After being up so late, I woke up around 7:30 or so. I’m in Disney World on my birthday!! Happy birthday to me!
Out of habit, I checked the Disney app one last time to see if I could get an earlier reservation for Beak and Barrel. We had one for tonight at like 10:45, but that was a little late and really didn’t make for the easiest party-going experience.
Well, I lucked out and stumbled across a 5:50 reservation, so I very quickly switched our reservation and, high on that vacation win adrenaline, woke Nick up to get the day started!
We got ready for the day and headed out around 9:00. It was an absolutely beautiful morning, so you know I took the opportunity to take a few pictures on our really peaceful less than 15 minute walk along the Sassagoula down to Port Orleans French Quarter.
Why were we at French Quarter? Beignets of course! I mean, why wouldn’t we have beignets as a birthday breakfast of champions?!
The beignets were delicious, and the caramel sauce was good. Obviously, though, I mourned the loss of the strawberry sauce. At this hour, the place was hopping, but we were able to grab a table in the lounge, which was much quieter, so we were able to eat in surprising peace.
Beignets consumed, we (I) took some pictures of the Christmas decorations. Both Port Orleans resorts had been decorated on our arrival night.
Then we headed for the boat dock where we found a shockingly long line. And it was still a few minutes until the boat would actually start running. So, we ended up waiting in line for at least 20 minutes, but we did make it on the second boat. And, miraculously, we ended up in the shade for most of the wait. It was actually turning out to be a fairly warm morning, at least for those of us that had been scraping frost off the car windows for weeks already.
Having to wait for the second boat turned out to be a fantastic thing. We had a boat captain that was truly Disney Magic. He was just awesome. Like, submit a cast compliment before we even made it to the fork in the river where the boats come down from Old Key West awesome. I think his name might have been Harry. Or Henry. Either way…it was a wonderful boat ride to Disney Springs.
Once we docked at Disney Springs and got through security (with no mousetappo moments because Nick had figured out this sunglasses case thing by now), we started exploring the Christmas Tree Trail. We basically checked out Christmas trees (and did a little shopping in World of Disney) as we worked our way to brunch.
We checked in at Summerhouse shortly before noon for lunch and we were seated a few minutes later. This restaurant is LOUD. But honestly, that’s my only complaint. Service was excellent. My margarita was very refreshing. Nick liked his short rib hash, and my crispy chicken sandwich was delicious. Like the fried chicken on it was more tender than the fried chicken I had a couple years ago at Homecomin. They brought me a warm birthday cookie too, with exactly the right amount of fanfare (candle but no singing), and that cookie was excellent. I’d eat here again, although I’d probably request a table outside.
Brunch finished, we did a bit more shopping and Christmas tree finding.
Once we’d found all the trees, I brought my completed map to the expensive crystal store, where the associate insisted on giving me multiple completion prize ornaments because he wanted to get rid of them.
Christmas Tree Trail and shopping complete, we headed for the boat dock, ready to get away from the Disney Springs weekend crowds! The wait wasn’t too bad, probably 10-15 minutes, despite a very long line, and we were on our way back to Riverside.
