Friends in Florida

Our home for the next 4 months is the same place we stayed 2 years ago, Lake Magic RV Resort in Clermont, FL, located just outside Orlando and about 15 min. from Walt Disney World. The past few weeks have been busy settling in, going to doctor appointments, visiting Disney (of course), and re-connecting with friends. Though we are at a different campground than Paul and Anne this year, we’ve gotten together a few times including an early dinner one night at Manny’s Chop House (http://www.mannyschophouse.com) for their buy one get one free fajita night and endless salad bowl! We also visited with Bob and Joanne at their new location this year, and in the “small world category”, we got a visit from Leslie and Vince, folks we met in Accord, NY, a couple of years ago. We had not seen them since then but had stayed in touch, and it turns out that while we were in Summerton, SC, they had arrived at the exact same campground the day before we left but neither of us knew the other was there. Not only were they at the same campground, but they were parked at the other end of our row, only 4 sites away! Then we found out that they were going to be spending the next couple of weeks just down the road from us here in Clermont…told you it’s a small world! We had a nice, long visit and hope to get together again when they're back in a few weeks.

We also discovered that Beth and Dick were going to be staying at the Disney campground, Fort Wilderness, for a couple of days and made plans to get together. Christmas is such a wonderful time to visit Disney World with all its beautiful decorations and annual traditions, and since this was their first time seeing the parks at Christmas, we were happy to act as tour guides. We met them at Hollywood Studios to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights (OsborneLights). We arrived shortly before 6pm, the time the Spectacle begins, and stood with hundreds of others in the middle of “Streets of America”. At precisely 6pm, more than 4 million lights that drape nearly everything in sight came on all at once accompanied by Christmas music and “snow flurries”…Beth and Dick were amazed. No matter how much you read about it or how many pictures you see, nothing compares with experiencing it!

Next we drove over to Epcot for the Candlelight Processional (Processional), another first for them. It’s held three times nightly at the outdoor America Gardens Theater, and in a nutshell, the Processional features a celebrity narrator reading the story of the nativity backed by a mass choir and a 50-piece orchestra while an interpreter relates all in sign language. The narrators change every few nights, and some are better than others because even though they all read the same script, some put much more emotion into the reading while others simply read the words…some even sing along! We make good use of our annual passes during this time and try to see as many as we can. This particular night it was being narrated by John O’Hurley (Seinfeld, Family Feud, Dancing With the Stars), and he did an excellent job. It seems that no matter how many times we see the Candlelight Processional, we marvel at the beauty and majesty of the sound and the performers. Afterwards we stayed for the Illuminations fireworks, and then drove them back to the campground. Quite a number of people go all out decorating their campsites at Fort Wilderness for Christmas so we drove through checking out the sights.

Our friend, John, called from St. Louis to let us know he’d be in Orlando on business the beginning of Dec. so we met up at Miller’s Orlando Ale House (http://www.millersalehouse.com/). This location had just opened a couple months earlier, and we enjoyed a great meal and a great visit. However, right after this picture was taken, John realized after all these years just how much shorter I am than him…too funny, John!

The weather here was beautiful when we arrived as you would expect Florida to be in the winter but then it took a turn. OK, so we haven’t had snow and it’s warmer than most places up north, but it dropped to the low 30s a few nights and even got down to 27 one night! What’s up with that?!

Otherwise, over these past few weeks we celebrated Thanksgiving by cooking a 22 lb. turkey (yes, just for the two of us!) and tried our hand at making homemade cabbage rolls, which actually turned out pretty good. We made a couple more trips to Epcot, and one of those trips was to see Whoopi Goldberg narrate the Candlelight Processional. We arrived at the park about 5pm with plans to see the 6:45 show, but when we got over to the World Showcase area, the standby line was already so long that a cast member was telling those of us in the back that we were in line for the 8:15 show! Now the decision was whether to stay waiting in line for 2-1/2 hours or leave, and though I had seen her narrate last year, we decided to stay (after all we had driven over specifically for that purpose). While Russ wandered around talking on the phone, I stood in line chatting with the gal in front of me who was saving spaces for her family and friends, and it made the time fly by. Whoopi did an incredible job, putting so much feeling and emphasis into the narration. Only negative would be that she obviously couldn't resist making a little funny when reading the part that says "a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed" to which she commented "some things never change". Yes, humorous, but there is time allowed at the end for each narrator to make any personal statements they'd like, and it just seems it would have been more appropriate for her to make a comment then instead of in the middle of the scriptural reading. Anyway, we finished the evening once again by watching Illuminations. We never seem to tire of this especially during the holidays when they add on an extra few minutes of fireworks performed to Let There Be Peace on Earth…one of my favorites.