Nataliya and Seth's Orlando Vacation

Our vacation started at 4:30 AM, five hours before our scheduled flight. Nataliya's brother, Taras, volunteered to drive from his Manhattan home in the East 70's, pick us up in NJ, drive us to Kennedy airport, and then run off to school - but he could only do it at 5:30 AM.

So there we were, up at 4:30 AM, struggling to get up and get ready, stuffing last-minute items into whatever space we could find in the luggage. At 5:20 AM, the doorbell rang and by 5:35, we were on our way.

It was our first time flying JetBlue, and based on what we'd heard, we had high expectations. We were not disappointed. The plane left on time and got to our destination without a hitch. Very impressive. The only possible problem was that the plane had a lot of kids and babies on board, but they were surprisingly quiet.

Once we landed in Orlando, we basically rushed off the plane and jumped on the tram/monorail to beat the crowds to the baggage claim area. Almost as soon as we got there, the belt started moving. Within three minutes, we had our bag and were on our way to pick up our rental car.

We were doing so well on time, so we was disappointed when we got to the line for rental cars. The line for Alamo was a 1/2 hour wait. We looked over to the other rental car windows and there were little to no lines. Was Alamo the best deal in town? Anyway, once it was our turn, they gave us the option to upgrade our vehicle. Once we got to the parking deck, it was a good move, because the only available car in the class I had selected had a trunk that wouldn't shut. We packed up our white Chevy and left the airport.

One item of note - it was hot! We had left temperatures that were 30-35 degrees cooler and not we were in 80+ temps. We drove to the hotel - Courtyard by Marriott, Lake Buena Vista @ the Vista Centre. When we tried to check in, we found out they had overbooked. Evidently there was a convention in town, Scientific Sessions 2003 for which the American Heart Association was a big participant. They were in Orlando for the week, so the hotel somehow overbooked 110%. Somehow we lucked out and got a room anyway. I asked about getting a fridge but as they are on a first-come, first-serve basis, we were told they'd look for us but that it was not likely.

After dropping off our luggage, we took a walk to find some food. We had seen a sign for a NY China Buffet and we went out to find it. We found another buffet, but we were determined to find the other place. I thought Nataliya led them to the wrong restaurant because she chose the wrong direction, so he led them 20 minutes in the opposite direction, down Palm Parkway on sidewalks that never went straight for more than 20 feet, before suggesting that he, too, went in the wrong direction.

Hot, hungry, and now tired, I went into another hotel and asked their concierge where this restaurant was. He told us it was in the opposite direction. We found the phone number on the map and I called to find out what landmarks to look for. The person who answered was difficult to understand. When I asked " is it off Rt. 535", he couldn't answer. Turns out it was off 535. Lunch was alright, but at this point, neither of us had eaten a meal for 16 hours so we could have ripped up some grass and bushes at this point and called it salad. Still, the meal was pretty good. (NY China Buffet business card)

After lunch, we went back to discuss our game plan for the week and we relaxed. We went back to the hotel and picked up the usual pile of tourist pamplets in the hotel lobby. We even signed up for a time-sharing demonstration with the promise of making $75.00 in Disney Dollars. Anyway, before we realized what the time was, it was time to go to our first planned event - Sleuth's Mystery Dinner.

Crossing our fingers and reading the directions that I had obtained from Mapquest!, we headed to our destination. Unfortunately, the road split into a "T" in which all three directions were the same name. We went right. Trying to make sense of another map, we were horrified to find that every street we now passed started with "Convention": "Convention Street", "Convention Way", "Convention Drive", "Convention Court", etc. We made a U-Turn out of the Twilight Zone and called the theater. Thanks to help from Amy, (an ex-resident of NJ,) we got to the theater in five minutes. After getting our tickets, we stopped to watch the lunar eclipse for a few minutes before stepping inside to enjoy the show.

The show was mix of dinner, theatre, and improv. They put on about eight different shows, and the one we saw was called "The Premiere". For the record, the movie producer/director (Jeremy) did it! (There! I ruined it for you!)

After the show, we caught the tail end of the lunar eclipse as we drove back to our hotel room. When it was apparent that they knew nothing of my request earlier that day, I decided to have a little fun with them.

The woman at the desk said that they didn't have any, so I told her I was a doctor attending the Heart Association group and that I needed a fridge to keep a heart fresh for the convention tomorrow. To her dismay, they didn't have a fridge. I asked if they had another fridge I could use and as she was trying her best to accomodate by offering their employee fridge, I let her off the hook. She seemed unsure I was joking and I think I shook her up a little. In hindsight, it was a little mean joke and I shouldn't have done it..., especially without a camera! (I think it could have won on one of those funniest home video shows!)

The end of the day had come and we went up to our room and went to sleep....