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Showing posts from July, 2016

What About Bob (and Luis and Gordon)?

Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?   I grew up singing that song.  I was there in front of my tv on the very first day the show aired.  Back in the day when Oscar was orange.  (For a long time no one believed me on that, but I had a record album from the show and there was a photo of an orange grouch.  I had proof that no one could comprehend.)  I remember Gordon (the original, Matt Robinson) and Susan and Bob and Mr. Hooper.  Later on there was Luis and Maria and David.  (And Gordon changed from Matt Robinson to Roscoe Gordon...not unlike how Darren changed on Bewitched.  It was another century; we kids could deal with it.)   There was Big Bird, Ernie and Bert (rubber duckies and bottle cap collections suddenly became hip), Kermit (yes, he was there in the beginning too), Cookie Monster, Harry Monster, Grover and Oscar the Grouch (orange or green; he was grouchy, but somehow not mean).   I watched it even when I was past the age.  After all my brother watched it

Thoughts on a Disney World Vacation: Part 5: Slowing Down And Melting Down?

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Since I am an early riser, the fact that I got up around 7:30 is saying that I slept in late!  (At home I'm usually up by 4:30 on weekdays and by 6 on weekends.  Of course "back home" I'm in bed by 9:30 or so and at WDW the night before it was after midnight when I closed my eyes.)  Got myself dressed and went down to the lounge for breakfast.  Because of the setup of the Poly, allergy/special breakfasts have to be ordered and brought over.  In the past (at the Contemporary), I had just gone to the lounge staff and they had provided me with the day's egg-free treat (usually muffins); here I was asked what I wanted and when I wanted it, which was pretty cool.  I was provided with egg free pancakes and bacon.  Delicious (salivating just remembering it), but way too much food.  I found a table (not easy) in the lounge and grabbed a glass of juice (Poly has POG juice, but not in the morning; only afternoons and evenings which I don't understand) and then had a c

The Empty Lot

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Since 1972 (and even a little before that), my family has been spending summer at the Jersey Shore.  It started off as a week at the beach and has evolved since then into pretty much a year round residence (at least when we are referring to my parents).  The most recognizable landmark in the area, one that you could always tell your friends who were driving down for a day (this, of course, was way before Google, MapQuest, Waze and all that) was the large Catholic church that sat on the patch of land between Rt 35 S and N. Our Lady of Peace didn't look much like a church; at least not from the outside.  To me it was a huge dirty sand colored box with two large parking lots on either side.  If I cared to look close enough I could see the cross on top and the statue of Mary on the east side.  But that didn't matter.  All you had to do was tell people that when they saw the Catholic Church there were entering Normandy Beach, NJ.  It didn't matter what religion you were (or

Thoughts on a Disney World Vacation: Part 4: Going Polynesian!

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Day 4 was moving day.  Heading from CBR to the Polynesian Village Resort.  Let me put it bluntly:  resort "hopping" isn't much fun. (It deprives you of much valued time...and at Disney every second is treasured by me.)  But if you have to do it (and we did because I couldn't afford a full stay at the Poly and I know how important it is to my family to stay at a monorail resort), my recommendation is to go a step up for the last part of the trip (so that you end on a high) and definitely go via cab. As a family of three we didn't have that much luggage, but it was more than enough and it was worth the cost (about $20) to quickly and easily get from one resort to another.  We used the Checker Cab Company (which is actually Mears:  http://www.mearstransportation.com/fleet/taxi-sedans/) and I have only good things to say about them.  I was up by 6:30 and we were all packed and out the door by a little after eight.  We were in the Jamaica parking lot by 8; 10 and the

Thoughts on a Disney World Vacation: Part 3: The Adventure Continues at Epcot and More DHS!

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Decided to it was time to take a different approach to this "non" trip report.  Writing was feeling more like a chore than fun, so let me start fresh with the third day of our trip. It was finally time to hit Epcot; my favorite park!  (Well at least for today...it's hard for me to rank a favorite when I love Epcot and the Magic Kingdom pretty much equally.)  We DID need to get up and get moving as we had an 8:30 ADR for the Garden Grill.  My son had never eaten here and the last time my husband and I had breakfast here was in 2001.  (Believe our last meal there was lunch in 2004 when we got "rehitched;” a silly ceremony that I'm not sure if they do anymore.)  My plan was to eat and then try to get onto Soarin'.  We got to the restaurant early and were seated almost immediately.  As we had experienced in the past, the service was quick and good.  We waited for nothing...Chip's Sticky Bun Bake appeared instantaneously (if only I could have eaten it, bu

There IS Hope

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Last week was pretty bad; shootings, attempted coups, an attack in Nice...  This whole world seems to be going to hell in a hand basket.  (No comments on this week's RNC or the upcoming DNC which I am sure will BOTH cause more chaos.)  The world is getting more frightening with every second or so it seems. But I have hope.  Yes, I may be an eternal optimist and an idealist, but despite all the craziness on this planet, I do have hope and I'm going to tell you why.  In this midst of all the horrors that we heard about on the news, my cousin got married.  It is because of this celebration that I have hope. Notice I didn't say ceremony.  Because ceremony is not the right word for the day.  It was a celebration.  It was an affirmation.  It was a confirmation to me that two people can find each other in this world, fall in love and make this world a better place because of it. If I sound like a sap, so be it.  These two have proved to me that there are good people i

Thoughts on a Disney World Vacation: Day 2: Visiting Animal and Magic Kingdoms

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No recaps here. To catch up go to: http://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2016/07/thoughts-on-disney-world-vacation-part.html After a good night's sleep (Benadryl always helps with that), I got up first (as always) and got myself together. Once the boys were up, we headed over to the food court at OPR for breakfast. The boys were able to split a breakfast of pancakes and bacon (along with another cinnamon roll). My son and I shared a juice (thanks to the mug) before rinsing it out and having my husband fill it with coffee. So although the mugs are expensive, we were able to get three drinks that morning in one. The day was off to a good start. Review: If you use it right, the refillable mugs are worth the cost. (And being a small family we were all able to utilize that same mug). Food court breakfast was good and reasonably priced. From OPR, we headed directly to the bus stop. Again, I loved the board which told us what bu