Travel
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Wheel of Screams and World of Color
Today is our World of Color dining package! First we wander around to dry off from the drenching we got. Down to the wharf. A quick bakery tour. Look at this cute photo spot – great illusion. Onto the Pier To visit… A ‘ el’s Grotto. So disappointing to see this in disrepair. Not even a temporary sign over it. After a 20 minute wait, we are seated, and brought some sourdough rolls. Sourdough isn’t my favorite, but these were freshly baked and pretty good. The details in the restaurant were cute, but it still felt lackluster. Obligatory Mickey Head. I really liked the lemonade at WDW, so I opted…
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Hitchhiking Ghosts and an Extra Splashy Mountain
We head back to Disneyland Park this morning, this time with the plan of jogging over to get some Haunted Mansion FastPasses. We are learning the differences between here and DisneyWorld pretty quickly. We spot Chip and Dale in adorable bobby police outfits. Goofy was dressed for Halloween in a skeleton costume. I went to the top of the railroad station and got some photos of the classic transportation vehicles. I love the horse drawn trolley – it looks like it’s floating. Chris was awesome and went running for the fastpasses while I meandered over getting photos. Seeing the Nightmare Before Christmas version was my single must-do for this trip.…
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Melting in Disney and Mad Hatter Dancing
Our first morning waking up in Disneyland! We got up and went down to Tangaroa Terrace for breakfast. Chris opted for the breakfast platter – Scrambled Eggs with Roasted Potatoes, Island Fruit and Bacon I went for the Loco Moco – a juicy Hamburger Patty served over Rice and topped with Brown Gravy and a Fried Egg with a side of Island Fruit (I also immediately taunted my friend Cozy with it). I am definitely a “rummage in the fridge for leftovers” breakfast type so this suited me. We went back up to the room to set up the camera equipment for the day, because we were too exhausted the…
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Mickey’s Halloween Party – Disneyland Edition
Halloween in Disneyland It’s party time!! As we walk up to the gates we see a not unexpected sign: We’ve got our tickets already though, so onward! Aren’t the carved “pumpkins” cute? Mickey has his party mask on. Mickey Pumpkin projections twirl on the ground. This huge floating Mickey ghost was so cool. Spooky eyes blinked and followed you on the buildings. Sidebar: I adore Halloween. I love the time of year, the fun decorations, the excuse to dress silly, all of it. I do however have one very severe phobia for a web-based-thing that tends to feature heavily during Halloween. It’s a deep enough phobia that we don’t even…
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Visiting Downtown Disneyland
We have tickets for Mickey’s Halloween Party tonight – but decided to take our time and check out the Downtown Disney area before we hit the parks. Cool part of the Disneyland Hotel? You literally walk outside our hotel and down the sidewalk and you’re RIGHT THERE. Despite October not being over – the decorations for Christmas are already going up. We stop at Earl of Sandwich for a late lunch. Despite what the wrapper says – I was allowed to have it. I got the kids grilled cheese. I wanted something light and simple, and it was good for a basic grilled cheese. It came with a small cup…
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Beaches and Ghouls
Venice Beach and Santa Monica Pier After getting our fill of books and food, I wanted to check another iconic travel item off the list and visit one of the well known beaches. The first one that came to mind that was close enough to visit was Venice Beach. We punched “Venice Beach” in to the trip finder – and on the way passed this… thing. I don’t know what that ballerina clown did to get himself crucified over a CVS – but I took note that Venice Beach was brutal. This was about the most we saw of Venice Beach though. I didn’t realize it was literally just a…
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Books and Egg Sluts
Visiting LA There are a TON of photos in this one, so I’m breaking it up into day and night. I mentioned our room was at the FAAAAAR end of the ship. I was not exaggerating. This is the hall that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends. We popped down the road for breakfast this morning. Another beautiful and sunny day. I am one of those “give me lunch/dinner foods for breakfast” people, so anywhere with an early/all day menu is the best. I’m also forever looking for a place that has an Irish stew like Raglan Road (this did not compare unfortunately – but the…
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LEGO Ships and Little Tokyo
Touring the Queen Mary Good morning! There is something lovely about being able to walk around a ship every morning. All the sounds and smells of the water. I decided to take some of my free time to really see the ship today. Just don’t fall overboard. There are lifeboats – but I’m pretty sure that would be overkill for a docked ship. Seagull says “whaddya want?”. Lots of air traffic today. Ad for the Peanuts Movie. The other side of course is MetLife. Some kind of military looking helicopter. One of the areas has a LEGO display – with a huge recreation of the Queen Mary: Detailed right down…
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CSS Dev Conf – Day 1
I won’t bore you with the details of the week of training I did – but instead, I’ll go through some of the shots I got in between sessions and after hours. Sunrise from my room porthole. A jelly-fish like light fixture in one of the meeting rooms. Awesome view of the opposite shore! I later found out that this doubles for a Miami backdrop in TONS of shows and movies. Because it’s just easier to film it all in the LA area – and most folks don’t know any better. The mountains in the background are the most famous mountains Miami doesn’t have. This was the original tourism office.…
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Of Queen and Mouse and Keeping it Weird
I have the privilege of working for a company that is willing to cover training costs so long as they are beneficial to both my job and worth sharing with my team. So it was that I came across an interesting conference on CSS tips and best practices (stuff relating to the web development that I do) that was being hosted in Long Beach, CA. I’d been to San Francisco in 2013 and had a fabulous time so I decided to cash in some serious vacation days and make a proper sightseeing trip out of it all. Might as well take advantage of being on the other side of the…
