Our two week vacation, when we should have been in Florida, is at it’s half-way point. We’ve had a great time so far – started off in Northamptonshire with son and daughter-in-law to be Ash and Tiff, and Chip the dog, from there we got a few little “jobs” done – cat to the vets to get her vaccinations and claws clipped, restocking food supplies, over to Birmingham City Centre to get some things we needed, a nice stroll and picnic at Shugborough Hall, a trip to Llandudno and a bracing and long walk up The Great Orme, lunch with my folks (Tracey at the keyboard today) and a bit of relaxing in our sunny garden. So far so good.
We’ve been almost as busy as we would have been if we’d have been in Orlando. We’ve certainly eaten plenty, although definitely not as much as we would have done had we have been in our favourite place on earth! No mac and cheese, no hamburger spring rolls, no cheesecake or pretzels, churros or Mickey Bars, no Dole Whip, or frickles, or hot dogs from Casey’s Corner, but we definitely have had more treats than we would in an average week – because we’re on holiday right?? No sitting at Wine Bar George’s with a super cold glass of Sauvignon in my hand, but we definitely have had one or two in our garden which is an excellent alternative option and our safe and happy place. We haven’t yet been in Oga’s Cantina to try our first Yub Nub or Fuzzy Tauntaun, and nor has Rob had the chance to run around the new Star Wars attractions with a giant grin on his face.
Much like WDW, Universal and the general Orlando area, lots of attractions and restaurants and bars in the UK are still closed, or opening limited hours and/or with limited menu options. We are still watching lots of footage from the parks in Orlando and we know this was not the right time for us to go due to the restrictions in place and the fact that lots of restaurants, quick service locations and some attractions remain closed. We are not complaining about that, we understand the staffing issues, and that everyone needs to operate as best they can to keep staff and guests safe and they have to adhere to such rigid restrictions it’s not possible to operate any other way. We have encountered the same on our trips this week here in the UK – our favourite place to eat in Llandudno, Fortes, was closed when we went for morning coffee on Wednesday. Maybe they opened at lunch time, maybe they are not open at all, but we know for sure we missed our coffee and delicious cake and excellent service on our visit this week. Shugborough was the same, the National Trust properties are operating as best they can within the guidelines. You can have a nice walk in lovely grounds, you can usually get a cuppa and cake and somewhere to sit (usually outside) but there is no access to the houses and buildings. We are not 100% sure why this is – museums are open in the UK with restricted numbers, so we would assume National Trust properties would be the same – it’s potentially a cost versus staffing issue we imagine, in that they cannot afford to bring more staff in to cover the houses when their income is severely reduced. Tricky times indeed, but our visit to Shugborough was absolutely lovely and we had a fantastic few hours there, as did we in Llandudno. We called at Betws-y-Coed on the way back for a little walk and a mooch round a lovely delicatessen we like. We bought some beer mustard and some Katsu Curry dipping sauce – as you do!
We have found an even greater appreciation of the great outdoors and our lovely green spaces and gardens and beaches and coastlines and hills and parks and valleys. Shugborough, Llandudno and Birmingham were strangely and eerily quiet compared to the usual crowd levels we would see at this time of year. Much like Orlando and the parks. Obviously the theme parks are restricting the numbers going in and new park reservations systems are in place, and it’s unclear to us whether people are not going because they are worried, or are not going because they think the experience will be not as good as it usually is (and for the cost involved as it’s not cheap to visit WDW) and that feeds into what’s happening in the parks – are lots of the restaurants etc closed because there’s not enough of a crowd level to warrant them opening? But it’s like a vicious circle effect – because people may not go back into the parks if they can see that there’s still not enough open to warrant spending their hard earned cash. It’s a tricky dilemma to balance – but hopefully in coming months as confidence increases and people return, and the parks are able to increase their attendance levels, it will start to return to something like normal. We sincerely hope so, in fact we are pretty much relying on that thought having moved our trip to 2021. We are definitely hoping for a much more normal trip than we would have had this year.
The weather has been pretty decent in the UK during Spring and Summer, sunny, warm and strange sudden torrential showers – much like Florida, although not as intense with heat or rainfall. It was super warm yesterday and today it is warm but grey – certainly feels humid, but not as humid as Orlando, and I know this because my hair is not as wide as it is long! I wear a lot of caps in Orlando – mostly to keep the hair under control.
A decent first week of our holiday for sure. Fresh air, walking, yummy food, seeing family and relaxing. There’s something fantastic about getting up when you wake up, eating when you’re hungry and going to bed when you’re tired – things that you don’t normally achieve in every day life as we’re all restricted by work lunch hours, or work starting hours, and domestic chores so it feels decadent to be pleasing ourselves a bit.
We’ve documented some of our visits in this week’s vlog so do pop over to our You Tube channel to see us in action. We’ve spent today cleaning the house ready for our house and cat sitter to arrive – as we’re off on the second leg of our adventure in the morning. We’re heading to the North Lincolnshire/South Yorkshire border to visit relatives and take in some sites around that area. We’re looking forward to going to York, as neither of us has been there since we were kids. New places to explore and new food to eat! Good company and catching up just what holiday’s are about.
2020 continues to conspire against our planned Orlando visit – as a tropical storm/hurricane Isaias is due to land in South Florida on Saturday. That’s smack bang in the middle of what would have been our trip. It doesn’t look like the centre of the storm will make landfall but it is creeping up the East coast of Florida and we trust all of our friends and Florida family stay safe and that the path of the storm moves it further out to sea and further away from the land. Hurricanes and tropical storms are always a possibility during the summer months in Florida and we have been in several! You always have to adapt and move plans around when needed and we’ve all become pretty good at that this year!
Stay safe this week people, hope life gets a bit more normal each week as the year goes on, and in the mean time, go out make the best of what we’re currently working with. Explore, laugh, live and enjoy.
See you next week after our trip up North!
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