RAINY SUNDAY IN ORLANDO

Hilton Grand Vacation Club/Tuscany Village
Orlando, Florida
52F, rainy, very cool [2 inches of rain by 4 p.m.]

This has been an interesting day. I feel bad for those people who came to Florida with a limited timeframe and were counting on three days at Disney World, especially the small children. How disappointed they must be. The rain, heavy at times, has lasted all day.

We arrived at our Hilton Grand Vacation meeting this morning at 8 a.m. After the group presentation [I noted we were in a group of people traveling without children, most about our age], our HGVC representative started his pitch to TK and me in his office area. We were keeping an open mind and things have changed in the last 10 years. One does not buy into a property, but a point system. And, there is a difference between "HGVC Points" and Hilton Honor points (based on our charge card purchases). Benefits were described first, at length, and finally, when I queried, the bottom line was revealed. $32,000. What?  Since we totally balked at that, we were told we could get a different deal/package for about $12,000. That deal was explained, but I could not get my mind around the details.

As I have said before, TK is the best travel agent and we have done well. We feel blessed that we can travel as much as we do. Even if we could do better, we just don't feel like paying $32,000 or even $12,000 for the privilege.

I am sure that either of these deals appeals to some people. The rep was astounded that we did not want to take advantage of such an offer. TK and I agreed and we were done. Three hours.

On the ride to the Millennia Mall of Orlando [that is the way they spell it despite the fact that millennia is spelled m-i-l-l-e-n-n-i-a], TK and I air signed a pact that we would never do this again, AND, we could have afforded a regular hotel for the three days we were staying in this one.

The Millenia Mall is another fine mall, with upscale stores like Tiffany's, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdale's, Macy's, Versace, and more regular mall stores. On a rainy day like today, we could get exercise, stay warm and dry, and window shop!! The main reason we headed for this mall was the Cheesecake Factory. We love to stop at CF on our travels and TK finally found our $100 gift card before we left Erie-lost for over a year [a reward from my debit card].

Cheescake Factory restaurants are always busy and today, with rain and cold and Sunday, this one was busier than usual.

In the Mall outside of the Cheesecake Factory. People are waiting for their 

pagers to light up, some are waiting for pagers!

TK had his usual meatloaf and I had the best French Toast ever. In fact, their website calls it "The "Best" French Toast Ever! Our Extra Thick Slices of Rustic French Bread Baked and Grilled Golden Brown. Topped with Powdered Sugar, with maple syrup."

From the Cheesecake Factory website-truly the best French toast I have ever had!

After the mall and a quick trip to Publix for snacks, we arrived back at the Hilton. Rain, rain go away!!

TK's Takes: He noted that when we returned to our hotel we both had the exact same number of steps on my Fitbit and his Samsung Gear 3. The odds of that are almost seismic, especially since we do not stay together at all when we are in a mall.

p.s. I had to change the spelling of Millennia--that shall not be misspelled in my blog even if they misspell it!