Category Archives: Around Florida

Vacation Homes from a FL Resident’s Point of View

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As I was getting up this morning, excited to head to the Parks today, I heard the neighborhood dogs barking once again.  I thought to myself “I can deal with it, but oh the poor vacationers in this area” and it sparked the idea for this blog. Again, this is my opinion only, stay wherever you please.

Speaking from experience, I live across from two vacation homes. Now, most of the time, they seem to stay pretty empty. I am not sure who owns them, or manages them, but I can tell you that those who have come to rent are definitely in the vacation mode. What do I mean?  Loud music, early and late car doors slamming, kids running across lawns and also using neighborhood driveways as their own personal skate board ramps.  I get it, you are on vacation, but what some don’t seem to realize, is that there are those of us who LIVE here. Yes, the real McCoy.  It is our place of peace and quiet, and you wouldn’t want us partying on your front lawn where you live.

Did I know they existed when we got here? Yes. The thing is about FL, especially around the Theme Park areas, is that it’s prime real estate for those who want to stay close.  We all have been there, you leave the Parks at midnight or later, and then you realize that you have a short distance to get to your Resort, or a long drive to wherever you are staying.  In other words, it comes with the price of living close to the action. Just something for everyone to be aware of when looking for a place to relocate too.

Like I said, not many come on our street, so we seemed to have lucked out so far. Most, you would think, are in the Parks all day anyways, so why would they want to bother hanging out here? Well, the swimming pools and our mostly quiet street also are a nice break from the crowds. But it got me thinking that if I WAS staying here on vacation, how many elements I wouldn’t be able to control, like I could in a Resort.

If you are in a vacation home, you can’t know what animals there are in that neighborhood. Dogs barking, stray cats, and even the occasional cranes are incredibly noisy.  Think if you had allergies to any of these as well, if they are at the neighbors right next to you, that COULD become a problem.  Also you don’t know the neighborhood’s daily life- they could have parties on the weekends when you hope to be fast asleep. At the same time, having a home has to be quieter and roomier to stay in then a Resort room where you are squeezed in between other rooms.  I just really had never thought about the stay at a vacation home until I lived across the street from one.

Oh and one more thought, when booking your vacation home, make sure that you check out the route to the Parks beforehand. If it’s something you will constantly have to be using tolls or I4 to use every day, you may want to choose a different home. Now, we all know, ANYTHING can happen, ANYWHERE you stay, I am just giving my food for thought for this beautiful Friday here in Orlando.   Hope you enjoyed the read, and have a great day!

Let’s Talk GardenGrocer.com

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Well, I never thought I would ever need to deliver groceries to my home…especially since there is a Publix located 4 miles behind my house. But since my car is in the shop, I was handed a dilemma, HOW do I get food for the family?  Trying to avoid having to ask someone for a ride, a wonderful friend came to my aid and offered to help through “GardenGrocer” to my home. After refusing several times, I gave in because she wasn’t going to take no, so I agreed and went online to start the process. I wanted to share my experience because I know MANY of you have used, or would like to use, GG, and I wanted to shed light on it. Enjoy!

I have a budget like everyone else has for groceries, so I went into this experience knowing that I had a set amount to spend. Now, my great friend was picking up the tab on delivery and tax too, so all I had to do was make the order. This was my FIRST order, as I wound up making two, so let’s talk on this one first.

I was able to use her account to set up the order, but with the second one I had to make up my own, which was simple.  General info, how you are going to pay, etc.. Once you have the account set up, it is time to shop.

Now I don’t know about any of you, but when I grocery shop, I have a million things going through my head. First, you must have a list, second, your budget, third, coupons, and fourth is always the knowledge you bring knowing what you paid for that item a billion times before. Since a lot of us shop 2-4 times a month, we should be pretty sharp by now what things cost, and knowing where you can get it cheaper.

I can hear some of you saying already “This isn’t meant to be for the grocery visit once a week, it’s for mainly tourists.” Yes, I get that and understand that, but even on vacation you NEED and WANT to save every penny you can and allowing that dollar to stretch- I mean, otherwise, what does Mickey get than?

I spent a good hour or two perusing their site, and every time I found something I liked, I put in my “cart” which is located on the right side of the page. The confusing part was that every time I shopped in a new category, the cart would either reset or only have a couple of items ordered, instead of the actual, correct one. It got on my nerves after awhile because, again, I had a budget to stick to and I needed to know what I was spending. If I hit the VIEW CART button, then I could see everything, but it did not update on the side, as it should, while I shopped.

Let’s talk variety- for the local who now knows what is available down here, they don’t have that huge of a variety. They do not make clear where they are shopping from, Publix, Wal-Mart, etc..so if you would like to choose the store brand, you may get something that you are not familiar with. Now, if they stated who they got the food from, I would have at least known what store brands I was willing to buy. Yes, there are differences. Some don’t care- 1% Milk and Lemonade may be the same to you, no matter where you are from, and when on vacation I guess many probably just need the bare essentials anyways.

It was painful to shop, since I knew in my head and heart that I could have bought three times the groceries at Wal-Mart with what I was getting from GG. The prices, to me, were extremely high. I get it, when you are on vacation and you don’t have a car, delivery to your room is worth the extra cost. But do you REALLY understand how much it is costing you? Example I used in chat last night… a 2L Bottle of soda at WalMart will run you around $1.25 each, then Publix is $1.89, then GG was $2.29.  For 21 more cents, I could have bought 2 for the cost of 1 at GG.  Campbells soup cans cost $1.99 at GG, yet every day at Wal-Mart will run you around .99. Charging 50 cents to over a dollar more an item seems incredibly steep to me. Shampoo I get at Wal-Mart, same brand, $2.49 and yet $4.29 at GG- OUCH!!

Once you first get on their site, they have a RED WARNING in the right top hand corner that says “DUE TO HIGH VOLUME, WE ARE NO LONGER TAKING ORDERS FOR (DATE).”  Now, if I am ordering for vacation and I just got to the Resort and want to place an order for the duration, waiting an additional day for them to deliver is really an inconvenience.  On top of the fact that when they deliver, I was under the impression I had to be present. The biggest reason being the obvious, if you have perishable items, they need to be refrigerated as soon as possible.  So my question for those on vacation, who gets stuck waiting at the room for the groceries?  You almost have to know this service exists before you ever leave home, then order before home, choose your delivery date and time, than work it into your vacation schedule. It seems to me to be a lot of work for such a simple convenience.

I checked out without a problem with my first order, and it came 2 days later, at around 9 a.m. They brought it packed in their own plastic bins, and he carried them into my home and helped placed them on the kitchen table. We took everything out together, and he then physically went over the list to make sure everything was present while reading it out loud. It was all there, and I signed off. The delivery charge was $12, plux tax on the groceries, and also $1.99 surcharge for gas because of the high gas prices. You also have to have a minimum purchase of $40. Orders cancelled within 48 hours are charged a 25% restocking fee, and cancelled in 24 are subject to a 50% restocking fee.

Here was the problem though, because everything was so overpriced, I had to pick and choose what I could use now, and then worry about the rest later. Well, later came Sunday when I realized we were in need of health, shower, and other things that I put off.  By the grace of God, I had another opportunity to order, thanks to good friends.  

On a side note, the bread I purchased was only good for three days. When you do order online, you also dont have the ability to check expiration dates on what you are buying, which then would make using them, last longer.

Since the first order had gone so well, I had hoped the second would. Well, this time I had to make my own account, not a problem. But, I had gift cards to use, so there was no reason for them to have my CC information. Yet after I placed my order, their system refused to take both. After having to email several times my frustration, they finally let it go through- but after all the work to get the order in, I was bumped to a different day to their volume. Personally, I didn’t think it was fair for them to do that since they knew the order was taken FIRST before all of their own technical drama, but I had to go with the flow and hope to see the groceries.

They came this morning, and this delivery man wasn’t as kind. He also just gave me the list, and had no care for going over it. He asked “Is everything here?” like I was boring him, and I checked on my own. I have to tell you how funny it was when I pulled out one banana in my order- I said “Where are the rest of them?” He said, “You only ordered one” as he checks the sheet… sure enough, I thought it said .45 a pound, and it was .45 each! LOL Oops, one banana, who is going to get it? LOL I also had ordered butter, and even though they have pics online, you really have to remember the sizes of things you have used in the past. I got their largest tub of butter since we were out, and their largest was this dinky sized one- oh well, live and learn I guess. Again, a larger tub at WalMart is like $3 and this tiny 8 oz thing was $3.69. Ugh- I hate spending more for something I KNOW I can get cheaper. Yes, they were gift cards, but you want to use someone’s gift to the best of its potential. It’s like when I get gift cards from my Mom for new clothes for my Birthday- I will ALWAYS use it on a sale or clearanced item so I get more bang for the buck- it’s just not smart not too.

I took a picture of this 2nd order, to show you what, no joke, $70 bought me. 

They offer produce, but again, this is something that will be hit or miss. They don’t know how you like your tomatoes, cantaloupe, bananas, etc… it’s something that most are quite picky on. If you don’t care, then go for it. But I do like smelling mine first, tasting a grape to make sure they are firm and not soft, and ordering online doesn’t give you that freedom, so just a heads up on that.

Do I think it is worth it? Yes and no. I could see being on vacation and having a small stash to use when you are in the room. Most are good with bottled water, soda, milk, cereal or cereal bars, some snacks, and that’s usually about it. Think about it, you spend most of your time in the Parks, and when you are in your room, you are either getting ready for a Park or coming back from one.  I also have to say that I have paid for the snacks from the Disney Resort gift shops, and you are paying about the same prices as GG. Yes, you don’t have the variety compared to Gardengrocer, but again, it all depends in what you really need.  You are paying for the convenience of not having to rent a car and waste time on your vacation to grocery shop, but, sometimes I do feel it would be better to do that and have the freedom to make the choices you want without “having” to take what only GG offers.

Time is money, and money is time. You are either going to order and have to wait and waste time getting the order, or going off-property with a rental car and shopping on your own, another time waster. They may hold it at the Resort desks, I am not sure if they do or not. For us, we always just brought our own from home, bought soda and milk in the gift shop, and the rest in the Parks, because the park stuff was what we were on vacation for to eat. The delivery part helped us out tremendously in our situation now, and I am very thankful for it. Check them out yourself and see if they are right for you.

B.A.R.F.

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No, I wasn’t throwing up, it stands for the Bay Area Renaissance Festival which we attended this past Saturday in Tampa, FL.  The locals refer to it as “BARF” which I find quite hilarious, so what better title for this blog post? That’s what I thought! Join me as I tell you all about our day and how it compared to other Faires- enjoy!

The original plan was to stay the weekend in Tampa, see the sights on Sunday and get a hotel night in.  After our car was acting up, we revisited the plan and decided to save the money on the extra stuff and just go to the Festival for the day.  With my experience on Faires, it’s always a good decision to get there early to get ready and experience the place before the crowds set in.  The plan was to get up around 7:00, shower and get the kids dressed up.

Well, sometimes our plan isn’t God’s plan, and Kyra’s dress didn’t fit.  I don’t want to get into it here about the girls dresses, but I will say that the expectations of them were not what either of us had wound up with. I tried every trick with Kyra’s but it was too small, so I had Emily left to dress up. Well, I get it in on her and the stitches fall right out at the top of the dress. Thankfully I had a needle and thread and sewed it all the way to Tampa so it would work- again, not what I signed up for but you got to do what you go to do.

Our car was STILL acting up, so we prayed and hoped that it would be ok on the hour journey to Tampa. It’s only acting up at certain times- drives great for a couple of days then BAM the power steering doesn’t want to work, or works at 50%.  Because this could go on now or a month from now, and yes, we have had it taken in to look at, we decided we would just go for it.  Nervously, we got there in one piece and made it with no interruptions- Thank you Jesus.

The Festival is located across from the Museum of Science and Industry and also the University of South Florida.  With free parking, we were parked under the trees of Spanish moss and  an overcast sky. Yes, with not only the drama of the dresses, and the car… the weather was crud. I kept thinking “Maybe God doesn’t want me going to this today” but we kept moving forward.

After everyone was ready and dressed, we walked to the Festival Entrance. If you brought 5 cans of food, you got $5 off your admission- since we don’t have an abundance of extra canned goods, I brought enough to save off one of our tickets. The total for the four of us with tax came to about $62.  Yes cheaper than Disney or Sea World, but also not as much to do.

When going on an opening day, to any Faire or Festival, you have to remember that it is opening day. What does that mean? Well, for this Festival, they were very disorganized. I understand that the first day is always crazy trying to run everything, but the very basics they didn’t seem prepared for.  We were at the Gate, and ONE window opened up at 9:30 a.m. Now, the Festival itself wasn’t opening until 10 a.m. , but BECAUSE it was opening day, they should have known many would be there early to buy tickets. Now, I don’t know their policy on this, as I am new to this one, but they only opened one window. The line was VERY long and all of us stood in it up until 10 a.m. – then all at once four other windows opened up and everyone rushed them. There was no clear signage at all above any of the ticket windows for which one was WILL CALL, CASH, etc..  After standing in the wrong line for half an hour, we moved to a different window where we handed the food good in and bought the tickets. For advertising about donating food, no one knew where to hand it in.  I was disappointed at how very disorganized they were.

We were in line for the gates to open, and the time was 10:15 a.m.- they held the crowd after the official opening time- not the best thing to do.  The King and Queen came out and welcomed everyone to the Festival, and I will say, I LOVED the King. In Bristol we save “God save the Queen” but in the small town of Fittleworth we said “God save the King, and long live the Queen!” Apparently they don’t want God to save their Queen, LOL.   We finally got inside the gate and were greeted by the cast of court royals and villagers. I wish I didn’t have Bristol so tattooed on my brain, because with everything I saw, I compared it to that.  They all seemed friendly, but I missed my Moonie, my Jane, my Craig Minstrel, and my Swordsmen.

We enjoyed the Tortuga Twins, the New Minstrel Revue, and loved the duo called “Nature of Mercy.” We spent some time talking to them and found out they had not only heard of Bristol, but they both had worked there before and one had met his wife there. After listening to the New Minstrel Revue, Craig of Farrington was in my thoughts and then I realized that these guys were from Bristol as well.  A small piece of my home Faire had shown its face, and it truly made me happy.  It also made me super excited to head to Bristol this summer to see all of my old friends again. 

Emily rode her first horse, she has ridden ponies, but this was her first official horse. She chose the white one because it reminded her of Maximus from Tangled, but her horse was indeed a girl named Dotty. Emily looked so pretty on the horse, and I was so happy for her to have that moment. 

The food was pretty good, but again, they weren’t ready. They scream and yell for people to try their sodas, food, and snacks. I went to get a soda, and they didn’t have any cups. They dumped a water bottle for me and filled it with soda for me. It was a nice thing to do, but odd to me there were no cups. Emily later wanted ice cream and it wasn’t “soft enough” to serve- what? In 10 years at Bristol, none of this had ever happened to me.  Advertising, then opening your booths when you aren’t ready just looks tacky.  They can justify it all they want with “Its opening day” but it is THE day you knew you were opening, so how should we feel bad? I dont mean to complain, I really did have a great time.

We had a great day, but it was no Bristol. After now being to two FL Renaissance Faires, I am getting nervous that I will never find anything as great as I did in WI. I guess I will have to fly back to Bristol every summer- I am sure my family and friends wouldn’t mind that.  It was fun to be with my awesome hubby and kids – and I enjoyed watching their happy faces. The kids both bought tails to wear, and I bought my Dad something special.  We stayed until 3:30 and then headed home, praying again our car would make it back in once piece. We did, it did, and we enjoyed some chicken wings while we all relaxed after a great day.  Thanks to everyone for their prayers – I hope you had a great weekend.