DAY 2 – Thursday 5/5/22
Who: Sue (63), DVC Member
SB (64), my husband

Plan: Beach, Dockside or Boathouse

Actual: Last night I walked over to the pier but found the clouds were completely covering the horizon so a sunset was not visible. I could have waited quite a while for any colors that would have appeared above the clouds after the invisible sunset
but decided not to bother. I walked along the marina and headed back to the villa. SB was already asleep “watching the basketball game” but I left him alone until after 9 before turning off the tv and turning out the light out there. I settled
into the bedroom and watched today’s General Hospital online before turning in somewhere before 10.

I slept great, and there was no noise from the upstairs neighbors (just the way it should be). We were both up by 5 and spent the early morning hours doing our online stuff. The local weather forecast is saying 91-92 degrees today and tomorrow, which
is almost 10 degrees higher than normal for this time of year. This could impact our time at the beach – if it’s too hot we’ll head back sooner.

Around 7 I went out and cooked breakfast. SB had scrambled eggs, sausage, cheese grits, toast and orange juice. I had a fried egg, slice of bacon and then an English muffin. We brought butter from home and bought a jar of grape jelly at Kroger
yesterday. Everything was very good. After cleaning up the breakfast stuff I spent a little more time online before getting dressed (swimsuit & coverup) and walking over to the pool to see if I could grab a couple towels to take to the beach. I could
get them at the beach house, but prefer to not have to make that detour once arriving over there.

Sure enough, the main entrance was locked but I took the walkway up to the Mercantile and found the pool entrance under the deck was unlocked. There was a big “closed” sign, but I just popped in, grabbed a couple towels and came back out. I walked
back to the villa and once SB was ready we drove over to the Beach House, arriving around 8:45.

The beach was gorgeous, and the tide was coming in. We set up our chairs at the edge of the hard sand and had a really nice morning. By the time we left at noon the beach was much more crowded than I’ve seen it in previous early May weekdays. The
most annoying was a group of couples around our age who felt the best spot for their chairs was about 2 feet away from my chair. Really people – there’s space – spread the hell out!!

SB spent some time in the water, taking his chair down there at one point. He came back commenting on how friendly people are here – so many people passing by would say hello or make chitchat. I think that’s pretty common in a resort setting –
people are happy to be here, and they have the means to be here so they’re not the struggling people with no manners or consideration he sees in Gainesville.

At noon we headed back to the villa. He watched a movie on tv while I did some online stuff at the dining room table. When the housekeeper came to get the trash (she also brought the pest control guy for the regular service) she asked if I was around
here because she knows she knows me. I said no, but I was here in January – as soon as I opened the door I knew I’d seen her before too. She said that was it, lol! They were both in and out in no time.

I zapped a couple pieces of the leftover naan bread in the microwave (less than 10 seconds) and spread some of the leftover pimento cheese on each piece. It’s best when served originally, but it’s not bad as a leftover. SB didn’t want anything to
eat or drink – probably not wanting to ruin his appetite for later at Skull Creek Boathouse.

I spent some time out on the porch – sitting in one of the rocking chairs, enjoying the nice breeze. I’ll have to get back out there more this trip. I did my 1pm call, then decided to get showered and dressed. The shower sucks! I was so careful,
and kept the spray pointed at the wall, but still got a pretty wide area of bathroom floor tile wet. SB was a bigger disaster – who could have seen that coming? Once he was dressed I used the bathmat to wipe up the floor and then threw the wet stuff
in the dryer.

We were getting hungry so we decided to not wait for happy hour. The Skull Creek Boathouse lunch menu runs until 4pm so we headed out a little before 2:45. Although it feels like Skull Creek is far away, since it’s almost off the island, it really
only takes 16 minutes to get there. Normally this place is mobbed, but at 3pm it’s about as uncrowded as it gets! We got the closest parking space we’ve ever had and were seated right away at a table outside on the deck. I was concerned it might
be too warm out there but we had enough shade and the light breeze to keep things comfortable.

The forklift was busy taking boats out of the water and storing them in the boathouse. It’s always funny to me to see a boat go sailing by 6 feet up in the air (or more). Today the lunch specials included a pastrami Rachel – grilled rye bread,
pastrami, swiss cheese, cole slaw & 1000 island dressing. It came with fries. The soup of the day was loaded baked potato. SB got the Rachel and appetizer chicken fingers, along with a couple beers. I got a bowl of the soup and a glass of wine but
should have gone with the cup since I wasn’t able to finish it. That was partly due to sampling the pastrami Rachel and chicken tenders! The sandwich was really delicious, and not something you see very often.

After settling the check we headed back to the resort, stopping at the Kroger gas station when my tire indicator light came on. Neither of us have much of a clue what we’re doing, but the air machine came on when I tapped my credit card and we filled
the 3 tires we could reach until they got to the default 32 psi. The sticker on my car says 35 psi but I think a trusted co-worker told me that was a little too high. I reset the indicator button and it didn’t come back on – let’s hope it stays
off until after we’re home.

Our original plan was to visit Top Dawg Tavern for a drink, but SB was full and feeling bloated from all the beer (& food). I was disappointed – I pace myself when we have later plans, so it irritates me he doesn’t do the same. Tonight at Shelter
Cove they have live music and some of the restaurants sell portions of their food and drinks (like a mini Food & Wine Festival). It looks like they expect a lot of people, as we saw “event parking” signs even quite a distance away.

I wasn’t ready to just sit in the villa so I headed out to walk around at Shelter Cove. As suspected, there were hundreds of people already waiting in their chairs for the 6pm event to start (it wasn’t even 5 at this point). Top Dawg Tavern was
very busy, with all the seating at the railing taken. San Miguel’s was mobbed too – people standing with their drinks because all the seating was taken. I walked around but it was really HOT out there (90+) and a lot of the area was in the sun. I
was back in the villa by 5:15 – thankful for air conditioning and ice cold water!

We’ll try Top Dawg another day – for today we’re in for the night. Unfortunately our porch faces west, so the sun is beating down out there. I may be able to set up in the corner pretty well blocked by a tree and get enough shade to enjoy the
music at Shelter Cove. At 6 I went out to the porch and was able to drag a rocking chair to a mostly shady spot and moved one of the picnic table benches next to me (in the shade) for my glass of wine. I played on my tablet and enjoyed listening to the
concert over in Shelter Cove. The band was good, and the songs were all from my generation so I actually knew them, lol. The applause indicated there was a pretty big crowd and they were happy with the entertainment. When finally just after 7:30 they
played America the Beautiful & others were singing along I figured that was the end – and I was right.

By now the sun was close to dropping below the treetops since sunset is just after 8. I took a couple photos and showed one to SB (in the living room watching tv). He asked what it was and I replied it’s what you see when you don’t stay in the room
<g>. He wasn’t feeling bloated any more and wanted a sandwich so I made him one before going into the bedroom to finish up the report and watch some of my tv channels.

Today was actually a very nice day. The beach was great, although more crowded than I’m used to this time of year. Everything is more crowded than normal for this time of year, so I guess it’s that pent up demand for travel post covid. It’s
certainly not because gas is cheap! Skull Creek Boathouse was good – not as great as Poseidon, but very good. I don’t need to do this place every trip though. Although I’d looked forward to going to Top Dawg Tavern for a drink, with the heat and
the crowds I was very happy on the porch. Thankfully we don’t have summer humidity yet, so it’s tolerable.

Tomorrow we’ll spend the morning on the beach – it’s supposed to get hot very early again. We’re doing lunch at Frankie Bones (one of SB’s favorites, and mine too) and have tickets to the Comedy Magic Cabaret at night.

Sue/WDW1972

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