Just a quick update since the internet access has been unpredictable down here. We spent day 4 relaxing in Orlando. I finally got to play some mini-golf!

On day 5 we checked into our room at the Caribbean Beach Resort at Walt Disney World. That night we went to Mickey’s Pirate and Princess Party (Denise is forcing me to put all of that) at the Magic Kingdom. It actually worked out really well. We got our passes for like half off and we got there at about 5pm and stayed until close at midnight. That meant we spent most of the time there after the sun had gone down so we avoided the oppressive mid-90s and 90% humidity. Plus the park was less crowded so we got to ride whatever we wanted whenever we wanted (we rode Space Mountain three times!).

On day 6, we spent the morning at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It was really fun and the Expedition Everest ride was awesome! But it got really hot and our feet were tired (and blistered in Denise’s case) so we were headed out by like 2 or 3.

Today’s day 7 and we’ve stopped at a little Mexican restaurant in Savannah, GA, called Carlito’s Mexican Grill. On the way here we went through St. Augustine, FL, the oldest permanent settlement in North America. It was pretty awesome! After this, we’ll heading north and spending the night in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Day 4-7 Route

Update: Lucky us. We just happened to arrive in Myrtle Beach in time for bike week! I can’t tell you how thrilled we are!

Oh well, it’s hard to complain. We once again played the honeymoon card and got an awesome 10th floor suite with a balcony overlooking the ocean! Pictures to follow…

We’ve decided that Iowa drivers are by far the worst we’ve seen so far at observing highway etiquette. After proceeding across Iowa, which was about as exciting as it sounds, we headed south to Missouri. Highlights included driving through Hannibal, MO, birthplace of Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain) where Denise got her picture taken with a gigantic statue of him. It’s also the hometown of Colonel Sherman T. Potter.

The plan was to continue on US-61 along the western edge of the Mississippi but thanks to a flooded roadway, we were diverted into western Illinois for about 40 miles. After that, we crossed back over into Missouri so we could see St. Louis, which neither Denise or I had ever seen before.

First, we ate at a delicious little hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant called El Paisano where Denise discovered how delicious Sangria is and got a little… incapacitated. After that, we went to a little ice cream place called Ted Drewes that we read about in a book that Adam and Mandy got us called Roadfood (thanks guys!). It was totally worth it from a cultural standpoint. It was just a tiny little shack but despite being a Tuesday night, there were literally hundreds of people gathered around outside it. A security guard we made friends with told us it’s like that every night.

After that, we cut through southern Illinois where we stayed for the night right on the Kentucky border in Metropolis, the hometown of Superman! What entitles them to call it that (other than the gigantic statue of Superman), I have no idea.

Day 2 Route

So we flew out Wednesday night and did a little bit of drinking at some local establishments (and of course had a couple slices of Ray’s Pizza at 2:30am). We stayed at the Millennium right near Times Square. Here are some cell phones pics I took from that night:

On Thursday, we went to the Dow Jones sales conference which was in our hotel. Since I’m not especially fond of salesmen and I tend to think they’re rather phony, it wasn’t exactly a laugh a minute. But Jamie’s presentation was great and seemed to get everyone pretty excited.

Fortunately, when we broke for lunch soon after Jamie was done, he told Rotzen, Lou and I that we could ditch out on the rest of it and just hang out. So we walked from Times Square to Central Park, stopping for some Mexican food along the way to appease a complaining Rotzen. Then we walked down 5th Ave on our way back to Times Square. Along the way, we stopped at Trump Tower and walked right past 30 Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall. Here’s some more random pictures:

And I had to take this picture considering my brother Ryan’s initials are RCS:

That night we got stuck in some nasty traffic heading out to LaGuardia. Then, because of the rain that day which was now turning into snow, a lot of flights were getting delayed. Ours ended up taking off about an hour late, so not a huge deal. Besides, it gave Lou (who absolutely hates flying and requires sedation) and myself a chance to visit the airport bar!