Cast of Characters:
Me: I’m Heather. This trip was my birthday trip, just a couple days before my 30th. I’m the trip planner in the house.
Nick: 29. My fiance (this still feels weird to say). He’s an optician these days. He helped make the “must eat” list, but overall had a pretty go with the flow attitude about this trip.
This trip has been in the works for years. I remember saying about the time I turned 21, after a horrific start to my 20s, that I was going to celebrate the end of my 20s by going to Disney for my 30th. And Nick and I have wanted to go to the Food and Wine Festival since we got to try food booths at the Flower and Garden festival in 2013.
As rough as the first few years of my 20s were, they did turn around at the midway point, but it’s remained in the back of my mind that celebrating 30 at Disney would be cool. Now the thought process is simply from the milestone birthday standpoint, rather than the “good riddance” standpoint. I’m not sure Nick knows the initial reasoning, as he came into my life around that turnaround point, but he didn’t seem to be offended by the idea of celebrating the milestone at my happy place.
So...last winter, when the dates for this year’s festival, and this year’s school calendar were released, I started scheming. Veterans’ Day would be conveniently timed to create a long weekend and it just happened to be a few days before my 30th. Sold!
A couple weeks after returning from our WONDERful Disney Cruise, Southwest put flights for November on sale. We booked flights, with me flying down after work on Thursday 11/10 and Nick flying down late in the day Friday 11/11, and got serious about planning. We’d been talking about staying at Port Orleans French Quarter, since we’d enjoyed New Orleans so much, and although there was no discount available, this frugal traveler booked it anyway, because it was only for a few nights, and because both of us were traveling this trip. I also decided I’d splurge on a ticket to MVMCP, because it’s not exactly an event I get to experience every year.
The school year I thought would never end (4 schools, 60 students, hundreds of miles being claimed weekly for work, etc) eventually did, and I got to get serious about planning. For about 2 weeks. Then we got engaged. And planning efforts turned to a wedding, summer school lesson plans and a quick August trip to Tennessee, that I will hopefully write up one of these days.
Planning for this trip really got serious once this school year started, with us pouring over Food and Wine fest menus and me stalking websites for information about MVMCP. A couple weeks before the trip, we discovered for sure that our cruise dinnermates from Michigan would be in Disney at the same time we would. Sweet! I’d also seen our Miami dinnermates tagged in a post on facebook that made it seem like they might be there too. Hmm...would there be a mini reunion? Or 2?
About the same time I started making my packing lists, the unthinkable happened. I have a tendency to sit on my feet when I’m on the couch, because I’m short and we have big couches. Periodically, one will fall asleep, and well...everyone knows what that feels like. But the Saturday before Disney, things unfolded a bit differently. I went to put that sleepy foot on the floor, and rather than going down flat, it rolled under me. There were noises that shouldn’t happen (although I’m pretty crackly already in my ripe old age), and there was instant swelling. But I could walk! Sort of.
The next few days were filled with me icing and elevating my foot as much as possible, Nick documenting the evolution of the gnarly bruise that appeared (I’ll spare you the pictures), and me hoping that Nick would not have to drunk drive me in a wheelchair through Epcot as he was offering (threatening?). I was particularly worried about Friday, since my plans involved opening Epcot and then spending the evening at MVMCP. Wasn’t sure how I’d pull that off solo on an injured foot.
Gradually the swelling went down, and walking got a bit faster and less painful. Since I could still walk, I didn’t bother with a doctor’s visit. I returned to scheming, and found out Andy and Jackie (Michigan), would definitely be in Epcot on the same day as me. Hmm...mini reunion is sounding very possible.
As usual, the day before the trip was filled with running around, and lots of glaring from our newest dog, Gizmo, who has quickly figured out what a suitcase means, but everything got done, and I managed to get to sleep at a somewhat reasonable hour, with Gizmo snuggling close, perhaps trying to convince me not to leave by being cute. He’s still learning...
No comments:
Post a Comment