A Guinness, Richard Marx, and a Sprained Foot

March 5, 2024 Kungaloosh Radio

With Friday night rolling around, and plenty of beautiful weather, where else would you want to go? Yes, Disney Springs!

Now, I’ll admit, I’m not a huge fan of Disney Springs because it just seems like a huge shopping mall, and there are tons of those all over Central Florida.

So I surprised myself when I actually suggested heading to Disney Springs.

One of our first stops, get some seafood. If you want a little hidden secret, head to Cookes of Dublin. It’s basically the same fried fish and shrimp as Raglan Road. I even think they share the same kitchen.

Of course, stopping by on a Friday means the place is placed. People are grabbing tables and seats as soon as someone’s butt cheeks leave the vinyl.

When you order, you can with take it to go or have it delivered to a table. While this may be a “quick service” spot, it’s anything but. Everything is made to order so expect about 15 minutes to get your lunch or dinner.

Because I wanted something more than fried fish, I went with fried shrimp, too. Fried + fried = love.

The Seafood Combo Box comes with a huge piece of fried Atlantic cod and four massive fried jumbo shrimp, plus chips (or as we call them “fries.”), and a ton of homemade tartar sauce and cocktail sauce for dipping. The shrimp were huuuge! The bread coating was nice and crunchy, not soggy like some other places. A little dash of malted vinegar is all you need. But just beware, that everything is super salty. Bring water or order your favorite beverage.

Of course, after a full meal, you have to check out Gideon’s Bakehouse. Because it’s right there, and who doesn’t want to wait for cookies? The line was about 45 minutes. Not bad for a Friday night.

So I stood, got my cookie menu, and was tempted by a big beautiful Guinness. Naw, I don’t need a drink. Maybe, well, oh, okay.

I don’t know if it was the magic of Disney, but this Guinness from Raglan Road was absolutely delicious. Rich, smooth, and dark. Yum!

I may have shed a few tears. Honestly, I haven’t had a great Guinness since everything shut down two years ago. This was truly a Guinness from the Gunniess gods. And what better way to pass the time than to enjoy a beer?

Finally, it was time to go inside for the goodies. Now, I wanted to grab a single cookie, but apparently, we needed two cookies and cake too. 🤦🏼‍♀️

In total, we ended up with some type of dark chocolate crumb cake, the March special edition peanut butter and chocolate cookie, and a plain ol’ regular chocolate chip cookie. Talk about raising your blood sugar!

After consuming a massive amount of sugar (no, we only had a bite of the cookies and cake), it was time for a little retail therapy. First stop, the Co-Op.

For the 50th Orange Bird welcomed you into the entrance, but Stitch is now front and center at the CoOp Marketplace. Don’t worry; our little orange friend is still located towards the back of the building.

And then we looked at the fancy figurines at Arribas Brothers. These are actually made from the original casts.

We listened to an interesting definition of Livin’ on a Prayer.

And hung out with a crocodile…

I saw the Lego Dragon, too. Does he have a name? Everyone has a name at Disney.

We just enjoy the sights and sounds of Disney Springs.

There was even a photo op for the Oscars.

What a nice way to wind down the day!

Saturday

What should’ve turned into a nice relaxing Saturday before seeing Richard Marx, turned into a nightmare. What happened? I’m running a few errands, including a stop at Home Depot. I wanted to pick up river rocks because my turtle loves to move them around his tank. It’s weird, but I don’t ask.

As I was walking out of the store with a bag of rocks, I stepped off a concrete curb the wrong way. It felt like my foot bent in half, and I started to feel the swelling in my shoe. I make it back home, but now hobbling on one foot. For a brief hour, I wasn’t in too much pain. But once I tried to relax, my foot was throbbing. I couldn’t put any weight on it. Well, there goes the concert for tomorrow, or does it?

After a couple of hours of ice and elevation, I could put a little weight on it, but I still needed a little help. Amazon to the rescue, but not really.

Sunday

So I bought a cane to be overnighted to my home for Sunday morning. Only it didn’t come. In fact, the driver was a few blocks away from me and turned around. Amazon had no answers, I don’t have a cane, and now all my plans have blown up. And Mom isn’t going to see Richard Marx, a major crisis in itself.

So my solution was to hobble into Epcot and wait around the new World Celebration area.

Once I got into the park, we saw the rental wheelchairs and had an idea. How about I at least push the wheelchair around for some stability? Not bad, and it did help to get me around the park. Unfortunately, park people can be rude and in their own little world, which means you have to watch out and not hit someone with these things. I do have a new appreciation for strollers and scooters though. I couldn’t do this all the time.

But hey, as I’m limping, we did check out a few more topiaries around World Discovery. Groot is still not playing any music, though.

You know how I wanted to wait in the new outdoor area for the concert to end? Well, that plan also backfired when the weather gods decided to pour rain on everything. We made the executive decision to grab lunch/dinner at Connections Eatery. I had the festival option: the Hot Honey Chicken Sandwich, which was just okay. It had a little spice to it, but the Cole slaw made it a bit too soggy. I would rather stick with the original chicken sammy.

After eating, we decided that maybe we should head to the concert area. But it’s still raining. I’m trying to hold an umbrella, push a wheelchair, and keep my balance – not working. As I was getting soaked to the bone, I just decided to get a poncho. So yes, somehow Mickey made more money out of me. By the way, ponchos are $12.00, but you can get your AP discount on them. So win, I guess.

With the lightning, blowing rain, and thunder, it didn’t look like the 5:30 show was going on. But you know what? About 15 minutes, everything cleared up. Gotta love Florida weather!

And best of all, front section seats for the show. Since the weather was crappy, it was almost a pick-em for where you wanted to sit.

So we saw Richard for the 5:30…

6:45…

And 8:00.

Richard still sounds good, and he really played three great shows. There is only one caveat: Since he has a big catalog, Richard will play through all the hits. The only problem is that he ends the final night show with “Right Here Waiting.” If you’re expecting that to be played at the first two shows, you’re out of luck.