2 cushioned chairs & umbrella), they’re about as far away from the water as you can possibly be, and everyone else sets up between you & the water. Plus, the chairs are in a row – like cots along the wall of the orphanage. I like my space – no surprise, lol! So, I walked down the stairs to the beach and past the row of rentals and just beyond the other people. I was actually pretty close to being directly across from my balcony at the end of the Inn. Nobody was near me, so it was perfect. I got as close as I dared to the water, not knowing if the tide was coming in or going out.
Eventually a lot more people came out to the beach, but it was never overly crowded. Many were just on blankets or towels, but quite a few rentals were being used as well. The waves were tiny, which is disappointing but typical for over here. I’d rather have bigger waves but lack the power to make that happen. Besides, after seeing the guy fishing yesterday I wasn’t going in the water very far. Basically once the water hit the top of my feet I was in as far as I was going. The water felt refreshing, which is an improvement over the Gulf of Mexico at home (water there gets into the low 90’s).
Before settling down I grabbed the camera and walked around the pool area to take pictures and see if anything had changed. It looked mostly the same, but maybe the kids water play area had been improved upon. The pool area was already busy, and they had signs warning against saving chairs or tables with stuff. I didn’t stay, so I don’t know if it was a problem or not. When I was finished I walked back down to the beach and returned to my chair.
I laid on my chair for a while, then read a magazine, then started a book. Every once in a while a brief cool breeze would come by, but mostly it was terribly hot out there. A little after 11 I got up and walked down the beach (north) for a bit, staying in the water along the edge since it was so hot. The public beach is right next door to the resort, and it had a pretty good crowd as well. By the time I got back I was starting to feel a little light headed & nauseous – most likely dehydrated from the heat & the sweating. What water I had left was literally HOT. It felt like drinking hot tea without the tea bag. I stood in the water a bit, then returned to sit on the chair while talking to SB and then got up to leave.
It’s not a hard walk, but by the time I got to the stairs I had to stop halfway up and sit down in the shade until I cooled down a bit. When I was ready I finished the steps, showered off my feet, and had to stop again at the end of the boardwalk. Finally I made it to the building & entered the first door to get into the air conditioning. I went down as far as I could and spread my towel on a chair to sit down again. The hostess at Shutters was asking how it was outside, and I asked for a cup of ice water. Someone brought it out and between that, the a/c and sitting down I felt much better.
When I finished the water I gathered up my stuff and easily made it back to my room. I decided to hang out in there for a while, so I drank some more water and ate a bunch of the cherries I’d bought. Now I’m glad I got them – they really hit the spot! I updated the report and hung out for a while, going back out sometime after 1 to round up something for lunch.
Before lunch I wandered over towards building 12, and saw the new campfire pit. After the storms and the building of the new boardwalk the original location was no longer there. The new spot is probably the most inconvenient location possible, unfortunately. But, if you want to go, you’ll go. I wandered around a bit and then went into the pool area. Bleachers is the pool snack bar and there were only a couple people in line. Unfortunately, the guy in front of me was such a pain. He had his 2 young kids, which is fine. But, the boy was practically screaming when he talked (without any reminder to tone it down) and the dad was just constantly bombarding the kids with want to do this, want to do that, etc. While in line the boy decided he wanted to eat in the restaurant. So, they stand in line to get cookies & a burger for the daughter & then went to the restaurant for the boy. I’m all for giving kids choices, but eating at both places was overboard in my opinion.
When it was my turn I ordered the tropical chicken pita and also got a pina colada. Unfortunately they don’t do cup lids or straws here – why can‘t they have the paper straws like at Animal Kingdom? The pina colada was good, but really nothing special. The tropical chicken pita was a big brown pita with jerk chicken, pineapple relish, lettuce & whatever else. I took it all back up to the room since it was so hot outside.
The chicken pita was ok – I loved the chicken but didn’t care for the pineapple relish. It was almost 2pm by now, so I ate less than half and put the rest in the fridge for another time. I got caught up watching an old Bewitched episode, but pulled myself away after the 1st one to take my shower. People were in the room next door, and they were so damn LOUD! I had to turn my tv up louder than I like, to try to mask their noise (voices). Fortunately they either shut up or went out pretty soon <g>.
At 3 General Hospital was another rerun. Today isn’t a holiday, so give me a break! I tried the balcony a few times, but it was just too hot. Still no rain, though! A little before 4 SB called to say his double header was going to start, so I tried listening to that through the team’s site but once again it didn’t work. I had talk radio about colonoscopies, but then had nothing at all. I hate that they changed to this radio station because they’re not a professional (reliable) outfit at all! So, after a few failed attempts I started Portland’s broadcast (the home team), which is better than nothing. I later figured out my adobe flash needs a file, so that’s why I couldn’t get his broadcast on this new laptop, but I’ll try to fix it when I can reboot the computer.
After listening to some of the 1st game I decided to get out of the room. It was still uncomfortably hot, but the back (ocean side) of the resort was shady by now. I wandered around taking a few photos, and decided to try Orchid Island Pizzeria figuring I’d bring it back to the room (as it turns out it’s only takeout). Years ago we could cut through the trees on that side of the resort, but I went out the front since I wanted to get a photo of the entrance. As I walked sweating along the sidewalk I saw they’d installed fence the entire way so no more cutting through! This means a long walk back while food’s getting cold!
When I got over there & went inside I remembered they are not air conditioned! There’s no way I was sitting in that hot place waiting for food that would get cold before I got back to the resort, so I picked up a menu thinking I can drive over tomorrow. I went out to the boardwalk (this is the public beach) and there was a breeze on the beach so I went down & walked on the beach for a while before walking back to the resort on the beach. I went into the pool area and ordered the kid’s chicken nugget meal. The adult’s was 8 nuggets & fries for $7.19. The kids’ was $6,29 for 4 plus fries but a bottle of water was included (water was my choice). There’s no way I’d eat 8, so I ordered the kids’ meal. It comes in a pail with a shovel hanging from the handle. The 4 nuggets were more than enough, and I wasn’t able to finish the fries. 2 small kids can easily share this if they can share the pail/shovel.
I took the food up to the room and ate dinner while listening to SB’s second game. Eventually I went to get some ice and was horrified to hear really obnoxiously loud yelling. Turns out 2 young dads were having their 3-4 very little boys play soccer in the hallway at the atrium. They were screaming & yelling right in front of a row of rooms, too! I thought that was highly inappropriate, but kept my mouth shut since I wouldn’t have been able to remain civil. There’s a giant grass field right outside that would be perfect for preschoolers to kick a fake soccer ball around. You don’t do that in a hotel hallway unless you’re a total jackass. Oops, guess I just figured out why they were doing that. <g>
I poured some wine and watched some tv. TV lately is mostly Michael Jackson – it’s a shame people can’t leave him alone already. It looked like rain was building up when I was out earlier, but it didn’t materialize for quite a while. By 8 people were headed to the campfire, and by shortly after 8 they came back. I could see a big storm just north of us and another one out at sea. Soon the lightning and thunder started, so the campfire was canceled. It likes like they get a huge turnout! There’s another one tomorrow night, so we’ll see how it goes.
I sat on the balcony for a while watching the storms and the slightly bigger waves. It was dark by 8:30 so I went inside to listen to the rest of SB’s game while eating more cherries & fruit. After being outside in the humidity was cold in the room, so I got under the covers the warm up – between the game, the tv and the thunder – it’s one noisy place!
The rest of the night was spent in bed just being lazy. I think the weather tomorrow looks like it did today, so I might get up in time to see the sunrise, then spend the morning on the beach again. Although I wish it was cooler & less humid I’m still enjoying my stay. In fact, I wish I had longer to stay here, but a short trip is better than no trip!
DAY 3 – Saturday 7/4/09
Who: Sue (50), DVC member
Plan: Beach/Pool, Dinner
Actual: Last night around 9:30 I thought I heard fireworks. I got up and stepped onto the wet balcony and realized it was just thunder. It was still raining pretty hard, so it’ll be humid in the early morning! I set the alarm for a little after 5:30 and woke up when the radio came on. I wasn’t sure what time the sun would rise, so I stayed in bed for a short time then got up to brush my teeth and put on some clothes.
I grabbed the camera and went downstairs. The lobby was silent and I could smell bacon cooking and possibly some pastries. I headed outside and wandered around until the camera lens cleared (it fogs up going from nice air conditioned air to warm humid outside air). The sky had brightened but there wasn’t much breeze. To avoid bugs (no-see-ums) I had to keep moving to avoid them. One of the recreation cast members was at work by 6am – she was cleaning leaves out of the pool. One guy was walking the beach with one of those metal detectors. I saw a couple pairs of shoes on the beach and after sunrise their owners returned from their walk on the beach. It was nice out there, but it would have been nicer if there were no bugs and if there was a dry place to sit. Everything was still wet from the rain last night and humidity this morning.
After sunrise I was going to sit in a rocking chair, but there were bugs and the view was really nothing (the grassy lawn). So, I went inside and back upstairs to my room. I made a piece of toast & some cappuccino, and got back in bed with breakfast & the laptop. I was surprised to see SB online – they’d just recently gotten into Trenton for their next 3 games, driving through the night. We chatted a bit, and hopefully he’ll get some sleep soon!
At one point the bright sunshine was flooding the room, and then before long it was so foggy or overcast I could barely see the edge of the water. It shouldn’t last long, so I didn’t worry about it. Another dvctalk member is here now and although she’s not a complainer or negative person, her experience has been pretty much a nightmare. That horrible noise that shocked me yesterday is unfortunately “normal” for her, as her room is located in that area. She even said people leave their kids to run wild in the lobby and then scream down (from the upper floors) at 11pm for them to come up to bed! When did parents get so ignorant & inconsiderate of people around them? She also mentioned cast members being stationed in the elevators because unsupervised kids were playing hide & seek, using the elevators. Disney should round up the brats and send their parents home – or give them a hefty fine. There’s just no excuse for that sort of behavior.
By 9 the sun was back. I ate some of the leftover chicken pita and tossed the rest. It was ok, but definitely better when it’s new! At 9:15 I went to the Home Shopping Network site and ordered the Magellan GPS they had as the today’s special. I could have used it the first night here, lol! Some dvc friends were talking about them, so I figured what the heck. At 9:30 I put on my swimsuit, gathered up my stuff and went down to the beach.
I went to the same spot and although the beach was busier than yesterday I still had nobody close to me. The ocean water was 81 degrees again and it felt great on my feet & lower legs, lol! I’m still not going any further, and did spot a 3-inch fish in the shallow water. He can’t bite me, but can give me a heart attack. It was very hot on the beach, too. Every once in a while I’d feel a nice breeze but mostly I felt like I was broiling out there. I lasted less than 2 hours but could have stayed longer & enjoyed it more if it wasn’t so hot & humid.
Around 11:45 I gathered up my stuff and walked along the edge of the water before cutting across the sand to the stairs up to the boardwalk. I showered the sand off my feet and moved over to the seating area to let the dry before putting on my flipflops. As I was sitting there Karen from dvctalk came walking over so we sat & talked for a while. It was so nice meeting her, and hear more about the unruly children she’s had to endure. Neither one of us raised our kids that way, and it’s a real shame anyone would. Regardless, we’re all enjoying the stay. She invited me to join her family for fireworks tonight, but I’ll be listening to SB’s game.
Karen headed back to the pool and I went inside and up to my room. They’ve painted the trim in the hall so there was a mild paint smell and lots of “wet paint” signs everywhere. Back in the room I ate the rest of the cherries and relaxed catching up on email & facebook. I almost forgot – when I was watching the DVC information channel (commercial) on tv earlier, they showed each dvc resort. I was excited to see the “latest” resort – Animal Kingdom Villas. I guess Bay Lake Tower is just an apparition??
It was almost 2 before I was clean, dressed & ready to head out – but there’s nothing wrong with being lazy on vacation even if the vacation is just a long weekend. I had emailed myself directions to Squid Lips from Mapquest, but it wasn’t as easy as that sounded. I was looking for Davis Street on the right, 6 miles after I turned onto Route 1. I didn’t see it, and drove over 7 miles and ended up going over a bridge across a river. When I was able pull a U-turn and backtrack, I fortunately saw a Squid Lips billboard saying to turn on Jackson Street. I remembered seeing that street, so I took it down to the edge of the river and eventually came to a sign for Squid Lips. Along the way I passed Davis Street, which is a tiny little street with the street sign hidden behind trees along Route 1.
Squid Lips was confusing to me – the parking is very far away and then across the street at the end of a long boardwalk/pier there’s a structure that might possibly be a restaurant. It was – it’s Squid Lips. It has no a/c but has walls that go halfway up and the rest is open to the fresh air. They have plastic flaps that can roll down if it’s cold out. It’s very casual, and not really that big. I was given a high-top table in the corner, which was excellent since both “walls” were open to the outside marina, water, etc.
A woman at the next table decided to feed her leftover bread to the seagulls out there, and there were no signs telling people not to feed the birds. I don’t know if it’s allowed or if they just assume people IN a restaurant will be smart enough to not be attracting seagulls! In any event I was glad when they paid their check and left.
I ordered one of their signature cocktails, and it was slightly cheaper than the Disney pina colada. It’s called Voodoo Juice and had various rums along with pinapple juice, some cranberry juice & I’m not sure what else. It tasted great! For lunch I ordered the Our Salad, which was greens, tomatoes, red onion, dried cranberries, white raisins, blue cheese crumbles & sweetened pecans all tossed in a vanilla vinaigrette. It was very good, but once I ate all the good stuff I didn’t bother finishing the extra greens. I also ordered a piece of their raspberry key lime cheesecake to go, but it’s sitting in the fridge not calling my name. I’m in the mood for ice cream, lol!
The drive back to the resort was easy, and luckily I found a parking spot underneath the building. When I left it was full, and I didn’t want to have to park outside since I’m leaving tomorrow. I updated the report and then sat on the balcony to read for a while with some wine. There was enough of a breeze that it wasn’t unbearable out there – plus I love the sound of the waves hitting the sand.
Eventually I came back inside, grabbed my camera and headed outside. It was almost 5pm and the pool was still very busy. There was a long line of people at the top of the slide. I left the pool area and walked down to the beach, and walked north for a while. It was just an hour before high tide so the waves were bigger than they were this morning. I walked along the edge of the water, which meant that depending on the waves I was either on wet sand or in water halfway up my calves. It was oppressively hot at the pool but there was quite a breeze on the beach. The difference was remarkable, although it was a very warm breeze.
When I returned to the resort I went back into the pool area and got an ice cream cone from Bleachers. They have soft serve – but not vanilla and chocolate like I expected. They have vanilla and pineapple and I tried a sample of that swirled together and it was outstanding. I hate dole whips, but I really liked this. Cone in hand I headed back into the resort and went up to my room. On the 4th floor one of the moron dads from yesterday was in the hall with his kid & the soccer ball again while dopey wife was watching. Where on earth would anyone get the impression that it’s appropriate to play soccer inside a hotel hallway?? I just don’t get it.
Back in the room I updated the report & uploaded today’s photos while waiting for SB’s game to start. I happened to look to the north when I went out on the balcony and there was a storm approaching. It looked like the clouds were a supernatural monster oozing over the land & ocean – really weird & ominous. I wonder if the campfire will be rained out again! Although, Karen said they’ve done it on the back porch so I might check there if it’s thundering & lightning at campfire time.
It ended up just raining briefly. I wasn’t even aware of it, but I saw later that the walkways were wet. In any event, the fireworks and the campfire were not impacted. A little after 8:30 I walked over to the campfire area. Although I’m at the end of the building closest to that area, the only staircase doesn’t exit onto the ground level. So, I had to go to the middle of the building and walk past my room to get to the campfire area.
As expected, it was mobbed. They were doing silly camp songs – I assume they’re camp songs but I really don’t know. It was really lame, but most people had young kids with them. The no-see-ums weren’t too bad, but they were biting. I was only there for the s’mores but had to suffer through song after song after song. Eventually I couldn’t take it any more, so I started to walk away and noticed the fireworks in Sebastion. I paced (to avoid the bugs) back & forth while watching the fireworks until they were ready to do the s’mores. Since there are so many guests, the lines are ridiculously long! Honestly, the s’more is not worth it. There’s a long line to get the marshallows, then you go toast them in the fire. After that there’s a long line to get the graham cracker and chocolate, so your marshmallow gets cold & the chocolate doesn’t melt at all. One of my marshmallows fell off the stick, so I only had half the portion to start with, which made the graham cracker crumble since it takes 2 marshmallows to fill the space. Oh well, lol!
I walked back to the Inn and went up to my room. Since my room runs along the end of the building and I have a set of double windows in that extra little room, I had a perfect view of the fireworks! They must have run for a good half hour and were nice big fireworks. They weren’t Wishes, but they sure as hell were more impressive than Illuminations fireworks. I made some cappuccino when the fireworks ended, and then got back to SB’s game.
I’m not sure what I’ll be doing tomorrow, but I know it’ll be a short day so I can get home & do laundry since I leave again soon. Today was a nice day – except I wish it felt about 15 degrees cooler. It’s nice just relaxing – walking on the beach, laying on the beach, having a leisurely lunch, etc. It was great meeting Karen today, too.
DAY 4 – Sunday 7/5/09
Who: Sue (50), DVC member
Plan: Beach, Drive home
Actual: Last night I went to sleep around 11:30, after I finished my book. SB’s game was still in extra innings, but I figured he wouldn’t call this late. Well, at 12:15 guess what happened? LOL – he called. I talked to him and then went back to sleep, waking up sometime after 6. I got up around 6:30 and went for a walk on the beach. It’s almost daylight by then, and there were a few other people walking. I’ve noticed people tend to leave their shoes on the boardwalk when walking on the beach. I’ve been carrying mine without even thinking.
When I got back from the beach I wandered around in the pool area, and then went back up to the room. I made some toast & cappuccino for breakfast, and read my email. Although the code for internet access changed this morning, I’m still online because I never got off. So, that’s good to know – I thought I’d get booted off & have to call for the new code. I saw on the news that there’d been a monorail accident and 1 driver was killed – I assume the driver of the monorail that crashed into the other one. They didn’t say whether there was a malfunction that caused it or whether the 2nd driver made a deadly mistake.
There was no express checkout on my door so I called down to the front desk to see what’s going on. They do express checkout, but if you do online check in it doesn’t mark me for express checkout. Hmm, perhaps that’s something the cast member checking me in should do?? I said I’d pick up my bill on the way out, and went back to hanging out online for a bit longer. I’d decided I wasn’t going to go out to sweat on the beach today. I wish I had another day, but it would be too hectic this week. I go back to work tomorrow, have a baseball game some nights, and then Friday leave work early to fly to CT for 6 nights to see SB (then home 3 nights and gone again). So, the extra day was something I just didn’t have available to me.
I was out the door shortly after 9, settled the bill at the front desk and loaded my stuff in the car. I was a boring & tedious drive through no-man’s-land Florida. This is why I stopped going to Vero – it’s a pain to get to from Ft Myers because there are only small roads between here & there. But, I was home by 12:30.
I’ve been torn about where to go next 4th of July weekend. If the holiday means a 3-day weekend, I’ll go somewhere. If it falls on a Tue, Wed or Thu then its just an extra day off in the middle of the week. My Disney pass is blacked out during this time, but honestly I do NOT want to be trudging around a theme park in this heat/humidity – late May was bad enough! Assuming I’m in Gainesville most of the time by then, I can drive 2 hours to WDW (resort trip – no parks) or 4 hours to Vero. Hilton Head is also 4 hours, but I’ll be there over Memorial Day weekend. I’ll probably book OKW at 11 months and then at 7 decided between there & here – but I thing being on the beach will win out even though it’s hot here and further away. And yes, I realize I’m fortunate to have these choices <g>.
As for this trip, there are definitely things I wish were different and mistakes I wish I hadn’t made. All that driving the first night only to end up at Panera Bread is 90 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back, lol! I wasn’t thrilled with the heat & humidity but I’ve lived in FL long enough to know that’s just the way it is this time of year. The obnoxious behavior screaming and playing in the hallway – well, there’s no excuse for that & it would have been nice to have a working fire hose in my hand <g>. Those things didn’t offset the great things – being on the beach, seeing the fireworks from my room, meeting Kathy, finding Squid Lips and getting away to relax for a few days. The resort is beautiful, the beach is better than it was when the resort first opened, and I love being there. Some year we’ll have to go when the weather is more comfortable!
The photos from this trip are on SnapFish at
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=18051246814902487/l=1754786016/g=5159584/cobrandOid=1000143/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
My next DVC trip is Labor Day weekend, at Jambo House concierge level. I’m thinking it’ll be mostly a resort trip since it’ll still be so hot & humid outside. But, I’m looking forward to enjoying the concierge lounge.
Until next time – thanks for reading.
Who: Sue (50), DVC member
Dates: July 2 - 5, 2009
Travel Method: Personal car
Resort: Disney’s Vero Beach Resort
Experience: 8th Trip since 1998
INTRODUCTION: Years ago we came to Disney’s Vero Beach Resort fairly regularly (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 twice, 2002). I think after that my vacation time became more controlled, so other than 2 nights during Memorial Day weekend in 2005 I haven’t been back. I used to head to WDW whenever 4th of July was a long weekend, even though my park pass is blacked out. I was there for Comedy Warehouse – relaxing by the pool during the day, laughing with friends at night. Now that Disney has closed all of the clubs there’s no reason to spend any vacation dollars up there – especially since the Orlando area is disgustingly hot & humid this time of year!
With WDW out of the picture, I settled on Vero since the Atlantic Ocean is cooler than the Gulf of Mexico (near home) so hopefully it’ll be a little more comfortable on the beach there vs the beaches at home. Besides, I can’t have a 3-day weekend and not go somewhere, lol! The holiday falls on a Saturday, which means we have Friday off from work. I’m working in Gainesville that week, so I’ll leave at 11 on Thursday and make the 4-hour drive to the resort. The resort is technically not in Vero Beach, which is a good thing! If you’ve ever seen Vero Beach you’ll understand. The beach used to be disappointing, but I think it might be wider now thanks to some renourishment (if that didn’t get swept away last hurricane season). It will never compare favorably to Hilton Head, but I don’t have the time to make that trip.
I won’t arrive until 3-4 pm, but that means my room should be ready! At Vero the only way to ensure an ocean view is to book an ocean view room in the Inn. The 3 smaller buildings have the studios, 1br & 2br villas and there are very few views of the beach, which seems silly. The Inn is the main building, and the rooms have 2 queen beds plus the dvc kitchenette area. When booking you either book ocean view (facing the beach) or garden view (parking lot, street & trees). I don’t know that it’ll be comfortable enough to sit on the balcony, but I’d rather view ocean vs parking lot from within the comfort of my air conditioned room!
The resort used to have binders full of menus from local places, so I’ll peruse them and select a dinner spot each night – unless I decide to get something from the pizza place next door & stay in some night. SB’s games are scheduled each evening. I’ll bring breakfast stuff and eat that in the room each morning, then grab something from the pool snack bar for lunch (unless I have leftovers). The days will be spent by the pool or on the beach, depending on my mood. It’s not likely I’ll do any of the activities, because this resort is extremely little-kid oriented and I’m not sure they’d have anything of interest (unlike at Hilton Head that at least puts a few token things in there for adults). There will most likely be afternoon thunder/lightning storms, but that’s a good time to shower & relax in the room. Overall it’ll be a nice, relaxing trip – exactly what I’m looking forward to.
Originally I’d booked through Sunday night, figuring I’d drive to work (in Ft Myers) Monday morning. But, I came to my senses and canceled Sunday. It’s a long boring tedious 3-hour drive through rinky dink towns, and I’d rather get home Sunday afternoon & do laundry & read mail since I’ve already been in Gainesville for 5 nights before continuing on to Vero. Besides, 2 days (Fri, Sat) of the beach is plenty – normally I only go for 2 hours at a time, and only in the morning (at home). Finally, the Friday after I get back I fly up to CT for 6 nights, return for 3 and then go to Gainesville again so time at home is at a premium.
The plans so far are:
Thursday, 7/2: Work Gainesville, Publix, Dinner somewhere
Friday 7/3: Beach/Pool, Dinner
Saturday 7/4: Beach/Pool, Dinner
Sunday 7/5: Beach, Drive home
DAY 1 – Thursday 7/2/09
Who: Sue (50), DVC member
Plan: Work Gainesville, Drive to Vero, Publix, Dinner somewhere
Actual: Work passed quickly enough, and I was on the road shortly after 11am. When I checked Mapquest earlier, both the turnpike route and the local route took the same amount of time, so I opted for the cheaper & more scenic local route. I passed through small town Florida, and some of it was very pretty. I found 1.25 acres of waterfront property selling for only $85,000! At the community next door to me a normal lot on the river was $500,000 10-15 years ago, so north/central Florida is a bargain if you can stand living in the middle of nowhere. Once I got to I-95 for he last 120+ miles I had intermittent harrowing rain. It never fails – when I leave Gainesville I’ll get a terrible storm at some point.
The trip passed quickly, with several work issues and conversations with SB. We found out recently that one of his best friends (& co-worker) was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Unfortunately, it IS cancer and it’s a high stage 3 almost stage 4. At this point he may have a couple years left – not enough to see his kids grow up even. I mention that because several readers knew of the initial diagnosis.
It was still raining lightly when I approached the resort, and pulled into the parking lot across the street since I was still on the phone. I love A1A around here because there’s never any traffic! I pulled back across the road and stopped at the security/welcome center. The security cast member was very friendly, and soon I was parked at the front door. Inside the lobby it was very noisy (as usual) – since it was raining more people then usual were inside. There was a line at the front desk – I was shocked! They had a sign for key pick-up/online check in so I walked up there but there was no cm. When I asked, I learned they don’t do it here. Ok, but get rid of the sign!
Anyway, my wait was very brief, and they had my packet all put together and my room was ready. She offered to go over anything I wanted to know about, but I remember enough about my previous trips to be ok on my own. I went out to the car and drove around to the end of the building to enter the parking area underneath. I found a spot near the elevators, grabbed the only luggage cart and unloaded the car. When I got up to the 4th floor I saw the other cart. Evidently someone on my floor is just too lazy & rude to return the cart for the next guest.
My room is at the end of the hall, on the ocean side. The hall zigged and zagged a bit, and so does my room. It’s a studio, but not all 1 room like most studios. Coming in through the door there’s a mini kitchen area (microwave, fridge, coffee maker, toaster, mugs, paper products, sink) and then a hallway containing the closet. Past that is an empty mini-room with windows that look out to the walking path to the out building and beach cottages on this side. Across from that is the bathroom – sinks outside; toilet & tub inside. Beyond that is the bedroom, and one wall is a slanted ceiling. That maks the room look a little smaller in my opinion, but I’m still happy with the room. My balcony is slatted, so when I sit out there I’ll be able to see the beach. The solid balconies are not attractive to me – you can’t see unless you stand up.
I took some photos of the room and got unpacked. The resort has wireless internet now and it’s free for dvc members so I decided to turn the laptop on and get online before I went out. However, I couldn’t get to either internet explorer or firefox. I finally called the front desk – here when they answer they call you by name (Holland family) each time, which is nice. The computer person had left for the day, but she gave me a couple phone numbers to try. While I was on hold with the first one I figured it out. With this new laptop the first time it’s anywhere I have to allow the wireless connection for some reason. Once I did that, it worked like a charm. The only thing I don’t like is the access code changes at midnight Saturday, so I’ll get booted off until I get the new code. Usually I get online when I arrive and don’t get off until I leave for good.
Once I saw the internet access was working I took the luggage cart and walked back to the elevators. The other cart was still there, so I grabbed it and waited for an elevator since I could fit both in there. But, before the elevator arrived a family of 4-5 adults & teens arrived, so I pawned a cart off on them and offered to let them take the first elevator if they’d return the cart to the garage (that’s where they were headed). However, when the elevator arrived 2 workers were in there installing a railing. The other family said I should go, so I took 1 cart and entered the elevator. I’d noticed how beautiful the elevators are, and I found out they’d just recently redone the interiors. I’ll try to take some photos when I’m alone in there. The floor is a beautiful ceramic tile and the walls are a pretty wood with some décor to them. I was impressed. The workers were disappointed that the doors have already been scratched up, but that’s what happens when members & guests don’t take care to act right.
It was still raining, so the parking under the building was great! I drove over to the mainland and headed north on Route 1. I passed the Publix and kept driving and driving but never saw any signs that I’d eventually reach civilization (restaurants). Obviously people in Sebastion don’t eat out. I made a u-turn and drove back to Publix, taking care of more work stuff along the way. The Publix was pretty decent – not the best Publix but not the worst. Publix is always a safe bet, unlike the other grocery store chains in Florida.
Once I was inside I realized I had no idea what to get. I ended up with some cut fruit, a yogurt, some cherries (no clue why – haven’t eaten those in years) and a piece of chocolate cake (now THAT sounds like me, lol). Overall, I don’t think the trip was really necessary. I drove back to the resort (in the rain) and dropped the groceries off in the room. I’d only had a yogurt in the car at 11am since breakfast, so I was hungry for real food and wanted to be waited on. I went down to the lobby and wandered around checking things out. I really had no interest in either of the resort’s restaurants. In hindsight I should have eaten here, though.
I stopped at the front desk and as expected they no longer have the menu books but the cast member gave me a 3-page double-sided list of restaurants. The only problem is, there’s no address and no indication of what the hell they serve <g>. Basically you blindly pick a place based on the name and they’ll tell you how to get there. I didn’t have time for that, so I asked if there was anything on this road (A1A – the road the resort is on). She circled the area map and told me Ocean Grill, Mulligans (not listed) & Bobby’s was off a side street about 7 miles away.
I went back to the car and drove south on A1A. I found the side street easily enough and then drove around the area looking for the restaurants. Bobby’s was a steakhouse in a hotel/motel, so that didn’t appeal. There wasn’t much else in the area, either. Mulligans looked too casual – it was a beach bar & I was dressed a little better than that (and I was OLDER than everyone I saw in that area, lol). I parked by Ocean Grill and luckily they have a menu posted outside. It’s a great place for seafood lovers, and it’s right on the beach with a great view. But, it was gray, cloudy, raining, and almost entirely seafood. I hate seafood. The one chicken dish didn’t appeal (it had crab with it) so I decided to continue looking.
I went back to A1A and continued south, figuring surely I’d get to the real Vero and find lots of fabulous restaurants to choose from. LOL – what a food I was! I drove almost to friggin’ Ft Pierce, lol! When I finally turned around I passed through several towns before reaching Vero again. I headed over to the mainland thinking surely I’d find Applebees, Chilis, perhaps a Bonefish Grill, but no such luck. I drove and drove and finally backtracked and ended up at a Panera Bread. Talk about disappointing, lol – I should have just gone back to the resort but I wasn’t thinking.
At Panera I ordered the tomato & mozzarella hot panini (dumb choice when there are miles to be driven) and a pecan sticky bun that looks WAY better than the lousy ones at Boardwalk Bakery, lol! We’ll see how it is tomorrow morning <g>. I drove back to the resort, and ended up using a quarter tank of gas on this little adventure – and it took me 1.5 hours! I parked the car under the resort and don’t plan to start it again until I go home on Sunday!
What kills me is there’s a great little pizza/Italian place right next door, and we used to walk over there. That’s what I’ll be doing tomorrow <g>. Back in the room I grabbed the ice bucket to get some ice and then went back to the room to eat my panini. I had some wine chilled and had brought a plastic wineglass from Epcot, so I was all set. The panini was huge, but I ended up eating less than half. It had sun dried tomato pesto, and I hated that. I scraped it off and there wasn’t much left to the panini. I ate what I could stand and threw the rest away.
SB’s game got rained out, so I don’t have that to listen to. By 7:30 it was looking like it was trying to stop raining, although it was still extremely humid (temps were mid 70’s). I updated the report while drinking my wine. I’ll hold the photos until the end, since there won’t be as many as there’d be on a cruise or a WDW trip.
A little before 8 I noticed the rain had stopped, so I put on my Croc flip flops (much more comfortable now, but I don’t think I’d risk hours in a theme park) and headed downstairs. The stairwell by my room doesn’t go to the first floor, so I ended up with the choice of the garage or an unmarked door. I chose the unmarked door and came out at the cast member’s break area along the side of the building (out of sight). I was shocked/disgusted by the many ashtrays everywhere – yuck! I startled a cast member eating her dinner, so I apologized and headed towards the front door. I passed through the lobby and out to the walkway along the grass.
The boardwalk is all new – not sure how many times it’s been destroyed & rebuilt after storms, but this one looks very sturdy and long-lasting. The sand here is not nice at all. At home our sand is white powder. Here it’s very coarse and is light brown – like light dirt. At home even our “dirt” is white sand. Instead of pebbles we have shells when we dig to plant flowers, lol! There were a lot of broken shells near the top of the beach, but it wasn’t very uncomfortable. Once I got down to the wet sand it was very smooth. The drop-off is still fairly steep to my eyes, which was the main thing I didn’t like about the beach here years ago. Back then Chris & I would have played in the ocean, but this beach wasn’t good for that back then and it’s looking the same again now. That didn’t keep some people out, though!
I headed south and just walked along the edge of the water. There seems to be more condos along the beach than there used to be. It was a nice quiet walk, without a lot of other people. One guy was fishing from the shore while his 3 young sons played in the sand. If he’s catching fish from the shore, I don’t want to be in that water! I walked for about 45 minutes, and then went back inside.
I ate some of the cake, finished up the report and later hung out online with some cappuccino. Hopefully the next 2 days will have better weather at least for the first half of the day. If it rains once I get off the beach, I don’t really care!
One thing I noticed while driving around – this area all along A1A is very nice. It must be just inland that’s so trashy in Vero. Everything along the coast is attractive and well-maintained. I think there are a lot of new communities since we were here many years ago, and I doubt 1.25 acres of waterfront property can be found here for $85,000 ;-)
Tomorrow I’ll head out to the beach in the morning, will listen to SB’s double header at 4 and will get dinner from Orchid Island Pizzeria next door!
DAY 2 – Friday 7/3/09
Who: Sue (50), DVC member
Plan: Beach/Pool, Dinner
Actual: I forgot to mention yesterday – I noticed one drawback to this room. When I get up to go to the kitchenette area, it’s a LONG walk!! I almost need to pack a snack & change of clothes, lol. Anyway, last night I slept with the drapes open (of course) so I’d wake with the sun. At home we get the sunset but here we get the sunrise. This is also an accessible room, which explains no kitchen cabinets and close door knobs about the height of my knees.
I slept very well – all that searching for dinner wear’s a person out, lol! I woke at 6:30 (it was light outside) but didn’t get up until shortly after 7. The sun was quite a ways up the sky by then, but partly obscured by lots of clouds. I checked the weather – the sun should be coming out, but around 1pm the storms are expected again. I tried sitting on the balcony but it was incredibly humid & felt hot even though it was only in the 70’s at this point. There was no breeze, either – hopefully it’ll be better down on the beach.
I made some cappuccino and ate the pecan sticky bun. Now THIS is a sticky bun – it was so much better than that godawful thing they pass off as a sticky bun at the Boardwalk Bakery! By 8am the first family had set up camp on the beach, but it was still so cloudy I wasn’t rushing out there that early.
A little after 9 I headed downstairs and out to the beach. I’d brought a lounge chair from home so there was no need to rent one. I don’t like the rentals anyway. Not only are they ridiculously expensive ($28/day for 2 cushioned chairs & umbrella), they’re about as far away from the water as you can possibly be, and everyone else sets up between you & the water. Plus, the chairs are in a row – like cots along the wall of the orphanage. I like my space – no surprise, lol! So, I walked down the stairs to the beach and past the row of rentals and just beyond the other people. I was actually pretty close to being directly across from my balcony at the end of the Inn. Nobody was near me, so it was perfect. I got as close as I dared to the water, not knowing if the tide was coming in or going out.
Eventually a lot more people came out to the beach, but it was never overly crowded. Many were just on blankets or towels, but quite a few rentals were being used as well. The waves were tiny, which is disappointing but typical for over here. I’d rather have bigger waves but lack the power to make that happen. Besides, after seeing the guy fishing yesterday I wasn’t going in the water very far. Basically once the water hit the top of my feet I was in as far as I was going. The water felt refreshing, which is an improvement over the Gulf of Mexico at home (water there gets into the low 90’s).
Before settling down I grabbed the camera and walked around the pool area to take pictures and see if anything had changed. It looked mostly the same, but maybe the kids water play area had been improved upon. The pool area was already busy, and they had signs warning against saving chairs or tables with stuff. I didn’t stay, so I don’t know if it was a problem or not. When I was finished I walked back down to the beach and returned to my chair.
I laid on my chair for a while, then read a magazine, then started a book. Every once in a while a brief cool breeze would come by, but mostly it was terribly hot out there. A little after 11 I got up and walked down the beach (north) for a bit, staying in the water along the edge since it was so hot. The public beach is right next door to the resort, and it had a pretty good crowd as well. By the time I got back I was starting to feel a little light headed & nauseous – most likely dehydrated from the heat & the sweating. What water I had left was literally HOT. It felt like drinking hot tea without the tea bag. I stood in the water a bit, then returned to sit on the chair while talking to SB and then got up to leave.
It’s not a hard walk, but by the time I got to the stairs I had to stop halfway up and sit down in the shade until I cooled down a bit. When I was ready I finished the steps, showered off my feet, and had to stop again at the end of the boardwalk. Finally I made it to the building & entered the first door to get into the air conditioning. I went down as far as I could and spread my towel on a chair to sit down again. The hostess at Shutters was asking how it was outside, and I asked for a cup of ice water. Someone brought it out and between that, the a/c and sitting down I felt much better.
When I finished the water I gathered up my stuff and easily made it back to my room. I decided to hang out in there for a while, so I drank some more water and ate a bunch of the cherries I’d bought. Now I’m glad I got them – they really hit the spot! I updated the report and hung out for a while, going back out sometime after 1 to round up something for lunch.
Before lunch I wandered over towards building 12, and saw the new campfire pit. After the storms and the building of the new boardwalk the original location was no longer there. The new spot is probably the most inconvenient location possible, unfortunately. But, if you want to go, you’ll go. I wandered around a bit and then went into the pool area. Bleachers is the pool snack bar and there were only a couple people in line. Unfortunately, the guy in front of me was such a pain. He had his 2 young kids, which is fine. But, the boy was practically screaming when he talked (without any reminder to tone it down) and the dad was just constantly bombarding the kids with want to do this, want to do that, etc. While in line the boy decided he wanted to eat in the restaurant. So, they stand in line to get cookies & a burger for the daughter & then went to the restaurant for the boy. I’m all for giving kids choices, but eating at both places was overboard in my opinion.
When it was my turn I ordered the tropical chicken pita and also got a pina colada. Unfortunately they don’t do cup lids or straws here – why can‘t they have the paper straws like at Animal Kingdom? The pina colada was good, but really nothing special. The tropical chicken pita was a big brown pita with jerk chicken, pineapple relish, lettuce & whatever else. I took it all back up to the room since it was so hot outside.
The chicken pita was ok – I loved the chicken but didn’t care for the pineapple relish. It was almost 2pm by now, so I ate less than half and put the rest in the fridge for another time. I got caught up watching an old Bewitched episode, but pulled myself away after the 1st one to take my shower. People were in the room next door, and they were so damn LOUD! I had to turn my tv up louder than I like, to try to mask their noise (voices). Fortunately they either shut up or went out pretty soon <g>.
At 3 General Hospital was another rerun. Today isn’t a holiday, so give me a break! I tried the balcony a few times, but it was just too hot. Still no rain, though! A little before 4 SB called to say his double header was going to start, so I tried listening to that through the team’s site but once again it didn’t work. I had talk radio about colonoscopies, but then had nothing at all. I hate that they changed to this radio station because they’re not a professional (reliable) outfit at all! So, after a few failed attempts I started Portland’s broadcast (the home team), which is better than nothing. I later figured out my adobe flash needs a file, so that’s why I couldn’t get his broadcast on this new laptop, but I’ll try to fix it when I can reboot the computer.
After listening to some of the 1st game I decided to get out of the room. It was still uncomfortably hot, but the back (ocean side) of the resort was shady by now. I wandered around taking a few photos, and decided to try Orchid Island Pizzeria figuring I’d bring it back to the room (as it turns out it’s only takeout). Years ago we could cut through the trees on that side of the resort, but I went out the front since I wanted to get a photo of the entrance. As I walked sweating along the sidewalk I saw they’d installed fence the entire way so no more cutting through! This means a long walk back while food’s getting cold!
When I got over there & went inside I remembered they are not air conditioned! There’s no way I was sitting in that hot place waiting for food that would get cold before I got back to the resort, so I picked up a menu thinking I can drive over tomorrow. I went out to the boardwalk (this is the public beach) and there was a breeze on the beach so I went down & walked on the beach for a while before walking back to the resort on the beach. I went into the pool area and ordered the kid’s chicken nugget meal. The adult’s was 8 nuggets & fries for $7.19. The kids’ was $6,29 for 4 plus fries but a bottle of water was included (water was my choice). There’s no way I’d eat 8, so I ordered the kids’ meal. It comes in a pail with a shovel hanging from the handle. The 4 nuggets were more than enough, and I wasn’t able to finish the fries. 2 small kids can easily share this if they can share the pail/shovel.
I took the food up to the room and ate dinner while listening to SB’s second game. Eventually I went to get some ice and was horrified to hear really obnoxiously loud yelling. Turns out 2 young dads were having their 3-4 very little boys play soccer in the hallway at the atrium. They were screaming & yelling right in front of a row of rooms, too! I thought that was highly inappropriate, but kept my mouth shut since I wouldn’t have been able to remain civil. There’s a giant grass field right outside that would be perfect for preschoolers to kick a fake soccer ball around. You don’t do that in a hotel hallway unless you’re a total jackass. Oops, guess I just figured out why they were doing that. <g>
I poured some wine and watched some tv. TV lately is mostly Michael Jackson – it’s a shame people can’t leave him alone already. It looked like rain was building up when I was out earlier, but it didn’t materialize for quite a while. By 8 people were headed to the campfire, and by shortly after 8 they came back. I could see a big storm just north of us and another one out at sea. Soon the lightning and thunder started, so the campfire was canceled. It likes like they get a huge turnout! There’s another one tomorrow night, so we’ll see how it goes.
I sat on the balcony for a while watching the storms and the slightly bigger waves. It was dark by 8:30 so I went inside to listen to the rest of SB’s game while eating more cherries & fruit. After being outside in the humidity was cold in the room, so I got under the covers the warm up – between the game, the tv and the thunder – it’s one noisy place!
The rest of the night was spent in bed just being lazy. I think the weather tomorrow looks like it did today, so I might get up in time to see the sunrise, then spend the morning on the beach again. Although I wish it was cooler & less humid I’m still enjoying my stay. In fact, I wish I had longer to stay here, but a short trip is better than no trip!
DAY 3 – Saturday 7/4/09
Who: Sue (50), DVC member
Plan: Beach/Pool, Dinner
Actual: Last night around 9:30 I thought I heard fireworks. I got up and stepped onto the wet balcony and realized it was just thunder. It was still raining pretty hard, so it’ll be humid in the early morning! I set the alarm for a little after 5:30 and woke up when the radio came on. I wasn’t sure what time the sun would rise, so I stayed in bed for a short time then got up to brush my teeth and put on some clothes.
I grabbed the camera and went downstairs. The lobby was silent and I could smell bacon cooking and possibly some pastries. I headed outside and wandered around until the camera lens cleared (it fogs up going from nice air conditioned air to warm humid outside air). The sky had brightened but there wasn’t much breeze. To avoid bugs (no-see-ums) I had to keep moving to avoid them. One of the recreation cast members was at work by 6am – she was cleaning leaves out of the pool. One guy was walking the beach with one of those metal detectors. I saw a couple pairs of shoes on the beach and after sunrise their owners returned from their walk on the beach. It was nice out there, but it would have been nicer if there were no bugs and if there was a dry place to sit. Everything was still wet from the rain last night and humidity this morning.
After sunrise I was going to sit in a rocking chair, but there were bugs and the view was really nothing (the grassy lawn). So, I went inside and back upstairs to my room. I made a piece of toast & some cappuccino, and got back in bed with breakfast & the laptop. I was surprised to see SB online – they’d just recently gotten into Trenton for their next 3 games, driving through the night. We chatted a bit, and hopefully he’ll get some sleep soon!
At one point the bright sunshine was flooding the room, and then before long it was so foggy or overcast I could barely see the edge of the water. It shouldn’t last long, so I didn’t worry about it. Another dvctalk member is here now and although she’s not a complainer or negative person, her experience has been pretty much a nightmare. That horrible noise that shocked me yesterday is unfortunately “normal” for her, as her room is located in that area. She even said people leave their kids to run wild in the lobby and then scream down (from the upper floors) at 11pm for them to come up to bed! When did parents get so ignorant & inconsiderate of people around them? She also mentioned cast members being stationed in the elevators because unsupervised kids were playing hide & seek, using the elevators. Disney should round up the brats and send their parents home – or give them a hefty fine. There’s just no excuse for that sort of behavior.
By 9 the sun was back. I ate some of the leftover chicken pita and tossed the rest. It was ok, but definitely better when it’s new! At 9:15 I went to the Home Shopping Network site and ordered the Magellan GPS they had as the today’s special. I could have used it the first night here, lol! Some dvc friends were talking about them, so I figured what the heck. At 9:30 I put on my swimsuit, gathered up my stuff and went down to the beach.
I went to the same spot and although the beach was busier than yesterday I still had nobody close to me. The ocean water was 81 degrees again and it felt great on my feet & lower legs, lol! I’m still not going any further, and did spot a 3-inch fish in the shallow water. He can’t bite me, but can give me a heart attack. It was very hot on the beach, too. Every once in a while I’d feel a nice breeze but mostly I felt like I was broiling out there. I lasted less than 2 hours but could have stayed longer & enjoyed it more if it wasn’t so hot & humid.
Around 11:45 I gathered up my stuff and walked along the edge of the water before cutting across the sand to the stairs up to the boardwalk. I showered the sand off my feet and moved over to the seating area to let the dry before putting on my flipflops. As I was sitting there Karen from dvctalk came walking over so we sat & talked for a while. It was so nice meeting her, and hear more about the unruly children she’s had to endure. Neither one of us raised our kids that way, and it’s a real shame anyone would. Regardless, we’re all enjoying the stay. She invited me to join her family for fireworks tonight, but I’ll be listening to SB’s game.
Karen headed back to the pool and I went inside and up to my room. They’ve painted the trim in the hall so there was a mild paint smell and lots of “wet paint” signs everywhere. Back in the room I ate the rest of the cherries and relaxed catching up on email & facebook. I almost forgot – when I was watching the DVC information channel (commercial) on tv earlier, they showed each dvc resort. I was excited to see the “latest” resort – Animal Kingdom Villas. I guess Bay Lake Tower is just an apparition??
It was almost 2 before I was clean, dressed & ready to head out – but there’s nothing wrong with being lazy on vacation even if the vacation is just a long weekend. I had emailed myself directions to Squid Lips from Mapquest, but it wasn’t as easy as that sounded. I was looking for Davis Street on the right, 6 miles after I turned onto Route 1. I didn’t see it, and drove over 7 miles and ended up going over a bridge across a river. When I was able pull a U-turn and backtrack, I fortunately saw a Squid Lips billboard saying to turn on Jackson Street. I remembered seeing that street, so I took it down to the edge of the river and eventually came to a sign for Squid Lips. Along the way I passed Davis Street, which is a tiny little street with the street sign hidden behind trees along Route 1.
Squid Lips was confusing to me – the parking is very far away and then across the street at the end of a long boardwalk/pier there’s a structure that might possibly be a restaurant. It was – it’s Squid Lips. It has no a/c but has walls that go halfway up and the rest is open to the fresh air. They have plastic flaps that can roll down if it’s cold out. It’s very casual, and not really that big. I was given a high-top table in the corner, which was excellent since both “walls” were open to the outside marina, water, etc.
A woman at the next table decided to feed her leftover bread to the seagulls out there, and there were no signs telling people not to feed the birds. I don’t know if it’s allowed or if they just assume people IN a restaurant will be smart enough to not be attracting seagulls! In any event I was glad when they paid their check and left.
I ordered one of their signature cocktails, and it was slightly cheaper than the Disney pina colada. It’s called Voodoo Juice and had various rums along with pinapple juice, some cranberry juice & I’m not sure what else. It tasted great! For lunch I ordered the Our Salad, which was greens, tomatoes, red onion, dried cranberries, white raisins, blue cheese crumbles & sweetened pecans all tossed in a vanilla vinaigrette. It was very good, but once I ate all the good stuff I didn’t bother finishing the extra greens. I also ordered a piece of their raspberry key lime cheesecake to go, but it’s sitting in the fridge not calling my name. I’m in the mood for ice cream, lol!
The drive back to the resort was easy, and luckily I found a parking spot underneath the building. When I left it was full, and I didn’t want to have to park outside since I’m leaving tomorrow. I updated the report and then sat on the balcony to read for a while with some wine. There was enough of a breeze that it wasn’t unbearable out there – plus I love the sound of the waves hitting the sand.
Eventually I came back inside, grabbed my camera and headed outside. It was almost 5pm and the pool was still very busy. There was a long line of people at the top of the slide. I left the pool area and walked down to the beach, and walked north for a while. It was just an hour before high tide so the waves were bigger than they were this morning. I walked along the edge of the water, which meant that depending on the waves I was either on wet sand or in water halfway up my calves. It was oppressively hot at the pool but there was quite a breeze on the beach. The difference was remarkable, although it was a very warm breeze.
When I returned to the resort I went back into the pool area and got an ice cream cone from Bleachers. They have soft serve – but not vanilla and chocolate like I expected. They have vanilla and pineapple and I tried a sample of that swirled together and it was outstanding. I hate dole whips, but I really liked this. Cone in hand I headed back into the resort and went up to my room. On the 4th floor one of the moron dads from yesterday was in the hall with his kid & the soccer ball again while dopey wife was watching. Where on earth would anyone get the impression that it’s appropriate to play soccer inside a hotel hallway?? I just don’t get it.
Back in the room I updated the report & uploaded today’s photos while waiting for SB’s game to start. I happened to look to the north when I went out on the balcony and there was a storm approaching. It looked like the clouds were a supernatural monster oozing over the land & ocean – really weird & ominous. I wonder if the campfire will be rained out again! Although, Karen said they’ve done it on the back porch so I might check there if it’s thundering & lightning at campfire time.
It ended up just raining briefly. I wasn’t even aware of it, but I saw later that the walkways were wet. In any event, the fireworks and the campfire were not impacted. A little after 8:30 I walked over to the campfire area. Although I’m at the end of the building closest to that area, the only staircase doesn’t exit onto the ground level. So, I had to go to the middle of the building and walk past my room to get to the campfire area.
As expected, it was mobbed. They were doing silly camp songs – I assume they’re camp songs but I really don’t know. It was really lame, but most people had young kids with them. The no-see-ums weren’t too bad, but they were biting. I was only there for the s’mores but had to suffer through song after song after song. Eventually I couldn’t take it any more, so I started to walk away and noticed the fireworks in Sebastion. I paced (to avoid the bugs) back & forth while watching the fireworks until they were ready to do the s’mores. Since there are so many guests, the lines are ridiculously long! Honestly, the s’more is not worth it. There’s a long line to get the marshallows, then you go toast them in the fire. After that there’s a long line to get the graham cracker and chocolate, so your marshmallow gets cold & the chocolate doesn’t melt at all. One of my marshmallows fell off the stick, so I only had half the portion to start with, which made the graham cracker crumble since it takes 2 marshmallows to fill the space. Oh well, lol!
I walked back to the Inn and went up to my room. Since my room runs along the end of the building and I have a set of double windows in that extra little room, I had a perfect view of the fireworks! They must have run for a good half hour and were nice big fireworks. They weren’t Wishes, but they sure as hell were more impressive than Illuminations fireworks. I made some cappuccino when the fireworks ended, and then got back to SB’s game.
I’m not sure what I’ll be doing tomorrow, but I know it’ll be a short day so I can get home & do laundry since I leave again soon. Today was a nice day – except I wish it felt about 15 degrees cooler. It’s nice just relaxing – walking on the beach, laying on the beach, having a leisurely lunch, etc. It was great meeting Karen today, too.
DAY 4 – Sunday 7/5/09
Who: Sue (50), DVC member
Plan: Beach, Drive home
Actual: Last night I went to sleep around 11:30, after I finished my book. SB’s game was still in extra innings, but I figured he wouldn’t call this late. Well, at 12:15 guess what happened? LOL – he called. I talked to him and then went back to sleep, waking up sometime after 6. I got up around 6:30 and went for a walk on the beach. It’s almost daylight by then, and there were a few other people walking. I’ve noticed people tend to leave their shoes on the boardwalk when walking on the beach. I’ve been carrying mine without even thinking.
When I got back from the beach I wandered around in the pool area, and then went back up to the room. I made some toast & cappuccino for breakfast, and read my email. Although the code for internet access changed this morning, I’m still online because I never got off. So, that’s good to know – I thought I’d get booted off & have to call for the new code. I saw on the news that there’d been a monorail accident and 1 driver was killed – I assume the driver of the monorail that crashed into the other one. They didn’t say whether there was a malfunction that caused it or whether the 2nd driver made a deadly mistake.
There was no express checkout on my door so I called down to the front desk to see what’s going on. They do express checkout, but if you do online check in it doesn’t mark me for express checkout. Hmm, perhaps that’s something the cast member checking me in should do?? I said I’d pick up my bill on the way out, and went back to hanging out online for a bit longer. I’d decided I wasn’t going to go out to sweat on the beach today. I wish I had another day, but it would be too hectic this week. I go back to work tomorrow, have a baseball game some nights, and then Friday leave work early to fly to CT for 6 nights to see SB (then home 3 nights and gone again). So, the extra day was something I just didn’t have available to me.
I was out the door shortly after 9, settled the bill at the front desk and loaded my stuff in the car. I was a boring & tedious drive through no-man’s-land Florida. This is why I stopped going to Vero – it’s a pain to get to from Ft Myers because there are only small roads between here & there. But, I was home by 12:30.
I’ve been torn about where to go next 4th of July weekend. If the holiday means a 3-day weekend, I’ll go somewhere. If it falls on a Tue, Wed or Thu then its just an extra day off in the middle of the week. My Disney pass is blacked out during this time, but honestly I do NOT want to be trudging around a theme park in this heat/humidity – late May was bad enough! Assuming I’m in Gainesville most of the time by then, I can drive 2 hours to WDW (resort trip – no parks) or 4 hours to Vero. Hilton Head is also 4 hours, but I’ll be there over Memorial Day weekend. I’ll probably book OKW at 11 months and then at 7 decided between there & here – but I thing being on the beach will win out even though it’s hot here and further away. And yes, I realize I’m fortunate to have these choices <g>.
As for this trip, there are definitely things I wish were different and mistakes I wish I hadn’t made. All that driving the first night only to end up at Panera Bread is 90 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back, lol! I wasn’t thrilled with the heat & humidity but I’ve lived in FL long enough to know that’s just the way it is this time of year. The obnoxious behavior screaming and playing in the hallway – well, there’s no excuse for that & it would have been nice to have a working fire hose in my hand <g>. Those things didn’t offset the great things – being on the beach, seeing the fireworks from my room, meeting Kathy, finding Squid Lips and getting away to relax for a few days. The resort is beautiful, the beach is better than it was when the resort first opened, and I love being there. Some year we’ll have to go when the weather is more comfortable!
The photos from this trip are on SnapFish at
http://www1.snapfish.com/share/p=18051246814902487/l=1754786016/g=5159584/cobrandOid=1000143/otsc=SYE/otsi=SALB
My next DVC trip is Labor Day weekend, at Jambo House concierge level. I’m thinking it’ll be mostly a resort trip since it’ll still be so hot & humid outside. But, I’m looking forward to enjoying the concierge lounge.
Until next time – thanks for reading.