The One With the Unexpected Purchase

  Orlando, Florida, United States
Thursday, August 16, 2007

Denny's

I was up at 10:00 this morning and I got ready right away. This was our breakfast morning! After our horrible breakfast a few days before we wanted something good this time. Mike still wasn't feeling well and he wanted to sleep in but he still wanted to come for breakfast, so we decided to go for a later brunch. I took a shower and watched MTV in my room while I got ready, and then I blew my hair in Mike and my bathroom. It was so hot in there every single time I tried to blow my hair. I don't think the air-conditioner was working in our bathroom but whatever; at least it worked in the rest of the house. Mike woke up at 11:00 and still wasn't feeling well. He was all stuffed up and had a sore throat. He said he was up for going for breakfast though, so he got ready and we left for Denny's at 11:40. It had been absolutely delicious a few nights before so we figured we couldn't go wrong. We got there no more than ten minutes later and the place was packed. We were seated at a filthy, disgusting booth with a greasy table and food stuck in the cushions. Um, no thanks. We asked for a table and the waitress rolled her eyes and brought us to a table.

Dad in the Denny's parking lot

There was food and paper and a general mess all over the floors and it just wasn't very appetizing. Then the people seated behind us complained that their daughter didn't get what she had ordered, the wife's food was cold, and the husband's food was undercooked. They asked for the manager and we all just looked at each other and shook our heads. We like restaurants to be clean, the service to be efficient and friendly, and the food to be cooked. That's all we ask for in a restaurant - pretty basic requests. We get very easily grossed out when a restaurant is a mess, and very easily annoyed when the food isn't cooked and no one gets what they ordered so we knew it would be a bad, bad idea to stay. So we told our waitress that we had changed our minds and we left. I guess the time you go to the busy restaurants along 192 really makes a difference when it comes to the experience. It had been great a few nights before but was horrible now. I don't know what happened!

Cracker Barrel

We went out to the car and our waitress stormed out and started screaming and cursing. She said something about how she was going to "smack a b*tch up." Haha, whoa! She just kept going and going and going. I know that sometimes people have to vent but at least wait until there aren't any customers around! I gave her a very confused look and she got nervous when she saw us and just stopped talking and turned the other way. It couldn't have been our fault because we hadn't even sat down before we left. It's not like we ordered and then left. It was very weird. Anyway, Cracker Barrel was five minutes away so we headed over there. Mom and dad had eaten at Cracker Barrel for breakfast before but neither Mike nor I had and we were both excited. Everyone raves about Cracker Barrel's breakfast! We got there in no time and there was a twenty-minute wait, which we expected. No big deal. We looked around the store and just hung out. They had some cute kid's costumes but none of them were as cute as the Tinker Bell costume we had gotten Alison at Downtown Disney. They also had a lot of Halloween stuff that was fun to look at. I love the Cracker Barrel store!

Mom and Mike in the Cracker Barrel store

We were seated in ten minutes and the table was all dirty. Other people's food was still on the table. Ew. The girl who seated us just moved the plates and food onto the table next to ours and left. Seriously? We didn't want to leave because we were hungry and that Cracker Barrel has always been good, so my mom used a wipe to just wipe off the table and our waiter brought us our silverware. Unfortunately, mom's silverware had food on it. EWWW! Mike and my silverware also had spots on it and we were pretty grossed out. I know that the restaurants in Orlando get really, really busy around breakfast in the summer, but could you at least clean off the silverware? Thankfully our waiter was a really nice guy. He took back our silverware and told us he'd get us new ones that he'd clean himself. Five minutes later he came back with hot and streak-free silverware. How many waiters would go out of their way to personally clean the silverware for guests during a busy time?! We thanked him over and over, and jokingly mentioned that he was getting a good tip!

Mike's pancake breakfast

The breakfast menu here isn't that big but they had some really good stuff/ Mom asked for a regular menu though, since she was going to get lunch. We ordered fifteen minutes after being seated and were brought our drinks and biscuits soon after. Mike and I got chocolate milk, mom got a diet Coke and dad got coffee. And the biscuits here are seriously the best EVER. E-V-E-R. Hot, fresh and delicious! It took a while for the food to come out but we didn't mind. We had our biscuits! We talked and took in the atmosphere and relaxed. It was a good time. Eventually our food came out and it was mmm-mmm-good! You seriously can't beat Cracker Barrel. I ordered French toast, bacon, scrambled eggs and hash browns. The hash browns were the best! I always get hash browns and they're usually just fried potatoes and onions but these also had American and cheddar cheese and wow were they good! Mike got pancakes with bacon and scrambled eggs and dad got pork chops, scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and grits. Dad loves his grits; we always make fun of him for it since you can't get them around here and he alays talks about them. They do have them at diners around here but New York grits just aren't the same. They have to be southern grits, so he always gets them in Florida whenever he can! Mom decided to get lunch and she got a chicken finger sandwich. The food was all really good.

Dad's breakfast

We got the bill when we were done eating and it only came to $40, which was awesome for the food we got. We also left the waiter a mighty nice tip since he was one of the best waiters we had on the trip. He was great! Dad and Mike went to pay while mom and I ran into the bathroom and then I looked at the candy at the counter. They had a pack of huge Smarties for only $1 so I had to get them. I've loved Smarties since I was little so seeing them so big cracked me up! After eating we drove over to Walgreens since mom wanted to get some Nyquil for Mike. He waited in the car while mom, dad and I ran in. They had such cute souvenirs in there. I wound up getting a really cute Mickey clock with a little picture frame on each side for $4 and a $3 Belle pen. Mom got the Nyquil and she also got Alison a HUGE clicky pen with the princesses on it. It was the biggest pen I've ever seen and Alison cracked up as soon as we gave it to her. She loved it! Who knew a huge pen would be one of her favorite souvenirs of the trip?

My huge Smarties!

We were back at the house by 1:30. We really just hung out and relaxed. I read "The Devil Wears Prada" and then watched Step By Step on the Family Channel. At 3:30 we all played California Rummy and dad finally won! Throughout the whole tournament we all kept giving dad a hard time for never having won so we all had a good laugh over him finally winning. I had been wearing my Minnie ring and while we were playing I looked at it and saw that a stone was missing. Uh oh. It was towards the bottom of the ring so I tried to ignore it, but I kept glimpsing that one missing stone out of the corner of my eye and I knew I had to exchange it. Anyway, when mom and dad told me that they didn't want to eat at so many Disney restaurants I had gone online and looked for some new ones. One of the unique ones I found was Sweet Tomatoes, a health-food buffet that's the home of the country's largest salad bar. We love salad bars! It's a chain that can only be found in the south and west so we had to try it while we had a chance. We were planning on eating there tonight and leaving for the restaurant at 5:00 so we left fifteen minutes earlier to first head to Downtown Disney. We were in the car and on our way by 4:45.

Mom in the car

We pulled up to the Marketplace and mom and I ran out and over to Arribas Bros. Dad found a spot and met us inside while Mike waited in the car. I told a cast member in there that a stone had fallen out of my ring and that I had just bought it yesterday. I was about to show her my receipt when she said it wasn't necessary and told me to just go pick out a new one. How's that for customer service? The only problem was that all of the Minnie rings left were too big. There were some Mickey head and Mickey glove rings that fit but I didn't like them as much as the Minnie ones so I exchanged it for one that was a little bigger. I didn't realize that the tag was bunched up in it though, so when I tried it on afterward it was way too big! Oh well, I figured I'd just get a ring guard at home for five bucks. It's three months later and I still haven't gotten one, but I will soon!

A cute Mickey topiary in the Marketplace

On the way out I again saw the Aladdin figure and I had to get it. Ever since I'd seen it I'd been thinking about it, and I knew we wouldn't have a chance to come back to get it. I love collecting Aladdin things since they're so rare these days and I knew it would look cute on my end-table with my little glass slipper. I felt slightly bad about wasting my money on the little plastic Aladdin figures the day before but they're still cute so I got over it. They're in my room right now! I told the same cast member who had exchanged my ring that I also wanted the Aladdin figure and she got me one from the back, and I handed over my $35. It was money well-spent - I absolutely it!

Mom and Mike at Sweet Tomatoes

We then made our way over to Sweet Tomatoes. It was on International Drive and we made our way down to I4 and down towards Universal Studios. We got confused over the GPS directions along the way and took a wrong turn off of I4. We were re-routed through the back roads and wound up having to pay a toll on John Young Parkway. It took us a good half-hour to get to the restaurant when it should have only taken ten minutes from Downtown Disney, but hey... at least we got to see some of Orlando! When we got to the restaurant we realized that we were only two blocks away from Universal Studios. We parked and headed inside. I really wasn't that hungry but it was a buffet so we all grabbed trays. It's set up so that as soon as you walk in you get a tray and then get stuff from the big salad bar. The salad bar here was clean and nice, but it wasn't as good as the one at Ruby Tuesday's. That one was delicious! This one was big but they didn't have that much. Oh well. I got some regular salad with blue cheese dressing and it was here that I realized that I don't like blue cheese dressing. It was really strong and sharp. Oh well. I also got some fresh mozzarella and tomatoes, and a Mexican salad with all different beans and vegetables.

Dad at Sweet Tomatoes

We paid at the end of the salad bar and it came to $8.99 each plus $8 for drinks. Not too bad. Dad had gotten a little container of fried chicken strips for his salad that was supposed to be $1.25 but they didn't charge him for it. After we paid we were given four big, empty cups and we took our salad and trays and went to seat ourselves. It was crowded but the restaurant was pretty big so we found a big, empty table right in the middle of the dining room. Mike saved the table while mom and dad went to get some food from the buffet and I went to get everyone's drinks from the fountain. I got mom and dad diet Cokes, Mike a Sprite, and myself some kiwi strawberry mineral water that was really good.

Driving along I4

Then Mike and I went up to the buffet. The selection was pretty small. The main draw here was the salad bar but I wasn't in the mood for salad. I wound up getting some fettuccine Alfredo, corn bread and minestrone soup with tortellini. I really didn't like any of it but the corn bread. How healthy, right? So I went back up and got another piece of corn bread, some macaroni and cheese and a mini-cinnamon raisin muffin. It was all pretty good but the muffin was DELICIOUS! It was hot and fresh and cinammony and the best! So I went up and got some more. Yes folks, I had mini-cinnamon raisin muffins for dinner. Nutrition at its finest! Then it was time for dessert. I got a hot, fresh brownie with some vanilla and chocolate-swirled ice cream and caramel. I also got another mini-cinnamon raisin muffin since they were so damn good! We were done by 7:15 and had mixed feelings about Sweet Tomatoes. Everything was fresh and good and the restaurant was clean, but there wasn't much of a selection. Would we go back? Maybe. I'd be willing to give it another shot but it wouldn't be a top priority.

Islands of Adventure from I4

There was an Office Depot right across the street so we headed over there since Mike and I wanted to get some stuff for school. He got a pack of little, mini-pens which I thought was hysterical. Ever since we were little I've always liked big things and paper, and he's liked tiny things and pens. I'd always get notebooks, planners and worksheets and he'd get all different kinds of pens; I'd get dolls, pretend housewares and big dollhouses and he'd get tiny little cars and figures. So I thought it was funny that he wound up getting tiny little pens and I got a big planner for school. Then we headed back to the house.

Oreo relaxing on the couch

We were home by 8:00 and we watched the boring So You Think You Can Dance finale. I absolutely love that show and it was amazing all season, but the finale was a let-down. All the dancers just re-did their favorite dances, and then Sabra won and the show ended. It just wasn't as good as it could have been. Anyway, after that we watched Big Brother and mom, dad and Mike had some sake while I had some coconut rum on the rocks. We also all shared my last two pretzels from Goofy's Candy Company. When Big Brother was over everyone headed to bed while I changed into my pajamas and read "The Devil Wears Prada" in my room before I falling asleep at 1:00.