Sunday, September 4, 2016

Roadie trip to Orlando

Time for the roadie trip to Orlando to see the spousal unit's Rebels play Florida State on Monday night.  With a 7:00 a.m. departure and 11 hours of driving, it was gonna be a long day.

I gave up fast driving long ago, glad I did!  Being a holiday weekend, I spotted six of MHP's finest before reaching I-10.  Eventually that number hit 10 before we reached our destination.  I my age, I'm glad these guys were out there working!

Around the 11:00 hour I found my Bulldogs on the radio.  As we were approaching Tallahassee,  our travel mate Jackie asks "how are you getting that game on your radio all the way down here???"  The look on her face when the words "satellite radio" registered in her head!  We had quite the laugh on that one!  Unfortunately it was not a happy ending for me or the Bullypups.  Gonna be a looonnnggg season....

I asked our other travel mate Taylor if she liked Steak & Shake?  She had never been.  The location in Tallahassee is one of my travel stops.  I was building it up big time with Taylor.  As we approached,  around 2:00 est, I noticed that the McD's parking lot was empty.  Then I realized that the Steak & Shake next door was closed too!  WTH???  Apparently the storm that came thru last night had knocked out the power on that side of the Interstate.   Sadly we ended up at Wendy's, which was short on its crew and running short on lots of food items as well.  I'm betting they had one of their biggest day ever due to that storm.

Driving further down the road, I got honked at by a Hummer all decked out in Rebel red and white with a bunch of blue magnets on the fenders.  I was then reminded by the spousal unit that she too had covered her car in similar magnetic signs.  Being a Bulldawg, I don't know how to respond to all this hotty toddy, land shark roadie sign language.  Gonna have to get educated on a better sign language reply other than a middle finger! (Joking!!)

After a driver swap, the spousal unit got "tomahawked " by a passing Florida State Car.  The Spousal unit did her best attempt at honking Dixie back at them!

We finally got checked in and met up with our buddy Paul.  It as almost 8:00 est and the hunger pains were kicking in.  Time to use my Landry Select Dining Card!

All five of us loaded up and headed to Disney Springs.  I had to show off the new parking garages.  The signs said "full"  but at that time of night there had to be an empty space or three.  My passengers were amazed to see all the electronics in the garage, telling you how many spaces were available on each row and where the empty slots were.  I just love these high tech garages!

Our destination was Trexx, especially since I had a $25 birthday credit on my card.  My friends were amazed as we walked to the head of the line, passing tons of people, and got first available seating, the best benefit of the dining club!

My buddy Taylor ordered a "blue icee" and the waiter talked her into a souvenir cup.  Oh the laugh we got out of this!

The waiter was from St. Petersburg Russia.  Paul asked him "what cut of meat was a flat iron steak?"  The waiters response was "beef".  What a hoot!

Before we left, we had taught the waiter "hotty toddy " and I  made sure to remind him to say it to any Florida State fans he had as guests this weekend, since it was a special football greeting!

Back at the room, Paul's wife Emily and her niece arrived around 1:00 a.m.  we got a kick out of an item she brought for the trip.  We are all staying in a 3 bedroom HGVC condo, and she was worried about needing extra towels and bed linens.  I told her not to worry, but if she was a heavy user of TP, she might want to bring an extra roll.  She brought this huge multipack!

I can't wait to see what else this adventure has in store for us!


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