I heard about something new and different at Disney Springs this year for the holidays and one day after lunch, we checked it out.

It’s pretty cool, (undoubtedly) better at night, but also (undoubtedly) waaaaay more congested.   We chose to visit during the day.  Oh well, there had to be a compromise somewhere and this was it.

In an underutilized corner of an area formerly known as ‘Disney Village Marketplace’, a new Christmas themed area popped up.  A number of trees were creatively decorated using one of Disney’s character families.   As soon to be seen, they are excellent  photo spots for guests – selfies or otherwise.  Every tree had a themed backdrop along with themed ornaments.  Again – pretty  darn cool.  Here you go – lots of pretty pictures.

 

First tree seen along the trail was a ‘Parks’ tree – all four parks were represented.

• Magic Kingdom opened in 1971.
• Epcot (under a somewhat different name) opened in 1982.
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios (under a different name) opened in 1989.
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened in 1998.

Do you know their original names?  Answers are at the bottom.  🙂

Oops,  I concentrated on the Epcot ball and monorail and missed most of the other Park icons.  At least you can see the Magic Kingdom castle at the very top – sorry about that. 😦

I grouped the photos chronologically and indicated the year the movie, character or event debuted.  Two trees were dedicated to characters.

Minnie Mouse – first seen in 1928.

Pluto – first seen in 1930.

Snow White – released 1937.

I didn’t know exactly where to place this one but research indicated that the Evil Queen in Snow White is generally acknowledged as the first Villain, so here it goes.

Pinocchio – released 1940.

Fantasia – released 1940.

Dumbo – released 1941.

Cinderella – 1950.

Alice in Wonderland – released 1951.

Peter Pan – released 1953.

Sleeping Beauty – released 1959.

101 Dalmatians – released 1961.

Mary Poppins – released 1964.

The Jungle Book – released 1967.

Robin Hood – released 1973.

Beauty and The Beast – released 1991.

Toy Story – released 1995.

Mulan – released 1998.

The Haunted Mansion – While the parks have had this attraction for years, a movie was made based on that and released in 2003.

The Muppets – while created in 1976, Disney purchased Jim Henson’s company in 2004.

Tangled – 2010.

Star Wars – yes this movie was made much earlier (1977), however Disney purchased Lucasfilm in 2012.

Frozen – released 2013, like anyone could forget – just saying.  Who knew it would soar to its high popularity?  BTW – next Frozen film is being released November 2019.

So yes, I thought these were pretty cool.  I’m sure they were really impressive at night when they were lit up, but we didn’t want to face the crowds and my photos wouldn’t have been so clear.  I only had one thought……we should be selling these larger than normal ornaments!  I guess it’s the retailer in me.  🙂

They have lots and lots and lots of opportunities to create new trees in coming years without any duplication.  Can we say ‘The Lion King’ (my favorite Disney movie)?  And all of the characters in the Marvel universe – just saying.

 

And the answers:

• >Epcot opened as ‘Epcot Center’, changing in 1996 to only one word – Epcot.
• >Disney’s Hollywood Studios opened as Disney- MGM Studios and took the present name in 2008.

 

Until the next post.

 

Ginny

 

This will probably be one of my shortest posts ever!  We just heard about this new dining spot in Clermont and one day later, we stopped in for dinner on a ‘date night’.  While the location is nothing special, in a strip mall with a sports bar around the corner, I liked the atmosphere and décor inside.

When we first arrived there was a large group of ladies (at least 20), celebrating the holiday with a number of tables put together.  Yikes.  They had enjoyed their evening and were a bit noisy. Good news for us…….they were eating dessert and within a few minutes started to depart.  Whew!

Talking to our waitress, we discovered they had been open less than 2 months.  My only worry is that Clermont won’t embrace the concept and they won’t be able to stay open.  The above photo was taken after our dinner (on a Friday night) around 7:45pm.

Their goal is to deliver locally sourced food with integrity in an inviting and service oriented atmosphere.  That nugget of info was straight from their website.  This is a ‘farm to table’ concept, with them purchasing premium products from local grown farms, serving fresh and organic foods.

We started with wine – me a french white from Bordeaux and Eric a French red, Cote du Rhone.

We ordered a series of small plates to share and said they could come out as they were ready.  First to arrive was fried green tomatoes.  It was topped with boursin cheese, arugula and a sliver of red pepper.  The flavor combo with the toppings, really added to the overall dish.  Three slices were enough to share.

This was followed by pimento cheese hush puppies.  My first impression was huh, okay.  Then I dipped it into the accompanying sauce (tomato mustard) and it went up significantly.  Trust me-the sauce makes the dish.

The best small plate were these pulled pork tacos.  OMG!  The flavor was perfect.  They were topped by pickled red onions and thinly sliced radishes – delish!

The tacos tied with dessert for being the best selection.  We selected the cranberry bread pudding.  I’m a big fan of bread pudding and having the cranberries included was a first for me.  The orange sauce surrounding the pudding was good enough to lick the plate clean.  The pink, cranberry flavored whipped cream was good, but not outstanding.

They’re open for lunch (11am – 2:30pm) and dinner (5pm – 9:30pm, Friday & Saturday until 11pm).  Saturday and Sunday they add a few entres for their Brunch menu.  We will have to stop by one Sunday.

This is Clermont’s first casual fine dining experience and I hope it makes it.  The portions were spot-on, not too big but I’m afraid that too many Americans will not appreciate that fact.  If anyone comes to this part of Florida, please consider stopping for a meal.  If you don’t live nearby, think about visiting one of your own local places, especially if they source their food supply locally.

Until the next post.………

 

Ginny

 

 

 

I was getting ready to write my annual Christmas letter, sketching out the basic topics and checking my facts through this year’s posts.  Then it hit me – why am I recreating essentially the same thing for a Christmas letter when it already exists electronically via this blog!  Work smarter, not harder.

Sooooooo, this year, I sent a note with the blog’s address, inviting those on my Christmas list to check out this site if they want to see what the Dardens were doing in 2018.  It would have been so easy to go out, buy cards and write the blog address inside, but I have these card-making  supplies – a craft that ebbs and wanes in the Darden house.  I’ve made a few birthday cards and gift tags but the most use comes at Christmas when I create tags for Christmas gifts.  Now was the time to get them out and put them to use!

After a bit of trial & error and checking my collection of Pinterest photos and digging through (somewhat) organized supplies and finding some graphics on-line……………..I got a design I was happy with.  Oops, no photo of the back side.  That’s where the blog address is listed and a short message from us.

I may gain a few new followers (or not) and while some might consider making tags a chore, it was an easy way to wind down after a long day at work.  I had an assembly line going and worked in stages, completing them over a few nights.

 

So, here we are.  There will probably be another Christmas post, but since I mailed out the cards, I thought I better explain why people on my Christmas list got a blog address.

Let’s start at home.  We try to go for simple and classic.  My goal this year was to spend no money on decorations:  recycle, re-use and re-imagine (kind of like what I did with the tags  🙂 ).  Eric was responsible for the lights outside and I generally work inside.   He starts with lighting up the bushes.

Followed by hanging this garland around our front door.  I’ve got to share………we had this at our first house in downtown Orlando, so it has to be almost 20 years old – shockingly the lights still work and yep, that’s the original light strand.

Over the past weekend, I added this pine swag, since the wreath I normally hang, finally bit the dust and was retired.  We don’t have any pine trees in our yard so we had to go on a reconnaissance mission around the neighborhood and find some pine trees.  We were successful!  Looks like it needs a little ‘bling’ – probably a project for next weekend.

In the past we always purchased poinsettias, but this time a velvet bow around existing potted plants sufficed (remember: recycle, re-use and re-imagine is my theme this year).  Another fun fact………we have two of these pots and they were wedding presents, almost 25 years ago.  The green patina on the pot is real.  🙂

I wanted to add a touch of whimsy, so the rabbit was decked out with a velvet bow.

The last piece I layered in was this stack of three logs.  Everybody comments about them, I can’t believe it – so simple.  They cost nothing – unless you count Eric’s sweat a few months ago as he cut up the branch when he ‘played’ with his chainsaw.

Inside, we have a few trees, the first being my Grinch xmas.  I love the Grinch story and watched it every year growing up (and down here as an adult 🙂 ).  It wasn’t Christmas unless I saw the Grinch – then I bought the dvd so I can see it whenever I wanted (and now it can be streamed, ha!).  I have a small collection of Grinch plush and was just given the sign a few weeks ago – thanks Karen.  🙂

Another tree has turned into my ‘country’ tree.  And while it’s not a popular decorating theme, it’s what I grew up with.  Many of the ornaments were hand-made and it remains a collective from my past.

 

• Garfield’s creator (Jim Davis) was from Indiana and I have a signed copy of his first cartoon book.
• There’s a tribute to my university hidden amongst the branches.
• Most importantly, most of these were made when Grandma visited me and we did them together.

The last item of note is the paper chain.  A number of years ago, our young godchildren lived nearby and this was their contribution to the Christmas tree.  It was going to be a rough Christmas due to personal circumstances and decorating was not high on my list.   On December 24, Eric stopped by Home Depot to find a tree. He ended up getting it free since it was so late and the worker couldn’t believe he was there.  Our friends came over, strung popcorn into garlands, we cut cards and hung them on branches while the boys put together this paper chain from printer paper.  This was the only paper we could find around the house and it worked.

 

Our main tree sits in the library and has evolved into a small section of the original 9′ tree.  I like to think of it as ‘vintage’.  We (and by that I mean Eric) has to string lights around the tree, connect several strands together and find an extension cord to plug them in.  Every year he says we are going to buy a new one that is pre-lit.  And, we haven’t.  We place it on top of a nearby table.  Here’s my aunt posing for a photo.

There’s much, much more going on and here’s a bit more to the story…………..

Our black cat (seen in the last post in her ‘new’ chair) likes to climb – always has.  We have to strap the tree stand to the table and in years past had guide wires securing it to the bookcases behind it so it wouldn’t fall down.  We would come home and see her peeking out at us between the branches.  Aarrgghh!  Not only that, she’s no small kitty and the wire branches would be bent at an odd angle under her weight.  Most ornaments put on the tree now are break-proof or wired to a branch – which is a pain to do.   She still climbs it when she wants our attention.  She looks so innocent here  – not.

It’s not Christmas without baking cookies.  Yes, I should have made them from scratch, but I read about this mix, found it at our Lucky’s Grocery Market and baked them.  The selling point was no artificial ingredients or corn syrup.  OMG times 3!   They were excellent.  Eric does not like sweets and he keeps stealing them from the plate.  There won’t be any left for Santa – just saying.

No post from me would be complete without a few Disney Christmas photos and mine are mostly plant-based, found at Epcot.  Are there better photos, probably so, but here are a few quick shots.

The main entrance has Mickey and friends.

The back side has a few more Disney characters.

A little further inside the Park you can find more of the gang and they are followed by the snowman.

Even something as simple as a round, ball topiary turns into something special at Christmas.

The Epcot tree is the centerpiece where World Showcase meets Future World.

Some friends sent photos from Shanghai Disney, so I’m passing them along.

And this one from Disneyland, CA.

And a fitting end to this post – Magic Kingdom’s castle.

Until the next time.…….

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eric headed to visit his family during their deer season and I headed towards Jacksonville.  The reason for my road trip was two-fold:  our friends are moving into another house so I offered to ‘schlep’ boxes between their places AND I was asked to burn six more vacation days before the end of the year, so there you have  it.  Oh yeah, and maybe just maybe visit the Jacksonville bead show which was going on that weekend (more on that later).

Their new place is great.  We got there in the dark, so I couldn’t really appreciate the outside character……. until the next morning.  Wow!

I went out for a morning walk – secretly checking out their neighbors – turned around to see what I couldn’t the previous night and again…….wow.   I think it’s going to be  nicknamed it ‘the castle’.  🙂

And at least for this trip, I got to sleep in the upstairs turret.

They haven’t moved in, so I have a temporary bed in the upstairs front room that will probably be Connor’s – lucky guy.

Naturally with any journey, there’s food involved and this trip was no exception.  Since they haven’t moved in, cooking in their kitchen wasn’t really an option.   Karen was disappointed.   However, we (and by that I really mean me) had the most important thing……….

We had a variety of meals during my six days but there was one repeat – Donovan’s Irish Pub.

We shared several appetizers, starting with the pretzel bites.  Pretzels chunks, cheese dipping sauce and frying was involved = the trifecta, right?

Ugh!  I don’t know.  There was something about them that just didn’t appeal to my taste buds.  😦    I kept trying to like them – honestly.  But after a (small) handful, I didn’t want to waste any more calories on a dish I didn’t enjoy.

However, the fish fingers and ‘chips’ were spot on.

On the repeat visit, I added the fried green tomatoes – yum – and more fish fingers.

Tried a different twist on my beverage.  Yes, yes, it’s been around forever, but I’ve never ordered it since I started visiting microbreweries.   I’ll get it again.

I have two favorite eating places I always like to visit on my trips here.  We were able to squeeze in one of them.  Are there better places to eat – probably.  Do they have this place in Orlando – not that I’ve heard. LOVE their side dish of mac & cheese.  It’s just the right size, especially when you get half a sandwich (avocado & turkey was my choice this visit).

Moving to a new address you always want to check out close restaurants.  One afternoon we had a craving for pizza and stopped at a nearby pizza place – and ordered calzones.

And then, there was this amazing breakfast place, or put another way, a place we could order breakfast 24/7.  My nutty waffle had three different nuts involved which I hadn’t seen before.  Not rocket science putting the three nuts together, but I hadn’t seen it and waffles are pretty much the first thing I look for on a breakfast menu.  There was nothing left on my plate.

One evening, Rich made this amazing dinner…….but I forgot to take photos.  Sorry Rich.  It was so tasty, that I recreated (somewhat) the recipe later in the week when I got home.  I had to make do with a few substitutions and while my version was not as good as Rich’s, it was definitely a hit with me.  I’ll make it again, maybe some night when Eric says it’s my turn to cook.  I’m still waiting for that to happen, ha!

So the Jacksonville bead show, OMG! I had never attended one and while Karen said this was small, it was initially overwhelming.  Yep, forgot to take photos.  😦

It reminded me of my time in China when I would visit the pearl market.  Strands upon strands upon strands of beads were available in booths (tables here).  I bought some beads during my visits.  Ooops, okay, there was more than one visit.  Our ticket was good for both days and we wanted to get our money’s worth – just saying.  My last two mornings in town, we used our time to craft some jewelry.  I was able to complete this necklace – love it!  It’s long enough to wrap three times or as a lariat.  Two other necklaces were 90% finished but not ready to bring home and wear.

Sorry, Sis.  While this posting isn’t titled as another ‘ale trail’ subject, the next topic to be discussed are local Jacksonville breweries.  Go ahead, skip to the bottom and check out my last photo if you want.  First glance, the photo doesn’t appear to fit in with the blog, like maybe some random photo slipped in………….. but let me get there after the breweries.

 

Karen was a good sport and accompanied us on most of our excursions.  First brewery visited was Ancient City Brewing.

• Opened summer of 2015 and wanted to give a shout-out to America’s oldest city, which is the owners home town.
• Guiding principles are (1) their beer has to be the best and (2) they gotta have fun.
• Goal is to use funky flavors like fresh organic coconut & key lime which is representative of Florida.

Another visit was to Bog Brewing Co.

This building was originally a historic pharmacy with exposed brick walls inside, large bay windows and an inviting atmosphere, truly.  While some of those descriptions were found on the internet, the last three words (truly inviting atmosphere) should be underscored.  It just had a good, comfortable vibe.  It’s probably a good thing it’s not close to my house.  We enjoyed our time in this building (yes, drinking beer).  And, yes, they have my ‘baby’ pour.

• Opened in March 2016.
• Mantra is ‘Florida Beers x Old World Inspiration’.
• Serves classic beer styles, Belgian-inspired ales using Florida inspired seasons.  

LOVED their logo.  Notice the beer suds…………Florida!  That reason alone was the deciding factor to add a growler to my collection.  Yep, I’ve started collecting – thanks Adrienne.

Oh yeah, the second photo……….you get in my photos, you own the consequences – just saying.

One night, we let Karen off the hook and visited Old Coast Ales by ourselves………

………sharing a flight.  After a sip of each, we easily divided the pours.

It was hard to find many details on the internet about this place, but I picked up a few nuggets of info.

• Brew on an in-house 7 barrel system.
• Seems like they opened in 2017 (yes, kind of vague).
• Known for a variety of ales but their ‘Kookaburra Brown’ ale is infused with locally roasted coffee.
• They share a roofline with a taco business and I read numerous references to their deliciousness – they were closed when we arrived.

On my last night in Jacksonville, we stopped at Engine 15 Brewing Co.

They have two locations, one of which is in the heart of Jacksonville Beach – which was our destination.  Our selections this evening were:

While trying (kind of) to keep an open mind about Rich’s selection of Raspberry Peanut Butter Nutsack brown ale, it ended up being the better of the two beers we ordered.  A few details about this local brewery:

• Became a reality in 2008.
• They carry 50 tap lines from beers around the world while also serving a pub menu.
• The name?  One of the owners had a 1962 Ford Fire Engine.  I saw it in the parking lot when we left, but didn’t get the significance, until I got home.  Wow, that was too easy and I missed it.

With 50 beers, there was way too many photos involved, so here is a sampling of their offerings when I visited.

Earlier I referenced my last photo which seems to have no connection.  A few facts, (1) I drove a truck,  (2) My friends are moving into a new house and (3) Ideal time to add new furniture to new living arrangements.

While Karen perused local ads for furniture during my visit, one ad talked about some office chairs.  Upon meeting the folks at their storage unit(s), they said ‘Want to see if anything in our other unit interests you?’  Karen spied this chair, turned around and said………this is you.  After exchanging some bills, we loaded up my new chair.

My cat has now claimed it as hers.

Until the next post.…….

 

Ginny