Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Today started with another Starbucks and then it was off to the Marketplace breakfast buffet for yet another meal. Three of the four meals we have had here have been at the Marketplace!
With breakfast in our bellies, it was waterpark time again. A few trips around the river rapids and then it was time to tackle the tube rides of the Power Tower. The lineups were quite long so we just settled for the Drop and then made our way to the Mayan Temple for some more slide rides - the Leap of Faith, the Challenger Slide and the Serpant Slide. All great rides. While the guys did these rides, Catherine went shopping and for a walk on the beach.
Monday, April 4, 2011
With everyone well rested from the tortures of travel the day before, our day started with Starbucks from the coffee shop downstairs in our hotel - kindly brought up by Devon and Logan. They, however, had the pleasure of discovering strawberry frappacinos with whipped cream - a soon to be daily pleasure.
We ate breakfast at the Mosaic Restaurant in the nearby Cove Hotel, which had an impressive breakfast buffet. The highlight of the meal was the chocolate syrup container that exploded when it was placed near the hot water jug we were using for our tea.
Breakfast was followed by a trip to the Atlantis waterpark, where we had loads of fun tubing on the lazy river rapids and soaking up the sun. We headed to the beach for some more sunshine and after a lazy day by the water, we went for an evening walk to explore more of the resort. We visited The Dig in the Royal Palace - a giant aquarium based on the ruins of Atlantis - and then we headed over the marina to see the amazing yachts of the rich and famous. Very impressive. This was followed by a return trip to the Marketplace buffet.
After dinner, the adults went to the casino where we left with less than we brought and the boys stayed in the room to watch some tv. A great day was had by all.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
While headed to Orlando for springbreak, we decided at the last minute to book a short trip to Atlantis in the Bahamas. We did not tell our kids, Devon and Logan, about this.
We told our guys to pack a bag with a few days worth of stuff they would need for a place that likely had a pool and a slide, packed the rental car we were using at our place in Reunion and headed off down the highway. When we arrived at the Orlando airport, we made our way to the Marriott Hotel (where we were hoping to find cheap long term parking) and told the boys this was where we going to stay for a few days. While we found cheap parking, the bus ride over to the airport sounded like it might take too long so we left the Marriott and decided to park at the airport instead. The guys were not impressed as this trip was starting to sound like it might take a while to get to our destination.
We checked in at the Jet Blue counter and the boys were eager to see where we were going. At the check-in machine, I had to type in our itinerary reference which was HUUBMT. Devon immediately saw this and shouted out - we’re going to Hub Mountain!! Good deduction, but no-one knew where that was. There were several Jet Blue flights scheduled that day including some to Buffalo, Boston, New York, Austin, Puerto Rico and Nassau. The conclusion was that we were likely going to either Buffalo or Boston. I quickly searched for Hub Mountain on my iphone and was amazed to find the Hub Mountain Resort in Idaho, which I convinced Logan was just a few hours south of Buffalo. The con was on and after we headed through security and grabbed Burger King for lunch, we headed to Gate 8, the Buffalo departure gate to eat our lunch. The real gate we needed was Gate 3 to Nassau, but we could see this from where we were sitting. Fortunately, the bar next to Gate 3 was showing a hockey game so that provided a good excuse to go and hang out close to the right gate once we had finished our lunch.
As the Nassau flight started boarding, we joined the line and the guys exclaimed, “Yay, we are going to Nissay.” I said, “Yip, we are going to Nissay, Mexico!”
Once the pilot announced that we were flying to the Bahamas, the gig was up but the boys still did not realize we were going to Atlantis. After a short hour flight, we landed in Nassau. It took forever to clear immigration and get our bags, but eventually we were out of the airport and on the bus headed for the Reef Hotel at Atlantis. The bus ride took about 30 minutes and as Atlantis came into view, the boys were excited but sad that we were not staying there - they did not realize that the Reef Hotel was part of the Atlantis resort complex. Once they figured this out, they were really excited.
We checked into our room and went exploring as evening was approaching. We saw a little bit of the waterpark but not much. Logan found time for some slides on the Mayan Temple and then it was time for dinner. We tried the buffet at the Marketplace Restaurant in the Royal Towers - it was fantastic. After dinner, we took a quick walk to the casino to scope it out and then it was time to call it a day.
