The Traveling Steve's

It’s Sunday night as I write this, and have been quite busy since my last post at The Villages.  I worked remotely from home the last couple weeks, and also used that as a chance to catch up on things around the house, as well as doctor and dentist appointments I can’t do when I’m out of town.  

I got a tooth pulled from my dentist, something I had been putting off for 45 years or so.  Actually, it was a crooked tooth near the rear of my mouth that had been bothering me on and off for the last few years.  I was too stubborn as a kid to wear a retainer which would have corrected the problem, so I finally got up the nerve to have the tooth pulled.  I was numbed up of course, but that didn’t stop me from being a bit nervous while waiting in the dental chair!

The tooth extraction itself didn’t hurt, but I hate the sound of the tooth breaking and the pressure on it as well.  Now a week later, it’s still a bit sore in that area of my mouth, but is getting better and I’m glad to have gotten it out and relieve the pressure on the adjoining teeth.

I also went to my dermatologist, and after one of my best friends had a heart attack last weekend, went in for a physical.  Fortunately my friend is ok, but a word of warning for everyone, if you have chest pains call 911 immediately.  He drove himself to the doctor, and turned out to have an 80 percent blockage. He’s around my age; mid 50s and exercises too.  Scary stuff, but fortunately he didn’t ignore the systems and they were able to put a stint in for him.

Not a whole lot extra going on as I was home, but did do a few attempts and trying to declutter the house.  I cleaned out the pantry, and must have found a dozen unopened packages of coffee (just name your county or island, Brazil, Argentina, Kauai, etc) plus five boxes of K-cup specialty coffees DOS snuck into the house.

As it was nearly 100 degrees outside, I did make use of the pool.  I posted on Facebook our pet Unicorn float had babies!  Actually these cute little inflatable Flamingo drink holders my brother gave me for my birthday.  They are not only practical but add some nice pink color to the pool!

On Saturday, we stayed overnight at the Hyatt Orlando Convention Center, for our last Generous Pour Event of the year at The Capital Grille.  This was our fourth and last Generous Pour evening at Capital Grille, and like the others was wonderful.

We had a nice Metropolitan Suite on the 25th floor at the Hyatt; but one floor to high to get a balcony per Orlando Fire code.  It had the great pool and Disney views though, and was a quick walk up to the 26th floor Executive Lounge.  We even were treated with a complimentary bottle of wine delivered to our room; no doubt from the hotel management.

 We stay here several times in the summer, and this was a nice gesture on their part.  I had made a minor ‘suggestion’; don’t want to say complaint, about the parking pass not working properly (they had just upgraded it and there were some bugs with the automatic gate opening with our hotel room key), so possibly this was a way of saying thanks for our patience, although it really wasn’t a big issue for us, but we did want to let them know it wasn’t working right. (You actually now need a bar coded paper you are supposed to get at the Front Desk instead of a key when leaving, which we didn’t receive and couldn’t get out of the garage initially without it.)

  

Our 7:30pm dinner at the Capital Grille was excellent.  We walked the short couple blocks to the restaurant, taking our customary photos by the Pointe Orlando sign and at the Capital Grille entrance upon arrival.

We had the Ahi Tuna entree split as an appetizer, along with crab cakes, mozzarella cheese and tomato with aged balsamic vinegar.  

 

For our man course, we had the special of A5 Japanese Wagyu beef coupled with a South African lobster tail – truly a rare treat and outstanding!  

Paired with the red wines we had from the Generous Pour, it was yet another wonderful night out.  We especially loved the Mount Brave Cabernet Sauvignon, which went great with our warm double-chocolate cake with port-infused cherries and ice cream.

Today we got a late (4pm) checkout from the Hyatt Convention Center, and like yesterday, walked around the many lengthy corridors of the hotel and Convention center for exercise, walking to the Hilton Hotel and back.  

This time we walked all the way around the pool at the Hilton, admiring their lazy river pool attraction.

After checking out of the Hyatt Convention Center, we drove half an hour or so to the Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport, where we are staying tonight.  We got our favorite room on the 10th floor, with a balcony overlooking the runway.

After getting settled in our room, we also walked around the terminal a few times for some additional exercise, and taking photos of some of the Disney murals on display.

The Orlando Airport is being renovated after many months work, and it still looks a bit dumpy in places, although I’m sure it will be nice when completed.

After getting some more exercise walking, we headed back to our home for the night at the Hyatt Orlando Airport.

We had dinner at McCoy’s Restaurant in the Hyatt, which is always enjoyable.  We had Kevin serve us tonight, and he warmly welcomed us back.

 

After dinner we watched a few planes take off from our balcony including a couple jumbo jets: a 777 British Airways jet and a 747 Virgin Atlantic jet.  

Now just finishing up and heading to bed.  I’m flying to Chicago in the morning for business, while DOS is traveling back to Sarasota for the week.  We are both going to Roanoke next week to visit my parents, and he will meet me there.  Until then, another work week on the road.

Happy Sunday!