Monthly Archives: February 2018

Stephanie and I enjoyed our vacation in Florida.  During the 2 weeks we were there, we enjoyed high temps from 83 to 90 degrees and sunny to partly cloudy each day.  My parents were in a condo in tower 6, which was the newest tower and tallest on site at 19 stories.  They were on the 5th floor, but because they have so many points with Wyndham, they had access to presidential reserve amenities, which includes access to the 17th floor club suite.

Bonnet Creek Resort

Presidential Club Suite

Presidential Club Suite

Presidential Club Suite, Complimentary drink station

From the 17th floor at night you can see the fireworks shows from Disney’s Magic Kingdom,  Universal Studios and Epcot.

Epcot Ball at night from Presidential Suite

Click here for the Universal Studio Fireworks Display on YouTube. 

We enjoyed a number of things to do that were offered at the resort.  We say a comedy magic show that was funny and amazing, Gatorland came and brought several of their animals.  Stephanie got to hold a 3 year old alligator.

Stephanie with 3 year old alligator

We also attended a Luau with dancing, music and even fire dancing.  We watched a show of dueling pianos that was fun and entertaining and audience participation was encouraged and sometimes required.

There were several pools, water slides and lazy rivers to keep us cooled down.  Here is a link of the resort property from the Presidential Club Suite Balcony on the 17th floor.

View of pools from balcony

View of pools from balcony

I am to a point where I either need to use vacation or lose it.  I have to burn up 3 weeks before May.  My parents normally head somewhere warm for a few months after the New Year and this time they were in Central Florida at Wyndham’s Bonnet Creek Resort in Orlando.  The location of the resort is surrounded by Disney Property.  To the north is Epcot, to the south is the Waldorf Astoria Golf Course, to the east is Disney Springs and to the west is Universal Studios.  I decided I was going to take two week and enjoy the warmer weather and visit them.  Stephanie wanted to come along and Nikki had to cover at work and was unable to go.  She ended up in Michigan helping her parents out as her Dad was hospitalized with an infection that caused swelling in his legs and joints that made it too painful to get around, so she was being a good daughter and helping out.

I left at 4:00 am on Saturday morning the 17th of February and was down in Cincinnati around 6:00 to pick up Stephanie.  We drove until almost noon and stopped in Chattanooga, Tennessee for a break and to get out and walk.  We visited Ruby Falls as it was overcast and rainy and wouldn’t be able to see anything from Lookout Mountain.  We paid for the tour and took the elevator down 1120 feet into the cavern.  We walked the 1/2 mile to the cavern while stopping along the way to hear interesting facts and formations from the tour guide.

Ruby Falls Cavern Tour

Ruby Falls Cavern Tour

Ruby Falls Cavern Tour

Stephanie and I at Ruby Falls

Ruby Falls

Ruby Falls

Ruby Falls

Since there is only one way and one way out, we had to stop several times to let other tour parties by us as we headed in.  The falls themselves were amazing and they have it lit up with lights that change colors.  We took a few pictures and some video but were only allowed about 5 minutes at the falls to make way for other tours behind us.

Here is a short video I took while at the falls that I posted on YouTube.

We made our way back out and got back in the car just before 3:00 and continued on our way to Central Florida.  We arrived at the resort just after 10:00 pm.