We were all up somewhat early so we could pack up and drop everything off at the bell service, since we were checking out today. We all took one last prolonged look at our room and stated that this would most definitely not be our last time staying at Portofino Bay; it was unanimous that we all loved it!
We checked out and made our way to the boat launch one more time, and, within a couple of minutes, our chariot on water arrived. It was a quiet, peaceful trip to CityWalk, even though we weren’t on the first boat in. At CityWalk, we took our time to look around. That was the theme of today – since we had seen most of Universal’s attractions, today was more of a down day to just enjoy.
We were just a little ways back in the line to enter. We were still able to make it to Gringott’s by around 8:10. We stopped in the queue line to grab some pics of the atrium before heading in for one more ride of this awesome attraction.
After Gringott’s, we enjoyed Diagon Alley for a little bit while we waited for the Hogwarts Express to start running.
Right at around 9:00, we made our way to the station and, after a slight wait at the turnstiles, pretty much walked on the train for our ride over to Hogsmeade.
We immediately made a beeline for Dueling Dragons and hopped on the blue coaster so Sheri could experience that one too. After Dragons, we headed over to the Three Broomsticks for breakfast (research!!). I got the Continental breakfast with lots of fruit, while the others got an assortment of meals (pancake meal, American breakfast, etc.) The theming in here easily rivals some of the best theming that you’ll see in restaurants at their competition to the south!
We left Hogsmeade and checked out the line for a pic with a velociraptor, but it was around 45 minutes, so we opted out…still, we had to get pics in the area…I call this “Jurassic Pic” (grroooaaaannnnn)
 |
We then made an executive decision to right the Hogwarts Express one more time and then say goodbye to Springfield…besides, I had to get a beer at Moe’s Tavern!!! Another near walk-on for the train, and we were back in Universal Studios a few minutes later. We slowly strolled around, and I stopped to mention to a particular wizard outside the Leaky Cauldron that he was a perfect wizard (natural beard, amazing personality).
We made our way around to Springfield and into Moe’s, with a huge smile on my face. It was quiet, and, with the Flaming Moe’s being popular drinks, we were okay with the boys up at the bar. We ponied up and ordered two Duffs. Sheri and I both counted to three for the chimes of, “CAN WE GET A FLAMING MOE? CAN WE GET A FLAMING MOE? CAN WE GET A FLAMING…” Sure – I wanted to see one anyway.
Our bartender was sarcastic as heck…absolutely awesome! This pic sums it up:
I wanted to stay for another hour or so to soak it in a little longer, but the other three ganged up on me and threw me out, despite my protests that they needed me to get home. We still had a couple of items left on our plan (Terminator, in particular), but we decided to call it a trip and make our way out so we had time to eat. As we left, we had to take advantage of one final character experience:
The boys had no idea who Woody Woodpecker was, but I saw a lot of his cartoons growing up.
The boat ride back to Portofino Bay was calming, yet it was over far too soon. We hopped off and watched it cast off for CityWalk one last time before heading to the main area. We decided to test out Trattoria del Porto for lunch. We opened the door, and I stopped in my tracks...
I found myself staring at my friends, Deb Wills and Linda Eckworth, who were seated about 20 feet to our right in the only occupied table in the restaurant.
Deb’s face had to mirror mine! It was a combination of shock, surprise, and happiness as we both recognized each other. There was one other person seated at the table with her back to us, but I knew already that it was Beci Mahnken, founder of MEI-Travel. Sheri saw my face and looked over their way; she recognized Deb immediately. The boys, however, had thought that we were losing it. Deb jumped up (I think she scared Linda and Beci), while we started making our way to their table. I had not seen the three of them since the 2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend. For those who don’t know, Deb is a 25+ year breast cancer survivor and a major fundraiser for the Avon Walk. I was on the running team that raised money for her efforts for three of its 5-year existence. Beci is one of the reasons I contemplated becoming a travel planner, and I have the utmost in respect for her. We all started talking a mile a minute, and I was in full-on A.D.D. mode as Beci was asking us about our thoughts of Universal while Deb, a fellow oenophile with a strong attraction to Napa Valley, was talking to us about wine fridges and upcoming trips to Northern California.
We could have talked with them for an hour, but they were there for a business meeting in addition to lunch, so we let them get back to their meeting while we were seated.
It was a pretty restaurant, albeit a quiet one with most people in the parks.
The boys were gearing up for the flight home (sigh)
We didn’t eat anything heavy since we ate breakfast in the parks only 2-3 hours before, so we finished up pretty quickly. After paying, the other three headed out while I went back to say goodbye to Beci, Deb, and Linda - and to finish answering a question that I know I only half-answered earlier (ahh, the joys of being A.D.D.). I headed out to meet up with the rest of the Mushfam, feeling really good that our paths had crossed again. About an hour later, Deb texted me lamenting that we didn’t get a picture!
We had about a half-hour before the car was scheduled to pick us up, so we grabbed our luggage from bell service and looked around the lobby for a bit longer to pass the time. Right on time, our driver arrived, and, after a quick ride to Sanford, our vacation was essentially over.
We definitely will be visiting Universal again!
No comments:
Post a Comment