Trip to Florida - Part I

"Let love shine
And we will find
A way to come together
And make things better
We need a holiday." - Madonna

What a great vacation! We drove through Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee, listening to the VP debates to keep us awake, and stopped in Chattanooga for the night (I must have sang the chorus to "Chattanooga Choo Choo" a hundred times). We loved Georgia's scenery and laughed at all the billboards for peaches, pecans, and fireworks. Lucy held up well even though the poor baby lived on teething biscuits and crackers for most of the drive.

Stopping for a bite in Tennessee

By Friday evening we were in Orlando. Hotwire actually came through: our $35 a night hotel room was great, the hotel rather lavish with several pools. We got dressed up only to eat at Shoney's (don't laugh!). Alan watched baseball, Lucy slept soundly in the pack 'n' play, and I woke up every half hour, too excited to sleep (remember the old Disney commercials?).

After Its a Small World, Lucy's favorite at the MK

The next day was fantastic. We hit the Magic Kingdom, only 2 miles from our hotel. We arrived just in time to see Mickey and friends open the park with all the Disney fanfare. Alan and I rode the 3 mountains (Splash, Space, and Big Thunder) and took Lucy on Pirates of the Caribbean and Its a Small World.

Lucy was great-- she slept on the slow rides, pointed on at all the animatronics, didn't flip out in the Haunted Mansions, and stayed in her stroller most of the day without complaint. She insisted on shouting "doe doe" at the dog in the Carousel of Progress, but other than that took all the excitement pretty calmly.

The barbershop quartet didn't show up, but at least Alan got his hair trimmed

We ate good food, people watched a little, and enjoyed the mosaic in Cinderella's Castle. Alan even got an old school haircut on Main Street USA. At 7pm the park was closing for most guests (they were having a Halloween party for those who paid extra) and I did not want to leave. I think I even scowled a little at the kids in costumes who were walking in as we were going out. So it was back to the hotel room for some sleep before our day at Epcot.