Vacation with 12 people is fun. We had an awesome time with everyone. But, it is a lot. There's just so many people to entertain, so many moods/wants to manage, and so after our 4 night cruise to the Bahamas with 12 people, we decided it was time for a quick getaway just me and Asa to Orlando. Unfortunately, it was the weekend- and we're blocked out of the parks on the weekend (and all week, this week, in fact, because it was still Easter week!) So neither our Universal or Disney passes got us into any parks. But, our water park and sports add on never has blockout dates. That allows us to do one extra thing per day: footgolf, mini golf, or a water park. So, Asa and I opted for Fantasia mini golf.
There's two courses here: Fairways and Garden. The garden course is your typical mini golf, but the fairways course is like real putting green type of golf. Asa and I think this one is particularily fun (and difficult!), so we decided to give it another go.
Mini golfing with my best friend at Disney? I contend life does not get better than that (especially on a nice day!)
We stayed at the new Drury Plaza hotel. It's right on that row of hotels by Disney Springs that isn't Disney owned, but it considered a "good neighbor" hotel, so you get some perks- like shuttles, early park entry, and stuff like that. It wasn't a big deal to us, though, because we weren't going into the parks. But the price is significantly better than Disney resorts, and you still get decent proximity. (You can kind of see the casting center from here).
Our room was nice enough- and it comes with a mini fridge, a microwave, and a kuerig which was nice.
Plus, it's Drury owned. If you've never been to one of these, they have some added amenities. Popcorn and pop is always available to grab as you like. And besides this there's a complimentary "kick back" every night. It's basically enough to make a dinner out of- and they always have hot dogs if your kids are picky eaters. Plus, they have breakfast. All included in your stay, which is nice.
The pool was nice and big and clean and warm, though nothing too themed or special.
And if the evenign kick back doesn't do it for you as much as you like- the Drury Plaza hotels have bars where you can grab a drink, or some light dinner, or even a dessert.
I didn't finish my Rum Runner so they put it in a plastic cup for me, and Asa and I enjoyed it out by the pool. We had planned to walk down to Disney Springs that night- but I had two rum runners and that was enough for me. Apparently, I'm a super lightweight these days (you'd think the cruise would have helped me!)
The next morning we got up, had a delicious breakfast at the hotel, and headed out to Typhoon Lagoon. We got there right after they opened, and somehow the first part of the parking lot was already full. We knew it was going to be a busy day, so we were glad to have gotten there early.
Our first couple trips around the lazy river were lovely. And then the crowds descended upon us, so we decided it was time to go and head on over to Disney Springs.
There we did some nosing around the stores. While I found most of the Disney ears very unimpressive, I was a fan of the new Coco ones. And we did find a new puzzle I'm excited to get to. We also did a little wandering around some clothes stores. Olivia is a big fan of the uniqlo store there, so we did a quick look through there.
We were lucky enough to grab a Boathouse reservation for lunch. After my rum runner experience the night before, I opted for the non-alcoholic Blueberry Lemonade. We finished off our meal with a seasonl dessert- the strawberry shortcake. So sad this is only seasonal. Even Asa enjoyed it.
After lunch, we hung out a bit longer before we felt sufficiently relaxed, and we headed home. I used to not be a fan of one night trips- it just seemed like you were hardly gone from home (and when you have little kids, it just feels like it isn't enough time to wind down!) But now that everyone's older, and we can just hop away for one night somewhere- I kind of love them. I barely have to pack anything, or worry about whats going on at home, because I'm back before you know it.
Plus if you do a Friday/Saturday combo, you still have Sunday open for other things. Our Sunday was filled with hanging out with some of our favorite neighbors, the Harvison's. We had talked about going to the Buddhist Temple for months, and we finally decided we needed to go before it got too hot. We haven't been in years- I know the last time was pre-covid, and in fact I think it was when Nate, Allison and Layla were here in February of 2020. Anyway, if you don't know there's this Buddhist Temple in Tampa called Wat Mongkolratanarma. Every Sunday they have an open house type of thing. You can come into the temple, or just enjoy the peace river (where it sits).
But what they're famous for is their Sunday market. Everything from Soup (get the soup, it's one of the best things), to wontons to spring rolls, to fried bananas.
It's a bit different from pre-covid times. Half the porch you used to get food from is gone, and now there is a tent out front, and most of the food is already pre-made and pre-packaged (making the fried bananas not nearly as good). Even the soup comes with noodles in a box, and broth in a take home container so you can mix them if you want, or just take them home like that.
They do still have their thai tea and thai coffee, and those still are just a couple dollars. If you go, heads up, it's all cash.
All in all, it's still pretty delicious. And, we had a wonderful time hanging out with the Harvisons. Olivia, I'm sure, would have been sad to have missed it. She loves this place.
After the Buddhist Temple, we went over to the USF Botanical Gardens. They were having a huge plant sale. Marcus had been the day before, but was happy to go again. Calib, Mike, and Kyle were less excited about being dragged to a plant sale after our early lunch, but they didn't complain too much (Calib's biggest complaint was why everyone had wagons, and just how many people had them. But, by the end of our trip, he got it.)
We ended up with quite a few butterfly plants. I am a sucker for pretty pollinator plants, and a couple of them just totally sold themselves- butterflys and bees just kept landing on them while I was looking at them. I was sold right then and there.
All in all, the prices were great, the variety was incredible and the company was some of my favorite.
After saying goodby to the Harvison's, we headed home and swung by Bee Coffee. An ice cold Strawberry Rose sounded just like what I needed. I'm really loving Bee Coffee. I might have to add it to my Mother's Day wish list (along with Breakfast Tacos, Beasley Farm, Lifeboats and Madagascar Meatloaf!)
The weekend is always best for the Buy Nothing Group in my neighborhood, I find. In the span of a couple hours Hayden scored themselves a bunch of Anime and a new bike!
We finished off our Sunday with some yard work. A nice weekend- busy, but nice. And a good bit of decompression after the cruise.
A couple of other weekday pictures for you in here- we've been doing evening walks, and Asa's been making friends.
We did some errands and got some wawa.
I finally made those chocolate ganache cookies into a cookie thing (and it was delicious!)
We've gotten back to board games. Is not Villianous every night anymore- more like every other night.
And, I made some felt flowers to drum up support for my latest "Crafting with Corinne' class at the library. Victoria put them out on the circulation desk, so when we swung by to get some books, they were front and center. (It did drum up support, everyone loved them- they made the facebook page- AND my class filled up). So, win-win!
And, I leave you with an Etta and Asa picture.
Next up: Draft Pizzas! (I'm catching up on the blog today! And I'm getting there, only a couple behind now!)
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