I met the pirate king this morning. He must have been away at Christmas and when I walked back in from dropping breakfast in too the fam-and he was huffing and puffing in annoyance at the mess the kitchen had been left in.
The awkward thing was that the mess there had not been made by me; I had already cleaned up after myself and had also mopped up the pool of coffee on the floor from the overflowing percolator that had been left to its own devices.
But because I was the only one in the kitchen, I now looked guilty of all the mess.
Plus I had my breakfast and coffee there at the kitchen table. So I just slid back into my sit and eat and drink as invisibly as possible as the pirate king worked through his irritation.
My chirpy lines to him were met with no responses. Finally the kitchen seemed to pass muster, a batch of pancake batter has been made.
The pirate king suddenly seemed to thaw. ‘So are you one of the Aussie crew staying here’? He asked.
And next minute I had this sweet pancake on my plate! Can you read what it says?
After a nice visit over breakfast, we packed up, said our goodbyes to the pirate crew and left to drive towards the theme parks of Orlando.
We bought everything for pb&j sandwiches as a cheap snack while we are at universal studios.
We got to Cabana Bay Beach Resort a couple hours before check-in time, but they let us in as our rooms were ready.
Because I booked our rooms at different times, they are at least a 5 minute walk apart.
I walked over 12 km in the afternoon and I do believe nearly half of that was back and forth between rooms!
The facilities at the hotel are awesome with the older kids thrilled to have a Starbucks next to the lobby, several pools and the rooms are immaculate. I obviously booked this part of the trip back when I had some money 🤣
Actually one room was booked on a great deal at Booking.com and the other one was entirely paid for by frequent flyer points.
Our time at Universal doesn’t start until tomorrow so we left the youngest two resting in their rooms and walked over to City Walk ( the part of the parks that does not require a ticket and grabbed dinner. I am such a sucker for that vibe; the buzz, the music, the happy tired crowds.
The walk between the hotel and the parks takes about 20 minutes and the lady in the lobby (who also told me there was no point going to the parks, the lines were too busy and we we were basically all screwed) had said that it was much shorter to walk than take the shuttle. It was a fun walk; picturesque and the boys found a raccoon stealing food from the bin.
My dish was so delicious. I want to be able to recreate it at home. Shrimp New Orleans!
Does the table give away your dinner location?
Later as we took in the vibe, I leaned over to Bodie as we walked along and said ‘ I love this fake world.’
It was an early night in preparation for a 6 am walk to the parks which will open at 7 for hotel guests.
Excited!
Dory the Explorer 