I guess the family got a later start than I did – they’re not ready to go to the park yet, leaving me to find some shade and enjoy the lovely grounds. Here’s a geyser. I wonder if they grew the forked tree that way on purpose?

The day started out warm and became ridiculous.  I just want to go on record with photographic evidence that I most certainly DID have something resembling a hair style when I walked out the door in the morning.  This is me at the bus stop –

Our main goal on this day was to eat, drink, socialize, be merry, and not have a heat stroke incident.  We had lunch in France, and proceeded to the American Adventure, where we took in Voices of Liberty and the film presentation in cool comfort.  Here’s my favorite quote from the walls in the main hall –

At some point during our World Showcase amble, we stopped in the dense shade under a tree near Italy, and found these beautiful flowers growing beneath it.  We lingered there awhile and hydrated ourselves.

At some point, I checked the weather and found that Bay Lake, FL stood at 100 degrees, “feels like 109”.  I snapped an Instaweather photo for posterity.

We visited Mexico for more cool darkness, stood around in the perpetual twilight drinking margaritas, did the boat ride, and emerged blinking into the harsh heat of a June sub-tropical afternoon once more. We had reservations for later on at the Flying Fish, so we made our way to the International Gateway and took the boat to the Boardwalk, where we whiled away an hour or so at the Belle Vue Room.  Finally at the Fish, here was our main course – an upscale twist on chicken and dumplings.  The Fish NEVER disappoints!

I slept QUITE well last night, after all that food and drink and heat.  Today is supposed to be a Magic Kingdom day, but it will be abbreviated for me, as I must drive home.  Possible we might get on the new train ride – stay tuned!

You can find more photos on Twitter, here:  https://twitter.com/WhiteErinM

Ciao for now.

After shopping, we left EPCOT, ditched my car at Saratoga Springs, and took a boat – actually, TWO boats – to Pleasure Island.

We met my brother at Paradiso 37 for drinks and dinner. He had these pilsner glasses full of some tropical concoction all ready and waiting for us. We get to keep the glasses! They are good for beer refills any time we come back.

After dinner, I went off on a mission on my own. The new Co-op area (previously Team Mickey) started selling a few new Vera Bradley patterns today. I picked up the hipster style in each pattern, for resale on eBay. I did well with the Midnight With Mickey pattern back in March, and look forward to seeing what I can do with these. The darker pattern on the left is Mickey’s Perfect Petals. I believe the other one is called Bouncing Bouquet.

Downtown Disney looks pretty in the dark. People were lined up waiting for Stitch to spit on them.

Here’s the new Starbucks. Will CityWalk have to get a different coffee shop now?

And finally, Characters In Flight against the evening sky; that’s Cirque du Soleil in the background. I boarded the boat behind Paradiso and transferred to another boat at the West Side, which took me back to Saratoga and my car. I may do some more shopping tomorrow morning. Right now, I’m in limp rag doll mode. Good night!