Jan 4 - The Gathering of The Troops

This morning was another leisurely affair of exploration. We had breakfast at the Dolphin'sPicabu after which we went in search of a venue which offered men's haircuts. The choices within the Boardwalk area were somewhat limited so we settled for a $35 hair cut at PeriWig. Ouch! Both the men parted ways with their money in exchange for a clean-cut look. We wandered around the Yacht and Beach Club admiring the wonderful themeing and their awesome pool area, Stormalong Bay. We found ourselves at ESPN club for lunch. Hmmm...I wonder how that happened. Our waiter was fantastic, he made sure our orders came out quickly and we were able to get out within 30 minutes.

At 1pm sharp, we were picked up by the lovely Alby. He arrived with a very nice 20 seater van, complete with a Disney DVD for the kids. He was an instant hit! After a false start with the wrong Hilton, we picked up the Parsons en route to the MCO. We managed to pick up Sharonand Sam relatively quickly as well. We were glad that she managed to arrive safely and relatively unscathed from snowy London, Ontario. We were off to La Quinta at Cocoa Beach. I was so excited to see the Disney Dream on the way! She had just arrived that morning from her transatlantic voyage.

Some last minute photos of the details in our room...Base of lamp!

Chair

Close up

Our suitcases all ready to go

One last longing look at the Boardwalk

The children owning the lounges at ESPN Club

Our minivan has arrived!

Bye bye WDW!

I was rather nervous about La Quinta as we had acquired rooms at a very cheap price via priceline. I needn't have worried. We were welcomed with a lovely sign reading "Welcome to the Belinda Bahari Group!". I felt like a great pioneering leader! The rooms were very basic but it was spacious and clean. Our bargain price of $78 per night also included breakfast and wi-fi, so I couldn't really complain! La Quinta's best asset though, had to be their uberfriendly staff. They couldn't bend backwards far enough to cater to our needs. My only minor complaint would be that we seem to be unable to open our windows. With the rooms recently painted, the smell was over a little overwhelming when we first walked in.

Anyhow, we walked to the nearest Publix to stock up on supplies. We bought some fruit, snorkels, and alcohol! The Marrs were still on their transfers from MCO and we made arrangements to meet up at dinner. We thought we'd brave the restaurant at the motel. It was a Thai, Japanese AND Chinese eatery! The choice on the menu was phenomenal, page after page of favourites were listed. Sharon, Malcolm and I opted to share our dishes in the end as we couldn't decide on any one dish. The food was surprisingly quite good. They had my favourite Thai iced milk tea so I was appeased no matter how the dishes turned out! As for the Marrs, they arrived towards the end of dinner, tired and and not too impressed with the shuttle company. It turned out to be the one and the same that I had been having difficulties with, Cocoa Beach Shuttles.

The full complete of children at La Quinta's lobby

Sushi boat for 2...fed 4!

After dinner, Malcolm checked out the Sports bar and has decided that he loved this place. He has taken notes for his den in the new house that we are building...