Finally, a Decent Meal

Monday, 12/26

I spend part of the morning perusing the internet for a decent dining spot for tonight’s dinner. I am tired of mediocre food, and want to have one killer meal with Dawn before she leaves. I find a nice steak/seafood place on tripadvisor called Johnnie’s Hideaway at the Crossroads Shopping Center, which I know where it is, and the place has gotten rave reviews. So I call them and make a 6:30 reservation, and we hope for the best.

Today is Disney Animal Kingdom (DAK) so we head over there and get inside the gate around 11 a.m. We get one of the Disney photographers to take our photo in front of the Tree of Life, and here it is:

We head over to Africa for a Fast Pass on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride, but find that the standby wait is only 30 minutes, so we stand in line instead and get the ride in about 20 minutes. The 20-or-so-minute ride is very entertaining, and Dawn gets a seat on the left side of the vehicle, which is the best. We see the antelope, the birds, the rhinos, etc., and it is all very entertaining and Dawn gets to see it all for the first time. Afterward, we walk along the Pangani Jungle Walk and get to see the big silver-back gorillas, which are quite awe-inspiring. After that, we head over to Asia, and I convince Dawn to take the Kali River Rapids ride with me, and luckily we each have our poncho along because we thought it was going to rain today, which is doesn’t, so the ponchos come in handy for the ride, which is very much fun. We take a pause for lunch and each have a kid’s meal with a couple of chicken drumsticks (real) each. After lunch, we take a walk along some of the paths that wind their way through the Tree of Life, admiring all the animals that are carved there. We take a walk past the ride Expedition to Everest and watch all the screaming people coming down the incline, but the ride is too violent for Dawn, so we skip it. We need a little afternoon snack, so we head over to a bake shop and get a brownie and a cup of coffee to split, and we find a nice seat over at a nearby restaurant. After the treat, we are in a good position to see the big afternoon parade of Disney characters and large animal puppets. We take in the bird show (“Flights of Wonder”) at 4:45, and I am picked to be a volunteer to have a dollar bill plucked out of my hand by some large bird. This is very much fun, and I confess I was ready for it, because I did this same thing last winter and was chosen from the audience, so I practically jumped up and down when the master of ceremonies called for a volunteer.

When that is done, we exit the park, and point the Prius in the direction of Johnnie’s Hideway, because I know this area of Orlando/Lake Buena Vista is very congested and will take a while to navigate and find the precise location because this “Crossroads Mall” is a very large place. We arrive about 10 minutes early, and they are able to seat us at a very nice booth for two in on the central dining rooms. The menu looks very inviting, and by the time they bring our cocktails, salads and rolls, we can tell we are going to have a very good meal here. I order a ribeye, and Dawn goes with a  10-ounce filet, and both are cooked to perfection and are delicious, along with the loaded baked potato that we order and split. Our waitress, Katy, is very cheerful and nice, and knows the menu here and what’s the best. The special this night is all the stone crab you can eat for $29.95, and I am very tempted to go with this, but I head my sights set on a steak. We skip dessert and coffee, so our bill comes to $95, and we tip Katy $20. Katy returns the favor by telling me how I can score a $25 gift certificate to a return visit to Johnnies, and I tell her I will do this, along with writing a nice review for Tripadvisor and mention her by name, for which she thanks me. She also knows about Wisconsin, particularly Green Lake, and mentions Norton’s restaurant, which we tell her is right next door to this beautiful Bed and Breakfast (The Angel Inn) which Dawn and I have stayed at a couple of times. Small world.

When we leave Johnnie’s, there is a “Goodings” supermarket in the Crossroads Plaza, and I remember this place from last winter when I stayed a week at an Extended Stay Motel nearby, so we stop there for some Haagen Dazs ice cream and take it back to the condo and have it with a French press of decaf coffee. We both check emails, but nothing from friends or family. Everyone must be pretty busy. How is everyone doing up in Wisconsin? To be around 11 p.m.

Expenses: Park food: $20; Dinner, $115; Ice cream: $5. Total: $140

Bruce