I grabbed eight more hours of sleep. Breakfast was amazing again: rye toast, bacon, pineapple spears, and FRESH orange juice. I was spoiled and I have to say, I almost felt a little guilty. I'm really not that hard to please, I was worried Mom may have told Mark and Marianne that I was. We left around 10:30 and drove to the corner of Sand Hill and Turkey Hill to Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza. I have heard Joe Benigno talk about this place on WFAN for months and this was my only demand for the trip. To eat this pizza. We walked in as they opened at 11:30 and the first thing I noticed was the lighting was rather dark. They had big screen TV's with the NFL network and ESPN on, but this felt more like a restaurant as opposed to a pizza parlor or a sports bar. I really wanted to try their roasted chicken wings, but it was straight to the pizza. Mom and I each ordered 10-inch lunch pizzas to split, one Eggplant Marino and another with sausage and mushroom. The EM was just layer off eggplant with sauce and Romano cheese. As I took my first bite, I loved the crunch of the crust as well as the zestiness of the tomato sauce. The Romano added a nice texture; I think the only thing that could have made it better was some mozzarella cheese. The sausage and mushrooms were a very good combo as well. I would not call this the greatest pizza ever, that's still John's, but if this was my go-to pizza, I would be a happy guy.
M and M took us to Universal Studios and we began our odyssey through the first of two theme parks, the Isle of Adventure. Within a few minutes, I saw people drinking beers, and I quickly figured out this park was more adult-oriented than the Magic Kingdom. Mom really wanted to check the new Harry Potter section, so I went with it. But that was on the other side of the park, so we had a few places to check out first. We passed through the Marvel Comics section without really stopping. Then came Toon Lagoon, and since I am all about water rides, this was my spot! I just wish the temperature was 75 or 80 degrees instead of 65, just cold enough to make the water uncomfortable. I did convince Mom to try Popeye and Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges, a tube river rapids ride. After the first sharp turn, we were totally soaked! And I don't think we got dry for at least two hours.
From there, came the Jurassic Park section. We wanted to do this Pteranodon Flyers ride, kind of a low roller-coaster over Camp Jurassic. 60 minute wait, I passed and ran around the camp, which is like a jungle gym with cargo nets, slides, and tight passages. It brought out the little kid in me, I really liked it. Mom, well, she was ready to move on. Found a good spot to take a photo, with a T-Rex lurking right above my head. We headed to the Wizarding World, which hosts Harry Potter. I was amazed at the huge castle that looked so real. The whole thing felt like an old English village. The Mom wanted to do was Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, the section's signature attraction. It's located inside Hogwart's Castle and it took 30 minutes to get through the line. While we were waiting, we talked with a mom and cute daughter from Virginia. But Mom and I decided to go as single riders, which moved us way up in the line and probably reduced our waiting time by 20 minutes. We stored our coats in lockers and headed in. this thing is a motion simulator, I guess it takes guests through scenes inspired by the Potter books and films. It felt like were were flying, it moved us so fast and violently, I could not tell what was real and what was a video image. It was quite the thrill, but I have to say this is not good for anyone with motion sickness. I was ok, but my stomach felt a little queasy for the next hour or so. We maneuvered our way out of a very busy "Pottersville" as I call it. Then came the Sinbad stunt show at the Lost Continent. This was a 30-minute live-stunt show that was funny and visually appealing at the same time. And some pyros provided a couple of sonic booms as well!
We hustled through Dr. Seuss and over to the second park, Universal Orlando. We headed through Production Central (no TNA tapings) over to the Christmas Village. Mom wanted a snack and when I asked her for input as to what she wanted, she gave me the same answer I must have heard a few dozen times. "Whatever you want." I'm just trying to be considerate, I don't want to just get my way. Anyway, we checked out some blown glass and fried oreos (I did not get them, I have limits) and checked out the New York section. I was very impressed that they replicated the Guggenheim as well as the Public library. There were even some apartment buildings that reminded me of Brooklyn. We were waiting for a Blues Brothers show, but we decided to check out the San Francisco/Amity section instead.
Then came one of the most memorable moments of the trip. We went into an attraction called Disaster! This attraction puts guests in the middle of a new Disaster movie called Mutha Nature. It's made by fictional company Disaster Studios and Christopher Walken plays director, Frank Kincaid. At the beginning, Lonnie, the spunky guide picked seven people to "star" in the upcoming film. At one point, she said she needed a "nice grandmotherly type who liked gardening." And she picked my mother. And I know for a fact she has no grandkids! The rest of us were in the cast, playing train passengers and of all people, the Rock, plays our hero! So the seven cast members filmed their scenes in front of us, we did our train scene, and then we watched the trailer. All the way, I was waiting for my mom and she did not show up. After they announced the title of the movie right at the end, it cut to a scene of mom gardening in this huge hat. She was smiling and waving and all of a sudden, she was blown up. We all burst out laughing so hard!
Then, we checked out the Jaws! ride. While waiting in line, it became that the people standing in front did not believe in taking showers. Anyway, it was a pretty good river ride filled with towering fire, the ominous theme, plenty of boat rocking, and an appearance from the Great White himself! One thing about Amity bugged me. there was a Nathan's hot dog stand, probably the best digs in the US. They were offering Chicago-style Nathan's hot dogs. I am not opposed to a Chicago dog, but to make it with the quintessential NY dog is just embarrassing. It's like serving Carolina mustard sauce on Texas BBQ brisket. For the next half hour, we checked out the Christmas parade and headed through the Hollywood section. They had so many attractions from Grover to Shrek to the Simpsons, to a huge football, to Uncle Sam. There was a really huge blast of confetti that was really cool. Stunningly, almost no references to Christ. So while the feeling was very happy, it did not feel like with Christmas without a church service or a mention of Jesus for me.
I would have loved dinner at Emeril's Orlando. I would have gone nuts for Tchoup Chop, Emeril's restaurant at the nearby Royal Pacific hotel. But I'm realistic. Mom went with Margaritaville. She decided on nachos for an appetizer, I wasn't in the mood to split them, and we had a fight. I am allowed to disagree and I'm more than willing to compromise. Just didn't want them. I had fish tacos while she had a portobella mushroom sandwich. Oh, and I drank a Banana Rama. I think we both realized we needed a bit of space so I headed off to check out the other attractions of City Walk. At NBA City, I compared my hands to over a dozen NBA legends. Without question, Patrick Ewing had the most massive hands. I could barely reach most of the second set of knuckles! There is also the world's largest Hard Rock Cafe. Besides featuring tons of memorabilia, they have these five interactive touch screens where guests can click on various clothes, guitars, accessories, etc and learn about the artist and the history of the artifact. In the gift shop, there was a British gal who walked up to me and happily said "Helloooo, puppet!" Not too familiar with the jargon, but I smiled and said hello back. I guess that's what they do there to sound hip...
I met a few people outside Bob Marley's and we took each other's pictures by the Bob Marley statue. I call that photo "Marley and Me." I went back to Margaritaville for another drink (this one frozen) and some disappointing key lime pie. There was a pretty girl standing on those high stilts wearing a green Santa's helper outfit making balloon animals for the kids. I didn't notice her until I heard a pop about three feet behind me. I jumped in my seat! I just listened to some music, but it wasn't a place for me to have any real conversation so I sent out a bunch of Christmas texts. Individual ones with names, not mass texts, which are lame.
I headed down from the bar and saw a street dance party going on. There was a DJ spinning records and an MC basically running the show. I know I'm not a great dancer, but after walking around parks and all, I was ready to cut loose and shout a little. So I did the electric slide and Cuban cha-cha and I had a great time. We formed conga lines and then they held a dance contest that I enjoyed watching. There were even two guys walking on those high stilts that somehow, were really dancing well on them. Just a tremendous time. We got picked up by M and M around 8:30 and suffice to say, as soon as the car ride began, I was ready to be alone again. When we got home, I played ball with Lilly for a few minutes till she was tired. Daisy just can't run anymore. When I went upstairs, I tried to find some Christmas programming. I saw the last hour of Wonderful Life, and caught some of White Christmas and a Michael McDonald concert. I think around 12:30, I hit the sack.
We made the 11:30 am plane on Saturday with ease. I spent mot of the flight trying to teach Mom Sudoku, which was not easy. She is so smart, but she just could not concentrate well. I guess I understand since she is so preoccupied. I coached her through it the best I could, showed her some new techniques, and we got 2 of the 3 puzzles done. Of course, I made a roast beef sandwich to take on the plane! And some of Marianne's homemade cinnamon coated pecans!
No comments:
Post a Comment