The alarm went off at 5:30 AM. Ugh! This was the day I fly to Orlando to meet up with Angus who was off slaying corks again. (see Cork Wars posting) The shuttle bus stopped by Vintage Tuesday’s corporate headquarters and I was off to the airport. Probed, prodded, questioned, scanned, searched and finally I was able to walk onto the airplane. Looking for seat 29A as I go down the aisle, I pass row 10, 11, 12…. Are there even 29 rows on this plane? Is this the seat that flushes? Finally, the last row and my seat is jammed against the window. Three screaming kids strategically planted around me and one very large person next to me. I am trapped against the window. Maybe I can just look out the window at the clouds and see what shapes I see. But all I see is the side of the engine at the tail of the plane. 29A has no view, no room, no sanity. AND THIS WAS TUESDAY! Tuesday’s are suppose to be my favorite day.
Several hours later I land in Orlando. They almost have to scrape me off the seat and carry me out in a bucket. Dazed and confused, I head to baggage claim and the shuttle to the hotel at the Disney theme parks. Finally about 9 hours after the alarm went off this morning I am there…. … but Angus is not. He is still out slaying corks with a mouse and a duck What a strange land.
When Angus finally returned, he opened the hotel door and saw my suitcases laying in front of the door where I dropped them, and me collapsed on the bed babbling something about the plane and screaming kids. He propped me up and walked me to the balcony. “Where do you want to go for dinner?” he asked. All I could do is mumble and point from the balcony to the Olive Garden down below Are you kidding me? He said. We came all this way to go to a restaurant that we have back home in the state of Denial?
So we walk through the front door of the Olive Garden and the person asks how many in our party. We just pointed straight ahead and said “Bar” and kept walking. That’s when we met our new friend “Stella” She had seen this travel condition before and knew exactly what to do. “We have four dollar drink specials until 7PM” she said. Wow, I saw the time and it was only 5:30. I asked what kind of wine they had (already my speech was returning) hoping not to hear “we have both kinds, red and white” I was stunned. They had a wine list with some pretty good selections. Suddenly my choice of places to go seemed like a good idea after all. The bar was quite nice, it is not as I remember Olive Garden bars. She said they had gone through a major renovation. I saw a Super Tuscan on the list for $9.50 that looked promising. $9.50 a glass is way out of the Vintage Tuesday budget. Is this wine really only $4.00? “Yes it is” she said. Things were beginning to return to normal as we each had a glass (maybe two). The wine was really great. It was a 2003 Villa Antinori blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot & Syrah. I always love a good blended heavy red, and this wine did not disappoint.
It was a nice evening outside and everyone was at the theme parks so we had the bar to ourselves and got to talk quite a bit with Stella. We learned she was smarter than both of us. She had the wisdom to escape the great white north in New York and seek greener (and warmer) pastures living in a land that people suffer long plane rides to get to.
Thursday night was our last night in Orlando so we walked next door to say hi to Stella - and have another glass of our $4.00 Super Tuscan. It was raining outside and the place was packed. She looked up at us and said “two Super Tuscans?” As much as we travel, I always remember bartenders that stand out. We have been to a few places, that even after several days or even months, the bartender remembers you as soon as you walk in. They call you by name and know exactly what you want. Even though they serve hundreds of drinks a night to zillions of people they are the real stand outs. That particular Thursday night Stella had her side kick Manny working with her as both of them tried to keep up with the growing crowd. As we talked a little longer we realized, they both had quite a few stories of their own, but we’ll leave those stories for them to tell.
Thanks Stella for helping me recover from Tuesday’s “Travel Hell” and keep doing what you do – you are one of the standouts!
Cheers!
Trixie
