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| key lime pie |
Yes, I am still celebrating my birthday. When you're retired, you can do that, even a full week after the actual day recorded on the birth certificate.
Previously I had hinted that Gary had something really special in mind for my birthday. It was going to happen last week, but the weather forecast was so foreboding that he called and delayed the excitement so our highway travel would (hopefully) not be so harrowing. Nearly 2 hours on the turnpike and unfamiliar freeways in driving rain and strong wind -- we just didn't want to do that.
But now, with no further delay, I will share the MANY snapshots we took of our one-night stay at the Orlando Gaylord Palms Resort. (click on the hotel name for their website)
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| Gary at the main entrance |
Be warned, this is a major "photo dump," as some bloggers like to phrase it. Since this blog is a journal of my memories, this post is going to be more of a scrapbook for my benefit. I'll write captions for most of the snapshots. (You may want to just skim through the pictures quickly and call it done.) This is just a fun place for me to record some wonderful personal memories. Most pictures here are in the order they were taken, with some exceptions.
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| Where's |
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| huge lobby with a definite Florida theme |
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| fountain outside the main entrance |
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| walking from the front lobby to the HUGE atrium that is fairly central to the resort |
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| Tulips don't seem to grow outdoors in Florida. They do well in greenhouse-type conditions |
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| Many rooms with balconies overlooking the atrium; I can't tell you how many waterfalls we saw (lots!) |
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| The architecture was Spanish, reminiscent of St. Augustine's Castillo de San Marcos National Monument |
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| Lots of water (streams), bridges, and abundant tropical horticulture |
*Note: while checking in, the lady commented that if you intend to sit on the balcony of your room, you may want to get one with the black metal railing instead of the concrete, the latter of which tends to block the view when you're sitting. We appreciated that advice and definitely chose the black metal railing.
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| one of several restaurants; they are not all open all the time. |
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| The Moors [seafood] restaurant, which is where we had our dinner. Our table was on the very far right behind that pronounced white stripe running the length of the boat. It was not open when I took this picture. I'll show our dinner later. |
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| Lots of colorful Vinca, some Daffodils, other very well-tended plants everywhere. |
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| White, orange, and yellow Carp in the streams throughout. |
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| A perfect location for a proposal -- but, 😘 we're already married! 💕 |
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| another waterfall |
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| our room; the balcony is beyond the sheer drapes |
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| the shower: there are 2 faucets, but the higher one is not in this picture. Note the metal bar for propping your foot. |
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| We each got our own sink; that blue dot in the mirror was a touch-light that controlled the [excellent!!] mirror lighting and also changed to a night light. (the next morning my eye liner looked really good with this wonderful lighting!) |
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| the first glimpse of our balcony view (we were on the 4th floor) |
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| The view from our 4th floor (out of 9 stories in some parts) was mesmerizing to me. Notice the Spanish fort tower to the right of center. |
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| I purposely included my knee in this picture to give perspective of the view from the balcony. That is a breakfast buffet restaurant with the arches. |
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| Florida is famous for its Manatees. This framed photo was in the bathroom. Manatees are gentle giants. |
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| Several of the hotels we have visited over recent years have a personal greeting on the TV screen. See Gary's name. |
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| Our dinner reservations were for 5:30 pm. The sun flooded in through floor-to-ceiling windows on this part of the restaurant on the boat. We chose a table where the sun was to our backs. |
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| Seafood was the primary feature although steaks were offered, too. We both ordered the Grouper served atop wonderful creamy rice with freshly-steamed broccoli spears. |
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| Freshly-baked dinner rolls were served with the most heavenly, soft, Honey Citrus Butter. (not shown) |
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| Gary let it be known we were celebrating my birthday. We had a choice of this Key Lime Pie, a chocolate ganache, and 2 other desserts that I don't remember. We shared this and then waddled out of the restaurant! Ha-ha!!! |
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| The atrium view from our balcony after sunset. |
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| As the sky grew darker, there were fluttering butterflies created with special lighting up above us. (look at the white metal bracing) |
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| The boat sails from our dinner restaurant from our balcony view. |
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| This is that same breakfast buffet restaurant shown earlier. It felt like we were looking into the windows of a doll house! |
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| View of the large screen TV from the bed. |
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| For breakfast the next morning, we didn't want to pay $30 each for the large breakfast buffet, so we got our cereal and bananas from a grab'n go place frequented by many of the same opinion as us. Gary is on our balcony holding our sack of food while I took his picture from below. |
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| Balcony breakfast served on my lap! (no table, just 2 chairs) |
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| Yep! After breakfast, we walked over to the water park, still within the boundaries of the Gaylord resort. |
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| Not planning to swim. |
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| There were at least 2 death-defying water tube slides as well as all sorts of other water-related attractions. |
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| back in the main atrium area was an Easter theme, including an extensive tunnel with rabbits and eggs, etc. |
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| We walked through the Gaylord version of the Spanish Castillo de San Marcos and found 6 vignettes with artifacts appropriate for that time in history. |
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| Every once in a while, we would spy a tiny figurine lounging on a raft in the streams as we walked past. |
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| While the atrium faithfully depicted Florida's flora and fauna, all of this was indoors. That meant there were no Geckos running around. I loved that! |
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| There were 3 baby gators behind glass, which explains why I was willing to get this close!!! |
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| There were 4 snakes, too, also in glass boxes, who were very much alive. NOT A FAN! I did not take pictures of them. |
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| We walked, climbed steps, sat, and just took it all in with a relaxed pace. We're not big spenders, although I did stroll through all of the shops. I got this fancy paper bracelet when we entered the water park. |
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| Check-out time was 11am, so we returned to our room to close up our bags for departure. |
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| all of my birthday cards |
"Arise, my love,
my fair one, and come away."
Song of Solomon 2:10 and 2:13
Until next time, grace and peace.
Barbara
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