I always struggle with jet-lag when travelling west and this time was no different. While I seemed to have slept ok I still woke up feeling groggy. To allow everyone time to get over the lag we had decided to have a lazy(ish) day today.
We started by going out for a late breakfast at Perkins, a family favourite, where I had the Tremendous Twelve which is a mini cooked breakfast along with some pancakes. Alex, meanwhile was wanted to keep his calorie intake down so stuck to just pancakes which he proceeded to smother with maple syrup! Personally, I have already decided that the diet is a right-off while we are here so have put that to the back of my mind and will worry about the damage inflicted on my return.
While we will be eating out most meals (see what I mean about the diet?) we still do need some basics such as milk for the cups of tea so it was off to the local Wallmart. The place is just huge and the grocery section is tiny in comparison to the other sections dedicated to goods from clothes to car tyres. What surprised me was that things that I consider to be the epitome of Americana, such as Kelloggs Frosties weren’t even called that. Here they were “Frosted Flakes” something that I would consider to be a generic term for Frosties!
After lunch the boys wanted to stay around the villa but Helen and I knew that if we did so we would fall asleep so we left them home while we went out clothes shopping. Clothes are generally cheaper here than the UK and then even cheaper at the outlets of which there are a number of in and around Orlando. So, for example, I was able to pick up a pair of Lee jeans for less than half the equivalent UK price. This kept us busy for the afternoon.
We had chosen to go to Downtown Disney for the evening and a meal. In the past it had always seemed an attractive place to be but is in a state of flux right now as a whole load of new buildings are being erected and what was once an appealing open space is now a narrow walkway hemmed in by green fencing hiding the building work. Surprisingly Disney are also building a multi-story car park, the first one I have ever seen on the plot, presumably to accommodate more cars. Universal have multi-story car parks and they are soulless places so it will be interesting to see what the Disney take on them will be.
Finally a nice meal at the House of Blues before coming back to the villa to collapse into bed!