Christmas in Epcot

We are very blessed to have such great friends who invited us to attend the Candlelight Procession at Epcot with them.  Glenn and Delores are work campers with us in New York.  Delores spent 20 years working as a nurse in Disney so she generously shared her guest passes with us. We had such a great time with them and look forward to seeing them again while we are in Florida.

The show was beautiful, with Trace Adkins narrating the story of the Birth of Jesus, accompanied by an orchestra, living Christmas Tree and high school chorus.  It really puts you in the Christmas Spirit.




Before the show we took in the Living Seas with Nemo attraction as well as the world showcase and admired the beautiful flowers in the park. We were a little disappointed that there were not more Christmas decorations, but I guess like everywhere else, they have cut back.

 

After the show we rode the boat through the Mexico pavilion and then finished the night with photo ops, the Laser show and Fireworks.


 
I don’t think Ray & I will ever be too old for Disney and I leave you with this thought…..

Downtown Disney

One of our days off from work we decided to take a drive to Downtown Disney, as we had not been there in 20 years.  We also thought it would be nice to see it all decorated as well as to visit of few of the resorts to take in their decorations as well. 
 
Our first stop was at Raglands, a great Irish Pub where we had a cold beer and were entertained by a great Irish band and cloggers.

 
 

From there we walked to the Marketplace to take in some shops.  I especially enjoyed all the Lego structures, bringing back memories of making them with our kids.

And another one of my favorites, Winnie The Pooh.

We boarded a bus from the Marketplace, with our destination being The Contemporary Resort where we spent our honeymoon 37 years ago. With the exception of a new tower of rooms, not much had changed but we snapped some pictures of the Christmas Displays.



All aboard the monorail to check out the Grand Floridian Resort.

 
That was as much ground as we covered that day because we wanted to get back home to Mickey, but we will surely go back again before the end of the season.

Make New Friends, But Keep The Old

Since we have been here in Florida we have had the opportunity to make many new friends and to reconnect with old ones.  Wayne and Sue Dent arrived here in November to spend ten days at our park.   We met Wayne and Sue while spending our past two winters in Texas. While we hadn’t been here long ourselves, we managed to find several places to take them around the area and had a great time. 
We drove to Clermont to visit and tour Lake Ridge Winery.  We enjoyed  the tour and tasting and bought a few bottles too.

Our neighbors had told us if ever in Clermont, be sure to go to Donut King.  Well anyone who knows me, knows how much I love donuts so of course we followed the wine with a donut.  Best donut shop we have ever been to!

We also took a drive to the villages for some lunch and shopping and went to Harbor Lights Restaurant the night before Wayne and Sue left.  It was a small restaurant in Lake Panasofkee.  It didn’t look like much from the outside but it was very nice inside.  They only have buffet, no menu but the food was good as well as the atmosphere.


We have become friends with Sue & Charlie Scabbo who are guests here at the park. They are from Leroy, NY and Sue is a work camper at the first park we stayed in when we started full-timing.  This is their 8th winter in central Florida and are very familiar with the area.  We enjoy going to the villages with them and taking in dinner and entertainment on the weekends.

We are so fortunate to have such great friends, both old and new and look forward to many more great times with them while we are here.

Sunny Florida

Now that we have internet access again I am able to catch up on our blog.
We arrived at Paradise Oaks RV & Golf Resort in Bushnell, Florida on October 24th and found that the park was as nice as their website.  It is always tough to book a site, park unseen but we really lucked out.  We have a large corner lot in the back of the park, one of the few with a sidewalk. We have a view of the farm land behind the park complete with cows, donkeys and horses and breathtaking sunsets.


We took a few days to get situated and then started our jobs which we are really enjoying.  We work five days a week, mornings only, so we have plenty of time to ourselves.  Working in the park has also given us the opportunity to meet so many people in the park and have yet to meet one who is not friendly.  
It is hard to believe that we have been here almost two months already and have only had 2 days of rain and 3 days under 70 degrees. 
In our eyes this is the ideal location for us as it is centrally located and within an hour to Disney, Tampa, and so many other places to explore.  More blogs to follow on places we have been, and people we have met.