Publix

Disney Springs; 13,011 steps

The theme for the tenth day of our trip was shopping. Since we were staying at a Universal property, we decided to take the bus to the Universal CityWalk, where we picked up a few wands we regretted not buying at our day at the theme park a few years ago, and visited the iconic symbol of Universal Studios:

We didn’t spend too much time there, though, because our main destination for the day was Disney Springs, which is a huge outdoor mall that I think is supposed to make you think of Rodeo Drive:

I’m not sure what we were looking for exactly, but we did find an enormous Disney store and a huge Lego Store, both places that gave us the opportunity to buy a few more souvenirs.

There were lots of other cool shops, too, including Cherry Tree Lane, where I assumed I’d find a dress I’d want to buy (I didn’t), and where I didn’t expect to find Orange Bird!

There was also a pin trading store with some familiar faces:

We stopped to try the poutine at The Daily Poutine:

There were displays for Pride Month:

It was a fun place to visit!

We continued the theme of shopping at Publix to stock up on a few additional food supplies since we were running low…I really like that grocery store chain!

When we got back to the hotel, we headed to the Bayliner Diner to use our complimentary dinner tickets.

I had the Cabana Bay burger, which, if it hadn’t been so well done, would have been possibly the best burger I’ve ever had. Even being so well done, it was delicious, and that’s high praise coming from me, the person who likes her burger to arrive at the table still moo-ing!

Everyone else enjoyed their meals, too…Ladybug’s tuna looked especially amazing!

Up next: Our final day at Disney’s parks.

It’s been three years since our first real family summer vacation, so we were all very excited when things worked out for us to go on another road trip this year, this time to Florida. Actually, I was a little worried that the trip wouldn’t happen, because things fell apart Father’s Day weekend. We salvaged it, though, and even though it ended up being a slightly different trip than we were planning on taking, and we didn’t get to do everything we had originally planned, it ended being a far superior vacation than I had imagined!

We left very early in the morning from Bowling Green, KY, a week ago to make the drive to Orlando. I was kind of dreading the drive, partly because of how long I knew it would be, but mostly because the Smoky Mountains were an inevitable part of the trip, and we did not have a good experience driving through them three years ago. Everything was fine, though, and even I had to admit it was a pretty drive!

After the mountains, we had to drive through Georgia for what seemed like an eternity. Did you know that Georgia is an incredibly boring state to drive through? Except for Atlanta, which is not boring, but does make me rage-y, because the traffic is always terrible! We were all unbelievably happy to see the “Florida Welcomes You” sign, even though we still had a few hours left in the car before reaching our destination!

Before we arrived at the hotel, we stopped at a Publix grocery store to pick up a few supplies. I love checking out new grocery chains when we travel, and Publix did not disappoint…it might be my new favorite grocery store, and I wish we had one closer to home!

We did finally arrive at the hotel, the Cabana Bay Beach Resort on Universal property, what seemed like several days later, and I’m not going to lie…I cried when I walked into the lobby for the first time. It was just like I dreamed it. The resort has a 50s/60s theme, and it was perfect for me. There was nothing I didn’t love about it!