Walt Disney World | Mary Poppins, Moroccan Food, and Flowers

Hello guys! On Saturday Mom, Dad and I went to Walt Disney World (WDW) in Orlando. For those of you who don’t know, I am in love with WDW. When I was a child my parents and I would go every Spring Break and since we moved a lot back then, Disney was a constant in my life. For the first few years, we would go to Tony’s Town Square Restaurant on the first night and Liberty Tree Tavern on the last night. It was a nice routine when we were moving around. We have now mixed up that restaurant routine, but Disney is still one of my favorite places. I hope to work there one summer, as it has been a lifelong dream of mine. Now, as a Florida resident, we have Annual Passes so we can go whenever we want. So on Saturday we took advantage of this, and drove up to Orlando.

We left the house around 7:15, to get to EPCOT early. As we were driving we saw a beautiful sunrise. I think that my favorite things to take pictures of sunrises, sunsets, flowers and water.

We also saw that Hidden Mickey by the exit for WDW. In all of the Disney parks, cruises and some of the movies, there are Hidden Mickeys. It all started when a few of the Imagineers wanted to hide a few Mickeys in the planned Mickey-free EPCOT. Now, there are books and websites dedicated to the cataloging and finding of the Mouse.

Surprisingly, EPCOT was pretty empty so I got to take a few pictures with some of my favorite characters: Dale and Mary Poppins. I’m not sure where Chip was, but Dale was more than happy to take a couple shots.

Mary Poppins and I talked about the many uses of a carpetbag and we agreed that everyone should carry a lamp and chair with them so that you could sit and read anywhere.

My parents and I went on some of our favorite rides including Test Track, Soarin’ and Maelstrom. In Norway I was hoping to meet Ana and Elsa from Frozen, but sadly they are now meeting fans in the Magic Kingdom.

For lunch, we went to the newest restaurant in EPCOT called Spice Roads Table in Morocco. It’s like a tapas restaurant, but with Mediterranean dishes. We got a variety of dishes to try and we agreed that this place was amazing.

Hummus, olives and flatbread

Spicy garlic shrimp

Mussels Tagine 

Harissa Chicken Roll

Moroccan Merguez Sausage 

Chicken and Beef Skewers  

My favorite was the chicken kabob or the harissa chicken roll. Our view from the table would be perfect for EPCOT’s firework show Illuminations. (See what I mean about taking pictures of water?)

While walking through the park, I couldn’t resist taking pictures of the many flowers in EPCOT. Every year from March to May, EPCOT has the Flower and Garden Festival, which is fabulous. They also have a Food and Wine Festival in the fall, which is delicious, as you would expect.

Dessert was spent in France, where we saw Impression de France. It is a twenty-something minute film of the landscapes and peoples of France. Since Dad and I have been there before, we have seen some of these sights up close and personal. It is truly a beautiful country.

Chocolate éclair, Mousse au Chocolat, Napoleon

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed!

Bye!

Heading Home | Virginia Beach to Charleston

Hello everyone! Tuesday was definitely a shorter day than Monday! Only about seven hours of driving, which is much better than ten hours. Dad and I woke up bright and early to get a good start on driving. From our balcony there were amazing views of the sunrise over the beach.

After about four hours into the drive, we hit South of the Border. Dad was amazed to see how large it had grown since when he had been there as a child. Since I had been to South of the Border only a few weeks before, it all looked the same to me! We went to the Sombrero Restaurant for some lunch where I had the beef tacos and Dad had the burger. I got to say, it their lunch is better than there breakfast. Before heading out, we stopped in the gift shop to get some stuff for Emma.

We got to Charleston around four o’clock, just in time to watch the US vs. Belgium game. After the game was over Dad and I picked a restaurant on Urbanspoon, Lowcountry Bistro.

At the restaurant we sat on the piazza (traditional Charleston side porch), which was thankfully in the shade. Dad and I also learned that the bistro was the sister restaurant is 82 Queen, which is one of the best restaurants in the city. So we knew that we were in for a treat!

For an appetizer, we got the shrimp and grits because you got get shrimp and grits when in Charleston! It was so good, but a bit different from traditional shrimp and grits. The grits weren’t really creamy and there was a tomato sauce on top of it. Different but still very delicious!

For my dinner I had the most delicious meal ever! It was a sweet potato-cornmeal-bacon waffle with fried chicken on top. It was one of the best things that I have every eaten. The waffle was sweet and salty, the chicken was perfectly cooked, and the two were just magical together. All other chicken and waffles pale in comparison. As you can see in the second photo, I ate it pretty fast!

Dad got potato crusted trout with sautéed rainbow chard and grits. He loved it and agreed that we would have to be back again!

After dinner we walked along Broad and East Bay streets to Rainbow Row and the Waterfront Park.

Dad then took out his phone to look for some geocaches in the area. At the time we were a few caches away from finding 200 caches. Our searches took us to see some amazing views of the city at sunset.

Thanks for reading!