With My Able Assistance, Aaron Drank His Way Around the World
Thursday, November 15th, 2007
After Denise, Aaron, Ashleigh, and I finished up with the rides in Future World at Epcot, we headed into the World Showcase area. It was clear from the start that Aaron had only one thing on his mind: having a beer indiginous to every country represented at Epcot. Although I wasn’t willing to spend the money to do it (beers generally run six or seven dollars there), nor did I particularly feel like getting swizzled, I must admit that the idea did appeal to me. It was just one of those challenges or goals that you could say “I did that” after completion. So it all worked out well when Aaron realized that he really couldn’t easily drink 11 beers by himself in the time that it would take to travel this ‘world’. Read the rest of this entry »
The intense heat began to abate by Friday, August 10, as our trip began to wind down. We had had to face reality the day before and spend two days in Charlottesville rather than the planned single day. As a result, we were forced to eliminate our journey into the northwest area of the state where we might have found a Stonewall Jackson Museum, Stonewall Jackson’s Headquarters (egads!), the Museum of the American Presidents, George Washington’s Office Museum, and the grave of Patsy Cline – before heading back into the D.C. area where we had started our adventure. 
Speaking for myself, I was pretty exhausted by the time we arrived at Epcot Center via bus from the Disney-MGM Studios at about 1:30pm on Tuesday, September 25. It wasn’t long before I was trying to figure out how to conserve my failing energy sources by finding the routes whereby we could take the least amount of steps. And besides, I have to say, Epcot just isn’t the same as it used to be. In fact, Epcot most certainly is the park that least resembles itself in its grand opening stage. Gone now are the bulk of the animatronic rides, the ones that really defined Epcot in my mind. I guess I’m just a sentimental old sap. 
After the busy weekend cram-packed full of activity that I had just enjoyed, it seemed as if my vacation was ready to be ending rather than beginning a brand new week with six full days ahead of me! Nevertheless, I awoke bright and early to a phone call from one of my service providers at work informing that some files were not staged for a pinpad upgrade they were performing that morning in one of my stores. This was my fault, so I had to make a few early phone calls. I then shuffled my way out from the guest room couch of my friends the Wileys for breakfast of bacon, eggs, and jellied toast courtesy of Kris. She always takes good care of me. 
We were a bit sluggish on the morning of Tuesday, September 25, 2007. Afterall we had just completed a full journey around The Magic Kingdom the day before. Besides, Denise was feeling crummy. Or maybe I should say crummier. She had had some stomach violations since the start of the trip, but this day appeared to be the worst. Trooper that she was, she pressed on and rode all of the rides during this vomitous affair. Even with all of this in mind, we were able to board our bus at the resort, make the trip there, and get into the park’s front gates by 9:30am.