So last week we spent seven nights in a one-bedroom at Saratoga Springs Resort in the Congress Park section. We like Congress Park and have stayed in that section before. The walk over to Disney Springs is fun and since the new section just opened with several new shops and restaurants, we walked over several times during the week.
I think the first evening there is when I declared the wallet closed and decided to try to save a dollar or two this trip. What started it was sticker shock at some of the prices I was seeing.
But let's start at the beginning and I'll go into more detail later.
We got an early start and arrived to WDW via the 535 entrance to Hotel Plaza Blvd.:
The Celebration Farmer's Market is just off the main downtown part of Celebration at the end of Sycamore Street near the main community pool.
Market Description
This is a year-round open air market with fruits and vegetables, arts and crafts and more.
Location
Lakeside Park at 631 Sycamore Street in Celebration, Florida
So, I interrupted this trip report because we were off on another adventure, this one a mini-getaway to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to Elkmont to to see synchronous fireflies, and it was wonderful. We did some touristy stuff too, explored a place we often go to called the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail and saw a mama bear and a couple of cubs. I don't know the rules about this kind of thing on here, but will post some pics of the mini-trip in the middle of this TR and if it is not OK, will rely on mods to let me know. After the mountain pics, I will resume the currently in progress WDW trip report.
Just to be clear, the WDW trip did not get interrupted by the Gatlinburg trip, just my writing of the WDW TR. We actually went to WDW last week and GB for a long weekend from which we just returned because someone had to go on another business trip. Took her to the airport earlier.
In the Great Smoky Mountains National Park at Newfound Gap:
The firefly event was amazing and we will be going back. Such a wonderful experience except for one little thing, loud, inconsiderate people who think the woods are theirs and to heck with everyone else. But, as you know, those types are everywhere, more difficult to avoid than mosquitoes.
The next morning we had breakfast at a little overlook by the river then headed to Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. It is way off the beaten path and we try to get by there every time we head to the Smokies.
Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! OK, just bears. A mama bear and her two cubs came rambling down a trail as we were taking photos at an overlook. We quietly watched them for a while and they just kept right on their merry way. The mama bear had a collar and some type of what appeared to be a tracking device:
OK, so back to the overlook after our attention was on the bears for awhile. Usually when you spot a bear up here, it is not long until the Griswolds come roaring up making all kinds of noise, hop out of their car and run over to get a closer look, usually scaring the bears off. Luckily, it was just us and the three bears for a long time and it was fascinating watching them. They paid no attention to us, for which I am grateful. I only snapped a few pics to not draw attention. The overlook:
