Tarpon Springs - The Sponge Divers /  by Dave Hileman

This was an unknown place to us but at the Super Bowl party our host mentioned that Tarpon Springs is where she gets Greek Pastry. Then we learned about the town and the sponge diving industry begun about 1900. Greeks who had done this work were asked to come and start sponge diving here. They did and still do. The statue is to the man who began it all. More to come!

EPCOT Architecture /  by Dave Hileman

One reason to enjoy the “countries” in EPCOT is the little touches that make them unique to their place. And if you go before 10 there are not too many people filling the streets. These three were shot in Japan.

Beaches and Cream Disney's Beach Club /  by Dave Hileman

by Cadillac Moose, PhD, RSVP

No, I am not relenting, Mr. Hollywood. Steely blue eyes do not intimidate me. My magnificent antlers trump any stare and often induce flight. I will prevail and the Great British Baking Show will soon have an excellent judge of all things eatable.

Now on to yet another fabulous review: Beaches and Cream. This eatery associated with the Beach Club resort is always crowded. That is not necessarily a sign of great food. (Notice -GBBS- how I am not deterred by the prevailing crowds.) The food was more than OK but at the price should be a bit better. Photoguy had a burger and fries, no imagination at all. It was well cooked, served nicely and pretty tasty. The fries were underdone, inexcusable here. The Nice One had Tater Tots with chili, green onions and sour cream. Now that is how you order. She liked it, a surprising combination of ordinary ingredients that made a great lunch. The entire dish was appealing. Now on to the real reason to eat here, ICE CREAM. PicturePerson had chocolate ice cream in a dish with caramel sauce. I could have written this before he ordered. However, it was quite good. The one who knows food ordered a chocolate soda with coffee ice cream. Perfection itself and just like was served in ancient times.

Overall rating:  4 Antlers.

Tater Tots, Chilli, Green Onions and Sour Cream

Star Wars /  by Dave Hileman

Unlike other “star” franchises, Star Trek, A Star is Born, The Star Chamber, I have actually seen some of Star Wars. Thankfully I recall no details. Just a retelling of old stories with a space veneer. FYI for such an advanced civilization they have a lot of junk sitting around. Disney has invested heavily in the SW theme and fortunately for them not many people are like me. The lines are long, the $$ changing hands for light sabres and more is amazing. They have done a great job with the atmosphere in the SW area.

We Had a Good Time at Disney et al. /  by Dave Hileman

Disney was crowded beyond anything I have ever seen with wait times into 2 and 3 hours. But Cindy had reservations done a long time ago for food, we hit the parks when they opened, got one or two rides we wanted, then a couple more when the wait times slowed and still enjoyed the time but it is taxing. The heat, the crowds, the walking, (averaged 6.7 miles for the park days), the standing, the heat, the noise, the crowds and the long walk to the car at the end of the day. Many people pay extra on top of the steep prices to get on a couple more rides and spend less time in lines but I do not like that system, unreasonable to me. One day they charged $30 for that privilege, each person. Disney has other fairer systems but this is the one they choo$e. Campground is still an amazing place, the evenings are great, cool off quickly this time of year, and most folks you encounter are very nice.

We head north in a couple of days and will spend 10 days along the Gulf in Florida’s panhandle at three state parks and a couple of Harvest Hosts before we are off to Texas. Lots to photograph still to come.

German Biergarten /  by Dave Hileman

by Cadillac Moose, PhD, PbS -pledge drive division

So I am not going to talk about all the food. I plan to skip telling you about the bratwursts, the sauerkraut, the hot German potato salad, the sauerbraten, the excellent mustard, the pretzel rolls, the spatzle, the schnitzel WHY DID NOT A PERSON EVER TELL ME ABOUT THIS?, Beer Cheese Soup, mustard dressing on the salad, & roast beef. And it was ALL you wanted. You ate, got up, creaked over to the bar and filled your plate, ate and staggered over to the food and filled your plate and.., well it was endless. And then there was dessert. Not A dessert but plural, as in many like cheese cakes, apple strudel et al but there was one, oh my, it should be illegal, Black Forest Cake. As you might well imagine anything forest is close to my heart anyway, but this, delicate, flavorful, bursting with cherry goodness and you could have 26 if you wanted. Not that i counted. Paul Hollywood is clearly a fraud cause they never have Black Forest Cake on the Great British Baking Show. How does he keep his job?

Overall Rating 4.75 Antlers

Black Forest Cake 7 Antlers.

Black Forest Cake!!!!!!

Lake Apopka Walk /  by Dave Hileman

We enjoyed a nice walk on one of the coolest days around a bit of the north end of Lake Apopka. Lots of wildlife here but on this trip we saw no gators. But my biggest bonus was the Great Blue Heron on a nest. Not sure when I may have seen one of those.

Chipping Sparrow

Sometimes its NOT birds of a feather….

Sanaa, Disney Animal Kingdom, Kidani Village. /  by Dave Hileman

by Cadillac Moose, PhD, BBC

OK, I did not know what to expect of a place serving African inspired food. Seems like it might not be Moose friendly, I mean, lions and tigers and elephants, oh my. But I ought not to have worried because I was able to adapt instantly with my charm, one of my best qualities, and magnificent antlers that stunned the waitstaff. Clearly my ability to fit into any environment is a step ahead of Paul Hollywood, who rumors say does not even know where Africa is located.   

Oh, right, the review. Well, it was a beautiful setting with a window view of great, tall, spotted (but sans antlers) creatures, small buffalo that needed a shave and some birds. You can ask PhotoFellow abut the birds; he will drone on for hours. Loved the place. Lovely colors, large comfortable seats, and excellent service. We started with an assortment of flat bread and 9 little pots of stuff you could dunk the bread into. This was really good, especially the green pot which I suspect was ground up Swamp Lilies. Then to main dishes that were both good to look at and excellent to eat. One was mostly vegetables including something called parsnip - I think the waiter was teasing us cause that sounds made up. PhotoMan had chicken, how predictable. The chicken was actually very good and came with more bread. We had dessert! Yes! It was butterscotch pudding with almond streusel and a shortbread cookie. Butterscotch is my new favorite. And, again, I ate it all. Plus this was real pudding not British pudding which I still don’t understand.

Overall Rating 4.5 antlers

EPCOT /  by Dave Hileman

There are four Disney parks here in Orlando. Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios and EPCOT. EPCOT is my favorite. I really enjoy the countries especially early in the morning as most of the attractions do not open here until 11, so it is usually quiet or relatively quiet from early morning until nearer 10:30. Except for France that houses Ratatouille and Norway that has princesses. EPCOT also has three great rides for me, Ratatouille, Test Track and Soaring. And Cindy likes Guardians of the Galaxy, too much spinning, going backwards and dark for me. Lots of other things to do here and some of the best food in all of Disney. The French Bakery, Chefs de France, Germany’s banquet hall, Italy’s pizza and Canada’s everything. And a lot more with lots of walk up options. Me, I would go just for the eclairs. Really.

Minnie Review (Third Post Today) /  by Dave Hileman

by Cadillac Moose, PhD, NbC

I hope you are amused by the mini/minnie substitution. That kind of humor sets me apart from the stoic Paul Hollywood. GBBS will soon be calling! Anyway in the meantime, until the phone rings, I thought I would also do some short reviews. EPCOT was holding the Festival of the Arts and that included arty food. The KindOne ordered this small plate that had two scallops, parsnip puree (sure:), lime foam and little squares of an unknown substance. Despite that, she loved it. She said, “perfectly grilled fresh scallops.”

Camping Recap Fourth Week - Bonus Post /  by Dave Hileman

We were in three camping locations this past week. Fort Wilderness, always a lovely place to stay but uber expensive. Getting out of our range for even special days. One night at Johnson University, Florida. This campus is a bit East of Disney in Kissimmee. We had a quiet night in the parking lot by the library. There were very few people around. We saw no-one the night we parked and just a few people the next morning. We did get a decent coffee from the Snack Shop on campus. And, finally, three nights at our friend’s driveway. We appreciate the place to stay and relax, pick up packages, do laundry and enjoy their company. So great to have good friends like Rusty and Janet - makes traveling feel a bit more comforting.

On the Johnson campus. Very nicely kept and a good nights sleep.

KaBoom /  by Dave Hileman

This is the photo or one of the many photos i took before the bus ride that I wrote about on Saturday. It was interesting seeing the fireworks from a distance. Up close they looked to be barely above the castle, from the opposite site of the lake they dwarfed the castle. Look carefully and you can see it just to the right of center.

"The wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, round and round...." Bonus Post /  by Dave Hileman

This is a quick post about when the magic stops. I had a plan to take a photo across the lake from the Magic Kingdom of the fireworks so that I would get great reflections on the lake. The first part, getting to the Polynesian, requires some effort. We took the bus to the Pioneer Hall Landing at Wilderness Campground, then the boat to the Magic Kingdom landing, then the monorail to the Poly. Set up took photos, some issues but I will edit today and post first of the week. Anyway we are done, back on the monorail to MK, it has just let out and the boat is a long wait in the cold 48 Florida evening. So we choose to walk a bit to the buses and got on the bus to Wilderness Lodge and Fort Wilderness. About 1/2 mile out of the bus depot a young man had a seizure, bus stops, a passenger nurse assists, others pray or wait - everyone is concerned and patient. Police arrive, then EMT and the decision is made to change us to a new bus. We also had a lady on board in a scooter who did not know how to use it and it took 10 minutes to get her off and 10 more to get her back on the new bus. We all board. The driver passes our turn and goes a few miles in a different direction. Most don’t notice but I wonder what is going on, then he turns into a different park, Hollywood Studios. What? There is confusion and now people are telling the driver that he is at the wrong place. He says the dispatcher sent him here. We doubt it because four men in the back of the bus said this is their stop. They were not on the original bus, but got on during the change over. Anyway, he then says he will take us back. I’ll skip the traffic mess we got into. He passes the campground stop to go to the lodge, lets off most of the people, then tells us he is going to let us off at Pioneer Hall, this is a long way from where anyone wanted to go. But he says he was off when they called him and this was his way to get back a bit sooner. At Pioneer Hall we need another bus, but MK is still emptying and the buses are more full so I approach a bus driver who had room, asked if he went to 2100, “I don’t know” is not what I expected to hear but he said we can get off close. OK, when we are close, I ask to get off and am told “This is not a stop.” So we end up 1 mile away and instead of waiting for another bus, walk the mile back to the trailer. We are two hours later than expected and walked more than six miles that day. And we were not in a park!