Day 11 - Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios

Kilimanjaro Safari, Expedition Everest, Primeval Whirl, Kali River Rapids,  Festival of the Lion King, and Finding Nemo:  The Musical, were just a few of the rides and attractions we experienced at Animal Kingdom today.

You could've knocked me over with a feather today when my soon-to-be 14-year-old surprised even herself when she agreed to go on the Expedition Everest roller coaster ride--and enjoyed it!!  And there were plenty of feathers with all the ducks and birds and other winged creatures in the park.  I have been on the safari ride three times now, and have to say that this time, I saw more animals than ever before.

Bev and Joel and I ate at a the Flaming Tree BBQ place in the Animal Kingdom park for lunch, and enjoyed animal as well as people watching all day.  Then we all hopped over to Hollywood Studios around 4:30 for the Indiana Jones show, some supper, and to catch the American Idol Experience finale before doing the Star Tours and the Muppet 3-D movie.  The temperature was a balmy 93 degrees today with only a distant threat of a thunderstorm.  I'm not a big fan of that kind of heat, but trying not to complain after the cold Iowa spring we experienced this year.

Day 10 - "Disney Parks--Let the Memories Begin"

After driving over to pre-register at the Boardwalk at 7:00 this morning, Beth and I walked around Kidani Village to check out their facilities--the other resort area at Animal Kingdom Lodge.  For breakfast, we dined at the Mara Restaurant in the Jambo House at Animal Kingdom and got ready to check out.  I had a strawberry scone and iced latte.  Downtown Disney was on today's agenda for walking around the marketplace and having lunch at Earl of Sandwich--we enjoyed our favorite sandwiches and still exclaim over the fact we haven't met a sandwich yet that compares to the Earl's.

After a brief Starbucks stop in Kissimmee for caffeine and A/C, it was back over to the Boardwalk for the Welcome Home Wednesdays at 2:00, a Disney Vacation Club members event that Beth and Bev like to attend when they are onsite.  Beth actually won a prize in the drawing, and we all got free hats and snacks for attending.  Pam and the kids flew in from Michigan this morning to join us, so our vacation party has now grown to 12!  Ross is Baby Brad's best friend and keeps asking if it's time to go to the parks yet.    Today Joel, Ross, Mary, and I wore our "KEEP CALM AND GO TO DISNEY" shirts that I had ordered for us prior to the trip.  It was fun getting comments and compliments on our matching shirts by guests as well as cast members.  Several people wanted to know where they could get them!

Bob Jackson was the entertainer at Port Orleans Riverside tonight.  Bev and Beth had seen him a couple other times when visiting Disney and knew we would enjoy his piano playing, singing, and the way he engaged everyone for non-stop audience participation.  We enjoyed a couple rounds of appetizers while Bob kept the fun flowing.  When we returned to our Boardwalk resort, we enjoyed the night air with a walk on the boardwalk and located all the amenities the resort has to offer.

Day 9 - St. Simons Island, GA to Orlando, FL

Part of the amenities of our Holiday Inn was access to the St. Simons Health and Fitness Club about a block from the hotel.  At 6:30 a.m., Ross, Beth, Christopher, and I drive over for a little early morning workout.  I take a mile walk around the track while Beth attempts to beat Ross in several games of racquetball.  Chris and I play a little basketball--and by play, I mean I threw the ball everywhere except into the basket, and Christopher wondered why I didn't know how to play the game.  A continental breakfast buffet back at the hotel broke our fast, and Beth was even given a laundry bag to take some food to go for later...Grandma Helen would've had a hay day!  She could've fit a lot more into a laundry bag than she ever could've fit into her pocketbook.

Our first stop after checking out of the hotel was the Fort Frederica National Monument.  Fort Frederica was a military outpost consisting of a fort and town.  Established in 1736, James Oglethorpe sought to protect the southern boundary of his new colony of Georgia with his hand-picked colonists.  This land was the epicenter of a centuries-old imperial conflict between Spain and Britain in 1742.  After watching a brief documentary, we took a tour around the museum and the archeological remains of colonial Frederica which are now protected by the National Park Service.  I can't imagine existing in that hot and humid marshy area during that time period. Clearly the candlestick/soap maker was the most profitable profession of the era.  We had fun walking around and learning a little regional history.

Lunch at Sal's followed.  And by lunch, I mean Bev ordering everything on the menu, and all of us trying to eat every bite.   Appetizers of eggplant fries, mozzarella bites, and caprese were the warm up to the spaghetti, penne pastas, and lasagnas as well as a large pepperoni pizza. Sal made us all feel so welcome coming by our table to visit and tell stories in between waiting on other customers.  At one point, he introduced us to his friend "mike" and serenaded us with a few verses of 'Amore'.  Even though we were all miserable and near food coma capacity, I knew I couldn't leave without having some of Sal's decadent gelato.  I must say that the Jello-Toe at Sal's beats all other Jello-Toes anywhere else.  Sal "treated" us like royalty which brings me to another one of The Seven Wonders of the World - Rohne Style--Wonder #4:  I wonder why there are not more upstanding, personable, classy, generous people in the world like Sal--an absolute gem among men.  He definitely restores my faith in humanity.  After  completely stuffing ourselves, we load up in the minivans and input the next destination into the Garmin.

In St. Augustine, FL, we stopped at an outlet mall to let Bev stretch her knee and to take advantage of some discounted apparel in the Disney Character store.  The hot, steamy Florida weather is certainly a shock to the system after leaving the cool, wet Spring conditions of Iowa.  Hitting Orlando at rush hour during a rainstorm was certainly not ideal, but unavoidable given our schedule for the day.  We finally arrived at Animal Kingdom Villas around 6 p.m. to check in and explore the resort before grabbing a bite to eat and settling in for the night.  Our room has a savannah view, and we spot several animals roaming around just below our room.  Beth said Animal Kingdom is one of her favorite resorts--it's like staying at the zoo.

Day 8 - Hilton Head Island, SC to St. Simons Island, GA

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page."

Joel and I are up at dawn for a sunrise walk along the beach.  It's low tide, so the hard-packed sand closer to the water is like walking on a sidewalk, and the wind is pushing us from behind making the stroll effortless.  The crashing waves are not as dramatic as last night, but I still strain to hear Joel's voice as we talk over the nonstop rushing sound.  The cloud cover is thick and blocking most of the sunlight, but I feel invigorated gliding along the ocean this time of the morning inhaling the fresh moist air.  Turning around and walking back the other way proves a little more difficult with the wind now in our faces, and I have to turn my head to the side to keep the wind from whistling in my ears.  Several other resort guests are also out taking advantage of the early morning--biking, jogging, and fishing.  A little boy delights in digging seashells out of the sand, new parents leisurely push a stroller, and a man and his best friend are enjoying a game of fetch.  As we walk inland back towards the hotel, I am amazed how quickly the sound of the waves and the wind diminish with each step away from the ocean.  I am completely unaware until we get back, but I am covered with a thin dusting of sand from the minuscule particles blowing on the beach.

After sitting on our balcony enjoying the view and reading for awhile, we check out and drive to the Piggly Wiggly where there is a Starbucks--remember...we're in South Carolina.  Today's drive is much shorter as we make our way to St. Simons Island.  We arrive in just under three hours and check in at the Holiday Inn Express before going to forage for food.  A walk around the lighthouse and down the pier is all the time we have before meeting up with Beth and Bev and the boys for supper at Sal's Neighborhood Pizza.  The food is outstanding (just as we remembered), but Sal wasn't able to greet us as we had hoped.  That just means we will HAVE to go back tomorrow for more of Sal's specialties and hope to see him then.  Tonight, we shared a pepperoni pizza, mozzarella bites, two Salzones, and some tiramisu, cheesecake, and cannoli.  YUM!!!

Bev, Brad, and I stay at the hotel while the rest of the family head over to the fitness center for some racquetball and basketball fun during a pretty good thunderstorm that rolled through the area.  We are certainly having a wonderful time already, and so glad to be all together for the next part of the trip.

 

 

Day 7 - Virginia to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina

To move, to breath, to fly, to float,
To gain all while you give,
To roam the roads of lands remote,
To travel is to live.
   - Hans Christian Andersen

I hope the rest of the trip doesn't fly by as fast as the first six days!  Do we really have to say goodbye today??  There are so many more things to do and see AND EAT in the DC area!  Guess we will just have to plan another trip to Tim and Donna's.

For our send-off this morning, Donna prepared an egg bake and hash brown potatoes.  We packed up the minivan and headed down the road a bit before 9am.  Even though storms and rain were predicted, our route weaved us in between most of the showers, and we ended up at the Omni Hilton Head Ocean Front Resort some eight plus hours later under sunny skies.

At a rest stop parking lot just across the South Carolina line, a man in a car with New York license plates noticed our Iowa plates and asked us how tall the corn was.  We were just glad he didn't ask how the potato crop was doing or we would've been inclined to tell him that the trees are packed full of them this time of year.

The feeling of the warm ocean breeze is indescribable.  After a much needed meal break inside the HH Prime restaurant at the hotel, we made our way down to the beach to dip our feet in the waves. 

 

 

Day 6 - Relax, Games, and A Shipwreck Supper

Saturday became a day to relax and get some laundry done and have some down time before the next leg of the trip.  Donna brought bagels, donuts, rolls, muffins, juice, and fruit from the store for breakfast. Tim had some errands to run, so he took me to Starbucks and then on a scenic drive to historic Clifton, Virginia.  All week Tim had been telling us how good the food was at one of his favorite Greek restaurants.  So for lunch, he took us to Spartans for the tzatziki dip and pita bread and gyros.  Once again, Tim's instincts for our love of good cuisine were spot on.

Game playing was also part of the relaxing day activities...Ross and Tim shot some baskets outside; Ross challenged Tom, Ryan, and Tim in games of ping pong; card games of Nertz and Ninety-Nine were played and taught to the next generation of cousins; and a charade\password type of game was played with adults vs. kids.  (I might add that the adults beat the kids by a couple of points).

For supper, Donna fixed a shipwreck meal.  We feasted on spaghetti and meatballs, garlic toast, tossed salad, mozzarella tomato basil bites, and Sangria with a cheesecake and cake layered dessert. The premise is that we have been shipwrecked on a deserted island and only the items that have washed ashore are available to use for utensils to eat.  It is a fun pastime of Donna's family that goes way back. We each had to pick a paper sack with the contents unknown to use to eat our supper.  Tim ended up with a spatula, Mary got a 1/4 tsp. measuring spoon, Ross and Joel got whisks, Tommy got a cookie scoop, and Ryan, Donna, and I each got a beater.  We were allowed to eat our salads and desserts with forks and use the garlic toast as helpers with our "utensil" for the spaghetti.  It was quite entertaining watching each other try to eat with their respective tools.

The sightseeing was great and definitely enjoyable; but the time spent with family, I will treasure always.

The Seven Wonders of the World - Rohne Style--Wonder #3:  I wonder why I waited so long to visit my cousin Tim?  Donna made us feel at home and the second cousins had fun getting acquainted. Tim was more than willing to show us as many sights as time would allow and make our trip one that we will talk about and remember fondly for a long time.  Thank you Tim, Donna, Tom, and Ryan!

Day 5 - Museums - Pt. 2

Today's Guest Blogger is Mary Rohne.

Let’s just start with yesterday was a pretty good day; even though we started with something depressing.

We went into downtown Washington D.C. for a third or fourth time, and finally found a place to park.  It was pouring down rain all day, but we were prepared.  Mom and Ross had umbrellas, Dad and I had our hoods up, and Tim just walked in the rain invincible to the downpour.  We walked to the Holocaust Museum which had a fair amount of people waiting in line to go inside.  Our group of five was pretty lucky that day.  We didn’t have to wait long to get inside, and someone gave us extra tickets they had right there and then so we didn’t have to go back outside. 

At the beginning, before we got in the elevator, you pick out an Identification Card that shares your gender, and has the identity of a real person that lived during the Holocaust.  It was strange because my identity was a little girl, and I am the youngest in the group.  Her name was Gisella Renate Berg (Pauly).  She was born on May 1, 1933, right when Hitler was coming to power, and she lived in Colonge, Germany. 

Then once we got in the elevator, it was packed with people, enough to make someone with claustrophobia scream.  They show you a short video, and then lead you into the 1930’s and 1940’s.  Throughout this section you would walk down this hallway, and on each side were displays.  My mother would describe it as “being herded by cattle”, but my father said that that was just the experience they wanted you to feel.

Now I’m very sensitive to sad things.  If I watch a movie where a puppy is separated from its long-time owner, I will cry a bit.  I also don’t like things that aren’t fair and that don’t make sense to me.  I was walking through the displays to see what the Nazis did to come to power.  Boycotting Jewish stores, and burning books that they disagreed with or didn’t pertain to their beliefs.  All of this torcher to get to power, and have everyone believe the same things they believe, just because he got bullied a bit when he was younger by a Jewish boy just disgusts me.  It was hard to go through that whole exhibition without crying.  But it’s good information, it was interesting, and it is very important to remember those who suffered for their beliefs.  There is some light at the end of this tunnel, well for the story of Gisella that I read.

Although the Nazis ransacked her home, they left for Kenya, and she was safe there.  Then later on in her life she moved to the United States, married a fellow refugee from Germany named Kurt Pauly, and she lived a good, rest of her life.

Afterwards we walked, in the rain, to something more light-hearted.  A restaurant called District Chop House and Brewery.  The most delicious Prime Rib sandwich I’ve ever had, a tower of onion rings and fries as well.  Our waiter was wonderful, very funny.    Next we walked to another attraction.  The International Spy Museum.  I was really excited about this; I read an article about it, and all the cool James Bond stuff that was in there.  While waiting for our tickets, it showed this clip from Die Another Day, and showed the green sports car that the villain drives with the actual automobile parked right in front of the screen.

 

Then we went in the elevator on our way to get our cover to be spies.  It was dark with dimly lighted blue color, reminded me of a scene from Mission Impossible.  Then, when we got out of the elevator, we got our picture taken together then proceeded to find a cover that suited us best.

My cover was Maria Rivera.  She’s 17, and was born in Mexico, and was off to Adel, Iowa for vacation and was going to be staying there for 13 days.  We were going to be tested on this later and we needed to memorize it.  Some people took pictures; I being the goody-goody I am did not, but I had my small skill of photographic memory on my side.

We then went into spy school, that was pretty cool!  We had to pick up signals, catch other agents in disguise, and quietly  go through a duct.  Then we saw the famous Bond car the BMW 17, wow.  Next, we went through the history of spies.  It talked about ninjas, spies in the Revolutionary War, World War I and II, and it gave us information on famous stars back then who became spies. 

Then, I achieved not blowing my cover, and got important information to headquarters successfully.  After doing a little victory dance, we went through an exhibit of Bond villains for the 50^th anniversary of James Bond films.  That was fun!

Does anyone remember the infamous Bond villain Jaws?  You know the guy with the metal teeth with a weird obsession with sharks?  Well, they had built him a good sized part of the exhibit.  There were screens on either side of the room, and the view was a blue ocean with sharks swimming around.  My brother led my mother into this room and he tapped on the screen quite a bit.  Well, if you tap on the screen a lot, the shark will come at you and try to bite the glass, and the “glass” starts to break.  When that happened, my mother’s scream could be heard all the way to Iowa. 

Another highlight was another simulated “Bond” situation.  In some Bond movies, Bond finds himself hanging from a beam on a building for dear life.  It was like that, but your life and your death weren’t about to touch hands.  You had to press a button as high as you could reach, then you would hang from the beam at that height.  Then it shakes a little bit, and there’s gusts of wind coming at you.   The goal is to hang on for 1 full minute.   My adventurous  brother hangs on it as high as it can go.  Guess what he did?  He hung on for that full minute!  We cheered him on, and he got a spy wristband, it was cool.  It says “Deny Everything.”

After all that excitement, we walked to the American History museum.  We would’ve gone to the Archives building, but they were closed.  This museum was pretty cool.  The first thing I walked through was The First Lady’s exhibit.  It showed some First Lady dresses which were very pretty.  It also showed the china that each First Lady picked out.  As my mom and I observed we asked ourselves, what happens when a woman becomes president?  My favorite part of the museum was seeing Harry Potter’s(Daniel Radcliffe’s) 2^nd or 3^rd year Gryffindor robe in a glass case.

When the long day ended we went to Chicago Uno bar and grill for some delicious pizza, and mega sized cookie and ice cream desert.  I could’ve died, but somehow I survived!  It was another wonderful day in D.C.  It’s sad to see it come to a close, but this vacation is not over yet!  Sunday we’ll be on our way to our next destination.  WOOHOO!!