Check-in at the Days Inn was quick and easy. We walked right up to a front desk clerk, who quickly found our reservation. The park and fly package had long since been pre-paid (I’m a bit anal about having as many expenses pre-paid as possible before travelling) so there wasn’t much to do except register our vehicle for the long-term lot. We didn’t end up parking it just then…..we still had dinner to attend to…..but we filled out all the necessary forms and took one of the permits for the dash. They handed me a package that I had had shipped to the hotel (saving me a nice chunk of change on duty and shipping fees) without me having to ask about it, which impressed me a tiny bit. Normally I always have to ask the front desk for packages when we arrive (then get that blank stare that says
Package? You had a package shipped here? ).
We brought all of our luggage from the Journey to our room on the 5th floor. By early evening, it was windy and damp and just plain miserable outside. We had a king room reserved for the night, and that’s exactly what we were assigned.
This is an older property, and the décor is pretty dated. I have to say that the bedspreads they are now using (which are different from our last stay at this hotel in 2012) look like they are straight out of 1977. Definitely not my taste. BUT…..it was super clean, which is my biggest requirement
. It looked clean and it
smelled clean, so for that reason alone, we were satisfied. Everything was in good condition, just ugly (I hope I’m not insulting anyone here).
We had a view of the airport from our room. I am amazed at how BUSY this airport is. There were planes coming and going constantly…..including all through the night.
The hotel has a decent sized pool and a nice hot tub. We didn’t end up swimming anytime that evening…..too full and too lazy after dinner
…..but again, the area was well maintained, clean, stocked with lots of towels, and I had no complaints. Had Jake been travelling with us, I can guarantee we would have all been in that hot tub after dinner to soak the car trip stiffness from our legs. We just opted not to have to stick wet swimsuits in our luggage in the morning, because hung on the shower rod or not, they never seem to fully dry overnight.
After stretching out on the bed for a bit (checking the Jays score, emails…..) we donned our jackets and headed out for dinner. Plans called for us to visit the Cheesecake Factory for the first time, so we plugged the address for the Walden Galleria into the GPS and headed to the mall.
There were a lot of cars in the Galleria parking lot, so we were less than surprised when we saw the HUGE line that stretched out the door of the Cheesecake Factory and snaked its way down the hall. To be fair, we inquired as to how long the wait for a table would be and our question was met with an apologetic smile from the greeter and a response of “30 minutes? Maybe an hour?” (complete with question marks). I asked Steve if he wanted to wait, and without hesitation he said no. From there, we checked out the menu of PF Changs (we’ve seen their commercials on TV) but the offerings really didn’t appeal to either of us, so we gave that one a pass too. We strolled around a bit more, vetoed the Italian place and a few other restaurants, and browsed a few shops as we laughed at our obvious picky-ness. We went back to the car and opted to tour the area for something that appealed to our fussy palates.
We spied an Olive Garden just a stone’s throw from the mall, but again….we could see the line winding out the front door and into the cold (if we had to wait outside, it’s definitely off the list
). However, glimmering in the darkness across the parking lot from OG, there stood a Smokey Bones that seemed to be calling to us on the frosty breeze……
Okay, maybe it wasn’t exactly calling us
. That might have just been our rumbly tummies that we heard. But by this time, we were feeling noticeably hungry, and there was no line out the door
. The name suggested there would be an ample stock of meat dishes from which to choose, so Steve would no doubt have his meatatarian appetite satisfied. A fellow Dis-er (
@schumigirl ) has spoken highly of this chain in Orlando, so we were reasonably certain that it must be decent....her dining reviews haven't led us astray yet. So, Smokey Bones it would be!
Next up: the diet goes out the window. But calories don't count when you're on vacation.....right?