Sorry about that. No drama, except surrounding my daughter’s car, which simultaneously need a new battery AND a new starter in the space of a month. We had planned our mutual birthday lunch at Art Smith’s and the day of, when I’d already taken the day off, my daughter ran a “quick errand” early in the morning, and her car would not start. Four hours later it was dragged to a nearby shop and was diagnosed with a dead starter. Starter replaced, yay! We had to cancel our lunch reservation and I burned a day off as an unpaid Uber getting her and her kid to their various destinations. We could not get another reservation for weeks, because yes, it’s that kind of place.
I finally scored one for last Thursday, so I took a half day Thursday and also Friday off, because fuck it, I have vacation days again.
Lunch was lovely. We ordered a bunch of appetizers and desserts. Our waiter was so ridiculously handsome, we decided he was waiting tables until a slot as a Disney Prince opens up in the parks. He also had a delightful but un-placeable accent – Italian-ish? My daughter suggested a Hallmark Movie with him as a hot exchange student as an alternative. He’s just filling time waiting tables, for sure, but he was a pleasant and very competent waiter. (Sorry, I’ll never be the kind of blogger who accosts a busy waiter for a picture for my blog.)
Desserts: I ordered the summer version of my beloved Shine Cake – the summer version is lemon and poppyseed with blueberry compote and ice cream. It was delicious. My daughter ordered the chocolate pecan pie. It also was delicious.
The Kid got the doughnuts. I know, doughnuts? But these are freshly made mini-doughnuts with powdered sugar and some sort of golden syrup for dipping. Apparently they are amazing, though her mother and I will never know. When her mom asked for a bite, The Kid hunched over the basket and growled like a dog. Apparently they are very, very good.
After we ate, The Kid (next nickname TBD) asked for a trip to Basin. I was already planning a stop there for shower bombs, so her wish was granted. We made the short but very, very hot slog from the restaurant to the store.
That store just smells so amazing! You walk in and take a deep breath, and have an uncontrollable urge to spend money. (Especially after a couple of moonshine margaritas at the aforementioned restaurant.) I got my bath bombs and The Kid filled a small bottle of bubble bath, and we wandered and sniffed things and decided what to get on our next visit. My daughter got a slice of the cute hedgehog soap for her kitchen sink. And of course it’s at Disney, so there’s a ton of handmade soaps for every character and Florida specific things like sea turtles and just everything you ever desired in bar soap form, and the staff is so nice and helpful and patient, it’s worth a visit.
It was INSANELY hot. Yes, I know it’s Florida, I’ve only been here over 40 years, but my car in the shade of the Disney Springs parking garage was 109 degrees on the dashboard thermometer when I returned to it. That’s 109 in the shade. That’s…extreme, even for here. I have a reservation for Epcot for Sunday, but the odds are 50-50 that I’ll keep it. We are in the “even the most crazy Disney addicts think twice” stage of the year.
I promise another update about things that are not Disney this weekend. I’m actually making progress on the life improvement stuff.