franandaj
I'm so happy, I could BOUNCE!
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2009
Welcome to the next incarnation of franandaj Trip Reports.
For those of you who have followed along in the past, you'll know that my previous reports centered on the adventures of me and my wife, with whom I shared 26+ years of my life. Sadly she passed away earlier this year after a long struggle with many injuries, mostly internal.
So now begins a new chapter in trip reporting. Obviously from the title, I am the Widow. For almost 10 years, Jill (the Spinster), and Jenny (the Missus) have made appearances in my Trip Reports. While they will not be the sole guest stars, they will likely make the most frequent appearances. I’m sure there will be plenty of other guest stars and cameo appearances. I live less than 30 minutes from Disneyland and over the many years that I’ve been on the DIS I’ve made a ton of friends who continue to visit the Disneyland resort.
It’s easy for me to meet up with folks who come out to visit, so those folks may also figure prominently in my Trip Reports as well. But Jenny and Jill are among my dearest friends and we always seem to have plans in the works that involve Disney, despite the fact that Jill lives several states away! Jenny lives here now!
Because I don’t have any long distance Disney adventures planned for the next 7-8 months, I’m going to share my adventures of day trips to the Disneyland resort. I didn’t even have any overnight plans at the Disneyland resort for almost six months when I started writing this TR, but things can change quickly as you will see in a future installment! There will be quite a few guest stars in addition to the main characters. I have at least three different friends who will be visiting in the next six months, two who will be coming internationally! Anyhoo…..
So this brings us to our first adventure. If you've read some of my past reports, you might know that Fran and I were lucky to have a generous friend who is a member of Club 33. He prefers to remain anonymous, let's call him Bob.
Well, Bob wanted to do something nice for me in honor of Fran's passing, so he made a dinner reservation at Club 33 for Jenny, Jill, and myself. Jill had come to visit over the Juneteenth long weekend, so we planned for Saturday as our Disney day.
Since we didn't want to be exhausted and stressed out at dinner after a full day at Disney, we started the day with brunch in Long Beach. Jenny's son works as a server at the restaurant we went to. We made it there at 9AM, and he kept our water glasses full! We needed to hydrate for our evening ahead!
I didn’t really get pictures so not much to show. But it was a good brunch.
I ordered the Croque Madame. This was way bigger than the ones I'd seem in pictures on Yelp! The bread was much thinner in the pictures, so this was WAY more than I was expecting! It was good but I could only eat half of it.
Jenny ordered the appetizer of tots under the "plates for sharing" section. It came with a vegan jalapeno gravy. Not my favorite, but Jenny loves it. We definitely shared and she still took some home. She also got an egg over medium, but it didn't come until later.
Jill's dish, French Toast didn't come until a little later, so we missed getting a picture. It had the same thick brioche bread as my sandwich. She also got Billion dollar bacon, which was lacquered with maple syrup. I realized that I think I like my bacon regular and not billions.
After Brunch we said goodbye until later. Jenny went home, and Jill and I headed back to my house. My landlord job kicked in as I got a message from a tenant about a broken gate. On our way to check it out, the tenant messaged me that he had fixed it, but we had a box in the car that needed to be dropped off at that property anyways, so we went ahead and checked it out. We also stopped by another property in the neighborhood that's vacant to put out more flyers. I think that was it.
We went back to my house, changed into our park clothes and we were on our way to Jenny’s shortly after noon. We picked her up and were on our way to Disney. That week the Jose mug had been released at Trader Sam’s. Neither Jenny or I wanted to get in on the madness that is a mug release (that was Fran’s game not mine), so we didn’t get them the day before. Jill did want a mug so we stopped by the Disneyland hotel before we parked so she could run in and grab one. She texted us that there were plenty while she was waiting in line to purchase.
Then it was time to head into the park. Jenny wanted to ride Indy so we made the trek to adventureland. Oh, well, we’ve got time.
A little blurry, but you get the idea!
On our way to ride Pirates, we saw Jack Sparrow.
It wasn’t long until we were on the ride.
If you know me, you know I love the harpsichord and was very sad when it was missing….
I was super happy to see that the cats were back! They were gone in January while they were still on the soundtrack. By February they were gone from the soundtrack as well. Evidently they were being refurbished and now were back in all their glory, meowing!
By the time we finished our cruise through the Caribbean, it was time for our reservation at Club 33. Like I said we had an early reservation. Jill and I had plans to do things the next day, like go to hazardous waste recycling and replace my broken taillight so we didn’t want to be out too late.
Club 33 was celebrating Tropical Hideaway during our visit so we took advantage of the decorations.
This painting by Shag was being offered up to Club members by RSP (Random Selection Process, basically a raffle) for only $22,000.00 for the winner.
Even the Club’s Mascot Alfred was into the Tiki holiday.
We were seated at a table near the window, with this lovely place setting.
And we perused the menu. There was also a special entree that was not listed and we all ended up ordering it, Rib Eye steak, who cares how it was prepared?
As part of the Tiki celebration there was a special mug designed by Shag. We all started off with one of these beverages in the specially designed mug.
Jill and I planned on ordering the wine pairings with dinner, but Jenny wasn’t sure what she wanted. When she put on her glasses to check out the menu, we teased her that she looked like Roz. “Always watching.”
For the first course we each chose something different off the menu. I believe that this was my wine to accompany my dish. The menu says that all the first courses should be accompanied by Champagne or Sparkling wine, but this doesn’t look like any of the choices on the menu. Domaine L’Hermitage, Menetou-Salon, Lawrence et Geraud de la Farge, Premiere Cuvee
I do seem to have a glass of sparkling wine, and another glass….
Jill had the Shaven Artisan Prosciutto, Pickled Garden Relish and Pecorino Fritters. She liked it a lot.
Jenny chose the Roasted Asparagus, Whipped Feta Pistachio and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette. No second choices here either.
I went with the only remaining option not yet mentioned, Pan Roasted Diver Scallop, Fava Bean, Cous Cous and Roasted Pepper Nage. This was super good. Scallops here are always perfectly cooked!
The second course always comes with bread and butter.
Jenny ordered the Sungold Tomato Soup, Curried Chicken, Lemongrass and Cilantro
Jill and I each got the Seared Romaine Salad, Parmigiano Reggiano and Roasted Garlic Caesar Dressing. It was a delicious salad!
I can’t tell you anything about this course other than it was a Rib Eye and it was delicious! Since it wasn’t printed on the menu, I don’t know what the sauces were, or the accompaniments. Looks like there is some corn and mashed potatoes. I ended up with both mine and Jill’s leftovers, which I turned into a beef and cheddar sandwich later in the week.
For dessert, I think that Jenny and Jill ordered the same thing. Creamy Peanut Bar, Banana and Apricot Essence. They both enjoyed it.
I had the Manjari Dark Chocolate Layer Cake, Mascarpone Chantilly and Summer Cherries. It was absolutely to die for!
We had already decided that Jill was going to drive home. I think I had an Amaretto neat in addition to my wine that came with the pairing. And then came the biggest surprise of the evening, our entire meal had been paid for! What a lovely gesture! But then that left us with a dilemma, we needed to tip our server, but Jill and I had been counting on putting the tip on our credit cards. Neither one of us had much cash, if any. Luckily Jenny had several hundred dollars on her, so we were able to tip the server. Phew!
Then we started to make our way out of the park. Our dinner reservation had been early so that Jill and I could get a relatively early start the next day. We had some “tasks” planned for the next day and wanted to get a good night’s sleep so that we could git ‘er done!
According to our texts, I think we were back at my house by 9:30, at which point I fed the cats and we went to bed. Another fun Disney Day in the books!
For those of you who have followed along in the past, you'll know that my previous reports centered on the adventures of me and my wife, with whom I shared 26+ years of my life. Sadly she passed away earlier this year after a long struggle with many injuries, mostly internal.
So now begins a new chapter in trip reporting. Obviously from the title, I am the Widow. For almost 10 years, Jill (the Spinster), and Jenny (the Missus) have made appearances in my Trip Reports. While they will not be the sole guest stars, they will likely make the most frequent appearances. I’m sure there will be plenty of other guest stars and cameo appearances. I live less than 30 minutes from Disneyland and over the many years that I’ve been on the DIS I’ve made a ton of friends who continue to visit the Disneyland resort.
It’s easy for me to meet up with folks who come out to visit, so those folks may also figure prominently in my Trip Reports as well. But Jenny and Jill are among my dearest friends and we always seem to have plans in the works that involve Disney, despite the fact that Jill lives several states away! Jenny lives here now!
Because I don’t have any long distance Disney adventures planned for the next 7-8 months, I’m going to share my adventures of day trips to the Disneyland resort. I didn’t even have any overnight plans at the Disneyland resort for almost six months when I started writing this TR, but things can change quickly as you will see in a future installment! There will be quite a few guest stars in addition to the main characters. I have at least three different friends who will be visiting in the next six months, two who will be coming internationally! Anyhoo…..
So this brings us to our first adventure. If you've read some of my past reports, you might know that Fran and I were lucky to have a generous friend who is a member of Club 33. He prefers to remain anonymous, let's call him Bob.
Well, Bob wanted to do something nice for me in honor of Fran's passing, so he made a dinner reservation at Club 33 for Jenny, Jill, and myself. Jill had come to visit over the Juneteenth long weekend, so we planned for Saturday as our Disney day.
Since we didn't want to be exhausted and stressed out at dinner after a full day at Disney, we started the day with brunch in Long Beach. Jenny's son works as a server at the restaurant we went to. We made it there at 9AM, and he kept our water glasses full! We needed to hydrate for our evening ahead!
I didn’t really get pictures so not much to show. But it was a good brunch.
I ordered the Croque Madame. This was way bigger than the ones I'd seem in pictures on Yelp! The bread was much thinner in the pictures, so this was WAY more than I was expecting! It was good but I could only eat half of it.
Jenny ordered the appetizer of tots under the "plates for sharing" section. It came with a vegan jalapeno gravy. Not my favorite, but Jenny loves it. We definitely shared and she still took some home. She also got an egg over medium, but it didn't come until later.
Jill's dish, French Toast didn't come until a little later, so we missed getting a picture. It had the same thick brioche bread as my sandwich. She also got Billion dollar bacon, which was lacquered with maple syrup. I realized that I think I like my bacon regular and not billions.
After Brunch we said goodbye until later. Jenny went home, and Jill and I headed back to my house. My landlord job kicked in as I got a message from a tenant about a broken gate. On our way to check it out, the tenant messaged me that he had fixed it, but we had a box in the car that needed to be dropped off at that property anyways, so we went ahead and checked it out. We also stopped by another property in the neighborhood that's vacant to put out more flyers. I think that was it.
We went back to my house, changed into our park clothes and we were on our way to Jenny’s shortly after noon. We picked her up and were on our way to Disney. That week the Jose mug had been released at Trader Sam’s. Neither Jenny or I wanted to get in on the madness that is a mug release (that was Fran’s game not mine), so we didn’t get them the day before. Jill did want a mug so we stopped by the Disneyland hotel before we parked so she could run in and grab one. She texted us that there were plenty while she was waiting in line to purchase.
Then it was time to head into the park. Jenny wanted to ride Indy so we made the trek to adventureland. Oh, well, we’ve got time.
A little blurry, but you get the idea!
On our way to ride Pirates, we saw Jack Sparrow.
It wasn’t long until we were on the ride.
If you know me, you know I love the harpsichord and was very sad when it was missing….
I was super happy to see that the cats were back! They were gone in January while they were still on the soundtrack. By February they were gone from the soundtrack as well. Evidently they were being refurbished and now were back in all their glory, meowing!
By the time we finished our cruise through the Caribbean, it was time for our reservation at Club 33. Like I said we had an early reservation. Jill and I had plans to do things the next day, like go to hazardous waste recycling and replace my broken taillight so we didn’t want to be out too late.
Club 33 was celebrating Tropical Hideaway during our visit so we took advantage of the decorations.
This painting by Shag was being offered up to Club members by RSP (Random Selection Process, basically a raffle) for only $22,000.00 for the winner.
Even the Club’s Mascot Alfred was into the Tiki holiday.
We were seated at a table near the window, with this lovely place setting.
And we perused the menu. There was also a special entree that was not listed and we all ended up ordering it, Rib Eye steak, who cares how it was prepared?
As part of the Tiki celebration there was a special mug designed by Shag. We all started off with one of these beverages in the specially designed mug.
Jill and I planned on ordering the wine pairings with dinner, but Jenny wasn’t sure what she wanted. When she put on her glasses to check out the menu, we teased her that she looked like Roz. “Always watching.”
For the first course we each chose something different off the menu. I believe that this was my wine to accompany my dish. The menu says that all the first courses should be accompanied by Champagne or Sparkling wine, but this doesn’t look like any of the choices on the menu. Domaine L’Hermitage, Menetou-Salon, Lawrence et Geraud de la Farge, Premiere Cuvee
I do seem to have a glass of sparkling wine, and another glass….
Jill had the Shaven Artisan Prosciutto, Pickled Garden Relish and Pecorino Fritters. She liked it a lot.
Jenny chose the Roasted Asparagus, Whipped Feta Pistachio and Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette. No second choices here either.
I went with the only remaining option not yet mentioned, Pan Roasted Diver Scallop, Fava Bean, Cous Cous and Roasted Pepper Nage. This was super good. Scallops here are always perfectly cooked!
The second course always comes with bread and butter.
Jenny ordered the Sungold Tomato Soup, Curried Chicken, Lemongrass and Cilantro
Jill and I each got the Seared Romaine Salad, Parmigiano Reggiano and Roasted Garlic Caesar Dressing. It was a delicious salad!
I can’t tell you anything about this course other than it was a Rib Eye and it was delicious! Since it wasn’t printed on the menu, I don’t know what the sauces were, or the accompaniments. Looks like there is some corn and mashed potatoes. I ended up with both mine and Jill’s leftovers, which I turned into a beef and cheddar sandwich later in the week.
For dessert, I think that Jenny and Jill ordered the same thing. Creamy Peanut Bar, Banana and Apricot Essence. They both enjoyed it.
I had the Manjari Dark Chocolate Layer Cake, Mascarpone Chantilly and Summer Cherries. It was absolutely to die for!
We had already decided that Jill was going to drive home. I think I had an Amaretto neat in addition to my wine that came with the pairing. And then came the biggest surprise of the evening, our entire meal had been paid for! What a lovely gesture! But then that left us with a dilemma, we needed to tip our server, but Jill and I had been counting on putting the tip on our credit cards. Neither one of us had much cash, if any. Luckily Jenny had several hundred dollars on her, so we were able to tip the server. Phew!
Then we started to make our way out of the park. Our dinner reservation had been early so that Jill and I could get a relatively early start the next day. We had some “tasks” planned for the next day and wanted to get a good night’s sleep so that we could git ‘er done!
According to our texts, I think we were back at my house by 9:30, at which point I fed the cats and we went to bed. Another fun Disney Day in the books!
So sweet of you.....
