Trip Report - Sept/Oct 2021

[Noreen411]

Saturday 10/9/21:
Scott went to the gym at 5 and I went just before 6.

After our normal morning routine, we finished packing. Even though we decided to leave today instead of tomorrow, we didn’t rush to leave early.

We headed out about 10:30am. The navigation on the car says it is 1,107 miles until we are home.

We stopped at the other Peach World in Georgia and bought some pecans.

While driving we booked our hotel for tonight - Courtyard by Marriott in Florence, SC. We were at the hotel by about 6pm.




We walked to a nearby Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner. There is a Longhorn maybe 45 minutes from our house and we’ve never been there. Every time we’ve passed it Scott always says he wants to try it.

I had white peach sangria and Scott had a martini.


For our appetizer we shared the wild west shrimp. This was good but a bit too spicy for me so Scott ate most of it.



For our entrees Scott had a burger with Mac & cheese. I had salmon with rice and broccoli.



For dessert we shared the strawberry shortcake.


We both enjoyed everything we ate; we may try the Longhorn in New Jersey once we’re home. Longhorn reminds me of Outback with a similar type of menu. We like Outback too.

We were back at the hotel by about 8:45 and watched some more of the Transylvania movie.

 

[Noreen411]

Sunday 10/10/21:
We didn’t use the gym at the hotel this morning, we just showered and got ready to go.

We left about 6:45am.



We spent part of the drive making some calls and chatting with friends/family which made the ride go pretty quickly.

We talked some more about DVC including talking to one of my friends who owns DVC. We’re still not sure if it’s right for us and the way we vacation. There are a lot of restrictions on when you need to book your trips and we don’t always plan that far in advance. Restrictions meaning it sounds like you have to book right at your 11 month window to get what you want. We will continue to think about it.

We figured once we get home we probably won’t want to go back out, so we stopped for dinner at Bonefish Grill in Paramus, New Jersey around 6:45pm. We eat here pretty often; it’s maybe 30 minutes from home.

I had a white sangria (they make the best white sangria) and Scott had a Martini.



They have great bread that’s served warm with a good dipping sauce. We can never stop at just one piece.


For an appetizer we had the seared ahi tuna. Always good.


For an entree we shared a seasonal special - I think it was swordfish served with pumpkin ravioli. Scott also ordered Mac & cheese.



We got an order of the key lime cake to go - one of my favorite desserts.



After giving us the cold shoulder for a few minutes after we got home, the cats were happy to see us.

 

[Noreen411]

Monday 10/11/21:
We were home doing all the post vacation chores such as laundry, sorting through mail, etc. But since we originally would have just arrived home today we tried to keep the vacation vibe going.

We went out to dinner to a restaurant maybe 30 minutes from home - RP Prime Steakhouse in Mahwah, New Jersey.
I had a white sangria and Scott had a martini.


We had tuna tartare and bacon for our appetizers. This isn’t the full portion of bacon; the waiter started plating before I could take a picture.



The salad was nice and refreshing. We aren’t sure what type of dressing they use, but it’s light and we both enjoy it. Just one picture since our salads looked the same.


We shared the veal chop parmigiana which comes with spaghetti. They split the portion for us. We each had our own bowl of spaghetti (one picture since they look the same). Scott had the piece of veal with the bone since I don’t like food on the bone. I know it’s a steakhouse and they have great steak but we were in the mood for the veal parm which we’ve had here before and it’s really good too.




We skipped dessert since we were too full.

We really enjoy this restaurant.

 

[Noreen411]

Final Thoughts:
This was a great trip. We still enjoy driving to Florida and still love Disney.

We’ve had the timeshare for years and I’m really glad as it makes the trip easier having the space and amenities of a condo rather than just a hotel room.

We tried several new restaurants and have some new favorites. I won’t stress on future trips if I can’t get all the reservations I want right at 60 days out; we can keep checking/changing as we go along.

It was fun doing some different things during the trip and having others join us for parts of the trip.

If you have any questions please ask; I love talking about my vacations.

Noreen