NOVEMBER 2012 PRE-TRIP REPORT
Participants: Tam, Kev, India and Georgia
Well, it’s
been 20 months since our last full trip report. That has to be
the longest we’ve been between holidays for many a year.
Don’t feel too sorry for us though, Tam and I enjoyed a
3-day visit to Madrid to see Bruce Springsteen and we also went
to lots of festivals over the summer, so it’s not exactly
been quiet.
If you’ve read the report from our last holiday you’ll
know that Tam and I went on a cruise out of Miami to celebrate
our friend Deb’s 50th
birthday in March 2012. We had a couple of days either end of the
cruise where we stayed at Bay Lake Tower and Vero Beach. We had
such a good time here that we decided to return to Florida as
soon as possible along with the girls.
The plan is as follows:
Wednesday October 31st – drive to Gatwick and stay overnight in the Travelodge Central.
Thursday November 1st – fly to Orlando – overnight at Econolodge on the 192.
Friday November 2nd – drive to Pine Island and get the ferry to North Captiva where we will spend the next 5 nights at our villa, The Little Ark.
Wednesday November 7th – drive to Disney’s Vero Beach resort where we will spend 3 nights.
Saturday November 10th – drive to the Ron Jon Resort in Port Canaveral for one night.
Sunday November 11th – drive to St Augustine for 4 nights in The Hilton Historic Bayfront.
Thursday 15th November – drive to WDW for 3 nights at The Boardwalk.
Sunday 18th November – fly home.
As you can see,
there is a fair bit of moving around and I should also warn you
that this schedule is not exactly truthful. There are one or two
surprises for the girls along the way, as you’ll find out if
you stick with us.
Talking of the girls, they last visited Florida in May 2009. If
my math is correct (which it seldom is), that’s 3 and a half
years ago, so they are looking forward to this holiday even more
than Tam and I.
I guess I should fill you in on what we’ve all been up to.
Me – Kev – 54 glorious years old. I may not be in the peak of condition any more – come to think of it I’ve never been in the peak of condition – but I’ve still got a wet nose and I like long walks. I’ll even roll over if you tickle my tummy.
Tam (wife) – 48 years old. Obviously this is getting perilously close to the ‘half century’ mark, something that ladies do not relish the prospect of, or so I’ve been told. Still, she hasn’t completely fallen apart yet. I’ve had to patch her up with gaffer tape in a few places, but she’s still a good runner. I reckon I’ll get a few more years out of the old girl.
India (daughter
1) – 22 years old. Ind has now finished her University
course and holds a degree in Renewable Energy. She has done well
to find a job in Truro with a company planning and installing
wind turbines. Ironic really when you consider that she has a
reputation within the family for being a fairly prolific producer
of wind herself.
Guess what India is looking forward to most this holiday? The
beauty and wonder of North Captiva? The magical flora and fauna
of Florida? Historic St Augustine. Nope. It’s the fact that
she can legally drink in America for the first time. Most of her
holiday planning has been around which is the best bar to spend
the evening in.
Georgia
(daughter 2) – 19 years old. Georgia finished her A levels
this year and did very well in passing Geography, World
Development and Environmental Science. She is currently working
part time in our local Tesco whilst trying to figure out what to
do with her working life. I don’t really care what it is as
long as it involves lots of money and she can take her mother and
father on holidays in the future. Payback’s a bitch,
ain’t it?
Georgia has also instructed me not to say that she’s grumpy,
as has been pointed out in one or two previous trip reports.
Technically she is correct. As she has got older she has grown
out of the teenage tantrum period and is mostly a loving, happy
daughter, but I still wouldn’t want to provoke the girl
first thing in the morning. Tam lost a finger last week.
This will be the cast list for the majority of the holiday, but when we get to WDW we will be meeting up with old friends Deb and Matt, Mark and Mandy and Sharon from Texas.
The trip report writing duties will be split between me and Tam. I could give you some old flannel about it being in order to give a more balanced perspective, but the truth is that I’m getting to be a lazy old bugger and more than happy for Tam to do half the work.