mrsabbott
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 29, 2010
So, after driving through endless pine trees, we finally crossed the Florida state line. It's kind of deceptive though.. you think to yourself, "We're in Florida! We're almost there!!" However, in actuality, you aren't almost there because you still have to drive through half the state to get to Orlando!
We've never driven to Florida from this direction before. It's a different route, normally, from our area to Florida and again from Louisiana to Florida.. We detoured to Charlotte and so we went an entirely different way. We drove through, I think, St. Augustine and Daytona. I believe we might have stopped outside Jacksonville for gas and it was kinda scary there. It is hard for me to imagine Florida being scary, but it was. There were bars on all the doors and windows. People gave us some strange looks, but it could have been that we had that crazed look you get when you've been travelling in the car with 4 wild creatures.. I mean, children. We still saw a TON of pine trees, but we were seeing more palm trees and that made me happy!
We decided to NOT stop in a sit down restaurant and instead grab Subway that was connected to the gas station (not the one in Jacksonville though.. that place was creepy!) but it ended up being way crowded and took us an hour. Hubs also developed a bladder the size of a pea and kept stopping to go to the restroom break. Sorry, TMI..
Long story short, I'm really glad that we didn't schedule anything for Saturday evening because it was close to 6pm by the time we arrived to check in! A good 3 hours later then I wanted to be there. Hubs did most of the driving, but I drove that last bit. Thank goodness for Priscilla! That is what I named our GPS. She has a kind of prissy voice. I feel like she secretly wants to call us all idiots and I'm pretty sure I detected some annoyance when she kept "recalculating".. To be fair, I know a Priscilla in real life and she isn't prissy at all. Hubs asked me, at some point in the trip, if I knew someone named Priscilla that I didn't like but I honestly just named the GPS Priscilla because she has a prissy voice. Hubs also said that I should stop naming things, specifically the GPS, so he wouldn't feel so bad when he threw it out the window..
Let me jump ahead a little bit here and say that while mapquest directions and a GPS are way handy.. bring some maps along. Invest in a good atlas. I love maps and atlases and things like that. Hubs scoffed at me for wanting to bring them and I ended up leaving them at home and more then once, especially on the drive home, did we wish we had them. Hubs even admitted that I WAS RIGHT. It was a pretty momentous occasion. So, if you are driving, bring maps.
Anyhoo, we arrived at Bahama Bay and my first thought was that it was BEAUTIFUL!! I snapped a few pics:
(Notice the sign on the right.. it says that the spot is reserved for Wounded Warriors and has a purple heart on it. We didn't park there the entire time and then, on the last day, Hubs realized that it was the parking spot reserved for OUR room. Hubs doesn't have a purple heart, so he just assumed it didn't apply to him. We still didn't park there.)
I never did get a chance to really walk around and explore like I wanted. There were some nice areas. We had a nice pool right behind our place that was never very crowded and very clean. There was another pool and a splash park by the main clubhouse. I believe there was also a small lake and fishing dock somewhere on the property. We found out later that one half of the resort is just vacation rentals and the other half are actual apartments!
Here are some pics of the inside:
A few things to note:
Plenty of cups, plates, bowls, silverware, utensils, and cookware were provided. There was also a coffee pot, toaster, microwave, and blender. A few paper towels, plenty of toilet paper, trash bags/can, wash cloths, bath towels, and beach towels were also provided. In closets we found a vacuum (but no broom or dustpan), high chair, and a portable crib. There was also a washer and dryer. There were NO cleaning supplies there at all. None. I brought laundry soap, dishwasher soap, and some Clorox wipes with me, along with a few garbage bags just in case. I didn't think to bring potholders (not provided) or kitchen/dish towels (also not provided) but we made due. It also never occurred to me to bring glass cleaner as the dining table is glass. I used the Clorox wipes but they streaked pretty badly.
We didn't use the kitchen much. Used the oven twice. Used the fridge to keep stuff and was thankful that it had an ice maker. Used the dishwasher a handful of times. Used the washer and dryer daily!
There were TONS of restaurants close by as well as a place on site that offered room service. More on that later. There was also a SUPER TARGET! Oh, how I love Target! A Super Target is almost like a dream come true. I wish we had one close to us! Strangely, it never occurred to me to buy some glass cleaner at Super Target until the last day.. and I was in there at least half a dozen times! Oh well..
We checked in and unloaded our stuff. The kids claimed their rooms, although it ended up changing. We thought it would be a good opportunity for Buds to get over sleeping in a crib and start sleeping in a big boy bed. Let's just say that, despite the fact that he was exhausted, he refused to sleep in the bed. He was so happy when I finally gave up and pulled out the portable crib from the closet. He kept saying, "That! Want that!" and practically climbed in there to go to bed. I think he is just feeding into my denial that he's not a big boy but still a little baby.. The girls kind of went back and forth between the two rooms.. for all the talk of having their own room, no one wanted to take advantage of that and the sisters usually ended up all in the same room. They secretly love one another.. Shh!! Don't tell!
After unpacking, we were all famished so we decided to eat out. I spotted a Chuy's and wanted to eat there! I LOOOVE Chuy's! I love everything about it! The bright colors! The eclectic, kitschy décor! The food! The funny t-shirts!
I actually took a few pics but they turned out too dark, but we all had fun! I highly recommend mixing their pico and the white sauce together and eating it on the chips.. and their Tres Leches cake is to DIE FOR!! The closest Chuy's to us is an hour away.. probably a good thing too. I'd eat there at least once a week if I could!
We went back to our resort and got ready for bed! We planned to be at Universal bright and early the next day! We turned on the TV and there was a Harry Potter marathon on.. I took it as a good omen and fell asleep with visions of butterbeer and rock cakes dancing in my head!!
We've never driven to Florida from this direction before. It's a different route, normally, from our area to Florida and again from Louisiana to Florida.. We detoured to Charlotte and so we went an entirely different way. We drove through, I think, St. Augustine and Daytona. I believe we might have stopped outside Jacksonville for gas and it was kinda scary there. It is hard for me to imagine Florida being scary, but it was. There were bars on all the doors and windows. People gave us some strange looks, but it could have been that we had that crazed look you get when you've been travelling in the car with 4 wild creatures.. I mean, children. We still saw a TON of pine trees, but we were seeing more palm trees and that made me happy!
We decided to NOT stop in a sit down restaurant and instead grab Subway that was connected to the gas station (not the one in Jacksonville though.. that place was creepy!) but it ended up being way crowded and took us an hour. Hubs also developed a bladder the size of a pea and kept stopping to go to the restroom break. Sorry, TMI..
Long story short, I'm really glad that we didn't schedule anything for Saturday evening because it was close to 6pm by the time we arrived to check in! A good 3 hours later then I wanted to be there. Hubs did most of the driving, but I drove that last bit. Thank goodness for Priscilla! That is what I named our GPS. She has a kind of prissy voice. I feel like she secretly wants to call us all idiots and I'm pretty sure I detected some annoyance when she kept "recalculating".. To be fair, I know a Priscilla in real life and she isn't prissy at all. Hubs asked me, at some point in the trip, if I knew someone named Priscilla that I didn't like but I honestly just named the GPS Priscilla because she has a prissy voice. Hubs also said that I should stop naming things, specifically the GPS, so he wouldn't feel so bad when he threw it out the window..
Let me jump ahead a little bit here and say that while mapquest directions and a GPS are way handy.. bring some maps along. Invest in a good atlas. I love maps and atlases and things like that. Hubs scoffed at me for wanting to bring them and I ended up leaving them at home and more then once, especially on the drive home, did we wish we had them. Hubs even admitted that I WAS RIGHT. It was a pretty momentous occasion. So, if you are driving, bring maps.
Anyhoo, we arrived at Bahama Bay and my first thought was that it was BEAUTIFUL!! I snapped a few pics:
(Notice the sign on the right.. it says that the spot is reserved for Wounded Warriors and has a purple heart on it. We didn't park there the entire time and then, on the last day, Hubs realized that it was the parking spot reserved for OUR room. Hubs doesn't have a purple heart, so he just assumed it didn't apply to him. We still didn't park there.)
I never did get a chance to really walk around and explore like I wanted. There were some nice areas. We had a nice pool right behind our place that was never very crowded and very clean. There was another pool and a splash park by the main clubhouse. I believe there was also a small lake and fishing dock somewhere on the property. We found out later that one half of the resort is just vacation rentals and the other half are actual apartments!
Here are some pics of the inside:
A few things to note:
Plenty of cups, plates, bowls, silverware, utensils, and cookware were provided. There was also a coffee pot, toaster, microwave, and blender. A few paper towels, plenty of toilet paper, trash bags/can, wash cloths, bath towels, and beach towels were also provided. In closets we found a vacuum (but no broom or dustpan), high chair, and a portable crib. There was also a washer and dryer. There were NO cleaning supplies there at all. None. I brought laundry soap, dishwasher soap, and some Clorox wipes with me, along with a few garbage bags just in case. I didn't think to bring potholders (not provided) or kitchen/dish towels (also not provided) but we made due. It also never occurred to me to bring glass cleaner as the dining table is glass. I used the Clorox wipes but they streaked pretty badly.
We didn't use the kitchen much. Used the oven twice. Used the fridge to keep stuff and was thankful that it had an ice maker. Used the dishwasher a handful of times. Used the washer and dryer daily!
There were TONS of restaurants close by as well as a place on site that offered room service. More on that later. There was also a SUPER TARGET! Oh, how I love Target! A Super Target is almost like a dream come true. I wish we had one close to us! Strangely, it never occurred to me to buy some glass cleaner at Super Target until the last day.. and I was in there at least half a dozen times! Oh well..
We checked in and unloaded our stuff. The kids claimed their rooms, although it ended up changing. We thought it would be a good opportunity for Buds to get over sleeping in a crib and start sleeping in a big boy bed. Let's just say that, despite the fact that he was exhausted, he refused to sleep in the bed. He was so happy when I finally gave up and pulled out the portable crib from the closet. He kept saying, "That! Want that!" and practically climbed in there to go to bed. I think he is just feeding into my denial that he's not a big boy but still a little baby.. The girls kind of went back and forth between the two rooms.. for all the talk of having their own room, no one wanted to take advantage of that and the sisters usually ended up all in the same room. They secretly love one another.. Shh!! Don't tell!
After unpacking, we were all famished so we decided to eat out. I spotted a Chuy's and wanted to eat there! I LOOOVE Chuy's! I love everything about it! The bright colors! The eclectic, kitschy décor! The food! The funny t-shirts!
I actually took a few pics but they turned out too dark, but we all had fun! I highly recommend mixing their pico and the white sauce together and eating it on the chips.. and their Tres Leches cake is to DIE FOR!! The closest Chuy's to us is an hour away.. probably a good thing too. I'd eat there at least once a week if I could!
We went back to our resort and got ready for bed! We planned to be at Universal bright and early the next day! We turned on the TV and there was a Harry Potter marathon on.. I took it as a good omen and fell asleep with visions of butterbeer and rock cakes dancing in my head!!