Florida. January 30 – February 3, 2018.

Joe P wanted to take the two older kids to Walt Disney World and asked us to come along, both to help out and to spend time together.  We readily agreed.  I also wanted to visit a former colleague of mine on the east coast and friends (mostly from church) on the west coast.  I ended up putting 900 miles on the rental car, a Nissan Versa.

Tuesday 1/30.  Eric came by to pick us up at the airport.  When I checked in last night, we both got TSA pre-check, but somehow Anne’s disappeared this morning.  The premier lanes were easy to navigate, even though we had to take out the computers and liquids, and remove our shoes.  For some reason the TSA agent told us we could have used the pre-check line.

I was upgraded for our originally scheduled flight, but we got to the airport early enough so we took an earlier flight.  We had exit row seats with an empty middle seat, so it was all good.

Hertz offers free child seats to AAA members, which we took advantage of.  After doing some shopping at a local Publix and dinner nearby, we went to Animal World to pick up Joe and the two kids; they were happy to see us.

We would have adjoining rooms for the stay, which proved quite convenient.

Accommodations: Disney Coronado Springs Resorts (3 nights).

Wednesday 1/31.  We spent the day in Epcot, which was also hosting an International Arts Festival.  We did do a few tame rides as Emmie isn’t all that into thrill rides.

 As part of the International Festival of Arts various well-known paintings were "framed" for visitors to pose as the subjects.  Ellie's impression as the screamer in this painter doesn't quite work.

 Lunch at the Tokyo Pavilion.

 One of the street stalls sell these cronuts (croissant donuts) for over $6 each.  These ducks hide in the bushes around the walkway, and showed up within 30 seconds of our sitting down.

 Emmie doesn't care for "thrill rides," but being inside the mouth of a shark is okay.

 Last time we visited Emmie was mesmerized by these gannets that say "mine, mine, mine," this time Harrison was also interested.

 Joe P got this double-stroller for the trip.

Disney Coronado Springs Resort.

Thursday 2/1.  I have known Brian since the mid-1980s when we both worked international markets.  Having made many international trips together – some quite long – we have gotten to know each other quite well.  He was the one who helped me familiarize with my boats when I bought them.  About six months ago he was diagnosed with cancer.  I made the 2+ hours trip to Palm City; we had lunch and reminisced a bit about old times.

 Brian is a colleague and friend for 30 years.  Visit at his Palm City home.

A Disney meal at the restaurant at the Resort.

Friday 2/2. We dropped Joe and family off at MCO early in the day, and began our drive to Port Charlotte.  We had a little time on our hands so stopped by the Lee County Manatee Park, where quite a few manatees were present.

When we got to Peter’s house, Ken and Sandra C. were already there.  Also present were Peter’s friends from the Princeton church he and Susan attended, and Peter’s daughter Kelly and her son Theo.

Dinner was over 30 minutes away at Harpoon Harry’s in Fishermen’s Village in Punta Gorda.  We had visited the place several times with Peter and Susan, and have rented boats and taken cruises from here.

Miss Ruth and York also joined us for dinner.  It was good to catch up with everyone.

 The cold Florida winter drove a lot of manatees to the Lee County Manatee Park.

Dinner at the Harpoon Harry's Restaurant in Fishermen's Village, Punta Gorda.  From left: Theo, York, Sandy, Ken, Kelly, me, Miss Ruth, Peter, Anne, Nelly and Steve.

Accommodations: Peter’s house in Riverwood Estates.

Saturday 2/3.  We left in the morning, drove to Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge to watch birds.  More than our recent visits in the summer, still a bit of a disappointment.

 Along the main road in the Riverwood development is a sign saying "No Trespassing of Private Property to get to Bald Eagle Nest."  Of course we stopped the car, but we didn't trespass.

 Close-up of bald eagle.

 A lot of white pelicans in Ding Darling NWR.  It was interesting to see these large birds land.

 You can always find roseatte spoonbills in the park.  Today we saw only a few.

It was then a long drive back to MCO for our flight home.  Both Anne and I got upgraded, so that’s nice. We uber’ed home.

Priority Pass gets us into MCO.  I had to go through security again to get to the departing gate, Anne - who left earlier - somehow just walked from one train to the other.