Wednesday, December 23rd:
It was mid-week already….time was flying by soooo fast
.
On this particular morning, “the plan” had been to grab an in-villa breakfast before heading out to make the most out of yet another warm, humid and rain-free day. We were happy to note that we were nicely ahead of the dining budget, though (thanks to some good coupons and discounts) so the boys made an appeal for an “extra” breakfast out. Their interest had been piqued earlier in the trip by the breakfast menu at Steak & Shake, so they batted their eyelashes and lavished me with compliments until I caved.
Yep, I’m soft like that
. Like putty in their hands.
Arriving at Steak & Shake, it was pretty busy….not surprising, as it was on its way to 10 am. All the late sleepers had rumbled out of bed and were now in search of morning sustenance. We were still able to be seated right away, and our server had menus in front of us and beverages to our table within minutes of our arrival.
The prices for breakfast here are cheap, cheap, cheap……the value is very comparable to their lunch entrees. They had a nice, diverse selection so it was hard for us to pick what to have
. If this went well, we could see ourselves returning on a future trip to try all the other yummy vittles that didn’t make the cut on this visit.
The time between submission of our orders and delivery of our food was very swift…..which was a good thing, because the guys were starved (as usual
).
Jake had ordered a “cheddar scrambler” which also came with a side of two pancakes:
Steve had the “country skillet” with his eggs over easy:
I ordered a sausage and egg biscuit (no cheese please) with a side of silver dollar hashbrowns:
Then, because they were dying of hunger, my fellows also ordered a pair of breakfast “shooters” to try. No pictures of those, they disappeared before I could get my camera out of the camera bag!!
In hindsight, the guys should have foregone the sausage shooters because the portion sizes of their entrees were MASSIVE for the price. Inexpensive does not mean small quantities here, which we should have known. By the time we finished our meal (with some left over that we simply could not force our bellies to consume), we were stuffed full.
Service again was friendly and efficient. The food was super yummy and exceeded all expectations. The price was crazy low, at a total of $25.59 including tax and beverages (three large milks, chocolate for the boys and white for me). We will definitely eat here again
.
Our next stop of the day was to finally use a long-expired Groupon for a favourite Orlando family activity: mini golf! The manager of the Groupon vendor had confirmed via private message on Facebook that despite the voucher being more than two years past the date of expiry, they would still honour the full value without additional payment…..customer service at its finest! Jake, in particular, was super excited to hit the green as mini golf is one of his favourite pastimes when we vacation together as a family. He was almost bouncing in the back seat as we made our way to the course in Kissimmee
.
The parking lot in front of the golf course was so empty, we wondered if perhaps we had arrived prior to their opening hours….but yes, they were indeed open though we were the only people there. Are we sure it’s Christmas week?!?!?
Where the heck were all the people?
At any rate, we got a wonderfully friendly welcome from the young lady at the small store who happily accepted our expired Groupon and had us on our way in no time with clubs and balls in hand.
Mighty Jungle is an African-themed course that we had visited before, and while it’s not the “best” mini golf in Orlando (it doesn’t have my beloved gators, as Congo River does) it’s a beautifully maintained location with a nice moderate challenge level. It’s not too easy, not too hard, and just difficult enough to be fun. It’s well themed, well groomed, and every time we have visited, the staff could not be friendlier or more accommodating.
They offer 36 holes at the course, so there are two separate 18-hole options from which to pick. Our Groupon entitlements provided unlimited all day golfing plus ice cream for 4, so we knew we could start with one course and then proceed with the second. We chose to begin at the course on the right side, at Bwindi.
See? I told you someone was happy to be FINALLY getting the chance to mini golf!
It’s a pretty course, so there were some good opportunities for photos along the route. We stopped here and there to grab some candid shots for the photobook:
Ever wondered what it would be like to have a private rental of a mini golf course? Well, we found out … since we were the ONLY ones there. Yes, we had the entire place to ourselves
.
It was HOT and humid again today, so we were grateful once again for the cloud cover which blocked out the added warming effect of the sun. The weather would have made it easy to forget it was just two days before Christmas….except that they had THE BEST Christmas soundtrack playing as we made our way around the course
. Awesome songs, many of them traditional carols, from high-profile artists that left us wanting to sing along at the top of our lungs. And ya know, we did just that…..because heck, we were the only ones there, so we weren’t subjecting anyone to our terrible singing or lack of pitch. None of us can carry a tune in a bucket, but what we lacked in talent we made up for in enthusiasm
.
While I had a spectacular beginning to the first round (by hole 15, I was noticeably ahead of the guys…which left Jake gobsmacked and wondering what had come over his unskilled and non-athletic mother) I had a huge fall apart beginning at the 16th hole. Jake emerged the late game winner, complete with victory dance and a little gloating to his dad. Cheeky boy
. Steve somehow beat my score by a hair as well, and despite my glorious initial performance, I came dead last......as usual.
We tackled the Serengeti course next:
Once again, Jake claimed top spot after a back-and-forth battle for the game with an equally competitive Steve. It’s always in good fun, though, so everyone came out smiling
. Too hot to continue (and another family had just shown up……somehow, it wouldn’t be the same if we had to “share” our private course!!
) we turned in our clubs and sat down at the picnic tables adjacent to the little store. We had picked up our ice cream treats (one each for Steve and I….Jake took a pass, he was already thinking about his much-anticipated and fattening lunch choice!) and ate them quickly before they melted into tiny pools of milk. The novelties we had to pick from were all high-end choices…..Magnum bars, Oreo products, Drumsticks, and the like…..which surprised us considering we paid about $12 for the Groupon back in 2012. A round of golf each would have been about $10 per person….we golfed
two rounds each, plus ice cream, and we could STILL come back later in the day for more golfing if we so chose. We were more than satisfied with the value from that purchase!
Lots more yet to come…
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. It's almost a toss-up as to which is worse.....the weather or the dollar. Though at least the cold eventually passes. I fear the warmth will return long before our dollar rebounds.
Me especially....OMG, I felt every gray hair on my head at that moment. I guess because I don't feel any different, I don't expect to look any different either. Alas, middle age is creeping up on me despite my youthful attitude. 
.
.....unless I can squeeze in a reasonably priced staycation at the Falls.
