Trip Report Blisters! Why Did it Have to be Blisters?! A 2019 Flower and Garden Report COMPLETED

Hello Disney Friends! Welcome to the "Trip Report That Almost Wasn't Posted". More on that in a minute. Now for the details:



Who: Me @LisaBelle and my sister, Tina @TangledTina
What: Tina's 50th Birthday Celebration
When: May 28-June 2, 2019
Where: The Contemporary Resort

How this trip came to be:
In 2016 Tina and I celebrated my 50th birthday by running the runDisney Princess 5k. You can read that trip report here. We knew that we wanted to take a sister's trip for Tina's birthday, but she hadn't decided what she wanted to do. We considered sitting on the beach, a cruise and visiting a new city. Then in July of 2018 our families went on a joint vacation to WDW. That TR is here. That trip had lots of bumps in the road and left Tina wanting another dose of Disney magic. In November of 2018 she called me up to discuss her birthday trip. The conversation went something like this: Tina: How would you feel about spending my birthday trip at Walt Disney World? Me: I'm calling to book it right now!

Because we were experiencing Flower and Garden for the first time we wanted to stay at an Epcot resort. Tina chose the Beach Club and we spent the winter months dreaming of lounging at Stormalong Bay and walking into Epcot via the International Gateway.




Fast forward to about 3 weeks prior to our trip. I received a phone call from Disney saying that they were overbooked at Beach Club and we needed to switch resorts . Because of the inconvenience they would discount the price on a monorail resort! After some discussion we decided on the Contemporary. We'd stayed there with our families in July, but we had stayed in one of the Garden Wing buildings. It was a long walk to both the Contempo Cafe and the monorail so this time we wanted to stay in the main building. They were able to accommodate that request so we booked it.

Why this TR almost wasn't posted....
As soon as Tina and I returned from our WDW trip we needed to "finalize" (read completely plan and book ) our next family adventure- a 2 week drive from Ohio to Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota. With those plans made I spent June uploading all of my WDW photos, dealt with Disney concerning Memory Maker issues and finally got those pictures uploaded. Our family vacation took up 2 weeks in July and then it was time for professional development and preparing my classroom for back to school! No worries, I can write my TR on weekends for sure over Thanksgiving and Christmas break, right?! This school year has been crazy busy and suddenly March rolled around and I still hadn't started my TR. Too late now I thought. Flower and Garden 2020 had begun and I felt like no one would want to read about last year's festival when they could real about this year's offerings. Then COVID 19 came along and closed down our beloved Disney World ! With that I decided that now might be a good time to finally post this TR!

So without further ado, here we goooooo!

Monday, May 27, 2019
Today was Memorial Day and my family did our usual cookout while I finished laundry and packing. We were flying out of the Cincinnati airport early Tuesday morning. I live closer to the airport so we decided that Tina would spend the night at my house to make the morning less rushed. Tina sent me this photo as she was packing. Tina had planned to arrive at my house in the evening, but due to laundry/packing issues she was running behind. Then the weather near her turned ugly which delayed her even more. There were actually tornadoes in Dayton that night. Luckily, they weren't close to Tina's home.



Tina finally arrived at my house between 11:30pm and midnight. We double checked our Magic Bands, plane check-in, flight time, etc. As we were discussing our outfits for the next day Tina asked my opinion on which shoes she should wear. She had bought a new pair of shoes that hadn't been broken in yet. They looked great with her outfit and they felt so comfortable when she tried them on that we felt like they should probably be okay. Remember this conversation.

Tuesday, May 28, 2019
Our flight was scheuled to depart at 8am. Because I don't like to be rushed I wanted to be at the airport by 6. This meant we needed to leave my house by 5:30. We woke up about 4:30am. We got dressed, drank a quick cup of coffee and were on the road to the airport by 5:35am. We parked, took the shuttle to the terminal, checked our bags and had made it through security by 6:35. On the way to the gate I sent this text to my family, all of whom were still sound asleep back home.



Tina and I took some airport pictures to pass the time until we could board the plane.



Time passed quickly and by 7:45 we were on the plane!



I channeled my inner J from @riverside's reports and read the safety instructions while we waited for takeoff.



We left the gate at 7:59. During the flight we looked over the Flower and Garden menus to prioritize our food choices for the afternoon. Our original plan was to drop off our bags and hop on the monorail to Epcot. During the flight Tina suggested that we drop off our bags and pop into the MK for a few photos and 1 ride before heading to Epcot. MK is always our first park, so I was excited to keep this tradition alive. Besides, who says no to MK?! Checking our progress.



Our flight was uneventful and we landed at 9:50, which was about 20 minutes ahead of schedule! We used the restroom and jumped in line for Starbucks. We both got a caramel macchiato to drink on the Magical Express.



We checked in with Magical Express and we were first in our line.



We boarded the ME at 10:35 and pulled out of the airport at 10:43.





At 10:47 we received our room ready text. We were super excited about this because we would be able to freshen up a bit before heading to MK!



At 11:07 we drove under the sign and felt like our vacation had officially begun!



Up next: The Contemporary

 

[LisaBelle]

June 1, 2019 continued...

After our photo shoot in France we made a beeline for Les Halles! I know that we ordered lobster bisque, a croissant and a beignet. We may have ordered something else as well, but for some reason I only have a blurry photo of the beignet.



I know we had a difficult time finding a seat. I think we were distracted by a bird that was flying around inside! The lighting wasn't great and we were pretty hungry, so I'm guessing we started to eat before I remembered to take a pic. The lobster bisque was delicious. The beignet was okay. I wanted to like it more. We wanted to save some room for Flower and Garden food, so Tina took her croissant with her. I think she ended up bringing it all the way home and finally ate it the day after our trip.

I couldn't resist taking this picture!



We continued our walk around World Showcase and I finally committed to a new pair of ears!



I guess I was confused about when we found the PP photographer in Italy, because this is one of the PP pics we had taken there. There were about 5 of them, but they were all basically the same picture except that one was a close up and 2 of them were off center. After these pics showed up in our MDE account, we wished we'd stood in another spot where there were fewer people.




We did some shopping along the way. We'd wanted to try a few more F & G foods, but I don't think we did.

I loved these banners.



We made a stop in Karamell Kuche for more caramel corn and a caramel apple cookie that I'd promised to bring home for my daughter, Allie.



Tina decided she wanted a beer and we wanted to try the potato pancakes from the F & G booth in Germany. We decided to divide and conquer. She got in line for the beer. I'm not sure what she got for herself, but she got my favorite Schofferhofer Grapefruit beer for me. I got the potato pancake and grabbed a table for us. This ended up being pretty meh. One of our least favorite items from F & G.



The beer line or lines (she may have had to queue up in two different spots) were super slow and it was boiling. By the time Tina got to the table she was super hot and her feet were hurting. We weren't sure we were going to be on time for our Mickey and Minnie FP in MK, so we sat and looked at our other FP options. We were having a hard time finding a different FP because of our dinner ADR. I can't even remember what FP we ended up choosing, but I know we bumped our dinner ADR from 4:00pm to 9:00pm. We were both hot and a little bit grumpy on our walk to the monorail. We were able to cool down a bit on the monorail. We arrived at the MK around 3:30 and realized that we probably would have made it to our FP on time if we hadn't sat and debated about what to do . I was a bit disappointed because I'd never met Mickey and Minnie at Town Hall and this was my only chance to meet them in their birthday costumes. I think that was the only new attraction that we missed out on during the trip so I really didn't have much to be disappointed about.

I think we realized that we were a bit dehydrated, so we grabbed a water from a cart and we watched the end of the Festival of Fantasy parade. I love Maleficent!



So close to a perfect shot of her breathing fire!



Then we headed to 7DMT for our FP. I really like this on-ride photo.



This one not so much!


Seeing this photo reminded me that the people sharing our mine cart were in a huge family group. I think they'd been waiting standby and they had never been on 7DMT before. They were really excited and a bit nervous, too. They seemed to enjoy the ride, but I did hear the young lady say, "That was it? It was short for how long we waited."

From there we headed to the other end of Fantasyland to ride It's a Small World. For once, I managed to get some good pictures on the ride.


















Up next: We visit the Country Bears.

 

[LisaBelle]

June 1, 2019 continued....

The sun was beating down on us so we decided to do something we hadn't done in years. We went to watch the Country Bears! This show was just what we needed. The air conditioning was heavenly and the show is lighthearted and fun. I can't believe it had been so long since we'd done this. We won't wait that long for a return visit.











After our visit with the Country Bears it was time for our last ride on BTMR. I LOVE this ride so much!



Earlier in the week we'd completed one of the Pirate adventure maps. We decided to do another one. We chose a new map and headed out to begin a new adventure. We were walking along and who should we see but Captain Jack Sparrow! He was one of the THE BEST face characters I've seen! He was spot on! We stood and watched him for a few minutes. Then he headed back to the adventure shop where we got the maps. We followed him back over there and then headed back out on our adventure.









Following the clues...







This was fun and we earned some old school paper FPs for Pirates of the Caribbean for completing our adventure.

We were getting hungry and our dinner ADR wasn't until 9:00pm, so we headed to Casey's Corner for one of our favorite snacks-corn dog nuggets. YUM!





We needed a break and it looked as if it was going to POUR so we headed back to the Contemporary. It was a complete downpour for a few minutes and then we saw a beautiful rainbow appear.





Up next: Dinner

 

[LisaBelle]

June 1, 2019 continued...

I forgot to mention that before we headed out that morning I had helped Tina put moleskin on her toes to try to alleviate some pain from her blisters. I think it was around this time when she took off her shoes and we realized that I'd applied some of the moleskin a bit too tight and one of her toes was very swollen and purple . I was terrified that I'd irreparably damaged her toe! Luckily, it returned to normal a few minutes after we removed the moleskin! We changed clothes and relaxed for just a bit then headed back to MK to do some shopping on Main Street before HEA and dinner. I committed to another pair of ears. They are themed to It's a Small World and they are now my favorite pair of ears. They make me so happy!

Our dinner was another first for us, the Plaza! We checked in a few minutes early and they told us they were running behind. They took my cell phone number and said they'd text me and I would have 15 minutes to get back to the check in stand. We stayed close by and started to watch HEA.



We were hoping we'd get to see the whole thing before we got called to our table, but we got called about 5 minutes into the show. We delayed a couple minutes to catch just a bit more of the show and then headed in to eat.

I knew the Plaza was small, but I had no idea how tiny it is! I loved it!





We were seated in this little area near the window. We could still see some of HEA through the window.




Our server Michael came to take our order. He was our least favorite server of our whole trip . He was impatient and a bit snooty! We felt like he was talking down to us. We felt rushed to make decisions and we were almost scared of him! Anywho, we both ordered the Sangria. So yummy!



Here are some not so great pics of the menu.





Based on the recommendation of Taylor, the CM who'd helped us with our FPs a few nights earlier, we both ordered the strip steak. I started to cut my steak before I took a picture, so I shoved it back together and snapped a pic! The steak was good, but not great. The broccoli and baked potato were good.



Dessert was my favorite part of the meal. I ordered the butterscotch bread pudding and Tina ordered the carrot cake. I was nervous because after I ordered it Michael said they might be out of it . A few minutes later he returned and told me that I'd gotten the last piece! This was the only time I liked him during our entire meal! The butterscotch bread pudding was out of this world. I would go back just for this dessert.



Tina enjoyed the carrot cake.



There was only one family left when we headed out. I wanted a picture of this area without all the people in it.



Time was running short. Luckily we had our paper FP for Pirates so we headed over there.



We had time for one last ride, so we chose Haunted Mansion. We still hadn't learned where the camera was located !



When we exited the ride the park was closed. We made the slow sad walk back to Main Street. I love MK at night. The lights in the trees always make it seem so magical. The park was already fairly empty so we were able to soak it all in.



One last picture of my beautiful castle!



Delaying as much as we could, we took one last selfie.



We made a few last minute purchases at the Emporium and said See Ya Real Soon to the Magic Kingdom . As always I had tears in my eyes as we headed out. Tina's feet were done so we chose to ride the monorail back to the Contemporary.





And with that, our last park day came to an end. We packed up and headed to bed. Tomorrow we were heading to Disney Springs and one of our most highly anticipated ADRs!

Up next: Disney Springs

 

[LisaBelle]

June 2, 2019

I woke up sad knowing that our time at Disney was coming way too quickly to an end. I tried not to be too sad because today we were heading to Disney Springs! In all my trips to Disney I had never there! We visited Downtown Disney only once back in 2008. We always talk about going, especially because there are several restaurants I've wanted to try, but nap, pool and park time always win out. Eating at Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' was one of my requests for this trip and today was finally the day! The plan was to check in for our flight, head to Disney Springs, do some shopping, eat at Homecomin' and head back to the resort to catch the Tragical Express .

We got ready to go and finished our packing. We checked our bags for our flight and headed to the Contempo Cafe for breakfast. We had the bounty platter.



Not sure if we shared one or if we each got our own. I think we both got our own because at some point that morning we realized that we still had 5 quick service meals and 2 snacks to use up ! This was only our second time using the Dining Plan. I have no idea how we still had snack credits left because we were using those on all of our F & G food. Because of all the F & G food and big table service meals we'd ended up sharing the few quick service meals we ate. We didn't want to lose the money on those meals and that shaped part of our experience at Disney Springs.

We said a sad goodbye to our room, took a few last pictures of the Contemporary, and left our carry-ons with Bell Services.














We'd talked about taking a Minnie Van to DS but ended up taking a cab because a CM at the resort told us it would be less expensive. Finally at Disney Springs! Love this guy!



Today was light on pictures, so I am not positive about the sequence of events. I think we popped into World of Disney to get an idea of how to allocate our shopping time and then headed to Homecomin'.

Up next: Homecomin'

 

[LisaBelle]

June 2, 2019 continued...

We checked in and were told they were running a bit behind. I amused myself by taking an overload of Homecomin' pictures!




Tina rested her tired feet while we waited.











At last (really not too long of a wait, maybe 15 minutes) we were shown to our table! Now for some pictures of the inside. I really liked the vibe of the place.









We ordered drinks as we perused the menu. A Blueberry Mimosa for me and a Florida Crush? for Tina. No notes, so I took a guess based on menu descriptions! We both enjoyed our choice.



After much deliberation we ordered our meals. Tina had shrimp with roasted sweet potatoes and cole slaw. I think the shrimp had some type of tropical flavor to them, but I couldn't find them on the current menu. I am pretty sure she loved this!



I had the fried chicken and donuts with Momma's mac and cheese! This was delicious. I would eat that mac and cheese all day long! The fried chicken and donuts were also delicious, but for me the mac and cheese was the star!



We were stuffed, but since dessert came with our meals we both ordered the Hummingbird Cake to go. Sorry, no photo because it didn't look very pretty by the time we ended up eating it at the airport!

After we ate we went back to World of Disney. I bought this tank top, notepad and magnetic clips.







Tina bought several items as well, but I don't have pics of those! I knew that you could convert quick service credits to snack credits, so we loaded up on candy and Mickey crispy rice treats. When we got to the cash register we learned that we could only do that a food service location like Goofy's Candy Co. By now we were running short on time to get back for the TE. So Tina moved as quickly as her little blistered feet would carry her to Goofy's. I went to check on wait time for a taxi. Tina made our snack purchases and met me back at the taxi.

When we got back to the Contemporary I think we made some last minute purchases, refilled our mugs for the ride to the airport and picked up our carry-ons from Bell Services. We walked out to where we had to catch the TE. Tina kept an eye on our stuff while I used the restroom, then we traded and she went in to use the restroom and take a few last second photos. While she was gone I discovered that my refillable mug was missing. I was so upset that I almost cried because I was certain that I did not have time to go buy another and get back in time for the TE. I called Tina and she was on her way to meet me. She said she'd check Bell Services to see if I'd left it there. The TE pulled in just then so I told her to hurry! Tina saved the day because Bell Services had my mug! They'd dumped out my drink, which was a bummer because I was thirsty, but at least I had my mug! There were only a few people boarding the TE so we sat separately because we were both trying to reorganize all of last minute purchases in our carry-ons.

Don't make me leave! How can a bus that brings so much joy on arrival day suck all of the joy right out of you on departure day?!



Goodbye Contemporary!



As always, a few tears trickled down my face as we left. Luckily our TE driver, Harold was amazing and helped to make our departure a bit easier. He was very funny! As we pulled out of the Contemporary Harold welcomed us aboard and told us that our cruising speed was 70mph and our traveling altitude was 12 inches off the ground! He also told us, "The Magical Express is equipped with a restroom. It is located in the back next to the Starbucks machine." He paused a moment and said, "How many of you looked?!" Um, me, !

Our ride to the airport was uneventful. Security took a while and the gate was packed! After another flight boarded we were able to find 2 seats together. We decided to drown our sorrows in our Hummingbird Cake. It was very yummy, but very rich. Neither of us were able to finish it and we ended up throwing away the rest. We had a bit of turbulence on the flight home. I did not like that as I am a very nervous flyer! We watched part of Mary Poppins Returns to take my mind off the plane and then we were back in Cincinnati.

Up next: Final thoughts

 

[LisaBelle]

June 2, 2019 continued...

Here are some of the things I brought home with me! I love this mug! I am very particular about mugs, especially the way the handle fits in my hand and this one is almost perfect.





A new shirt for my son!



A new lightweight hoodie for me. Tina got one, too so we can be twins.


Tina did a great job converting our quick service meals into snack credits. Here is a sampling of what she got. Yummy! In the end I was glad we had quite a few Disney snacks to bring home because it helped ease the Disney Blues just a bit.



Allie loved her cookie from Karamell Kuche! I also got her a magnetic notepad that said, "Best Day Ever!" She loves Rapunzel and is a big list maker so it was a perfect choice for her.



Tina hung out and chatted with my family for a bit, but she still had an hour left in her journey, so she grabbed a diet Coke for the road and we hugged goodbye! Another sister's trip was in the books!


Final Thoughts:

This was a great trip! We had many new experiences and overall we had very few disappointments.

Disappointments:
Our last minute switch from Beach Club to the Contemporary. Tina really wanted to stay at the Beach Club and it was her birthday trip so having Disney overbook and be forced to switch resorts was a bummer. I'm glad we got to visit Beach Club and we definitely want to stay there in the future.

We had been looking forward to exploring the Boardwalk area and being able to walk into Epcot. We hope to be able to do this on a future trip.

I was sad that we missed our FP to meet Mickey and Minnie in their birthday costumes.

Blisters! Poor Tina was such a trooper! I don't know how she managed to do all that walking with her blistered feet. I know that if it had been me I would have done a lot more complaining and I would probably have needed more breaks.

The trip wasn't long enough! But is it ever really long enough?


Highlights:

A trip with just my sister! It was great to get away and have quality time together. Life keeps us busy and we don't always have as much time together as we would like, so this opportunity was amazing. We travel well together and with the exception of one or two grumpy moments brought on by blisters, heat or exhaustion we had a great time.

Staying at the Contemporary worked out well because we loved being able to walk to MK. This location allowed us to pop into MK on our arrival day and keep up our tradition of MK being our first park of every trip. I enjoyed watching HEA from the observation area. Our room had a great view of the pool and the water parade. Our relaxing evening on the balcony was lovely.

Meeting Gaston and Chewbacca! Two of the best character interactions ever!

The Fireworks Dessert Party was fun. I enjoyed being able to try the cheeseburger spring rolls and Ooey Gooey Toffee Cake. It is expensive, but I would do it again in the future to celebrate a special occasion. Next time I would make sure to head to the viewing area a bit earlier to get an unobstructed view.

The Plaza, Via Napoli and Chef Art Smith's Homecomin' were new dining experiences that I would love to do again.

Experiencing Flower and Garden was a Disney dream come true. I loved trying all of the new foods and the flowers were spectacular. Violet lemonade is a new favorite! I hope that I am able to visit F & G again in the future. Definitely makes me want to visit Food and Wine.

The After Hours event at the MK was fantastic! We LOVED this event and I will definitely do it again in the future (depending on what 'the future' will now look like). We were blessed with great weather. It felt like we had the parks to ourselves. I loved that we could walk up and they would load us and start the ride without having to wait for the ride to fill up. The "free" snacks added an extra element of fun for me. Wonderful memories for sure!

I'm very happy that I decided to write this delayed trip report. It helped bring some fun to a dark time for us all. I am happy to see that Disney will be up and running again soon. I am sad to think that our future Disney trips will look and probably feel very different.

My daughter Allie wants to celebrate her 21st birthday at Disney next May. Once we have reservations I will be back with a pre-trip!

I am so thankful to have found these forums. I never thought I'd be doing something like this, but sharing trip reports brings me so much joy. Thanks for following along and being my Disney Friends.

 

[Swissmiss]

Absolutely loved your sister trip report!

 

[LisaBelle]

Absolutely loved your sister trip report!

Thanks so much! It was great to re-live the trip!

 

[riverside]

Thank you for doing this!! It was super enjoyable & so much fun--it's helped me get through some dark days for sure!! I look forward to your next one!!

 

[MickeyCB]

Thank you for sharing your trip. It was so much fun to follow along and especially to see two sisters enjoy each others company so much!

 

[LisaBelle]

Thank you for doing this!! It was super enjoyable & so much fun--it's helped me get through some dark days for sure!! I look forward to your next one!!

Thanks! I'm so glad that you enjoyed it! It provided an escape from the real world for me as well.

 

[LisaBelle]

Thank you for sharing your trip. It was so much fun to follow along and especially to see two sisters enjoy each others company so much!

Thanks for reading! Tina and I lucky because we have always been close. Just for fun here are a couple of throwback photos!

 

[LisaBelle]

Bonus Content!

When I started this TR I mentioned that as soon as we returned from Disney Tina and I had to finish planning our July 2019 family vacation. @Songbird76 asked if I was going to write a TR for that trip. At that point I wasn't sure, but I decided why not? So here is an abbreviated TR for that trip. It has nothing to do with Disney, so I won't be insulted if you check out now. For those of you who are interested, welcome aboard!

Our family road trip took place from July 14-23, 2019. Our journey took us through 10 states. We all like the Food Network show Diners, Drive Ins and Dives, so we thought it would be fun to visit some of the restaurants profiled on the show as we traveled.

July 14, 2019

Tina's family lives about an hour away from us. Meeting at one house or the other took someone in the wrong direction, so we decided to meet for lunch in Indianapolis, Indiana and begin our journey there. We ate at a small German restaurant called Cafe Heidelberg. We feasted on various types of German wurst, potato salad and pastries. We also enjoyed exploring the gift shop.






After lunch we climbed into our vehicles and drove to St. Louis, Missouri. We checked into the hotel and then headed to the Hi-Pointe Drive In for dinner.



The cousins- my nephew S, my daughter Allie (our Uno Biddie), and my son Adam are ready to eat.



This was one of our favorite meals of the trip.



Most of the crew ordered burgers. Adam and Allie both had create your own burgers. They loved them!





I ordered the salmon BLT. It was one of the top 2 things I ate the entire trip!



We were all stuffed, but Allie had read about a place called the The Baked Bear where you can create custom ice cream sandwiches. You choose your top and bottom from a variety of cookies or brownies. Then you choose your ice cream and toppings. You can even have your ice cream sandwich pressed to warm it up, creating a melty gooeyness. They offer samples of the ice cream to help you make your decision. This is my creation. I chose Gooey Butter Cake Cookies, Bear Batter ice cream and sprinkles. I loved the bright blue color of the Bear Batter ice cream and the sample was fine, but I ended up getting tired of the flavor after a few bites. I loved the cookie, though. Allie chose a Blackberry Crumble ice cream and it was phenomenal! I wished I'd chosen that instead!



Sweet tooth satisfied, we waddled back to the hotel and went to bed.


Up next: The St. Louis Gateway Arch

 

[Swissmiss]

I love how they did a mural with the castle on the hilltop like in Heidelberg (one of the very few places I’ve been to in Germany)

 

[TheMouseFan]

Thank you for sharing your Disney trip with us! I am missing it so much and your report helped! We were supposed to be attending the Villains After Hours event this Friday, so I was kind of sad seeing your After Hours pictures and seeing some of what we will be missing! I can't wait to read about the rest of your summer 2019 trip! I hope Cincinnati is faring better than Columbus and Dayton with the protests! Ours started out peaceful, but escalated quickly!

 

[LisaBelle]

I love how they did a mural with the castle on the hilltop like in Heidelberg (one of the very few places I’ve been to in Germany)

I loved the mural. It's a fun place with lots of kitschy German items. The food is also very good.

Thank you for sharing your Disney trip with us! I am missing it so much and your report helped! We were supposed to be attending the Villains After Hours event this Friday, so I was kind of sad seeing your After Hours pictures and seeing some of what we will be missing! I can't wait to read about the rest of your summer 2019 trip! I hope Cincinnati is faring better than Columbus and Dayton with the protests! Ours started out peaceful, but escalated quickly!

I'm so glad you're enjoying the reports! I'm so sorry that you are missing your Villains After Hours event ! I hope you will be able to do an after hours event in the future. Cincinnati is in the same boat as far as the protests are concerned.

 

[LisaBelle]

July 15, 2019

The next morning we checked out of the hotel and arrived at the St. Louis Gateway Arch around 10:30am.



Not the best picture of me, but Tina looks pretty good. It was raining, but we needed a sister selfie!



Part of our group rode to the top of the arch. I am not a fan of heights so I did not go to the top of the arch. Adam and Allie took this pic from the top.



We explored the gift shop and then headed to our first Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives restaurant, Anthonino's Taverna.



They are famous for their toasted ravioli. Somehow, I did not get a picture of it, so you will have to settle for this poster! We all loved the toasted ravioli! It was delicious. Our group ordered a variety of meals-pizza, steak and pasta. We all enjoyed our lunch. They had a pink pasta sauce that was amazing!







Guy Fieri, the host of DDD leaves his autograph at each of the restaurants featured on the show.

.

Bellies full once again, we bid farewell to St. Louis. Our next destination was a late dinner at another DDD joint, Johnny's Bar-B-Q in Mission, Kansas. When we arrived one of the servers told us that we could only get our food to go as the dining room was already closed. We were debating about whether or not to order anything, because we needed a break from the car and didn't want to eat in the car. We were saying something to the server about not having anywhere to eat the food once we had it because we were from out of town. The owner was behind the counter and heard our discussion. He asked where we were from and we told him that we were from Ohio and were here because we'd seen the restaurant on DDD. He asked the server to get a table ready for us so we could eat in the dining room! We were so appreciative! We had a great conversation with him. He told us about Guy Fieri and how they were totally unprepared for the amount of people that came to the restaurant after the episode aired on DDD. We enjoyed our meal, but none of us thought it was especially outstanding. A few of us bought t-shirts to commemorate our visit and we made sure to tip the staff generously for keeping the dining room open for us. Not the best meal of our trip, but the customer service was top notch. Our hotel was still a few hours away. We loaded up the cars, drove to the hotel and hit the hay.



Up next: Cathedral on the Plains and lunch at Jake & Chet's Cafe

 

[Loco_driver]

Enjoyed your Disney TR, and I’m also loving the road trip! We also like to check out restaurants from DDD when we can. We’ve had mixed results, but it’s still fun to get to check out some local restaurants when we’re out of town!

 

[LisaBelle]

Enjoyed your Disney TR, and I’m also loving the road trip! We also like to check out restaurants from DDD when we can. We’ve had mixed results, but it’s still fun to get to check out some local restaurants when we’re out of town!

Thanks so much! We had a great time researching and trying out the DDD restaurants. A couple more DDD stops still to come.

 

[KellBelle]

Loved the Disney report as always! Looking forward to your DDD road trip as well!