Happy Anniversary EPCOT

We are all so excited about Monday - EPCOT's 30th anniversary and our first day at the Food and Wine Festival.  The day started out badly - Jimmy had a case of the "throw-ups", they weren't sure if it was a flu or  food poisoning from his meal the night before.  But whatever the cause, he wouldn't be joining us and that left Mary to bring the two kids to the park on the bus.  Upon our arrival to the park, we were each given one of these pins. (Of course they are already on ebay for $7.95). The twins were already doing their favorite rides, so Rod and I headed to Sunshine Seasons for breakfast.  The twins met us there, and shortly after Mary and the kids arrived.    Since we were already in the Land Building, we did the Living with the Land attraction.  This is another of my favorite attractions - you tour one of Disney's greenhouses.  It's amazing to see how Disney manages to grow so many items in so little a space.  We visited the Food and Wine Festival Center while the others road Soarin'.  It was not surprising to see so many items available for purchase to celebrate this Festival.

As lunch time approached, Mary and the twins headed for Via Napoli while Rod and I went to lunch at Coral Reef.  Although this restaurant would appear to be quiet and calming as you dine with the aquarium in view, it is most times very noisy.  Rod and I were seated on the top level, but had a great view of the aquarium. Our server was from Pittsburgh, and was very attentive.  I had decided to try some new things on this trip, and since I enjoyed the smoked salmon at Raglan Road, chose to try the Orange Ginger Glazed Scottish Salmon.  My appetizer was a creamy lobster soup with tarragon and brandy.  The soup was wonderful, the salmon not so much.  When our server noticed that I wasn't eating the salmon, he offered to bring me another entree and the seared chicken with spaetzle was much more to my liking.  I had told our server that we were going to be celebrating our 38th anniversary, and before bringing our desserts, he surprised us with a flute of champagne with a strawberry on the rim.  It was a large bit of Disney Magic.  For dessert I had the creme brulee (I never pass up creme brulee), and Rod had the cheesecake.

After lunch, we went to the aquarium and did Turtle Talk with Crush.  This show is so much fun.  Through Disney's magic, Crush can interact with the members of the audience.  He answers questions that the kids ask, and teases some of the adults.  It's fun, and Rod and I have done it without any of the kids.

After Crush, I braved the line at Mouse Gear to buy some 30th Anniversary pins.  The line had been really long, and some people stood in that line for as high as 5 hours.  There was nothing I wanted that badly.  I bought 2 pins, an anniversary lanyard (It was orange, how could I resist!), and a baseball cap - also orange.

The kids had gotten Fast Passes for Soarin', so they headed that direction while Pat and I made a potty stop.  And that's when it happened - my moment of embarrassment when my Demon Scooter chose to leave my butt behind!  In my blog post from Saturday, I described my fall.  As I lay there on the floor, I could see little girls looking at me in horror, I could hear the attendant asking if I needed a medic, and yet all I could think was that I would be on the 11 o'clock news with the tag line "Fat Lady Falls in Disney - Takes 4 men and a crane to get her up".  But it wasn't like that at all.  Thank God the news crew wasn't there!!  But the people in the bathroom couldn't have been kinder and more concerned.  In an attempt to alleviate my embarrassment, they offered me juice boxes, bottles of water, applesauce, fruit snacks, and cookies.  I declined their offers, and Rod bought me a bottle of Smart Water.  Guess he figured I needed something to make me a little smarter!!  We then proceeded to the Land Building where they rode Soarin' and I sat quietly in tears.  After Soarin', we did Journey into Imagination with Figment, and  while in the gift shop, Rod found a remote control Monorail.  He rarely buys anything at Disney for himself, but this was added to our purchases.

We had an early dinner at Garden Grill, and met Farmer Mickey, Chip and Dale and Pluto.  I don't know who gets more excited to see Pluto - Bubby or Pam.  Our meal was excellent, and included roast turkey, sliced flank steak and a fish topped with a roasted tomato and pepper compote.  I sure wish I had the recipe for that one.  Rod took Mary back to her resort to get Bubby's pills while the rest of us finished our meals.  It was a wonderful surprise when they returned, and Jimmy was with them.  By this time, the heat had zapped my enthusiasm and I was stiffening up from my fall.  I had braved the crowds more than I cared to.  So, as the rain began to fall once again, Rod and I returned to our resort.  After a quick shower, we watched some of Monday Night Football before an early lights out.