More Holiday stuff

Last Tuesday night after work, all four of us went to dinner at Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge. While there we enjoyed the tree and other holiday decorations.

After dinner we went to the Transportation and Ticket Center for a transportation cast fireworks cruise on one of the ferries. Disney provided drinks and snacks and we visited with other cast members and guests while cruising around the Seven Seas Lagoon, then watched the holiday party fireworks over the Magic Kingdom. 

Thursday night Susan and I drove to Tampa with Jenn and a friend to watch the Lightning play the Los Angeles Kings. The match featured several holiday embellishments, but the Bolts lost, 2 to 1. 

A friend of Jenn’s has been working as an attendant to Santa Claus at Disney Springs this year, so this Tuesday after work Susan, Jenn, and I went to visit her. The girls did some shopping and I took photos of some of the trees on display. We had dinner at Earl of Sandwich and after her friend was off work she and Jenn took photos with Santa Claus. 

Susan had to work this morning so the kids came over on Christmas Eve for dinner and opening presents. While she was working, I spent a couple of hours at Hollywood Studios. I looked at the decorations and rode Star Tours and did the single rider line at Rise of the Resistance. 

I tried to check out the work at the Animation and Muppets courtyards, but not much was visible over the construction walls. The arch was completely gone at the Animation courtyard, and I could see the all the Muppet theming had been removed from the show building. 

Savannah

Last week Susan and I drove up to Charleston to deliver Xmas presents to our friends at the air base there. We left after work on Tuesday and stayed the night in Brunswick Georgia. On the way back Wednesday, we stopped in Savannah, and stayed at the Marriott Riverfront. 

Thursday we did a trolley tour of Savannah. I didn’t take photos on the trolley because it was cold so they had plastic screens down, but it was interesting learning more about Savannah and seeing some of the sites. The complete route takes about an hour and a half. 

About halfway through we got off at the City Market and walked around and had lunch at an Irish pub, then walked up to the river where there was a Christmas market.

We finished the tour and left Savannah in the afternoon, stopping at the Byrd’s Cookies flagship store on the way out of town. The bakery is located next door, but unfortunately they stopped doing tours during the pandemic.

We stopped at the Buc-ee's in Daytona on the way up, and the one in Saint Augustine on the way back. We got home late Thursday night.

Festival of Holidays

The rest of November passed uneventfully, and we had a quiet Thanksgiving. Jennifer published a Christmas themed novella, her 14th book. Bryan started working part time at Barnes & Noble. Last Tuesday night they held a book signing event and Jenn acted as moderator for the Q & A portion. 

The Festival of Holidays at Epcot started right after Thanksgiving. Last Wednesday night Susan and I went in to check it out. Jenn and a friend went too. We walked around the World Showcase and had some snacks from the Holiday Kitchen booths, and enjoyed the decorations.

We bought several cookies at each time we did we had out festival booklet stamped so we earned a prize at the end. This is known as the cookie stroll. We also did the the Olaf scavenger hunt. We purchased several maps then searched for Olaf figures in each Showcase pavilion. At the end we turned in the maps so Jenn could have a set of Olaf plates.

Friday afternoon Jennifer flew to Boston to attend a Christmas themed book signing event in New Hampshire on Saturday. It was a small event, but she sold out of all the books she brought, over 100. She stayed with a friend outside Boston, and flew back tonight.