A Zen Experience

There were still more bands to see at the concert series, and next up for us was The Guess Who (American Woman, These Eyes, No Time), with original co-founding member, Jim Kale (bass player in the gold t-shirt) celebrating his 54th year with the band and co-founder Garry Peterson playing
   drums…what a concert!  As we’ve said before, these guys are all master musicians with guitarists Dexter (lead singer) and Will doing some incredible work on dueling guitars.  They seem to have a blast doing it, really playing off of each other, even stepping out into the
   aisles to play and entertain.  So many hits are covered in each 35 min. set, and keyboardist Leonard really gets the audience involved during Clap For The Wolfman.  Their shows are definitely a rockin’ good time and always a must see for us!  There was only one other
   band we considered seeing in April (Blood, Sweat, & Tears featuring Bo Bice), but since we could only go on Friday night and it rained, The Guess Who was it for the month.

 

 

  April also brought the celebration of our 33rd wedding anniversary, and we were able to celebrate in style.  I’d won a contest at work with the prize being dinner for two at one of the hotel’s main restaurants.   Of the three, we chose Zen (Zen), a Pan-Asian restaurant, known for many signature dishes created by Chef Xiong Tang who has been there since its opening in 2004.  We had previewed the menu online and each decided to try the Zen Experience (ZenMenu) which gives you a sampling of many of these signature dishes starting with the appetizers.  It’s like an all-you-can-eat treat served family style!  We started off with soup, then

chose a few of the appetizers and a sampling for two was brought out on individual plates and set on a little turntable.  If we really liked something, we could get more or maybe try something else we had not gotten the first go round, and then we moved onto the entrees in the same manner.  We definitely had some favorites, but there was really nothing we didn’t like and were stuffed at the end.  The meal was topped off with an “Asian inspired dessert”…a couple of chocolate dipped fortune cookies.  Our

server was wonderful and insisted that we choose a dessert for our anniversary as her gift to us.  We decided on cheesecake and she packaged it go.  The next day it was so amazingly good!  (Can’t believe I didn’t get pictures of any of our other food.)

 

     Other than that not much happened this month except for a visit one day in the lot next to us from not just two sandhill cranes but a flock of four! They can get loud with their distinctive call but are just such cool birds.

Music, Music, Music

The Garden Rocks Concert Series is one of the best things about the Flower & Garden Festival, featuring performers and music covering several decades.  Held at the outdoors America Gardens Theater, the performers do 3 sets lasting about 35 min. each (basically mini concerts) every weekend over the length of the Festival.

 

As we were making our way over, we stopped at the Canada Pavilion to check out their new entertainment since we had a little time.  We found a seat and suddenly heard music coming

from behind us.  This is how they arrive to the stage…playing as they make their way through the crowds.  They’re called TradNation (https://tradnation.com/) and are a five-piece band out of Quebec.  Appearing for a limited time, their

     performances last about 20 minutes and generally consist of a guitarist, two violinists, a flutist and a step dancer.  Nice little show but definitely nowhere as good or entertaining as Off Kilter who used to perform there.

 

 It was about 6:30pm and time to get in line at the Theater.  Once inside we quickly found a seat about midway back and then started noticing that several folks had stood up and were pointing their cameras to the sky.  In the distance through the trees we

could see what appeared to be a rocket trail, and everyone continued to watch as it made its ascent into the atmosphere.  Turns out it was SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket which had blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station some 60 miles away.  Its mission was to deliver the SES-9 commercial communications satellite into orbit.

 

First up in the concert series was The Orchestra (www.theorchestra.net) starring former members of ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) and ELO Part II who were known for such great
     songs as Evil Woman, Strange Magic, Don’t Bring Me Down, and Telephone Line just to name a few.  The Orchestra has been the name of the band since 2001 which pays homage to each of the band members’ former relationship with
   those bands.  During one of the shows, guitarist Glen Burtnik (also formerly of the band Styx) played his way out into the audience standing on the bench right in front of us!  Unfortunately the glare from the lights kept me from getting a
     good picture but so cool!  Plus Mik Kaminski who was with ELO in the 70s was a true showman on his trademark blue electric violin.  This was our first time seeing this group, and they definitely did not disappoint!

 

Of course we had to stay afterwards and catch some of the Illuminations fireworks…always an incredible experience!

One of the mainstays of the Epcot music festivals and one of our favorites is Starship Starring Mickey Thomas so of course we had to go one of the nights they performed.  As always they were phenomenal!  Mickey Thomas definitely has not lost his voice,
       and Stephanie Culvert handling the lead vocals with him is amazing!  They sang such Starship hits as Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now, Somebody to Love, and at both shows we saw had the place rockin’ with We Built This City.  As we
  were leaving the theater after the last show, we actually could see part of the Hollywood Studios Star Wars fireworks through the trees!  How fun to see them even partially from another vantage point!

 

     We opted not to stay for Illuminations this time but enjoyed some of the topiaries colorfully lit up for the evening as we made our way to the car.

 

Rounding out the month was my birthday!  I was scheduled to work, and though I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, at one point I was told one of the managers wanted to see me in back and was surprised with a cake from our pastry department!  My buddy, Rafael, presented it while everyone sang happy birthday so I made him get in the photo with me.  (I’m wearing the old uniform and he’s wearing the new one which I’d be getting soon.) What a wonderfully unexpected surprise for someone who’d only been there a couple of months!

Bloomin' Beautiful!

Ah…the beginning of March…must mean it’s the start of Epcot’s 23rd annual International Flower & Garden Festival!  Though the grounds are always beautiful any time of year, they are taken to a new level during the Festival.  It lasts 90 days, and this year’s theme is “Fresh Food, Fun, & Flowers” featuring Daisy Duck at
the entrance with Donald and nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie appearing at the other end of the garden.  Each year there are some new exhibits and topiaries like Chip & Dale having a picnic and this wonderful Ranger Mickey Mouse that was done as a tribute to the National Park Service’s centennial anniversary this year!

One of my favorite places to visit during the Festival is the butterfly pavilion.  I love walking through taking in all of the flowers, foliage, and many varieties of butterflies freely fluttering around everywhere.  If you look closely at the photo of the black and white one in flight (at right...click to
   enlarge), you can actually see its outstretched legs getting ready for that landing!  There are several displays that educate everyone on aspects of a butterfly’s life cycle, the meaning of their different colorations, the flight paths of the Monarch, and so much more
   including a box that has some butterflies in the chrysalis stage and beyond.  It’s not a very big area with mesh “walls” and beaded entry curtains, and since Russ can take it or leave it, he usually waits outside people watching.

 

  Another cool “butterfly” this year is a topiary that was made entirely of seeds.  Wish I had taken a picture of the description so I could share more about it!  There was also a bumblebee similarly made but I didn’t get a very good picture of it…maybe next time.

 

Though there are HGTV and DIY experts on hand every weekend offering presentations on gardening and home improvement, and plenty of food booths (more each year it seems), the main attraction are the nearly 100 topiaries.  Many are themed together like this one of Captain Hook ready for battle with Peter Pan high up on the rooftop while the hungry crocodile keeps an eye on the Captain!  However some are standalones like Buzz Lightyear located appropriately in front of the Mission Space ride but here are several  others for you to enjoy.

 

Besides the topiaries there are 30 million blooms that blanket the park which require two complete crop rotations during this bloomin' beautiful celebration to keep the displays fresh.  There are more than 500,000 plants, trees, and shrubs planted for the event including floating mini-gardens, container gardens, “flower towers”, and so much more.  Stay posted for more images from the festival!
 

Changing It Up

Once we decided that we would be unable to make the trip to Yellowstone this year, I decided to look for some part-time work which quickly became fulltime at the Omni Orlando Resort at Championsgate (Omni) as a front office agent.  This Four Diamond resort has 720 rooms, 60 villas, is surrounded by two Greg Norman designed championship 18-hole golf courses, and is known for its high end customer service.  It’s only about 15 min. away and so far it’s been going great, learning a lot, and making new friends.

Of course we still find time to visit the parks, and right now it seems we've been spending a lot of time at Hollywood Studios.  We arrived late afternoon one day just as the street performers, the Public Works Crew, were driving by...and darn, we had just missed their hilarious act!

As we made our way down Hollywood Boulevard, the full scale reproduction of Grauman's Chinese Theater (which houses The Great Movie Ride) stood majestically in front of us.  As you may remember, in years past its view was blocked by the giant Sorcerer's hat.  We had a FastPass for the Toy Story Midway Mania ride (of course!) but had a little time to kill beforehand so decided to take
one last stroll through the Streets of America.  This area is soon to be demolished making way for the new Star Wars Land and the expansion of Toy Story Land.  The Streets are where the Osborne Spectacle of Dancing Lights have been at Christmas for 20 years but now will no longer be.  Ah, such is progress, and it's virtually impossible without change.

After I skunked Russ on the Toy Story game, we wandered over to the Star Wars Launch Bay where a couple of Stormtroopers patrolled the area outside sometimes being engaged by a member of the young Rebel Alliance!  J  Inside we had arrived just in time to catch the 10-minute film celebrating the creation of the Star Wars saga.
It runs continuously throughout the day and features interviews interspersed with clips from the films.  Leaving the theater takes you into the museum part of the Bay complete with replica props, models, costumes, artwork, and artifacts from the Star Wars films.  There's an interactive video game area but no instructions and a little
hard to figure out.  There are also a couple meet and greets you can do with Chewbacca and/or Darth Vader (two different hidden areas so you can't see them), but the lines were too long.  However as we came around a corner right in the middle of everything, several folks were getting their picture taken with a yellow-eyed jawa but alas another long line. This all leads out into a gift shop, of course, where you can pick up an authentically detailed Darth Vader costume for a mere $4,000!!

Once again we had perfect timing, arriving at another theater that was just ready to start another 10-minute Star Wars film titled Path of the Jedi that is basically just a compilation of clips from the entire saga thus far.  After the film, we walked outside and spotted the Earful Tower in the distance.  This faux
water tower stands 130 ft. high and has been an icon at the park since opening day in 1989 but will soon be removed making way for Toy Story Land.  As you can guess, our main purpose for going to Hollywood Studios later in the day was so we could catch those amazing fireworks!  The perfect ending to an enjoyable evening!