The IKEA Experience

Welcome back. In this last post for the month of September I'm going to share with you, my visit to a place I've wanted to go for a while: an IKEA store. 

Over the last few years I've heard stories about them being different from other furniture stores. But those stories didn't really make me interested in visiting one. To me, IKEA was just a large furniture store. Unless we're looking for something specific, I'm not really into furniture shopping. 

But then, I heard about something in that's in an IKEA store that convinced me that I had to go to see for myself, one day. 

There isn't an IKEA store in the state of Kentucky. But I've been to two cities that do: St. Louis, MO and Indianapolis. Despite going back to these places several times after putting IKEA on my "to do" list as of the middle of September I still hadn't gotten there. 

On Friday, September 20th, I headed north on I-65 with plans to attend this year's Indy Dis Meet in Noblesville, IN, the next day. More on that in my next post. 

At 5 o'clock I took exit 205 off of route 69 onto 116th street. Then a left onto US Parkway and right to IKEA Way.

From the outside, the building looked like a large department store. 

Once inside, I grabbed a shopping cart and noticed something different immediately. There was a bin full of canvas shopping bags. It was obvious that these weren't for sale but to be borrowed and returned. 

 I didn't use one but judging from how many there were, a lot of people do. 

Now I had no idea what to expect as I shopped. First, area I came to was a showroom. It was a series of different living room set ups.  

I could tell right away it was a lot fancier than any other furniture store I'd ever been in. I could go in each room and sit on the couches and chairs to get an idea of what it would be like if it was my living room. 

In addition to living rooms there were show rooms for dining rooms, kitchens bedrooms, work spaces, and children's bedrooms. I used them all as places to sit and rest. 

In between the show rooms were displays and shelves with all types of furnishings for sale. They reminded me a lot of Bed, Bath, & Beyond. Here are a few pics to show what I mean. 

With no idea just how big the place was I just kept making my way from section to section. I felt like I was going deeper and deeper into a maze and from which I might never emerge. 

Like I mentioned earlier, I am not a big fan of furniture shopping. By the time I got to the bedroom area, I was pretty much over looking at set ups. 

However, I kept going for two reasons. I had not yet come to the area that was the siren that beckoned me to IKEA in the first place and I had to find my way out. 
The only thing I could think of that would be worse than my current situation would wandering around until closing time, then getting locked in over night.   

When I came to the kid's area I found what I considered to be an oasis. It was something I never expected to find. I found a small toy section. 

There were some small games, puzzles, stuffed animals and, believe it or not, puppets. 

I took the time to look around with the purpose of finding a couple of small presents for my grand children. 

I eventually found something for each of them. But I also found some puppets I decided to add to my collection. I got a snake, a baby owl and a funny looking buzzard. 

I don't know if I'll ever use the birds in my act but I really thought they were cute. I've wanted a snake puppet for a while but those I found were too expensive. This guy didn't cost much at all so now I have a snake puppet. 

By this time I was a bit tired and really wanted to know where I was in the store. Luckily, I found a sign with this map. 

I was glad to see that I was just a few feet away from my reason for my visit: the restaurant. 

For the longest time I couldn't figure out why IKEA had a quick service restaurant in their stores. Thanks to a web search I discovered that there are two reasons. 
I found this on Mashed.com: 
Gerd Diewald, who runs IKEA's food operations in the U.S. says, "When you feed customers, they stay longer, they can talk about their potential purchases, and they make a decision without leaving the store. That was the thinking right at the beginning." That thinking has proven to be wildly successful, because while they're mulling over which couch to buy, 650 million hungry furniture shoppers are spending almost $2 billion a year in IKEA's food court.

I was at the restaurant for one reason, the Swedish meatballs. 

While its "officially" referred to as a restaurant, I say its a quick service cafeteria. 

I chose the entree and sides that I wanted and it cost me less than $7. 

Overall the meal was pretty good. The green beans were a little under cooked for me. I was really impressed that the mashed potatoes were real potatoes. 
The meatballs were pretty good too. Not the best I've had but I'd get them again. 

After the restaurant there were no more room set ups or displays. It was like a large and expanded Bed, Bath, and Beyond. 

The self-serve area was a room full of racks with boxes of shelving, storage units and other types of furniture that you pulled off the racks and put on a large flat bed carts to push to the checkouts. 

The "As Is" area has returned items, discontinued products or leftover seasonal stuff. It's a good place to get some bargains. 

After about an hour and a half in the store I finally reached the check outs. I got in line at a register behind a young  pregnant woman with a flat bed full of stuff. 

There was one other lane open but there were 3 people in that line. I'd be out of the store by the time they were checked out...or so I thought. 

The young woman had an online coupon or something that wasn't working. The cashier had to call someone for help on her house phone. Then they stood their waiting for an answer. By the time I realized that there was going to be a delay the other line and the line behind me had grown long with other waiting customers. 

So I waited too. And waited. And waited. And waited. Fifteen minutes later they got a call back and they made the coupon work. By then I was a little upset. But I kept my cool and just paid for my stuff. I gathered it all in my arms and headed for my car. My first IKEA visit was over. 

I'd say that, while it wasn't the best shopping experience I've had, it was definitely unique. I'd love to go to one with my wife. I think she'd really enjoy it.  

To add a cherry on the top of my time there, on my way back down IKEA drive a trio of deer crossed the road in front the 2 cars ahead of me. 

They ran to a meadow to the right of the road. I slowed down as much as I could to watch them jump around and frolic for a few minutes before they disappeared into a patch of trees. It was rather surprising to see them in such an urban setting. 

I programmed my car's GPS with the address of the hotel where I was spending the night. It took me back onto route 69. 

This began the 2nd part of my Friday in Indiana. An unexpected turn would present me with a problem that would add some stress to my night. 

I know that's a little vague. I'll stop there and will continue with that story and all that happened at the Indy Dis Meet in my next post. 

Have you ever been to an IKEA? What did you think? Do you like it? What did you buy? I'd love to hear about your experiences. Let me know in the comments or on Facebook. 

Thanks again for coming by the Yankee Near Nashville blog. See ya next time. 

September Travels

Hello again everyone, It's the last Friday of September, a month that has been very busy for me. 

I have several adventures and experiences to share with you over the next few posts. 

I'm going to start with a trip to see a new arrival and Paula's 2nd Color Street vendor event. 

On Sunday September 8, the day before my birthday, I went with James, Brandi, my grandchildren and a few of their friends to the Louisville Zoo.  

I didn't get the chance to take a group picture of us all but did manage to get some pics of them walking from exhibit to exhibit.

I hadn't been to the zoo in a few years. The reason for going back this time was a new arrival. 

This cute little guy was born on August 2. He weighed 300 pounds at birth and made his public debut only 3 days before our visit.

I had a great time hanging out with my son & daughter in law and their friends. However I really enjoyed spending time with the young ones. 

They had a blast and enjoyed visiting the animals and hanging with each other. 

Of course, the best memories I have from that day was the time I spent with two of the brightest stars in my universe, Aria & Gabriel.

It's a nice zoo but its built on a series of hills. The walking required is not bad when you're walking down hill but the trek back up the hill was very difficult for me. I had to stop and rest quite a few times.  

By the time we all made it back to the main plaza at the entrance I was ready to go home. But it was a nice day and a wonderful memory of the time around my 59th birthday. 

On the weekend after my birthday
it was time for Paula to attend her 2nd vendor event as a Color Street stylist. 

This one was an event called "Girls' Day Out" and was held in "The Center For Rural Development" in Somerset, KY.

It was on Saturday, the 14th. Late afternoon on Friday, we made the 90 minute drive (it's basically a straight shot across the Cumberland Parkway from I-65) to spend the night at the Holiday Inn Express. 

Our reasoning was that we'd get a good night's sleep. We'd be rested  and just a few minutes from the venue for early set up. 

Well, the hotel and room was very nice but the king bed was extremely firm. Neither of us got a good night's sleep. So we started the day out already tired. 

This was Paula's biggest vendor event so far. Ironically, we got to "The Center" a little late. Other vendors were parked in the unloading area by then. We had to park about 100 yards away and unload using our 4 wheeled cart. I made 3 trips to the car and back. 

It took us about an hour to set things up. 

There were a couple of new things about our set up at this event. 

The pair of tables were set up in a "V" to display more nail sets. 

Also, added to the set up was a spinning prize wheel. 

This was set up as a reward for those customers who purchased 3 sets that day. 

The other additions was a matter of logistics. We had a card table set up behind the "V" to hold supplies and process sales. 

A third table on the left side of our booth, already set up when we arrived, helped; serving as a place for application demonstrations.  

Organized by the person who does the "Girls Day Out" in Bowling Green, this was the first time for this event in Somerset. 

For 4 of the 6 hours it was rather busy. Paula was either talking to visitors to our booth or applying samples for most of the time. 

I continue to be amazed at who she becomes when talking about Color Street.  

I handed out a lot of samples and talked with and helped customers when Paula was busy applying samples. 

This was something she did for a lot of the time. There were of ladies interested in seeing what the nail strips looked like on them. 

There was one older lady, because of the condition of her nails, had never worn polish before. She was over joyed when she saw Color Street on her hands. 

A lot of "girls" of all ages came by the booth during the day. The one I'll always remember was a very charming 9 year old girl, named "Branigan". 

She was there with her grand- parents, who were hosting a booth set up not far from us. 

She came to our booth to look around and immediately began talking to us like we were her best friends. 

She told us about her pets and anything else she could think of including the fact that she was about to get a baby brother. She even showed us pictures of her pets on her phone. 

I asked about her unusual name and she said she was named after a movie. (with a quick IMDB search I discovered the movie was a 1975 John Wayne film). I told her that her name made me think of Laura Branigan, a pop singer from the 80s.  

She wandered in and out of our booth several times during the day. Once, She brought her grandfather 
with her hoping to he'd buy her a nail set. He said "no". Later her grandmother would come back and buy one for her. 

As I mentioned she was a very charming smart friendly kid. Here's the main reasons I'll always remember her.  

Throughout the event a DJ set up in the corner of the hall, played music. It was a wide variety of country, pop, and hits from the 70s and 80s. 

About the middle of the event, while I was busy helping a customer with a purchase, I recognized a song that was playing. It was "Self-Control" a 1984 song by....wait for it....Laura Branigan. 

I finished up with the customer and quickly left the booth to find Branigan and tell her about the song. When I found her, she was on her way back to our booth to visit again. But by that time the song had ended and she hadn't heard it. 

But to me, it was such ironic serendipity that the DJ chose to play that song. I will never forget it.  

At 4 o'clock the event was over. It took us about 30 minutes to break down and pack up the booth. 

After going out to get us lunch, I found a handicapped parking place right next to the loading area. Packing up the car was a lot easier than unloading it. 

By 5 we were back on the Cumberland Parkway and heading home. We were very very tired but it had been a rather successful vendor event. 

Paula got close to 75 entries dropped into her give away box. That's a lot of contacts. Her set sales were pretty good too. 

So there you have a couple of the September events I want to tell you about. There are more including, my annual trip to a Disney themed charity event, a bucket list retail shopping experience, a life changing special purchase and more. 

Thanks for coming back to read my blog. I'll see you again next time.  

SOKY's Got Talent Finals

Hello everyone. It's the first week of Fall and 3rd week of September and it's time for me to start catching up on some of the things from the past month or so that I want to share with y'all. I've been very busy and there's a lot to tell you.  

I'm going to start with the biggest event of the summer for me, my participation in the finals of the SOKY's Got Talent competition.  
(Before I tell that story, I want to apologize for not having more pictures from that night. I was so focused on a good performance that I wasn't very mindful of documenting the occasion with pictures. 
I do have some shots and video taken by friends and family members. I will share those with you.) 

After the busy weekend in Orlando, it took me a couple of days transition out of my "road trip" mentality and into focusing on the performance that might get me that first place trophy.
The SOKY's Got Talent finals were in 3 days and I had to be at my best.  

What chances did I have of winning? Well, here's what I figured going in. There were 5 participants in my age group (36 and up), so I figured I had a 20% chance of winning in my category. 

From the winners of the five age groups, in finals, one would be awarded the SOKY Trophy. 

So once I got to that level, I would have a 20% chance there too. 

I had written a couple new jokes for my finals performance. I would be singing the same song but the jokes were customized for the SKYPAC audience. 

I practiced as much as I could the few days between getting back from Florida and the finals. 

On Saturday August 24th, at 2 o'clock, I went to SKYPAC for the soundcheck. 

I waited in the lobby with the rest of the acts. After about 15 minutes I was called to the stage. 

I walked through the doors that I'd been through only once before for a special meet & greet with Marylin Mcoo and Billy Davis Jr. 

I was led to the stage where the stage hand set up my mic and I started my act. The view of the house from the stage was amazing. I had put a lot of effort to get there. 

I told my jokes and sang about a minute of my song before the crew stopped me. They had the levels they needed. 

I drove back home and got dressed for the show. I put on the same shirt and tie I wore for my audition and first performance. This time I added a blazer to the ensemble. Unfortunately, I don't have a posed picture of how I was dressed that night. I was back at SKYPAC by 5:30. 

The atmosphere in the lobby was that of collective excitement and focus of finals contestants waiting to start the last leg of their "got talent" experience.  

As I waited my son and daughter in law, Michael and Heather came in. They were there after having dinner at a local restaurant a block or so away. They hung out with me while I waited. 

My wife; granddaughter, Aria; other daughter in law, Brandi; and my sister in law, Theresa would join them in the audience to cheer me on. 

Soon, the director of the competition came through the doors to the backstage area and took us all back to the dressing rooms. 

There were several dressing rooms but we were directed to the two designated for us; one each for the men and the women. There was also a small green room with a couch and some chairs, where everyone could sit and comfortably watch the show on the TV monitor. 
As the evening would play out this would be the place most of the younger contestants would hang out together. 

The first event of the evening was walking the red carpet set up outside the center. 

A little after 6 o'clock all the contestants were let out a side door. We walked around the building to the front. 

I had Cecil with me. He was dressed in his cowboy outfit but was wearing sunglasses, acting like the star he is.  

I was toward the front of the line with one or two contestants in front of me. It was a very warm day and I was in my jacket and tie. Also, not being able to walk at a very fast pace, the speed at which the director walked was a bit difficult for me. By the time we got to the front of the building I was a bit winded. 

Interviewing the contestants on the red carpet were two young ladies. I'm not sure who they were but I was told that they were contestants in a couple of the state or regional beauty pageants. 

They were very enthusiastic and charming but they seemed like fish out of water. 

When it was my turn to walk up to the girls they were thrilled to meet Cecil. They asked me questions about ventriloquism and of course, Cecil chimed acting like the star. 

I'll always remember one thing about that one minute interview. One of the young ladies asked Cecil a question. When she finished she put the microphone in front of him and not me. 
I don't think anyone but her and I realized what she did. But it was the first highlight of my night. 

Back in the dressing room I took off my jacket and found a seat in front of the monitor in the men's dressing room. 

This would be my place for a while. I was scheduled to be the 3rd performer in the 2nd half of the show. 

While I waited, I watched the other performances and talked with some of the other contestants. Most of the conversation was with Tim Long, a singer/songwriter who was also part of the Meteor group. 

He played one of his songs for me telling me how he got the idea and the process of writing it. 

When the time came and I was "on deck" I walked to the back stage area and took a seat in wings.  

David Hosey (pronounced "Ho-say") a local puppeteer was serving as one of the talent coordinators back stage. He's part of the Sublime Media group that I mentioned in my audition post back in July. He's the voice of "Little Trent" in a series of local commercials for a retail mattress store. 

As the act on stage was finishing, David came over to alert me to get ready. He paid me a wonderful compliment. He whispered "Thank you. You are doing a good thing for the puppet community."

I don't know if I did anything for the "puppet community" but I appreciated the recognition from someone whose skills I admire.

Now standing in the wing on stage right, I heard the host announce my name. 

I stepped out of the shadows and my time in the spotlight began. Here are some videos I've gathered thanks to friends and family member who were there. 

The quality of some of the videos is not all that great but they do convey the essence of my performance. 

 I really enjoyed my time on stage. It was an experience I'll never forget. 

After the applause began to fade I walked off the stage and returned to the back stage dressing room. 

There were 6 more acts after me. Now there was nothing to do but wait until the winners were announced. 

45 minutes later I was back in the wings waiting to be called back on stage. I had Cecil with me when everyone lined up to hear the results of the judges' voting. 

The singer who won the first competition in 2018, Justin Cole, went on stage and sang 2 songs. He covered "Long Black Train" and sang an original number entitled, "Boots."

After he finished his brief set, it was time for the contestants to line up on stage. 

As it turned out our entrance was a bit early as the judges took longer than expected in making their decisions. 

The host, Barb Deeb had to do some major stretching on stage. She passed the time by talking to some of the contestants.  

She focused on the younger contestants. Staying on the right side of the stage. I was hoping she'd come over to me and give me yet another few seconds in the spotlight but she didn't.

The delay in the final decisions caused a little bit of a problem for me. I had no idea when I walked out on stage with Cecil on my hand, I had no idea how long I'd have to hold him up with my right arm and keep him "alive". 

After about 5 minutes I my arm was cramping and I was hurting a bit. At that point I was doing my best not to faint from the heat of the lights. 

Finally, the results were delivered to the host and the winners were revealed. 
Here's video of the announcement of the winners in my category. 

I was rather disappointed that I didn't come in first place but Tim Long is very talented and a very nice guy. He was deserving of the award. 

After all the individual category winners were announced it was time to award the winner of the SOKY trophy. 

That winner was a singer, Brittany Whitlow. 

I must admit that her performance of "I'm Here" from Broadway show, The Color Purple was remarkable. She deserved to win. 

I am very proud of my award. But couldn't help but think that the judges were a little biased from the start. Two of the three were singers and or musicians, themselves. Naturally, they would tend to favor the contestants who displayed talent doing what they were familiar with. If this competitions happens again in 2020 there should be at least 1 more judge, if not 2, and their appreciation of talent should be more diverse.  

After the show was over, I put Cecil in his bag along with my plaque and headed out to the lobby. 

It was buzzing with activity of the exiting audience and the contestants meeting up with their family and friends. Congratulations and hugs were being conveyed all around. I sat down on a bench and waited for my family to come out. 

While I waited something happened that helped put the night and the entire competition into perspective. 

As I sat waiting, a woman walked up to me along with a little boy who was about 5 or 6. They were both smiling. The mother said to me, "He loves you and your turtle." 

She explained that they had seen us in the semi-finals and her son was very excited when he knew he would see us in the finals. 

The little boy had a big smile on his face. Unfortunately, I don't remember his name. I told him that I was glad he enjoyed our performance. I asked him if he would like to meet Cecil. He shook his head yes. 

I brought Cecil out and started talking with him. This child's face lit up like he had just met his hero. He was mesmerized. 

During the conversation it was revealed that the next day was his birthday. I had Cecil do a quick "Happy Birthday" song. His mom took a picture of the three of us and they went on their way. 

I was so touched that I got a little overwhelmed. I took a deep breath to collect myself right about the time that my family found me. 

My grand daughter gave me a bit hug and expressed her dismay at the fact that everyone kept referring to me as "The Turtle Man". "He's not the turtle man, he's my Papa." She insisted. Check off another special memorable moment for me. Totally worth it. 

Soon, my family said "good-bye" and I headed to my car for the drive home. 

In the parking lot I saw Tim Long talking with some friends. I congratulated him and said it was nice to get to know him.
He told me that next year was my turn because he was "officially" retired from the SOKY competition. 

The 1st runner up plaque I received is a very special award to me. On the Monday following the competition, I had a plate made with my name and talent on it. I think it adds the personal touch it was missing. It is now on display on the bookshelf in my living room. 

On the following Wednesday, August 28, the local news station, WBKO, ran a story about SOKY's Got Talent. They only mentioned the winner by name. But they showed video of all the contestants on stage. So I was on TV. Yet another 15 seconds of fame. 

Now that its all over, I am very happy that I decided to take the chance and enter the 2019 SOKY's Got Talent competition. 

I want to thank my wife and all my family for their love and support throughout my journey. 

Now, I've got a year to think about, write, and perfect an act that will take me over the top and win me that elusive pair of trophies. Will that happen? You'll have to come back in 2020 to find out. 

In the mean time, a spark has been lit in reminding me how much I enjoy being a ventriloquist. I am considering making renewed effort to start performing again.
 Not quite sure how its going to happen or what it's going to look like. But I have some ideas. Rest assured when it does happen I will share it all with you. 

Weekend In Orlando: Part 4

Disney Springs & Going Home

Welcome to the 4th and last entry in this series. I'm going to cover what I did while on my own, during on the middle day of our time in Orlando, At the end I'm going to mention a few things we did on our way home. So let me start by going back to the morning of Saturday, August 17th.  

After my wife left the hotel room at 8AM that morning I slept in a  bit, trying to get over my long night at the Magic Kingdom. Once I woke up, got ready and headed over to Disney Springs. 

There were a lot of new places that had opened, most of them restaurants, and other changes since I was there last in March 2016. I wanted to see all of them especially, The Edison. 

Unfortunately, after the night before, my spirit was willing but my flesh was weak. I was still worn out. But I needed to get another version of a souvenir I'd gotten the last 3 times I'd been to WDW. To do that I needed to go to the Marketplace area of Disney Springs. 

As anyone who has been to Disney Springs knows, it's a very big place with lots of walkways and areas to visit. You can't just take a straight path from one end to the other and see everything. 

Because of this, and for reasons I will explain and repeat during this post, I didn't get to see most of what I went there to see. 

Since I got to the Orange parking garage shortly after the area opened, there were plenty of spaces open. 

After getting to the bottom of the escalator the first thing I saw was the "Characters In Flight" balloon ascending into the air. 

I'd always wanted to go up in this tethered balloon just for the view. 

I made a mental note that if I had time I would ride it later in the day. Unfor-tunately, I never got to do that.  

I walked from behind the AMC theater, through the West Side, past Splitsville to the House Of Blues. 

Once there, I had to stop and rest. I was already worn out. Perhaps I should have realized then that I just needed to go back to the hotel and rest. But I kept on going. I had a couple of things I wanted to do. 

As I sat down at the tables in front of the House of Blues. I was joined by this guy sitting under the table next to me. 

Of course he shied away from me when I tried to pet. But that didn't matter, My cat tally at WDW was up to two. 

During our visit to Disney Springs back in 2015, Paula and I took the boat across Lake Buena Vista to get to the Market Place. This was my best option to get to where I wanted to go. 

The boat launch dock was to the left of the House of Blues. Here's a link to a short You Tube video of part of my trip. 

Boat Ride Across Lake Buena Vista

After I got off the boat and walked up the dock to the entrance of the Marketplace I had to sit down and rest again.

While sitting there I took this slow motion video of the fountain. It's nothing really but I like it. 

Once I was ready to get going again, I didn't have far to go. I was right in front of the store I was looking for.  

There was only one problem. The last time I was here it was this store. 

But the t-shirt store had changed to this. 

In each of 3 past visits to this shop I've gotten my favorite type of Walt Disney World souvenir. 

They are custom t-shirts with Goofy on them. Each of them had an original caption I made up, a picture of Goofy, and the date. I created them using the computer in the Design A "T" shop. 

I was looking forward to adding a 4th on this visit. As I walked inside my heart fell as the kiosks that I'd used to make my shirts were nowhere to be found. 

According to a cast member working in the store the kiosks had been gone since the middle of 2017. Mickey ears had replaced the t-shirts as the item you can customize. 

So very disappointed I left the store and on to the next item on my Disney Springs agenda. 

I moved across the walkway to the Disney Days of Christmas shop. Anything Christmas themed that Disney offered you'll find here.

I had offered to find a snow globe for my friend, Jackie, and bring it back to her. The only problem was, I couldn't find any Christmas themed snow globes. 

(I was a bit perplexed as to why I couldn't find any. Later, after I returned home, I heard an explanation on a the Disney Dish podcast. 

From the time the TSA put a limit on amount of liquid allowed on planes in the US,  sales of snow globes at Walt Disney World decreased significantly. Even the smallest ones weren't allowed through the safety check. So with such a small demand, Disney cut the supply and only offers a few smaller ones in select gift shops throughout the resort.) 

I did find one or two later when I was in the World of Disney store. This was the best one. 

I was "0 for 2" in my merchandise quests. By this time it was getting close to noon and turning into a very warm Florida summer day. 

I was having to stop and rest more often for a longer and longer time as the day went on. 

I really wasn't having a good time. I knew I wasn't going to stay anywhere near as long as I had planned.  But there were still some of the Disney Springs stores I wanted to visit. 

I got some fudge and something to drink at Goofy's candy company. 

I headed toward "Once Upon A Toy" and browsed through it. Next was the Lego store. I was hoping to find something exclusive to this store but I didn't. 

I was a bit hungry and it was lunch time. I walked over to the BB Wolf's Sausage Company, a quick service restaurant, to get a foot long hot dog. It was $10. 

I sat on a wall outside the Lego store enjoying my lunch while looking at one of my favorite things in this part of the Marketplace: Brickley the Lego dragon. 

 The one thing I still had on my agenda was to find something to take home to each of our grandchildren.

I was pretty sure I'd find something in the "World Of Disney" store. It's the largest merchandise location in Walt Disney World outside of the theme parks. 

At this point it began to rain, but not much more than a shower. It didn't last very long. A lot of people, like me, went into the World Of Disney to stay dry. 

This made moving around the store, difficult. I slowly made my way around the store looking for just the right gifts. 

But then I saw the line that was queued up at the registers. There was no way I was going to stand in line for 10-15 minutes to pay for whatever I picked out. I was done. I realized it was time to throw in the towel and limp my way back to my car.

I went out the store's back door heading  toward the Orange parking garage walking past a row of shops that were new since my last visit. Soon I was in back of the Coca Cola store walking past the Disney bus drop off area.

I finally made it back to the garage about 2 o'clock. What a relief it was to finally be in my car. I know I've mentioned it to excess in this post, but I can't tell you how physically exhausted I was. 

I drove back to our hotel and got there with enough time to take a nap before the Saturday night conference events. 

I was really disappointed that I hadn't had the ability to see all the places I wanted to during my visit to Disney Springs. But I must admit, I shouldn't have even gone. 

After the exhausting night at the Halloween party, I should have just stayed at the hotel and relaxed or gone to a movie. But I was in Orlando, I HAD to go do something at Disney. 

The day was a real wake up call for me in regard to my health. I realized that when I got home it was time to get do something about my physical condition. 

Let's jump forward from Saturday to Sunday and the first leg of our trip home. 

We left Orlando a little after noon and drove to Macon, GA where we spent Sunday night. 

We had a little bit of trouble finding it, due to an issue with my Kia's outdated GPS, but we stayed at a brand new very nice, Holiday Inn Express. If you ever have to stay in Macon, GA I highly recommend it. 

Btw, on the way out of Macon on Monday morning. We stopped at a WalMart so Paula could pick up a tray to put over her lap to make a small work area for her as we drove home. She had a lot of work to do and was focused on her Color Street group. 

So there you have the recap of our mid-August trip to Florida so Paula could attend her first Color Street conference. 

Although it wasn't the best Florida/ Disney experience I've ever had, for Paula, it was a very beneficial trip. She would end up having a very busy and successful last half of August for her business. I am so proud of how much success she has had. 

Thanks for taking the time to read this post series. I do apologize if this last post was a little whiny but I had to convey to you what I went through. I'm sure as time goes by, I will remember mostly the positive memories of the trip. 

Of course, the most exciting thing to come out of it all is that, it looks like next year we're going to Vegas AND Disneyland. Yeah!!!!