DAY 14 - MONDAY 30TH OCTOBER
I get up at
7.45am and get ready to play golf. The ladies are off shopping at
Downtown Disney so Matt and I walk down to meet Vernon out the
front of the Boardwalk at 8.50am.
Vernon drives us the short distance to Osprey Ridge where it
costs me $100 for my round of golf and club hire thanks to
Vernon’s CM discount.
We hit a few practice balls (badly in my case) and we are off to the first tee to start our round at 9.40am. It is soon apparent that Vernon is by far the best golfer amongst us with Matt second and me trailing in far behind.
Osprey Ridge is a very pretty course, not so perfectly manicured as Reunion, but more natural as the course winds between pine forests and small lakes. It’s a very civilised way to play golf, driving the buggy between shots (not very far in my case) and having the display tell you exactly how far it is to the pin on every shot. Not that this helps me much, hit the beggar as hard as you can and hope for the best is my golfing philosophy.
The nice lady that rides around selling beer keeps us well supplied several times around the course and a fun time is had by all, although you wouldn’t know it by some of the language I hear after a particularly bad shot. Who knew ‘Arse!’ was a golf term?
One of the holes has a lake running along the right hand side and Vernon’s ball goes perilously close to this. As he goes to take his shot there is a stream of bubbles coming from out in the water. As alligators are frequent visitors around this course, Vernon plays his shot rather quickly and we move on. Further up the hole we look back to see a diver coming out of the water dragging a huge bag full of golf balls! Given the hazards present, golf balls are not the only balls that particular diver has in abundance.
Final scores
are as follows: Vernon 99, Matt 121, Kev 132.
We retire to the 19th
hole where large glasses of Budweiser are consumed along with
chicken wings, while Vernon tells us about the ins and outs of
his job with the DVC.
We say cheerio
to Vernon as he drops us off back at the Boardwalk; it’s
been fun meeting up with him again. As Matt and I enter the
elevator a voice says ‘Oh, it’s Kev and Matt’. The
person behind the voice is Sue (Florida Sun from the DIS) and her
daughter, Vicki. Now, I can be forgiven for not recognising her
as she is dressed as a witch. I fully understand that they
sometimes dress strangely down in the wilds of South Wales, but
that is beyond a joke!
It transpires that Sue and Vicki are here to meet up with Kaylee
and Alan to go to MNSSHP. Matt and I say a quick
‘hello’ to Kaylee as we pass her door and then scamper
away before the witches can cast a spell on us that prevents us
from drinking beer.
Back at the room I shower and the ladies return from their shopping trip. I am spared the pain of the financial implications at this point as they are having their wares delivered to the shop at the Boardwalk tomorrow.
While the ladies get ready for the evening Matt and I sit on the balcony and discuss life, the universe and everything. It appears that life is good, the universe is infinite and everything is as it should be.
We leave for the Grand Floridian at 7.00pm as we are eating at Narcoosee’s at 8.00pm. For some reason Matt dislikes travelling on buses, but we have coerced him into getting one to the Magic Kingdom. We wait less than 5 minutes for the bus, but it is full and we have to stand. At the Magic Kingdom we intend to take one of the resort boats across to the Grand Floridian, but they are not running so we jump on the resort monorail. This goes through the Contemporary, TTC and Polynesian before it reaches the Grand Floridian, another reason for Matt to complain that we should have got a taxi.
It is the first
time at Narcoosee’s for all of us except Susan and first
impressions are good. It’s a lovely setting overlooking the
Seven Seas Lagoon and we watch the Magic Kingdom change colour as
MNSSHP takes place.
This is mainly a seafood restaurant and the food is pretty good.
Tam and I split the crab cakes to start, which is probably the
highlight of the meal for me. Our main courses are salmon and
scallops. The salmon is a little dry and Deb says the scallops
are slightly overcooked and she knows about these things.
Just the ten for you Sir?
I am making this sound like the food was poor, but it wasn’t, just not perfectly cooked. Our server is pretty good, especially when she overshoots Deb’s glass a little while pouring the wine. A small amount goes on the table, so to make up for it Deb is poured an extra huge glass.
A rather frightening dessert. Do you eat it, comb with it or run away from it?
Just as dessert
arrives (key lime crème brulee) Hallowishes starts so we go out
on the balcony to watch. It’s a great view from here and we
are surprised at the finale when large fireworks explode all
around the park. You tend to miss this when you watch close to
the castle.
Back inside we finish up and get the bill. $200 for the Stringer
family, this includes 20% off using Deb and Matt’s DDE card,
which takes care of the tip.
The Grand Floridian lobby looks even better with us in it.
We get a taxi
back to the Boardwalk; another bus trip might just tip Matt over
the edge!
Once back we sit around drinking and generally talking. When I
tell you that one major topic of conversation is deer’s
urine you may get a general feel for things. Deb and Matt were
recently in the Bass pro Shop and discovered that you can buy
tins of deer’s wee that is used to lure deer. Matt wanted to
buy one to see what it smelled like!
Matt also bought a Redneck dictionary that defines words commonly
used by Redneck’s. An example: Sanctum – to have caused
the submergence of more that one watercraft. As in ‘he took
two boats out fishin’. Sanctum both’.
We sit around having fun until 1.00am.