A McAlister's Kind of Night

There are so many restaurants in Ocala that I just love.  Mellow Mushroom, Brick City Kitchen, Las Margaritas, and Cheddars are ones that are high on that list.  Jaws, The Crazy Cucumber and Tijuana Flats are also ones that we visit often and have become family favorites as well.  Out of all of the choices that we have, McAlister's is the one most frequented by Doug and I.  Sometimes we go for lunch on the weekends, but most of the times we head there for dinner.  We've realized that we aren't the only ones in our age who do so and find it funny that the music played during the evening hours are almost always songs from the 1980s with some of our high school favorites on repeat.  I almost always order the chicken and dumpling soup while Doug choses a different sandwich with the New Yorker being #1 on his list right now.

One very nice thing about McAlister's is that they have "dental friendly" food.  I have had a lot of dental work done since January and it has been very nice to have a place to go where I can order something soft that tastes great.  When I don't chose soup as my main meal, I also have a baked potato as an option.  Both are delicious and filling.  Tonight was one of those nights that we took advantage of their soft food options as my permanent bridge was glued in this morning.  My mouth was not as sore as it was the last time that I went to the dentist, but still tender enough that I really wanted McAlister's.  Thinking about my favorite dinner got me through the pain at the dentist today.  Hopefully, this will be the last appointment for awhile, at least until June.  It definitely won't be our last trip to McAlister's, however.

The Jinx

I was super sad when we dropped Cal and Maggie off at the airport on Sunday.  We had had a lot of fun and I wasn't ready for it to end.  Since I was also absolutely exhausted, I decided to spend the majority of the day resting.  Doug had to work, so it was a great day to relax and watch television.  Cal had introduced us to the true crime series, The Jink, on HBO Max.  I turned that on to catch a few episodes and give my feet a break.

The story of Robert Durst, the billionaire accused of murder, was absolutely fascinating.  His personal interviews were extremely interesting.  Although the story was disturbing, we ended up finishing the entire first season.   As the second season had just come out, we only had one episode of it to watch until we were completely caught up.  Although the show did not give either of us nightmares like it did Cal, it definitely gave us a lot to talk about about and kept us entertained on a day that I needed to rest.  There is still five more episodes left until the series is over.  I can't wait to see how it ends.  

An Awesome Weekend for All

While we were enjoying a visit with Cal and Maggie, Brett, Cameron and Meg were also having a fun  weekend as well.  Cameron drove to Syracuse Thursday night so that he could visit Grandma and Grandpa plus catch a few of Alina's tennis matches.  He was able to bring a few items from his dorm to store at Grandma's for the summer and to catch up with Samuel as well.  

Cameron wasn't the only one in Syracuse this weekend.  Meg arrived Friday night so that she could pick up her wedding dress on Saturday morning as the alterations had been finished.  She was very happy with the outcome.  Meg met Cameron at Culver's while she was in Indiana and got to have dinner with Nancy as well.  She enjoyed both very much.

Brett spent his weekend in Jeffersonville with Karen.  They took a long walk, hit some golf balls at the driving range, watched a movie and went to mass.  He was tired on his drive home, but very happy with his day.  I was pleased to hear that everyone had had an awesome weekend.  

Epcot & Port Orleans Riverside

Cal had not been to Disney World since our family trip in January 2020.  Thus, I asked him if he wanted to go to Epcot while he was here this weekend.  He was very interested and even though Maggie had just been there with her parents in April, she was ready for another visit.  I bought tickets for them for today and all they had to decide was if we were going to rope drop or not.  Maggie decided to leave that up to Cal since he hadn't been in four years.  He voted for making it to the park before it opened and this morning we were all out the door at 7 a.m.

Traffic was light this morning and we were able to get into Epcot before the 8:30 early entry time.  We first headed to the Land Pavillon so that we could ride Soarin' and Living with the Land.  We appreciated having no wait time and enjoyed the rides very much.  Our next stop was the butterfly garden.  There were so many butterflies out that many had made their way to the flowers outside of the exhibit.  I had used my DAS pass to get the four of us on Test Track next.  Cal and Maggie's car beat ours by just a few points.  I had purchased the two of them a lightening lane pass for Guardians of the Galaxy which they headed to after Test Track.  Doug and I rested while they were gone and I tried the cinnamon bites while waiting.  Cal and Maggie had a lot of fun on the ride, but could totally understand why I decided to skip it this trip.  There is definitely a lot more spinning than I was used to with other rides.  

The four of us met in Mexico after Guardians.  I had never seen it as packed as it was this morning.  Thankfully, Doug was still able to get his margarita and we were all able to ride The Gran Fiesta Tour.  While we were in Mexico, we watched a Mariachi band that had a familiar name on the xylophone.  Our plan from there was to tour the countries trying the food from the Flower & Garden festival.  There were a lot of delicious dishes and none of us were disappointed with what we found.  We also got to take Cal on Remy's Ratatouille Adventure ride in France.  Cal had never been on that either.  He liked Guardians a little bit better, but still had fun.  We ended our day in Epcot back where we started, in the Land.  We rode Maggie's favorite character ride, Figment, and Cal's favorite from his youth, Spaceship Earth.  We also walked through Moana's Journey of Water, a first for Cal as well.  

Cal really wanted to play miniature golf while he was in Florida.  We suggested Blizzard Beach's course as he didn't remember playing there.  He picked the winter side this afternoon and we all had a great time.  Cal and Maggie had a grudge match going as they had played two other times, finishing with one win a piece.  Maggie won the grudge match beating Cal by one stroke today. I was the overall champion, giving the girls the victory on the day.

After mini-golf we headed to our hotel, Disney's Port Orleans Riverside.  I had booked us rooms for the night so that no one had to get up too early for their Sunday morning flight.  Neither Maggie nor Cal had ever stayed there and we were supper happy to show it to them.  We ate beignets from Scat Cat's Cafe before resting in our rooms.  Dinner was in the Riverside food court and the meals were more than any of us could finish.  Our last stop of the night was the piano bar at our hotel.  Doug and I had been many times before and knew that they would enjoy the piano man, Bob.  It was so much fun and an awesome way to spend our last evening together on this trip.  

St. Augustine

When we found out that Cal and Maggie would be visiting, we gave them several options of the day trips that we could take while they were here.  They both were very interested in going to St. Augustine.  Maggie had been there once for lunch and Cal had never been.  Doug and I were excited to return and we left this morning around 9 a.m for the two hour trip.  

Our first stop in St. Augustine was the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.  It was a Spanish fort built in the late 1600s to protect the Spanish colony that first settled St. Augustine.  Since it was part of the National Parks Service, we decided to purchase an America the Beautiful pass that would allow us to visit more of the Florida National Parks including the Everglades which we planned to visit this summer.  The four of us were very impressed with the fort.  We first listened to a talk about the fort, how it was made, how it was used and the history of it.  Afterward we did a self guided walking tour which was very interesting and at the end led us to the top of the fort.  It was a little scary to me being up that high, but the views were spectacular.  

After the Spanish fort, we walked down to St. George Street in search of a place to eat lunch.  We checked out multiple restaurants and found the perfect Italian place where we could sit outside while enjoying our meals.  Cal, Doug and Maggie ordered pizza while I tried their spaghetti.  All were delicious and we had a lot of fun talking about St. Augustine and our tour of the fort.  We also made plans for the rest of our visit.  We decided to next visit The Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine.  It was the first parish in the United States and was absolutely beautiful.  It was set to close at 3 for a wedding rehearsal and I felt very fortunate to have been able to see it.  Once we finished our tour of the Basilica, we spent the next hour walking up and down St. George Street exploring all of the shops.  There were several ice cream stores.  Cal and Maggie decided on Ben & Jerry's which they both really liked.  None of us bought anything else, but it was a lot of fun doing some window shopping.

Our next stop of the day was Grandpa Joe's Candy Store in downtown Ocala.  It has definitely become one of my favorite places to take visitors to when they first come to Ocala.  Cal tried an Idaho Spud candy bar which had a unique flavor.  We hung out at home afterward playing ping pong and corn hole.  Phil came over for a short visit before we went to the Shuckin' Shack for dinner.  All of us were exhausted, but incredibly thankful for a wonderful day.  

Touring Ocala with Cal and Maggie

Cal and Maggie's flight arrived at Orlando Airport last night and I was there to greet them.  Although there was a detour that took us off of the Florida toll road on the way back, we still made it home safely by 12:30 a.m and I enjoyed catching up with them during the drive.  I gave Maggie a quick tour of the house before they headed to bed and everyone spent a relaxing morning here today catching up on sleep and work.  Cal even had time to take a long walk and start the HBO series, The Jinx, a true crime series that I enjoyed watching with him.

Doug had to work this morning, but was able to take a break for lunch at Tijuana Flats.  They liked the Tex-Mex place as much as we did and everyone loved eating outside in the sunshine.  We dropped Doug back off at work after lunch and I then gave Cal and Maggie a walking tour of The World Equestrian Center.  There was a horse competition in the main arena which was really fun to watch.  

Our next stop on the Ocala tour was Silver Springs State Park.  I had wanted to take Cal on the glass bottom boats since I first rode them two years ago.  I thought that he would really like the movie connection to the springs.  I was happy to find out that I was correct.  He and Maggie thoroughly enjoyed it.  Our guide was perfect as she gave not only the film history of the park, but also named the wildlife on our tour and explained how the springs worked.  We even saw an alligator up close and personal.  After we were done, we visited the Discovery Cove to see the costume worn by the Creature of the Black Lagoon and walked along the boardwalk were we thankfully did not run into any wild monkeys.  

We picked Doug up after Silver Springs and headed home to rest.  After another episode of the Jinx, Cal and Maggie tried out the ping pong table before we took them to dinner at Crazy Cucumber.  The rest of our night was a relaxing one with a round of Racko before everyone headed to bed.  It was such a wonderful day in Ocala and I was incredibly thankful that Cal and Maggie had decided to visit.

No Interest in the Drama

For the first time in over twenty years, I will not finish a season of Survivor.  Meg watched last week with me in what turned out to be the most intense tribal council ever.  The person that caused all of the drama was not voted off even though he asked to be.  Instead a fan favorite was gone in a complete blindside.  Doug had gone to bed before it was over, so I was glad that I had Meg to talk to about the drama.  She thought it was weird, but not quite as much as I did.  She's used to watching Dance Moms and more dramatic shows than I am.  The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth.  I definitely thought twice about watching any more of this season.  My friend, Jim, felt the same way.  

Tonight's episode was even worse.  There was way too much arguing and the tribal council was just as intense.  I hadn't really liked the season very much because of the drama, but once my favorite player and the only one that I was rooting for this spring was voted out tonight, I knew that I had to stop watching.  It was no longer entertaining.  He wasn't the only one that had been blindsided or gone home with an idol in his pocket, but he was the only that I remembered ever being flat out lied to by multiple people. 

The ending was just awful to watch and I turned it off immediately with no plans to continue the season.  I realize that Survivor will continue.  Losing one viewer out of millions will mean nothing to them.  It isn't a protest.  I am just at the point in my life where I can no longer handle any type of drama.  I can't wait to find out if Jim felt the same way.  

Deal or No Deal Island

Several months ago I saw an add for a new Deal or No Deal Island reality television show that was scheduled to start in February.  It was a combination of the old Deal or No Deal show and Survivor.  Although it looked very lame, I was interested in watching it because my favorite Survivor player, Boston Rob, was on it.  Doug made fun of me for trying it, but then figured out the truth behind the show way earlier than I did.

When the show first started, I hoped that Boston Rob would make it to the second week.  Doug said not to worry as he would be there a lot longer than two episodes.  I didn't believe him at first, but after a month I realize that Doug was right and finally asked him how he knew what would happen on the show.  He said that he assumed that the only way to get Boston Rob to agree to be on the show was to guarantee him that he would be around until the last three episodes.  He said that the episodes were most like staged to give Rob an advantage as he was the reason that people tuned in weekly.  I had never thought about it before as Amazing Race and Survivor were completely different reality tv series.  They definitely use creative editing, but there is no guarantee of surviving each round.  I've seen way too many fan favorites get voted off in Survivor or finish last in Amazing Race.

Tonight, I sat on the edge of my seat sure that Boston Rob was going home.  He and his ally, Aron, had lost the challenge and both were on the chopping block.  When Doug went to bed a half hour before the show was over, he said not to worry.  They'd find a way to keep him another week.  Of course, Doug was 100% correct as the person playing Deal or No Deal made a bad decision sending him home instead of Rob. I wasn't even mad that Doug was right.  I was just relieved that Boston Rob survived.  It no longer matters to me if it is rigged or not.  I'll be watching next week.

Golf Season Begins

Golf season started early for Grandpa, Cal and Cameron this year as the weather in March was beautiful.  Even though it hasn't been as nice lately, the three of them have still found time to play.  Grandpa and Cal have even played a few rounds together.  Most of Camerons round have been with friends.  He was able to get in eighteen holes last weekend at the IU course with a friend of his in Teter.  He was proud to announce that he had shot a 43 on the back nine.  Cal also made time to play with friends this past weekend, driving to Erskine in South Bend to meet them for an afternoon.  He also felt great about his early season round, shooting an 88 on the day.

Grandpa had the most memorable start to the golf season.  He bought new clubs and was very pleased with them as he shot 73 twice with them.  Grandma had talked him into buying a new bag as well as the zipper on his old one broke.  Several weekends ago, Grandpa got a call from the golf course letting him know that the storage barn had been broken into and fifteen bags with clubs had been stolen.  He was obviously bummed, but hopeful that they would find them especially when he heard that they had caught a suspect.

After a lot of investigation, they police were able to find out who the second thief was.  He was AWOL, but they were able to recover multiple bags and clubs from his storage shed.  Unfortunately, Grandpa's clubs were not among those recovered.  The good news was that he got his monkey head cover back and Maxwelton would replace his bag and clubs.  Soon he will be back out on the course shooting a 73 with his "new" new clubs and would have an interesting story to tell.  

Little 5 Weekend

I heard from Cameron several times this weekend.  It was Little 500 and I enjoyed hearing his thoughts on the famed bike race.  He found the competition interesting and talked about the wrecks that occurred. There was one that left a rider stranded across the field from his teammates, costing his team precious laps. One item that Cameron wasn't impressed with was the drunk parents in front of him, but knew that came with the territory.  He wasn't sure if he would go again next year, but was glad that he witnessed the race in person especially after watching Breaking Away. 

There was one text from Cameron that caused concerned.  There was a shooting Friday night near the stadium.  Thankfully, he was safe in his dorm, but this was the third year in a row that someone had been shot during Little 5 weekend.  Fortunately, no one was killed.   We had the same thing happen when Doug was a senior at IU with a more tragic outcome during that shooting.  Although all of these seem to be isolated circumstances, it is a pattern that I hope does not continue.  I would hate for the tradition to end because of unsafe behavior by others.  

Magic Kingdom

After a fun stay at Art of Animation yesterday, we headed to Magic Kingdom for the day.  Although it was very hot, we still had a lot of fun.  My DAS pass was extremely helpful in that we did not have to stand in line for rides and could enjoy all of our favorites including The Haunted Mansion, Seven Dwarfs Mine Ride and Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin.  I was thrilled when we got a reservation for Tron, but the heat and hills made me think better of it later.  Meg and I still enjoyed the ride, just not the intensity of it. 

Although Doug loved all of the rides, especially the Jungle Cruise, I believe that his favorite stop of the day was lunch at the Skipper Canteen.  Although the food was absolutely delicious - Meg ordered a noodles dish, I had vegetable curry and Doug tried their chicken with rice - the atmosphere and the break from the heat was very nice as well.  

Meg had to be at the airport at 6:40 tonight for her flight home, so after doing a little bit of shopping and grabbing chocolate covered bananas for dessert, we left for Orlando International.  Meg was very sad to leave.  We had had a nice week together and a lot of fun this weekend.  I hated to see her go as well, but was thankful that we would soon be together in May.  

Art of Animation

Meg worked from home until 1:30 this afternoon.  Once Doug arrived back from Winco, the three of us packed up the Pilot and headed to Orlando.  I had made reservations at Art of Animation for tonight and was very excited about it.  We had never stayed there before and thought it would be the perfect time to try it.  

We arrived at the resort a little bit after 3 p.m.  Our room was ready, so we headed straight to the Lion King wing once we made it through the gate.  The suite was really cool.  There were giraffes behind the pullout couch, Simba painted on the table bed, and birds on the master bedroom's headboard.  We had a small kitchenette, two televisions and two full bathrooms with plenty of room for all.  Outside of our window was a giant replica of Skull Rock with hyenas perched on top.  It was just like walking into the movie.

After Meg and Doug checked their emails, we went on a walking tour of the resort.  We saw the Big Blue Pool with giant characters from the Finding Nemo movie.  We then walked through the Cars wing of the resort and got some great pictures of our favorite characters of the movie knowing that Nick would have loved staying in that area.  We ended our tour of the resort with a stop at the pool bar, shopping in the gift store and cupcake desserts at the food court. 

Next, we caught a bus to Disney Springs where we enjoyed dinner at Splitsville, Meg's favorite restaurant on property.  We also did some shopping at the M & M store, the World of Disney, Co-Op Marketplace and Francesco's.  We were done in Disney Springs by 8:15 and Meg asked if we could go to the Boardwalk next.  The bus was on break, so instead we rode to the Riveria and took the Skyliner over to the Boardwalk.  It was a fun ride.  We enjoyed waling along the familiar resort taking in the sites, watching the street acts and trying the margarita stand.  Our journey back to Art of Animation took a little longer due to the line to board the Skyliner, but the ride was a lot of fun.  We flew over both the Caribbean Beach resort which we stayed in on our March trip and our current resort, Art of Animation.  It was beautiful and a wonderful way to end our evening.