The Bay Hill Post

Yesterday was the final round at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, at Bay Hill. The annual golf tournament is held in the Bay Hill area which is right on the outskirts of Orlando, and where Dick and Sharon Simmon’s have a house. Every year they throw a pig party at their house, which is perfectly sat right on the 18^th hole. Bruce and I went by yesterday and had a blast hanging out at the Simmon’s (the palace was packed), wandering the course and visiting a few other parties along the way. The house has a beautiful 2^nd story balcony that looks right over the final hole, which is where I watched Tiger’s big winning put-which was pretty awesome. *

I got to meet Henry’s brother aswell as hangout with Mark, Henry, George, Victor and a few other people from the office. Lost a few rounds of pool to Mark’s son Caleb, and chowed down on some delicious pulled pork.I was able to borrow a lanyard pass and get into the pavilion areas down by clubhouse which was very cool and provided a nice break from the sun. Afterwards we met up with Mum, Dad and Jake at the Tommy Bahamas restaurant at Pointe Orlando for a late dinner, which was lovely. Looking forward to spending the week with them in town. With the drinking and the heat teaming up on me I was pretty dehydrated, which mean for a wonderful headache this morning. Really glad that I got to go, and very appreciative to everyone involved, I had a blast. Thank you.

* I won’t pretend to know anything about golf, aside from the few pointers Dick was giving me yesterday, and what Papa has shown me in the years past; but I was able to appreciate the great put and fantastic finish from the tournament. Very cool to get to say I was there in person.

The Little Brother Post

Jake visited me down here this past weekend for a short but sweet visit that we have both been looking forward to for a while. This was the first time he’d flown solo and I got the sense he was a little nervous, but he did fine and arrived with little issue (besides crazy people on his flight, but that’s his story to tell).

We had a great time hanging out, catching up, playing Xbox and going to theme parks. We hit Disney on Saturday and put a sizable dent in all 4 parks before putting a dent in some bangers and mash at the Rose and Crown restaurant in Epcot. I’ve never gotten the chance to eat at the pub before, only drink in the front area, so it was really nice to be able to get a reservation in early and plan around the meal (which was delicious incidentally).

Sunday we hit the Universal Parks and met up with Bruce and Stacy. Had a blast running about the parks trying out some of the rides Jake hadn’t had a chance to check out yet, plus all the classic coasters he loves. I went on Ripsaw Falls for the first time and got absolutely soaked. Unfortunately we waited till the end of the day to give it a whirl, so the sun was all but vacant when we needed it the most, and we stood around shivering and dripping wet until we made it to the gift shop to get some drier clothes. On a hot summer’s day the ride would be awesome. But in 50-degree January weather….not so much. we filled our faces with far to much food with the 'Meal Deal' plan they have at the parks (pay once eat whenever you want at specified locations). I don't want another cheeseburger for a year.

Took Jake back to the airport this morning before work. Shame to see him head back so soon, but nice to know he had as much fun hanging out with his brother as I did.

The Animal Kingdom Post

This past weekend we headed off to Animal Kingdom (Jake, Mum and I) which was a lot of fun. Though I’ve never been a big zoo-fan, the environments they have at the park are really stunning to see. Lots of terrific carvings and lush plants that they shipped in from allover the place, and some pretty cool original stuff. The animals were interesting too I suppose. Hit Expedition Everest, the new coaster, and was pleasantly surprised. It reeks of Thunder Mountain, but has a nice ride-plot and some really good segments featuring the Yeti. 2^nd time was a lot better, guess I had a better seat or something but the stomach lurching was a little more evident than the first. Tried to tape the whole thing but my camera turned off for some reason. Also hit the big safari tour which I missed last time I was there with Dad. Pretty impressive setup once again, but is cut too short by the fast moving trucks that drive you about, and ends with a very weak ‘stop the poachers’ storyline that it could stand to loose entirely.

Due to unforeseen circumstances centering around Premier being a total jerkface, there will be no video for this post. Had some nice footage…but I guess I’ll be keeping it all to myself. Here are some pictures instead.

The Epcot Post

Epcot was next on the list, and we hopped on a bus after lunch. Enjoyed Spaceship Earth and Test Track (though the ride photo would have you believe otherwise), but was less than impressed with the new Living Sea’s Nemo themed upgrade. Spaceship Earth needs to be totally redone. It’s laughably outdated. You know when the ‘future’ consists of being able to talk to people on your TV across the globe, that its time to play some catch-up. The International Showcase was fun as always. We stopped by the British pub for some overpriced import brews, then wandered about for the rest of the day. Ate dinner at the German beer-garden which was awesome. All you can eat buffet with massive beers. It was opretty sweet. And the real icing was that they had a live accordion and Ricola-horn show.

The Pathetic Pirates Post

Jake and Mum arrived late Wednesday night and have been spending time down here visiting me. Last night we went to the Pirates Dinner Theater, which is a Medieval Times type dinner with a high seas theme. Oh and a lot crappier.

The stunts were awful less maybe 2 or 3, the acting was almost as bad as the singing (but not quite as atrocious), and the food was small, tasteless and gave me the shits. I did however have a blast. Mum, Jake and I spent the whole time laughing at how bad the whole production was, and made a night of it. The set was really impressive I’ll give them that…but oh man...dreadful show and fittingly shitty food. I would not recommend going unless you want a night of laughing at crap (which can be a lot of fun mind you). They have an impressive holding tank ahead before you go into the main show that has palm readers, snake charmers, gift shops galore and some impressive themed bars, which were pretty cool. We milled about before the show with the crowd for a good hour orso before being escorted to our seats in the main water tank area. The main set is a huge ship with rigging galore and a myriad of trapease access platforms, in a large water tank. Around the tank are colored sections where people are seated (we got the blue section). Each area has a team pirate that you are supposed to cheer for (and boo all others). Our guy was the main hero so he got the girl at the end and won the most fights. But he was also the most weenie and hard to cheer for. Didn’t stop us from getting pretty rowdy though. All in all a great night, but because of the company not so much the entertainment.