Market Research Day

St. Augustine's Beach, Florida

We hung out so long at our campsite this morning that a Disney worker actually stopped by to ask us if we needed help or were having car trouble...on account of us apparently over-staying our welcome. Uh-no, we're just being pokey thank you very much. So, we eventually left and headed for St. Augustine. We did in fact have a small car issue that needed to get taken care of and stopped at the VW dealer in St. Augustine. Ned called ahead and made sure they ordered the part. It was installed (a brake light switch issue) in less than 30 min.

While Winnie was getting serviced we ate at a restaurant across the street. Best dang Mexican salad I've ever had and the presentation was awesome too. (The chicken was satayed in thin pieces and it came topped with the Mexican flag!)

 

As far as weather is concerned, we have lucked out this trip. If it has rained, it was either at night or when we were doing an inside activity. We had some rain last night, which was still pretty minor and definitely walkable. Today coming into St. Augustine we saw some of the best colored stormy skies! Check out the sky behind Ned in this pic...and yeah cool car!

The skies opened up and boy did it downpour! Our plans were to go swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, but instead we decided to visit a local chocolate company.

About 4 years ago, on our last trip to St. Augustine, we took a chocolate tour at Whetstone Chocolates. At that time they were not making their own chocolate, but instead buying it from Guittard and melting it down to create truffles, etc. Their future plans included making bean to bar chocolate so we were curious and wanted to see how they progressed. Their sign sure implies that they have now started making their own chocolate from cocoa beans. Through the window we could also see chocolate making equipment, but it was obvious that none of it was hooked up. Mmm...time to do some market research.

 

Once inside their shop they had lots of chocolate bars and small molded items that implied, once again, that it was made from bean to bar by them. There were 3 women working behind the counter. I asked the first woman if in fact they made their own chocolate from bean to bar. She said, "I don't know, ask her." I asked the second woman and she wouldn't look me in the eye or answer the question directly. I pressed her on it and she pretty much lied and said, "Yes, it's make in the factory over there." I then asked woman number three the same question and she answered it by saying, "We have someone else roast the cocoa beans and we contract on a yearly basis." Uh...that would indicate you are just remelting industrial chocolate! This so pissed me off! When we asked about the equipment, not hooked up, she said it belonged to someone else. They are obviously trying to capitalize on the artisan bean to bar chocolate movement and this just undermines craft chocolate makers, like ourselves. Diatribe over...thanks for letting me vent. Yes, we bought several bars and tasted them. They are definitely Guittard chocolate!

After getting all worked up, what better way to let off steam than to take a bike ride through St. Augustine. I love this place! This is one of my top three cities in the U.S. (James, we HAVE to meet up here next time through and you can show us all your favorite haunts.) I just love riding through the cobblestone streets in Old Town.

 

 

 

Here's the oldest wooden school house in America!

We also rode through some of the old neighborhoods and along the wharf.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This place is just so darn chaming!

One of the best things about road trips is stopping along the way and picking up some great local food. Guess what's on the menu for tonight's dinner!

 

 

 

 

 

 

On our way back to the campground, we stopped on the drawbridge, while a replica of a Spanish galleon sailed leisurey below us. This is one of the charms of St. Augustine, which often pays tribute to its Spanish history from 1565 when it was first founded by a Spanish Admiral, and Florida's first governor, Pedro Menendez de Aviles.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

All Caught Up in Epcot

Fort Wildnerss Campground...still!

We managed to spend another 12 hours or so at a theme park. How is that possible? Today it was all about Epcot. Even tho we put in another 10 miles walking, the pace felt much slower than yesterday. It was really hot today, partly because of the heat radiating off the wide open concrete. There were less crowds too...thank goodness!

 

 

We started out visiting the World Showcase. It was so fun to see how each country represented itself. Now, I want to travel everywhere!

England had a fun village that seemed pretty realistic. (Based on my travels there).

I LOVED visiting France. Their film was amazing, and the French personnel were so sweet and adorable. There was a quote from a poet cited during the movie and it really resonated with me. I wanted to know who the author was and to get the quote correct. Before we left Epcot this evening we walked all the way back (in the rain) to the French exhibit. Everyone was so sweet helping us figure it out. "Et, sans savoir pourquoi, Disent toujours: Allons!" by Charles Baudelaire. Translated: They leave for the sake of leaving, And without knowing why, they always say "we must go".

Oops, caught shopping in Morocco.

Mexico had a great exhibit, one of the best. Even better were their mango margaritas. One was Ned's, really!

We spent most of the late afternoon and early evening in Future World. I think we saw almost every exhibit here as well.

Ned got caught up in the shark exhibit...

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we rode the Spaceship Earth they asked us several questions about how we'd like to spend the future.

This is what they came up with - We would be traveling under the sea...

And driving our own spaceship. I think they nailed it.

We also really enjoyed watching the manatees getting fed lettuce. They wolf down an entire head of romaine lettuce in a single gulp.

There were two interesting connections to our chocolate world. The first was in visiting the Mexican Exhibit. There was a display on the first team sport in history, 3500 years ago played by the Mayans. It was somewhat similar to our present day basketball.

A couple of years ago while on a cacao trip to Belize we visited some Mayan ruins and saw one of the "courts" where the game was played.

The second connection was when we visited the exhibit called "Living with the Land." It featured a massive green house where extensive research is being done. One of the plants featured was cacao, although the pods looked different than any we've seen.

 

 

 

 

Ned scheduled a late night romantic dinner at Nine Dragons in the China Pavilion at the World Showcase. While walking there the temperature dropped dramatically and it started to rain. We ducked inside a gift shop and as luck would have it the perfect little rain jacket was calling out to me.

We had a delicious dinner! Afterwards, it was also really fun to walk along the lakeside promenade while a light rain fell. There were torches blazing and lightening flashed far in the distance. Great way to end our Disney Experience.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

The Magic Kingdom

Fort Wilderness Campground, Disneyworld

Hard to believe, but we managed to rally early for our day at the Magic Kingdom. We rode our bikes to the dock and then took a ferry over and still managed to be there by 8. The ferry ride was so fun because it gave us an opportunity to see the other resorts. One looked exactly like the Coronado Hotel in San Diego (called the Paladium), another like a Polynesian Village and one was a very dated attempt at contemporary.

 

The first thing we did upon arrival was make a stop to the Barber Shop right off Main Street. Hint: they'll give you sparkles in your hair for free!

 

 

 

 

Now that I was properly sparkled (and had a cup of Starbucks in my hand) I'm ready for a princess day!

I don't care how old you are, there is still a thrill in seeing Cinderella's Castle!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ned was pretty excited too. He got a High-5 from one of the cast members upon arrival.

 

 

Even though Ned swore he wouldn't do the "It's a Small World Ride", it was the first one I talked him into doing. Pay no attention to that face he's making, he loved every minute of it...that and he also made a point of singing a different song so this one wouldn't run through his head all day.

 

 

 

 

We couldn't have asked for a better day. It was darn hot, well into the 90's, but we managed to find enough air conditioned venues to beat the heat. I think we did just about every roller coaster, kiddie ride, theatre show and even the shooting arcade - which is definitely one of my faves! We really got the hang of the FastPass and never had to wait in line, with the exception of a Beauty and the Beast Interactive experience, which was just a mistake on our part.

One of our funniest moments was riding the Speedway cars in Tomorrowland. When I was a kid, I was a bit jealous of my older brother Gary. He got to do the "Autopia" ride, but I was too short. (Some things never change). Thus, Ned insisted that I drive and it was a disaster!! Our car wouldn't steer right and the accelerator kept getting stuck. Here's a picture that Ned snapped while I was driving...hilarious!

 

 

 

We both loved the 3D Mickey PhilharMagic Show and of course, the glasses are always fun too.

 

I love the view from the top of the Swiss Family Tree House, such a great perspective on the park.

 

 

 

 

 

Ned was a real trooper. We spent 14 hours at the park and stayed through the Electric Light Parade. (I just checked my fitbit and we did 24,542 steps or 10.24 miles today. Yeah, I'd say we walked every square inch of the Magic Kingdom and then some!!)

On our way back to the campground, while riding the ferry, we were able to watch the Electric Boats on Parade too! Pretty good timing I'd say! Since we started the day with a picture of Cinderella's Castle, I thought it would be nice symmetry to end with it as well.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy

Back in the Saddle

Fort Wilderness Campground, Disneyworld!

It sure felt good to wake up in a campground this morning. Nothing beats having breakfast in the great outdoors (racoons, snakes and gators included-you can keep the noseums). Jonathan Dickinson State Park has a fascinating history. It's 10,500 acres are named for a Quaker merchant whose vessel shipwrecked nearby in 1696. His book, "God's Protecting Providence" (no we didn't buy it) records the story of his party's capture by the Jobe Indians.

 

After breakfast we decided to take a bike ride to further explore the park. During World War II the land the park now occupies was home to Camp Murphy, a top-secret radar training school with over 6,600 men. The land became a state park in 1950. Our bike ride turned out to be close to 13 miles! We rode along the Loxahatchee River and through the pine and palmetto trees on biking paths. When we left it was 76 deg. when we got back to camp it was 89 deg.

This park also housed the infamous Trapper Nelson aka "The Wildman of the Loxahatchee". This guy was a real character. Starting in the 1930's he began living off the land, trapping and selling furs. He later opened up a Jungle Garden and Wildlife Zoo. They call him the real life Tarzan who was a trapper, hunter, alligator wrestler, gambler, celebrity host, snake charmer & woman charmer. He died mysteriously with a shotgun wound to his belly. We did buy the book about him. Who could resist a picture of him, naked from the waist up, with a woman in high heels and palmetto leaves covering up her almost naked body!

We finally arrived at Fort Wilderness in Disneyworld at about 3 this afternoon! Wahooo!!

Camping at Disneyworld is an experience in itself. As you can imagine everything is pristine and over the top. They discourage driving cars in the Fort Wilderness Park so it seems that almost everyone has rented an electric golf cart. All ages are driving them too. There are special bike paths to take you everywhere, but for the most part people are favoring the carts, which works well for us.

Upon check-in we got our personalized wristbands, with "Debster" and "Ned" embossed on them. They are our key to everything, boat rides, entry into the Magic Kingdom, reserving times for certain rides, restaurant reservations and even using the laundry room and comfort stations.

 

 

 

 

We synced things up and then decided to check the place out on our bikes. We rode just in the Fort Wilderness part of the resort and put another 10 or so miles on our bike.

FYI - there's a bottle of Pinot Grigio in that bag bought from the Trading Post:)

 

 

 

We decided to ride our bikes over to the Fort Wilderness Lodge. It's amazing! It's modeled after the great lodge of Yellowstone, complete with gigantic totem poles.

 

 

 

 

I thought it was a bit much to have a fire going in the big fireplace, afterall it was 99 degress when we got to the park this afternoon! (Polly I took a lot of pictures of the lodge and grounds for you. I'm looking forward to sharing them with you).

 

There's also an extensive water feature that starts in the lobby, bubbling out of the ground, which then becomes a roaring waterfall outside and ends up as a pool area for the guests. Ned sitting at the "headwaters" complete with fake fog.

We had a picnic dinner on the beach then decided to take in the campers Sing-along with Chip and Dale. It was great fun singing to all the old songs..."On Top of Ol' Smokey", "Oh Suzanna", "She'll be Coming Around the Mountain", "Hokey-Pokey"...

They also had several blazing campfires going for the kids to roast marshmallows. We cracked up watching everyone burn their marshmallows to a crisp. Also, I had no idea the things people put on their s'mores. Peanut butter cups...really?

I even got a chance to have my picture taken with Dale!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the sing-a-long there were Disney cartoons and Cinderella playing on the big outside movie theatre.

We didn't stay for the movie, but instead went back down to the beach to share some ice cream and watch the fire works.

And this was just our first half day here! I'm planning on waking Ned up at 6 am tomorrow so we can catch the first ferry over to the Magic Kingdom. Ned can hardly wait.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Travel Day - Back in the USA

Location: Jonathan Dickinson State Park, FL

It's been an awesome 5 days, spending time with my ex sister-in-law (or as she likes to call us, outlaw sisters), visiting our Dominican cocoa suppliers, and having way too much fun at the Ocean Blue and Sand Resort. Alas, today we're headed back to the US and continuing on with our Winnie travels. Truth be told, I've missed the ol' camper.

Good-bye beautiful resort...

Good-bye new friends we made...

(Jack is covering up his nipples. He claims I bit them while we were dancing. Not completely true! He was whirling me about and I kinda fell into him, thus a head bump to chest happened). Jack was head of the activities and a lot of fun.

 

 

Good-bye decadent lifestyle...

(yes it has Bailey's in it)

 

 

 

 

Good-bye cocoa bean suppliers...

Our only challenge today was getting through security at the airport. Our cocoa bean suppliers gave us several pounds of cocoa beans to take back with us. At the Punta Cana airport Ned's backpack was selected to be searched. Yes, this is where we stashed the beans. The security folks at the airport had no idea what they were and before you knew it there were at least 7 security people surrounding poor Ned and looking at each and every bean. Ned thought it was ironic that they didn't know these were cocoa beans and what chocolate is made from. They were all very good natured, mainly just curious, and let Ned through with the beans. I wanted to snap a picture of the commotion, but I was reluctant to draw anymore attention to us. Here's Gary and Ned waiting to board the plane on the way back to the U.S.

We arrived back in Fort Lauderdale about 5:30, said our good-byes to Linda and Gary and retrieved Winnie from the economy parking lot. We had about a two hour drive north to our destination for the night, Jonathan Dickinson State Park. I called the Park Ranger to let them know we'd be arriving around 8ish. (This state park is gated at sunset.) The ranger, a really sweet young woman, waited for us and got us checked in. This state park has an interesting story, but I think I'll save it for tomorrow. We're tired, hot and going through withdrawals of not having our nightly refreshing after-dinner libations. Instead of exotic resorts and decadent drinks, I'll finish our blog with me blogging in our humble abode...ha!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted with Blogsy