Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Trip Pictures: Friday

I took nearly 300 pictures this weekend; don't worry, I won't share them all.  I don't really know where to begin, so I think I'll start at the beginning.  Duh.  I took lots of random shots that should serve to help tell the story of our trip, hopefully you'll enjoy.

On Friday morning we left for the airport.  We parked our car in the long term parking lot, which, quite fittingly, backs up to the Mt. Vernon Trail.  The Mt. Vernon Trail is where Craig and I ran roughly 110 miles on seven of our long runs together. After awhile, running past the airport is kind of boring, but on Friday I found it rather appropriate that we would  be starting and ending our trip on the Mt. Vernon Trail.





One of my favorite things about living in the DC area is being able to see the Washington Monument, and often the Capitol building, from the airport.




As much as I enjoy seeing the monuments from the airport, I'm rarely happy to see the actual airplane we'll be riding.

Me and flying?  Eh, not a good combo.

Caroline's ready, though.


So is this guy.



Even Chip looks ready to roll.




But me?  



I put on a happy face, but I'd rather skip the whole air travel thing.


Just don't look down.




According to Caroline's watch, our flight took 1 hour and 53 minutes.  When we were safely on the ground, we hopped on the Disney Magical Express



and took a magical ride


to the Happiest Place on Earth.



A little while later, we arrived at our hotel, Port Orleans French Quarter, which, we'd later find out, proved to be the best hotel choice I could have made.  Never mind the fact that I basically did eenie-meenie-miney-mo to pick a resort. 




I was excited to see that the Christmas decorations were still adorning the lobby.





It's a good thing I took those pictures when I did, because on Saturday morning the decorations were gone. 

Our room was pretty standard, but it served its purpose.




The view from our window was quite lovely.


I didn't request a river view, but we got one.  I'm sure we paid handsomely for it, as well. ;)






Before we got too comfy in our new digs, we walked our travel weary bodies down to the bus stop and waited for a bus to take us to Downtown Disney for dinner.




We ate at Wolfgang Puck Express, where I ate the first of this weekend's many sandwiches. Roasted vegetable, some sort of cheese and arugula served with really good sweet potato fries.  I hardly ever eat restaurant fries, but those were definitely worth the splurge.


After dinner, we walked around Downtown Disney and enjoyed the nice, albeit windy, evening.



It didn't take long before we landed upon Caroline's favorite:  the Lego store.



This group of Lego people and dogs amazed me.





Such talent.


After much walking and a breezy boat ride back to our hotel, we settled down for the night, preparing for the busy Saturday awaiting us.

3 comments:

Grandma Who Feeds Kids Sugar said...

I love the picture of Caroline taken waiting for the bus to Downtown Disney. It's her profile from behind, if that makes sense.
It would (ahem) make a Very Nice gift for your mother, who gave birth to you without the benefit of pharmaceuticals OR prayer, to have a 5x7 real photo to frame.
:)
If you can run a marathon, surely you could get a photo developed.
Just sayin.

Sissy said...

I'm totally with you about the flying thing. Not my favorite.

Care to share why that hotel was the best one? Curious minds, over here.

Alison said...

Wow mom, that was subtle. ;) I'll get right on that, and by 'right on that' I mean, when I remember. Nah, I'll do it soonly. I like that picture too, I just wish I could fix her messy hair.

Sissy--the only reason it was such a good hotel is because it was within walking distance to the start line of the race. Buses came by to pick up race participants starting at 3 am on race day. After you rode the bus to the EPCOT parking lot, you then had to walk 20 minutes to the start line. By staying at that hotel, we were able to skip the 3 am bus ride + the 20 minute walk. We were able to sleep longer and not leave our hotel until 4:30. That's a whole lot better than 3am!

But, for non runners, it was also a great hotel because a boat could take you down the river behind the hotel to Downtown Disney.

I'd stay there again. As far as Disney resorts go, it was 'affordable' and the bed was really comfy. But, the pillows were horrible. :)