- I've flown only a few times since 9/11, so I'm continually amazed at the security. I don't trust checking luggage so usually I would pack all my toiletries and a change of clothes or two in my carry-on back. Thanks to the idiots who tried to sneak liquid explosives on a plane, I can no longer do this. All liquids, creams, gels, what-have-you must be in a plastic bag. Since we ended up packing most of our toiletries in the check luggage, our plastic bag was two cold tablets, chap stick, and hand moisturizer. These items had to be removed from our bag and x-rayed. There are people dying from cancer and lack of food, but our government spends money to x-ray chap stick. I think this is a definite miss allocation of resources.
- Another security thought: I really hate taking off my shoes. I'm trying to balance my coat, backpack, ticket, and our plact baggie of illicit chap stick, but yet I still must balance on one foot at a time and remove my shoes so they too can be x-rayed.
- Inside the terminal was a newspaper/chap stick (pre-screened I assume)/candy/book store. I noticed one thing they were selling were books that you could buy, read on your flight, and then return for all but a small deposit. At first I thought this was a great idea. Thinking about it though, the store was inside the security checkpoint. So to return the book you either had to hope your return flight was to the say gate where you bought the book or wait until your next flight. Guess it's not such a great idea after all.
- Our rental car was a Dodge Caliber. It was a great price through Thrify and having a car was much better than waiting on taxis and buses. However, as an extended test drive of the Caliber, it was lacking. The Caliber is like a mini-station wagon that looked unimpressive and got terrible gas mileage (I calculated it got about 17 miles per gallon.). The worst thing was the terrible blind spots. The roof sloped back from the front seats with windows along the side which got increasingly smaller. I couldn't see a think out of these small windows; it was like driving a van with no windows. Not recommended.
- The hotel/condo we stayed at was Calypso Cay. We checked in with an extremely enthusiastic desk clerk so heartily recommended several events the property was offering. The room was great. It had a living room with TV, DVD player and CD. There was a separate bedroom and a fairly good sized bathroom complete with a jacuzzi tub (read: oval bath tub with water jets). The best part was the kitchenette. We were able to have breakfast there and keep snacks and drinks for the evenings. The only draw back of the condo was the odd color scheme (it was advertised as "Caribbean Theme," which apparently means "pastel colored") and the thin walls through which we could hear our neighbors rearrange their furniture constantly. Oh, also valuable was a computer terminal (you logged on to a server, no CPU was in the room) where you could access the Internet. Especially since the Colts were in the Super Bowl and Indiana was getting hit by sub-sub-freezing temperatures, the internet really helped us keep in touch with the outside world.
- We took a trip to the Kissimmee Wal-Mart that night to stock up on snacks. The place was packed and everyone seemed in a hurry. I've never had more people bump into me in a supermarket (all without saying "excuse me"). Also, Florida OJ, cheap; milk, expensive. Indiana must be making a fortune exporting milk to Florida. Maybe we should broker a deal where we trade milk for OJ
- We dined at the Cracker Barrel near our hotel. It was 7 p.m. on a Saturday night, so I was worried the place would be swamped (as it would be at home). Nope. Nada people in there. We were seated immediately and the food came quickly. Our guess were that the residents eat early (read into that what you will) and all the tourist were still at Disney.
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