Saturday, September 13, 2008

Notes on D-World 9-12-08 Friday // Travel Day

We are out the door by 6:35 a.m., but Jen leaves her phone behind by accident. I head back inside to grab it, and can tell from just a glance that sweet little India is angry and quietly plotting revenge on us for leaving (and probably has been for several days) while Isabelle needs a quick, reassuring nuzzle from me as she hangs over the side of the kitchen gate. Drive is smooth, but the lines are quite long at airport; Ontario much less crowded than LAX, but tickets would have cost us in the range of $300 extra. Encounter with Fatherland Security nebbishes is quick and uneventful.

20 minutes until loading opens at 9:10 am; grab food at Ruby's Dinette. Santa Fe Turkey burger (what I had originally planned to get at my birthday lunch the day before) and Cajun Fries. Jen gets a veggie sandwich. No time to fully eat, as it takes 17 minutes to get food. Jen grabs sundries at Hudson News. Several magazines: Newsweek, Rolling Stone, People, National Geographic, The New Yorker. Two giant liter bottles of water for potentially five-hour flight. I mock Jen for the size of the bottles. Jen eats half of her sandwich before we get on; I eat a handful of fries only, throw half of the fries away (too many), pack the rest in my burger box to reduce size of our bag for carry-on.

Flight already loading by the time we get there. Get our seats. Flight leaves 15 minutes late. Surprised that they are showing The Visitor with Richard Jenkins (a film we had wished to have seen when it breezed through theatres earlier in the year) instead of what I had predicted: Baby Mama. Alternate film, which we will likely get on the way back is Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day (which we have seen and adored already). This makes flight much shorter, there being a decent film to watch. Also: The Office, This American Life (with two amazing stories on a cloned bull named Second Chance and a group called Improv Everywhere that pulls a Greatest Gig Ever prank on an unsuspecting rock band called Ghost of Pasha. (Don't watch much of Welcome to the Captain. Tries to hard...)

Annoying trio of blonde bimbos (of two different generations, and a third if you count the tiny daughter of one of them) spread out over six row area. Through their talking and bickering back and forth, they give the impression that everyone around us is there together, and we are the lucky ones left out. Mother of child starts yelling behind us close to end of flight. Crazed older mother of two bimbos (who has crazy-looking black eye makeup) stands up half the flight complaining to various people about this and that. Hence, our watching of so much of the in-flight entertainment.

Eat the rest of our food three hours in. Turkey burger is the best I have had yet, and will probably continue ordering them in the future when I go to Ruby's. Jen says her Veggie Sandwich is to die for.

Flight lands 14 minutes late. Head straight to Magical Express area downstairs at Orlando airport. Unlike last year, no lines at all. We walk right up, and within two minutes, are already on shuttle bus. Half an hour later, we are at Ft. Wilderness. Sande and Mary meet us in a few minutes and we check in. Will purchase WiFi card for 9/16. ($9.95 for 24 hours.)

Mary and I drive to cabin to unload, but Jen and Sande meet us there in shuttle at exactly the same time. Unload groceries, and head right out to Downtown Disney. Take Mary's car to parking lot to save at least two shuttle waits. Take shuttle to Downtown Disney and decide to have dinner at Portobello Yacht Club. I have Rigatoni a la Capresse: Italian sausage, in patty form but without rigidly defined shape, tomato, escarole, very light sauce. I wish there was a slightly heavier cream sauce, but still very satisfying, especially given our hunger at this point (10 pm). Drink: strawberry Italian cream soda -- delicious. Just what I needed at this point of the night. Jen has to order off the menu, as there are zero vegetarian options outside of soup and salad.

Shop for a bit, but don't buy anything. Catch shuttle back, bed by 11:45 pm. Sleep until 7:30 am; nice, given we had about 4-1/2 hours of sleep the night before.

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