Labor Day Weekend in Orlando

Original plans were to head to Orlando last weekend, but for a number of reasons that got changed and Nick and Tonyia and Rich and I headed to Orlando on Friday.   We got an early start, leaving here early afternoon, and on our way from Nick and Tonyias about 2:30.  When we left the weather was quite nice - hot of course, but what's new this time of year in Florida?

Our agenda for the day was to check in to the hotel, have dinner and then head to Old Town later in the evening.
 It was not long after we were on the road, that we knew the weather was not going to be cooperative at all.............    When we arrived in Kissimmee, we decided to stop for an early dinner before we checked into the hotel so Nick pulled into  Joe's Crab Shack.

Probably not our best decision......  With the exception of Tonyia each of us expressed our dissatisfaction ( although she did ask for her Mahi to be blackened, and it was not).  Nick had a combination fish platter (scallops, shrimp etc.) and for the price the portions were not to his satisfaction.  My grilled shrimp salad had four of the smallest shrimp I have ever seen that somehow they managed to get on a wooden skewer.  Grilled but cold and tough, they were nearly lost behind a piece of lettuce!  And I'm afraid that Rich would have been much more satisfied with McDonald's $1.29 McDouble than he was with this $10 gourmet burger.  Way over priced for below quality food.

Raining now - we made our way to the hotel and checked into our rooms .................and then out  again!

 Actually we had booked rooms with the mini-fridge and microwave and the rooms they gave us had neither.  Now this is definitely not a four star hotel - but they immediately changed our rooms without a hassle.  For the price of these rooms - they are exceptionally nice and very clean.

 They also provide a free continental breakfast in the adjacent restaurant, complete with waffles, cereal, toast, muffins, fruit, pastry coffee and juice.   We enjoyed breakfast there both mornings.

We had tickets to go to Legends, The Haunting of Old Town that evening and Friday night at Old Town is "Muscle Car" night when cars from the 50's and 60's are on display.  There is always music and dancing........  Despite the rain ( just sprinkling now) we headed for the park.

Not a whole lot of "muscle cars" out tonight - given the weather - but we checked out those that were there.  There was this (small) truck that sat atop these HUGE tires that caught our attention.  That's Nick and I having a closer look!  I actually did need help stepping up - into the tire!

Started to rain a little bit harder - but once we got to the streets we could wander along the sidewalks under cover and browse the shops.  Lots of interesting stores to walk through, some of them very unique, and other places to stop and have some fun........ like the shooting range - where Nick picked up the gun for some target shooting.   A little later in the evening we stopped for treats.  Tonyia and I opted for ice cream, Nick, a hot dog and milk shake, and Rich was able to find his favorite - the funnel cake!

We also stopped at this neat little bar called the Brewery Barrel Bar, where all the tables are made of beer barrels and you can enjoy beer by the bottle or on tap from more than 300 countries.  Nick started with a "sample shot" before he decided on his beer of choice, Rich selected the Lager, Tonyia a raspberry flavored and me a grapefruit flavored beer.  We sat and chatted and enjoyed our beverages.

 A little later in the evening we found our way to Legends.........  This was the main reason that we decided to come on Friday.  Legends was just opened in Old Town this summer and the reviews on Trip Advisor have been very favorable.  Yes - it's a haunted house.  We only had to wait may 10-15 minutes in line before it was our turn to enter.  For a haunted house, they have really done a nice job. Some of the typical stuff you would expect to see - but lots of REAL people who do a pretty good job of scaring some of us.  Would I go again?  Probably not.  Was it worth coming to Orlando a day early to see?  Probably not.

We walked around for a short time afterwards ( actually that's when we had our ice cream!) and then headed back to the hotel.  It's a good thing we had good friends with us - because the day itself was not that great - rain, bad food, rain, and OK spook house.............rain.....  Hopefully tomorrow would be better.

Saturday we had absolutely nothing planned except for Capones at 6:30 that night.  We headed out after breakfast.  First stop was the Nike Store where Nick shopped for new sneakers...... then we decided to try out the flea market.  Maingate Flea Market advertises more than 400 booths so we were sure to spend a good amount of time there.   Nice place to shop - especially since it's air conditioned.  Several buildings make up the entire flea market and we made it through a couple when Nick got a phone call that would cut our day short.  Work problems that had to be taken care of, which meant getting back to the hotel and on the computer.  So we grabbed a quick bite at the Chinese Buffet................ (small buffet in the food court).  I did manage to pick up a new pair of sunglasses and a bag of mix that I could use to make some dip for pretzels or chips.

Nick was tied up most of the afternoon, Rich took a nap, so Tonyia and I played a couple of games of SkipBo and had a glass (or two) of Sangria.

We had set up a shuttle to pick us up, take us to Capones and then bring us back after the show. If you've been to Capones before you know that you tickets include dinner, drinks and the show. This way everyone can have their beverage of choice and not have to worry about driving back to the hotel.    Shuttle picked us up before 6:30 so we made our way to the upstairs lounge.

Above you can see a few of the guests playing  cards, a great view of the dining area from the balcony and our waiter for the evening, Baby Face.  Just after 7:30 we were escorted to our table for the evening and made our way to the All You Can Eat Buffet.  For a buffet the food here is always excellent:  home made soup, salad, pasta, meatballs, lasagna, mashed potatoes, roasted veggies, biscuits, pizza, stuffing, London broil, stuffed pork roast..................That's all I can remember.  And dinner includes unlimited beverages.  Rich and Nick stayed with beer, Tonyia the Rum Runner, and I had the Rum and Coke..

This was our third trip to Capones, and we all agreed that tonight was the best of the three shows we've seen.  The guys playing Buggsy and Salvatore were different from the last two shows - and these two were much better, good singers and absolutely hysterical.  A great show...........and we'd both do it all over again!

 
We were back at the hotel about 10:30 and called it a day soon after.  We packed up in the morning and were on our way home by mid morning.  Made a couple of stops - one at the Webb's Candy factory in Davenport.  Great little candy factor/store and well known for their Goat Milk Fudge.

 There is also a dunkin donuts in the store - so it was a couple of cups of coffee and a few
donuts to take home for later.



Then, just a few miles down the road we stopped and wandered through the Mega Thrift Store - where, actually, Tonyia wanted to pick up some beads, as this is the only place she can find the size she needs for her projects.

Our last stop was in Avon Park, not far from home, where we stopped at the Clock Restaurant for "brunch".  Actually -everyone opted for breakfast, be it eggs, pancakes, corned beef hash, bacon, sausage or home fries.  It was all very very good!

No matter where we travel with Nick and Tonyia, it's always a great time - so we hate to see it come to an end.

It was a very enjoyable weekend - and we can't wait for our next trip to Capones!