In only a few days, we managed to celebrate a birthday, tame killer whales, see Mickey Mouse, take in a concert, and visit Africa. Not to shabby. Of course we had to take a couple of shortcuts to make this happen.

We kicked off the journey by surprising Mrs. Play Gourmet with a birthday treat. Our little Play Gourmet and I had to work in tandem to take advantage of a small window of time that we were able to negotiate.

In that time, we made and hung a banner, picked up our treat, and wrapped a present. The present was an inscribed necklace, that the boy himself decided what he wanted to have written. “I love you mommy”.

And the cake, was pretty special too, built to the exact specifications of our Play Gourmet palate. Topped with a cookie, that didn’t last long enough to make the photo.

Now it is time to go burn off that cake. Off to Orlando we go.

The main purpose of the trip was to go to a concert with Uncle Scott and Aunt Pam, and Uncle Mikey and Aunt Izzy. No ordinary concert though, this concert paired up Jimmy Buffet with the Eagles. 

The concert was incredible. Our seats were on the floor and we had an amazing time. The only thing rivaling the talent on stage was the company we enjoyed it with.

Now, when in Rome… or Orlando in this case, it would be a shame to go all this way and not pay a visit to Mickey. Lucky for us, we had two other Mouseketeers, to help us take in all the festivities.

But this was no routine trip, we managed to make it across town to Sea World for a totally different experience, including a chance to meet killer whales.

The days were spent racing around both literally and figuratively…

even fitting a safari in…

until the last part of the trip, after everyone but the three of us had left for home. We stayed for one more day, and splurged on the Animal Kingdom Lodge. This was money well spent. We had never done this before, and were amazed to find our room, over looking the Savanah, when we first entered.

From our balcony, we could look out at giraffes at eye-level, and over zebra’s, wildebeests, gazelle, and many other wild animals.

As well as being able to walk around and get close to all of the animals.

We were even able to go down at night time and watch the animals through night vision goggles, which was a pretty cool first for us.

The cherry on top of this packed trip was the meal we had at the restaurant, named Sanaa, within the resort. They started us with a bread service which included a platter of 5 different types of bread, ranging from a traditional naan, to naan’s filled with garlic, ginger, onion, and cheese. Then they prepare a selection of nine different dipping sauces, that hit every mark on the spectrum between mild and spicy.

Each flavor was so distinct and rich. Almost impossible to describe while doing it justice. We truly appreciated every single accompaniment, and finished every last drop. 

I would consider the bread service to have been the main event, but we also enjoyed some local curries to fill us up the rest of the way.

The experience, from the food to the sights transported us to a foreign land. It was both enriching and fulfilling and we can’t wait to go back!