We checked into the hotel, admired its class and discussed how this was the nicest hotel any of us had ever stayed at,and got changed for dinner!
Even the chairs are fancy!
Audra and Dayna, ready to go!
Exploring the hotel and it's festive photo opportunities on the way to dinner...
Gaylord Palms has 5 restaurants on property so we, after much debate, decided we wanted to experience a restaurant unique to the resort since we can eat at "chain" restaurants any time. We narrowed our choices down to the Old Hickory Steakhouse (real expensive) and the Villa de Flora (buffet). We decided it was Friday, also payday, and we wanted to be served, not eat from a buffet. We were going to spoil ourselves, or so we thought!
Waiting to be seated...
Seated:
So, we ate at the Old Hickory and spent a lot of money our dinners. Here's what they looked like:
Expensive dinner #1, with the two sides we ordered behind it that were both $9 a piece!
Audra's expensive salmon!
My very expensive, undercooked filet mignon!
An expensive New York Strip!
We definitely needed pictures of these ever-so-expensive dinners, considering we'd already made up our mind at this point that we wouldn't be coming back here. It just was a little too fancy for our liking. I'm all for fancy, classy dinners, but this restaurant was just too expensive with little variety to choose from. 'Nuff said.
After dinner, we went back up to our hotel room and just talked about school, typical. :) Have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy having friends who are teachers? It is so easy to relate with them! I just love these girls! Around 10:00, we decided it was time to head to Downtown Disney for some dessert at Ghiradelli! I got to see my friend, Jackie, from Sarasota who I grew up with in church choir. She works in Guest Relations there. Loved seeing her and getting to catch up for a few minutes.
Audra and I sipping our milkshakes!
Jessica is having to plug her nose in this picture due to the cigarette someone so rudely lit right next to us!
By the time we were finished with our ice cream, we were more than ready to go to bed. We'd all been up since before 7 for work and we were wiped out. So it was back to the hotel we went, and ready for bed we were.
The next morning, after having a chance to sleep in, we got ready and checked out so that we could explore more of the resort. We of course took pictures on the balcony before we said goodbye to our room!
We watched the alligators and turtles for a long time!
Alligators are so fascinating to me. I drive past a huge lake every morning on my way to work, and I always look for them and usually I'll see at least one. Something about them is just cool to me! Anyway, so we explored the resort for a little bit, but before long, we were ready for lunch. A decently priced lunch, that is. We were ready for the Cheesecake Factory! Our meals were much more enjoyed, both in taste and price!
The delicious cheesecake we shared!
After eating lunch, we wandered around the Mall of Millenia for a little while but then headed to Old Navy. I bought some fun stuff for all reasonable prices! I'll do a post on that later. :) As we left Old Navy, we were trying to decide if we were ready to head home or not, when all of a sudden, Jessica says, "Is that an IKEA?"
Yes, she was right! Well, our answer to the "do we go home now?" question was quickly answered! "Not yet!"
We probably spent 2 hours in the gigantic store. I got an easel for my classroom for $15! I was super happy about that, because I've been wanting one! Audra, Dayna, nor I had ever been to IKEA so it was fun to experience it together for the first time! It's overwhelming with all the stuff they have in there!
IKEA was fun, but we were ready to head home. We packed up the car with all of our shopping bags and headed for home. I enjoyed such a fun weekend with such great girls!
1 comment:
I've always wanted to stay at the Gaylord Palms - it looks so beautiful! We may be going to Orlando for a few days this month so we may use the Teacher discount and stay there! Looks like you have a great time!
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