Lemon Meringue Pie with Tomatoes and Sour Cream - Gasparilla 15k & 8k Weekend February 28 2023

Due to some work events that I couldn't avoid, I wasn't able to take all of Friday off, but only the afternoon. I got home by about 12:15, threw our bags in the car, and were on the road by 12:45. We picked up our typical Circle K and McDonalds to eat on the way. Traffic was crazy, with a huge back-up from were a semi truck hit the overpass near Ocala last week. 

We got to Tampa around 3:45 and were able to park in the little waterfront area that's usually blocked off. I got my shirts, bib,  and bag, and picked up a little extra swag at the Expo, before heading back the car to find our VRBO. 

So awkward, but look at that calf muscle!

Picked up a cooling towel

Our apartment for the weekend was on the 3rd floor of a nice apartment complex, with one bedroom, a bathroom, large kitchen, a small balcony, and living area. 

Dining Room, Living Room              Balcony               Living Room, Kitchen

After unpacking and chilling out for a while, we headed over to Village Inn for dinner. Yeah, it's where old people go for tuna salad and pie... you got a problem with that? Hubby got a Club Sandwich (he's not even a member!) and I opted for a French Toast Combo. I've never had French Toast made with Arnold Italian Bread with Sesame Seeds, but now I have. And I'd rather not have it again any time soon, if ever. 

While we waited for our food, we talked about what to do this weekend. We kicked around the idea of going to Adventure Island on Sunday when I'm do so that I could relax for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, AI is closed until March (literally, it opens a few days from now). 

As we ate our meal, we perused the Pie Menu for what we wanted to take back to our apartment, and I got a serious case of the giggles when I saw "Lemon Supreme Pie." 

Sadly, they were out of Peanut Butter Pie!

What makes it supreme, I asked the server? Is it Taco Bell-style, with tomatoes and sour cream? She was confused and had no idea why it was so funny. But dammit, it was funny! Or I was just tired... We brought home a slice of Lemon Meringue (no tomatoes or sour cream for me), and a slice of French Silk Pie for him. I soaked the day away in a bubble bath then laid out my gear for the morning. I set my multiple alarms, chilled out with Twitter, and eventually fell asleep. 

My alarm went off at 4:30am, and I rolled out of bed around 5. As I've come to expect, my body was unhappy (nauseated, poop-ish, etc). I drank some juice on the couch, hit the bathroom, then woke hubby up at 5:30. We got to the parking garage at 6:20 and headed over to the start line. After crossing the start line, I met hubby past the fences and we walked together to Publix, where I took off with the crowd. I decided, this year, to not take as many photos, so I don't have any half-assed Mile Marker photos (if you want to see the course and mile markers, please see my blog for previous years' recaps). 

Me and all my crazy friends

The first mile sucked, but I was feeling better after the second mile. I didn't have my inhaler this time around, and I wondered if I was going to regret it (nope!). The Rough Riders were out giving away Krispy Kreme donuts, but they were stale, so I only ate half of mine before throwing it away (I know, donut sacrilege!) Also, there were no beads this year.

 

Florida sunrises are hard to beat

They probably picked these up last night, so they're stale and funky

I kept going, feeling okay, but I was already sweaty before Mile 2, and that didn't bode well for the rest of the race. I sucked down a Honey Stinger around Mile 4, made it to the Halfway Sign, then down Gandy and back. 

Public Service Announcement - 
Do not stop to tie your shoe in the middle of the race course!

Time for fuel

I am so freakin' sweaty!

Halfway done! 

Heading back toward the finish, I was on the Bay side, where there was no shade, and boy oh boy, it's gonna get hot. There was a pod of dolphins out in the Bay that kept me entertained for a while. I wish there'd been more mister fans on the course, but the five or ten they had available were very welcome. 

It's too hot for a shirt, so congratulations on seeing my tummy

Around Mile 7, my heart got up to the 170s, so I had to stop and just walk. I was hoping that after 10 minutes, it would go back down, but it never really did. For reference, for my age, I really should keep my HR between 111 and 175. 

Data from my Garmin

Info on what my HR should be 
(I would have considered this run/walk more "Moderate Intensity"!)

It seemed like it took forever to get back to the 5k turn-around area, which signifies that I have about a mile and a half left to go.

A little anachronism, with Rough Riders and Stormtroopers

Oh thank God, only .3 miles to go

I got shunned to the sidewalks at the 5k turn around, and I got passed by plenty of 5k runners, but I finally - finally - finished! A little lightheaded and ready to pass out, but I finished. I met up with hubby, got my finisher medal, an icy-cold wet towel, some water, and a handful of Cheez-Its before slowly limping my way back to the car. 

Those are all 5k folks; we have to stay in the bike lane with the cones

I'm ready to go home

Back in the apartment, I took a hot bath then passed out in bed for an hour or so before heading to brunch at Mom's Place. Even though I was driving toward pancakes, I still wolfed down a bag of Cheez-Its and a bottle of Gatorade while I was in the car. I then demolished a plate of pancakes, bacon, and eggs! I was worried that it wouldn't be as good as last year, but I'm happy to report it was just as good, if not better. I picked up a soda on the way back to the apartment, took another nap, had some quality time with Hubby, then had an amazingly healthy dinner of Cheez-Its, Slim-Jims, and pie. I knew I'd regret this dinner, but I didn't care!

On Sunday, I slept in until about 7:30 before getting dressed and heading over to the race. I was almost to the parking garage when I realized that I left Nathan (my water bottle) in the freezer at the apartment... Dammit!! I had frozen him overnight because I knew it was going to be so freakin' hot today. So, today I'll be water-free and inhaler-free... wonder how this will go?  

Luckily, there was this huge Zephyrhills water dispenser by the finish line, so I was able to get a cup of water and fill up my Gatorade bottle to bring with me on the race instead. 

I guess warm water is better than no water

On the up side, if I want to stop carrying water with me, I won't have to give up Nathan

Race #2, Let's Go!

So many more participants than yesterday's race

I put on my interval timer and tried to do as many as possible, but I just didn't feel the drive to push myself. Nothing really interesting happened along the route, lol. I did a Honey Stinger at Mile 1, drank all my Gatorade, drank all my water, and finished just over my goal time... I came in at 1:31:58, which is the slowest I've done this, just edging out 2020's time of 1:31:54. (Interestingly, it's only 6 minutes or so slower than my fastest 8k so it's not like I'm a total turtle!)

(... they lied)

Halfway!

Cool photo, but kind of looks like I'm giving the bird to the sign

As I did yesterday, I got my medals, towel, water, and (god-tier snack) Cheez-Its and went back to the car. 

Clang Clang, Baby

I was feeling relatively good today! No cramps, no extra tiredness, no walking funny. I soaked the miles away in another bath, and then Twittered while we decided what to do for lunch. We ended up at Jason's Deli, home of delicious deli sandwiches, but some seriously questionable macaroni & cheese. 

Watery yet velvety (?) Mac & Cheese with Half Ham & Swiss Sandwich

Seriously, it's nasty. Don't ever, ever, ever get this as your side dish. I can't even describe what was wrong with it, except that it doesn't have any artificial dyes or colors, no artificial flavors, no MSG, and not HFCS. And apparently I'm not the only one who doesn't like it, at least according to their Facebook page! 

 

Lots of people accusing them of just using Kraft Mac & Cheese

After lunch, we wanted to be touristy so we headed west, over the new Gateway Expressway. Interestingly, I watched the TV show Dirty Jobs a while back, and I saw that Mike was working on some random overpass in Tampa, FL. I didn't realize until I was writing this that most likely, THIS was the overpass we drove over! How cool! But then it got even cooler, because as I was driving, things started looking very familiar and I realized that I was in my old neighborhood (I lived here until I was a junior in high school)! We took an unexpected Trip Around My Childhood drive through my neighborhood, past my elementary, middle, and high schools, the local Little League fields, etc. It was fun to share that history with Hubby. 

We explored John's Pass Village after parking in an absolutely frightening parking garage. What a waste of $3! Why do people come here again? It always seemed to be such a thing that everyone did when I was a kid. 

Everything smelled like dead fish, the water was green, and too many, well, tourists

Next, we spent some time at Madeira Beach to enjoy a gorgeous Florida Gulf Coast sunset. The water was colder than I would like, but I still got in (dragged in) up to my chest, and we cuddled in the waves for a bit, then I went back to the car for my camera for some sunset photos. 

Thank you, Random Stranger, for your silhouette

Obligatory Mom & Dad Photo

Back at the apartment, we changed out of our swimsuits and decided to hit up Long John Silver's for dinner. It was a bit of a drive, but we got there around 8:45 and damn if the doors weren't locked up for the night! To heck with you, forbidden shrimp! We went over to Steak & Shake instead, and got some real "post-Covid" service... We had to order at a kiosk because there were no seaters or servers. They called our number and we had to go up and get our own food. There was basically no Customer Service to be found, and we all know that Steak & Shake wasn't all that high on the Customer Service to begin with! I got a Dr. Pepper refill to go, but it tasted like soap, so I dumped it out the window. We settled in back at the apartment for our final night, exhausted as hell, and fell asleep quite quickly. 

Monday morning, we slept in and snuggled until 9:30 or so, still trying to figure out something fun to do on our last day. I was on the laptop and he was on his tablet. He leaned over and said, hey, do you know that Sea World has a water park?! Oh, yeah! Aquatica! I forgot about that place! I looked it up and we could get tickets for $54 each, so what the hell, let's do it! We packed up, cleaned up as required per the VRBO owner, gassed up the car, got some caffeine and stopped at the nearby Krystal for lunch. I'm not a huge fan of Krystal, but I always liked their Corn Pups. Well, this Krystal, apparently, has Corn Doggos (full-size corn dogs). I ordered two, because I thought they were small (I was expecting Puppers), so I was stuffed as we drove to Orlando via Interstate 4. 

Okay, can someone please explain to me what the actual fuck is wrong with the State Road 27 "Champions Gate" area on I-4? Why the slowdown? We lost 30 minutes because of slowdowns for no visible reason (and judging by comments I've seen on the internet). And honestly, it all kind of went downhill from here... 

We didn't get to Aquatica until about 2pm, and we still had to pay for parking. Which was thirty freakin' dollars! for an old beat-up parking lot with no attendants or anything (Hell, it's only $25 at Disney!) But we paid it anyway, parked the car, and headed in. Thankfully we paid for our tickets online, because tickets at the door were $98!!! Then, locker rental was another $20 (only $12 at Disney). So, just to park and put our stuff in a metal cube, it was fifty bucks... Lord. 

After we changed into our bathing suits and stashed our stuff, we went looking for the Lazy River. It was closed. But they had a "not so lazy" river called Roa's Rapids Fast Lazy River, so we headed over there. There was a huge pile of life vests next to it, but we had no idea what they were for, so we went looking for tubes. Oh... no tubes (because it's fast); we were supposed to wear the vests. Back in (with these terrible vests), I'll admit it WAS fun. We went around a few times before getting out to ride Ray Rush and Walhalla Wave. Oh, wait... Walhalla is closed. Ray Rush, though, was amazing! It was one of those slides that empties into a half-pipe. I'd totally do that one over and over! Walhalla opened while we were in line for RR, so we went back up to do WW. It was fun, but not as good as Ray Rush. 

I found the balls to ride Reef Plunge, a body slide where you go through a dolphin habitat. While I was standing in line alone (hubby skipped this one), I was behind a family with a few teenagers, and they were saying how weird it was to be at a water park in February, because it was -2 at home, wherever they lived. I giggled internally, wondering where they were from? The ride wasn't what I was hoping for, unfortunately. Since I had my contacts in, and the ride was so fast, I couldn't keep my eyes open to see the habitat I was sliding through, so it was a total waste for me.  

We walked by a few other slides, watching much younger people have much more fun than us, and hubby lamented that he was bummed. He was tired of climbing so many stairs! He was having fun, but his legs wanted to have none of it. I agreed, having had the same thoughts as I was in line at Reef Plunge; waterparks are a Young Person's entertainment! I'm too tired to do all this work! I made a deal with him to do one more tube ride (aka one more "climb the damn stairs" ride), and then we'd finish in the river. 

Since we're fat, we each had to ride single tubes on Whanau Way. He's not a fan of single tubes, because he's really clumsy when it's time to get out of them! This ride was fine, but kind of boring. Ray Rush was definitely the best ride of the day. I came down the slide first, and then him, and damn if he didn't screw up getting out of the tube! He scraped his knee pretty bad on the bottom of the pool, about the size of a quarter. We went around the river a few more times before the park closed and we had to get out. While going around, I enticed him with the idea of fried food and ice cream for dinner. 

We slathered it with Neosporin when we got home

We hit up the locker rooms, and damn, it was busy! It felt like 9th grade gym class with ladies hogging all of the changing stalls and showers. I ended up just getting dressed in a toilet stall because I didn't want to wait (and none of them looked like they were in a hurry at all). 

Back in the car, I pointed the Garmin to Friendly's which ended up being only 10 minutes away. Because we wanted to save room for ice cream, we ordered a single meal of chicken tenders & fries to share, and our amazing waitress and the crew in the back split it across two plates for us (and it was probably more food than we would have gotten on a single plate, too). The fries and chicken were good, but the ranch tasted like soap, which I just kind of muttered to myself. Hubs heard me, and realized it was the second time in a few days that I said something tasted like soap. He googled why that might happen, and Teh Intarwebz™ said it could be the aftermath of a sinus infection that has screwed up my taste buds... and don't you know, I just HAD a sinus infection! So I guess I need to do more research on how to reset my taste buds or something (ETA: My buds are fine now, nothing is soapy). 

More importantly, we got sundaes for dessert (and it didn't taste like soap). He got vanilla ice cream, peanut butter sauce, hot fudge, whipped cream, and chocolate sprinkles. I got cookie dough ice cream, Reese's Pieces, Kit-Kat pieces, and whipped cream. It was good, but too much. And that's a problem with how I like to eat my ice cream... I like Vanilla + Reese's Pieces, but nothing much else goes well with that combo. And I like Vanilla + Caramel sauce, but nothing else I like goes together with that... I'm too freakin' picky, I suppose. 

Peanut Butter Sundae  ~~~  Chicken Fingers  ~~~  Reeses Kat Sundae

With full bellies, we got gas and picked up a soda for the road at Wawa, then headed home. We were home and unpacked by 9:30, and I was in bed, exhausted and sore, by 9:45! I took some time to reset all of our scheduled automations (turning Roomba back on, for example) and then called it a night. I unfortunately have a 9am meeting tomorrow, but it's by Zoom, so I only need to look presentable for an hour, and then I work from home the rest of the day (jammies, baby!)

Celebration 1/2 Marathon (10th Annual) Jan 31 2023

I woke up this morning with an Angry Eyeball, dammit. Yeah, I can hear you... why don't you take your contact lenses out when you sleep? And my answer to you is... I like watching TV until I fall asleep, and it's more difficult to do that with glasses on. But the downside is dealing with shit like this, so is it really worth the convenience? I'm beginning to think maybe not. 

Anyway, I pulled my contact out and hopped in the shower, then chilled out at my computer for an hour while my hair dried. I took some time to do some laundry then got us packed up and we were out of the door by noon. We picked up milkshakes at Steak & Shake, and Arby's for lunch, eating while we drove. 

I don't know why, but there was just so much traffic everywhere! Even the turnpike, which is typically easy-going, was busier than normal. We got to Celebration by 3pm and parked over by the Celebration Hotel (the opposite side of the lake from where Packet Pickup was located). It seemed weird to see the waterfront devoid of people... I pretty much only see it when it's full of screaming spectators and sweaty finishers! 

Packet pickup was easy (it's always easy), and I got my shirt, blanket, swag bag, and bib. We walked backward along the course (from Finish Line to Mile 12.5-ish) along the back of the lake toward our car. It was nice that Hubby could see what I see from the course. 

From here, we headed over to Melia Hotel, where we were staying for the weekend. It's about a mile or so from The Corner where Hubby meets me, so I thought it would be good for him to be able to chill for a few hours in the hotel, instead of having to wait at Water Street. Check-in was extremely busy; I waited about 20 minutes for my turn. Ricky, the desk clerk, was great, but it was very hard to hear him over the cacophony in the lobby. Our hotel had hefty resort fees of $40/day, which covered parking, free happy hour (one hour, all you can drink), and the in-room minibar. Hey, cool, a minibar! Oh... maybe not...

Waiting in line in the lobby

The entire room from the door

Looking back to the entrance door

Oooh, such a fancy mini-bar!

Like many older hotels, the lobby was sleek and shiny, but the rooms and outbuildings were old and in need of love. The luggage carts were rough. The elevators were kind of beat up. In the room itself, it had the problem of wasted space. There was a lot of underutilized space by the door/bathroom, and the bedroom area was much more claustrophobic. The bed (definitely not a true King Size bed) was firm and not too bouncy. The AC was pathetic, and it actually got warmer when I set the thermostat to 64º. I wondered if there was something wrong with it. The bathroom was large, but boring, with a basic bathtub that I planned to use later. We had a pool view, but no balcony to go out onto. 

Since it was Happy Hour, I went down to get a $40 glass of soda (I had a caffeine withdrawal headache at this point), and picked up a tub of ice on the way back to the room. We kicked around some ideas for dinner while I let the caffeine hit me, and we decided to go to Ford's Garage for dinner. Unfortunately, the Promenade at Sunset Walk (where FG was located) was blocked off for some sort of Street Car Show; it was full of douchey low-rider, neon-ground-light cars and extremely loud thumping music. All of the roads were closed except for one, but we found a back way in and found parking right by FG. When we checked in, we were told that the wait time was almost an hour, and I just couldn't deal with it (my head was killing me, I was hangry, and I didn't want to deal with the crowds) so we left and went to our Safety Restaurant - Cracker Barrel. It seemed like a great idea at the time! It was quiet, maybe only 1/4 of the place was occupied. 

That should have been a warning.

I don't know what got in to me, but instead of my usual pancake breakfast, I decided to try the Maple Grilled Chicken Breast dinner with mashed potatoes and french fries. It took almost 30 minutes for our food to come out, even after tables who were seated after us and ordered after us got their food. My plate was screaming hot when I got it, but it looked like my potatoes had sat under a heat lamp for 20 minutes. The chicken was disappointing. It was just meh. But the worst part was the ranch they gave me for my fries. It tasted like dill...? I wondered if I'd gotten some sort of Dill Sauce instead of ranch, so I nicely asked our server for a new cup of ranch, really enunciating the word ranch. He brought us another cup of the same nasty dill stuff. (ETA: I just looked it up on CB's website, and apparently they have something called Pickle Ranch which is probably what he gave me... Don't get it. It's gross). Hubby's meal was just as meh with lukewarm mashed potatoes. As we looked around, it seemed like every single table was having issues (the guy behind us was really kicking up a storm and demanded his meal be 100% comped). I want to be perfectly honest... I was planning on asking for my meal (not the whole tab) to be comped, but after the guy behind us made such a scene, I didn't want to pile on to our poor waitress. It seemed like the breakdown was with the cook and/or expediter, not with our waitress, so I didn't want to take it out on her (and I tipped her well, since she did a great job with what she could.) We ended up being there for almost two hours! 

We popped over to Publix for granola bars and chocolate milk, and then we headed back to the hotel. Our room was still over 70º, so I think we'll need to call the desk in the morning. But for now, I just want a hot bath and some sleep. 

My phone alarm went off at 5am, but I snoozed it twice then fucked up and turned it off by accident. Luckily, I'm anal, and my watch alarm went off at 5:30 and I got up after an additional snooze. I got dressed and drank some juice, then cuddled with Hubby for 10 minutes until he got out of bed. As usual, I felt like ass; I couldn't poop, felt shaky, all the normal Pre-Race feelings. We drove over to the race and parked, as usual, at Celebration School. I geared up and we walked to the start line, with a kiss for luck before parting ways. 

Right off the start, I realized I forgot my inhaler! Well, I guess we'll see how this goes. I've not felt that I needed it nearly as much as I used to, so many it's not a big deal. I also left my earbuds out, since it made no sense to get my groove on if I'm going to meet up with Hubby in the next 30 minutes.

 

Yes, I am this close to the back

Sunrise at Mile 1

Slightly crowded at Mile 2

Weather-wise, this was a hot one... There was already one runner down before Mile 2 (I don't know if it was heat, or tripping, or what). I met Hubby at the end of the street and I drank some water and munched on a granola bar while we walked the next 1.5 miles or so. We parted ways when he went back to the hotel and I continued on with the race. 

We walked together along the yellow route

I talked with a gentleman behind me - he was an older military veteran (carrying a beautiful flag). He hoped to finish, but didn't know if he would. We chit-chatted for about 10 minutes, but eventually, I had to put my ears in and get going! My plan (which had already failed) was to "frontload" this race, running when I could, so I was ahead of pace when the inevitable "Fuck, I Hate This" came around the Motherfucker Mile™. I did 2 minute runs and 1 minute walks, and it worked well for me, until it started getting really hot as hell around Mile 5 (earlier than expected). 

Mile 3 (Behind the hospital)

Mile 4, along Celebration Boulevard

I kept up my intervals, though all along the long stretch of Celebration Boulevard, picking up a Vanilla Clif packet and a small cup of pretzels. 

Save some chowder for me!

If you think this is hard, try dating you. 

I love the family/families who put out ALL of their inflatables!

The sign said "Keep running for a major award!"

Keep going... Shitter's Full!

Pretzels and ClifShot (Vanilla)

Drink water so you can stay hydrated while you suffer

It certainly was a beautiful (but hot) day

I'm sure it seemed like a good idea six months ago
(Yes... yes it did)

Hello? Is there anyone out there?

I got passed by the first Marathoner before I even made it to the High School (just before Mile 6). We had to do just shy of a full lap on the high school track. 

Yay for him... boo for me

2... 4... 6... 8...
I hate this all and I want to quit!

I ate my ClifShot while I walked

Mile 6 is on the track

At this point, I know very well how close I am to the back of the half-marathon pack, and I just want to freakin' quit, but I kept going. I opted to continue my 2/1 intervals, even on the boardwalks. I kind of lost it for a while, and everything from this point on feels like a blur... I got passed by more people on the boardwalk, and I snacked on my pretzels, solely for the carbs (they were dry as hell!). 

One of the most gorgeous parts of the course

Yum, dry pretzels

From here to around Mile 9, it was the same course, but it looked slightly different. Like I was in an alternate universe where the boardwalk went left here when it should go right, and things like that. Maybe I was just delirious? All I know is that I beat The Motherfucker Mile™ - again - and that's really all I want. 

Me too, Mile 8... Me, too

A pretty visual representation of how much I hate Mile 9

By Mile 10, I said fuck it, we're walking. By Mile 11, though, I was getting a true calf cramp, a new experience for me in a race (usually those come after). I stopped at the little fishing boardwalk/pier at Mile 11 to stretch it out, and it helped a little, but not very much. 

Yet another picturesque part of this course

Oh, we're getting close!

Usually, around Mile 11.5, we turn onto a walking path that goes behind some really beautiful homes, but this year, we detoured onto the actual street those homes are on. But there was no shade, and at 11am, the sun was ruthless. All of the homes were gorgeous! I picked up my intervals again, doing 1/1, because honestly, I just wanted to be done at this point! 

A different route this year

I wonder if this is why we went on a different route?

We cut through another little boardwalk area right near the Celebration Hotel to reach the promenade around the lake so we could do the final mile. 

The hotel is right there through the trees

As always, I love this part of the course, the final mile or so, because you can see the marathon runners pass you, giving it their all, but also encouraging you as you trudge your way toward the end. You can hear the massive crowd across the lake cheering for everyone as runners cross the finish line. The voice of the race announcer floats across the water and pulls you toward the end. There's lots of runners who have finished already, walking backward along the course, giving you smiles and words of encouragement, pushing you further into the final .1 mile. 

I ran it in ("ran") and crossed that finish line as strong as I could muster. Garmin says I finished in 4:12, which is neither my best nor worst time. I went back to my stats and looked, and it looks like I beat 3 of my past 9 times! I got my water, my medal, and my food card, and left the Finisher Chute to find Hubby. 

Hey, I kinda look like I'm actually running! 

Where's he at? Well, I don't see him, but I'm sure he's here somewhere, so I found an empty table and plopped myself down to drink more water. After a few minutes, though, I started getting nervous - he's always here! I texted him, and he was about 5 minutes away (apparently, he underestimated how long it would take him to walk back from the hotel). While I waited for him, I peeled off my shoes and put my feet up. When he got there, we threw all of my crap into the backpack, and got my finish photo down by the lake. 

Waiting for my Sherpa

I like this, as a backdrop!

On the way back to the car, I picked up some treats from the vendors; some Clam Chowdah, some donut holes, and some (supposedly) virgin Mimosas (aka OJ)... I don't think the Mimosas were virgin, so I chucked it into some bushes. 

Back at the hotel, the AC still wasn't working, and it was stuffy and hot in our room. I took way too hot of a bath, for far too long, and practically boiled myself. I took a quick nap before we got dressed and headed out for lunch. We ended up at a place called Sickie's Garage, which was amazing! The menu is huge, and themed to an auto shop, but both of us ended up getting basic burgers and fries, with a side of melted nacho cheese for the fries. 

Apparently, my body wanted all the cheese because I ate the majority of my fries and cheese before even touching my burger! Our total was only $26 after tax and tip, for two meals, two sodas, and extra cheese... not bad for a touristy town! We'll definitely come here again.

Sickie's Garage Cheeseburger, Fries, & Nacho Cheese

We popped over to RaceTrac for a fountain Pepsi for me (it's the best for when I need caffeine!), then drove back to our hotel room, which was - you guessed it - still stuffy and warm. We gave up and called the front desk to request maintenance, who came and checked it out. The verdict? A broken compressor; we'll need to change rooms. Anthony from the Front Desk called us to say that they would move us next door, upgrading us from a basic room, to a King 1-Bedroom Suite with Pool View and Full Kitchen (that's about a $75/night upgrade). He even came up and brought us new room keys so we didn't have to go down to the desk. We moved all of our stuff over, pushed the AC down to 68º and now my feet are freezing... I'm gonna sleep so good tonight!

Living Room & Full Kitchen, from Balcony area

Balcony and View

Full kitchen with microwave, dishwasher, cooktop, and refrigerator

Separate room with King bed

Bathtub (bottom left), separate shower, and single vanity

I found this funny, and just had to share... In our first room, on the back of the door, is the typical Fire Escape Plan - it was signed by Florida Governor Charlie Crist. Charlie has not been the Governor of Florida since 2011. In the new room, the FEP was signed by Florida Governor Rick Scott. Rick has not been the Governor of Florida since 2018. Our current Governor is Ron DeSantis (who is awesome), and has been our governor for over 6 years. 

The most important question now is... Should I take another bubble bath? Nah. We decided to call it a night and go to bed early. 

Monday morning, I awoke with hip pain from a mattress that was harder than a block of granite. I'd slept fitfully because of my pressure points hurting. We snuggled for a bit, enjoying each other's company, and trying to decide what to do with our day. I popped my contact lens back in (remember, so much earlier in this post, I said my eye was hurting?) and drank some chocolate milk while packing up our stuff. We checked out, hit up 7-Eleven for soda, then next door for a McDonald's Sausage Biscuit. I made a quick pit-stop at Walgreen's for some Excedrin, then we drove over to Old Town, as a place where we could wander around for a while (and work out some of the funk in my legs). When we got there, it didn't really look open at all. Despite it being almost 11am, it all just looked really janky, and not a place where I would want to spend any time at... maybe it's better at night... on the weekends... during high tourist season? 

We decided to pop over to Disney Springs instead. Now, if you know me, you know how my feelings on Disney have soured since Covid and all of the following Wokeness within the company, But like an ex-boyfriend, we wanted to see if the magic was still there. I hate to say it, but when we saw the "Welcome to Walt Disney World" sign, I didn't get that I'm Home feeling, but I did get the "calm, relaxed, stressless" feeling, so I guess that's something. 

We walked up and down the Westside neighborhood first, popping in to Candy Cauldron (not buying anything), and picking up some cotton candy when we got over to the Marketside area of Disney Springs. We talked again about what to do for lunch, and we decided to go to Rainforest Cafe for lunch, because it's "one of those places we should try just to say we've been there." Hubby got a burger and fries. I opted for fried shrimp and fries, and y'all... they were not good. The fries were good, but the shrimp were over-breaded and room temperature. The breading was dense and chewy with no "fried crispiness" to them at all... ugh, they were icky. 

Burger & Fries (with toppings, even though he didn't want them)

Shrimp & Fries (don't do it... it's so bad)

So, yeah... we've been there. 

After lunch, I had nothing left in the tank, so we just headed home for the afternoon. We got back around 3pm, unloaded the car, and then both of us retreated to our respective spaces and vegged out. At one point, I looked at the blister on my foot, and boy is it a big one! 

Yeah, that's a linear blister, about the size of my finger

I futzed around online for another hour or so, before having a bagel and some cookies for dinner in bed, and falling asleep before 10. Unfortunately, it's time to go back to work tomorrow.