Yup, you guys. Two days in this post. So I mean. Get excited.
Yup, Day 6 in which we celebrate Myles’s birthday and do lots of cool stuff.
And Day 7. In which we wake up early and well. We leave.
I know. That last few sentences was a real roller coaster.
Let’s start with…
Day 6
Day 6. Our last full day at Disney’s Vero Beach Resort. Which is sad.
BUT.
As I mentioned, Day 6 was a special day. On account of it was Myles’s 16th birthday! Like the actual day. So that is happy. Choose to be happy.
Myles woke up and came downstairs only to find that none of us remembered it was his birthday. But you gotta cut us a break. I mean, we WERE dealing with our oldest’s daughter’s upcoming wedding and our in-laws were staying with us along with this foreign exchange student, Long Duck Dong.
But seriously, don’t worry about it. Because it all worked out in the end. Anthony Michael Hall ended up with the girl from Gremlins 2. And Myles ended up with Jake Ryan.
Man, I wish making that picture didn’t take me as long as it actually did.
Annnnnyways. Of course that is NOT what happened. The dude that played Jake Ryan is like 60 now. Duh-doy.
And OF COURSE we remembered his birthday. As you might recall, we decorated the room on like our first day at Vero Beach.
First on the agenda? Prezzints.
And look. We got him a t-shirt.
Happy 16th birthday, buddy. The end.
Nah, kidding. I am full of it today.
We actually already gave him his big present – tickets to the Hella Mega Tour (https://hellamegatour.com/) with Green Day, Weezer, and Fall Out Boy at Fenway Park this summer.
Owen had also already given him his present – a genuine DVD copy of the Neil Breen masterpiece Fateful Findings. Oh, you’ve never heard of Fateful Findings? I mean, that would warrant an entire blog post. Just know you should watch it. Again and again.
But to explain the movie to you?
After we got up and ready, it was time for breakfast. And breakfast today was on-resort at Wind & Waves Grill!
Look. Gwen and Owen are ready for breakfast.
Whoa….I just realized only one letter separates Gwen and Owen’s names. How about that? I mean, obviously this doesn’t hold true if you use Gwen’s full name, Gwendolyn. Or Owen’s full name.
Owendell.
Now, the reason we booked breakfast here for Myles’s birthday is that we had heard they serve Chicken and Waffles, one of his favorites. Unfortunately, this was not on the menu today. But no fear, there WAS Nutella-stuffed French Toast! Which is what he got. With a side of sausage.
I ordered the B.L.T.E. (egg, bacon, arugula, tomato, and avocado on seven-grain bread) with a side of fries. Fries? For breakfast? Oh sweet mystery of life.
Nickie got an omelet with home fries and a grilled English Muffin.
Owen ended up ordering a bagel with cream cheese.
All of us really enjoyed our breakfasts for sure. Even Owen, as boring as his order was.
And since this is Disney and we WERE celebrating a birthday, of course there was a BREAKFAST CUPCAKE!!
We asked Myles what he wanted to do for his birthday and he said he wanted to go on a 10-mile bike ride. For some reason. Which is unknown to me.
But, it was his birthday. So Scott and I said we would take him. We went down to Eb & Flo’s Rentals and rented three bikes and were on our way back to the Jungle Trail for a 10-mile loop.
Oh, did I mention it was really hot? Because it was. Really hot.
The route takes us down the trail and then out onto the main road on our way back to the resort. It was actually really good to get some exercise. Especially after having fries for breakfast.
And we were on the hunt for something Gwen said she saw on the ride the day before. She said she saw a dead alligator along the route. And I mean, she was pretty descriptive about it. So we were on the lookout. It was almost like Stand by Me without the voiceover.
But eh. It was not meant to be. No dead alligators. You got us this time, Gwen!
After we got back from our ride, it was time to make some tye dye t-shirts. As I mentioned in my Day 5 post, we were a bit bummed the day before because we thought we had missed out on making Mickey tye-dye t-shirts. And we told this to one of the cast members as we were making Disney map photo frames. She hooked us up with a private Mickey tye-dye session on Day 6. And here we were.
Matilda was excited!
Look at the birthday boy. Taking it all in.
We all donned our aprons and the cast member explained the process to us. Lots of elastic bands and dye that could stain your skin forever. Good times.
We were told to use rubber gloves while we made our t-shirts. But…the cast member didn’t specify how we were supposed to use them.
See? Elastics.
And dye.
When we were finished, the cast member bagged up the shirts and we needed to let them sit for at least 24 hours to really get some good color. Which worked out since we were leaving the next day. So while I couldn’t get a shot of the finished product in Vero Beach, I took one at home.
Hrm. Those are some really hidden Mickeys. But still, super cool activity. Highly recommend.
When we finished our shirts, it was getting close to lunch time. And since it was Myles’s day, we asked him what he wanted to eat. His answer was Taco Bell. And it was also Chipotle.
He essentially wanted both Taco Bell and Chipotle. So we did some Googling and found a Taco Bell right near a Chipotle about 15 minutes away.
So off Scott, Owen, Myles, and I went in search of varying degrees of quality Mexican food.
But. Ugh, and this is so disappointing. But, we ended up going to the wrong Taco Bell. Like on the opposite side of the world from the right Taco Bell. Sorry Myles. I am the worst father.
He got over it quickly though. On account of it was Taco Bell.
And as you can see from those cups, it was a joint Taco Bell/KFC so I did offer up the idea to get both tacos and chicken. But he wasn’t interested. The mental scarring had already occurred.
We all got Crunchwrap Supremes and tacos.
Well, all of us except Owen. His usual Bell order is tacos with nothing on them. Literally just beef and cheese. How he rolls.
But Myles is all about the Crunchwraps.
Which makes sense. Cuz they’re Bueno.
We also ordered up some buffalo chicken nacho fries for the table, which were pretty much delicious.
Everyone else had lunch back at the resort. So when we were finished with our Taco Bell, we drove back to the resort to join everyone at the pool.
Carrie played ball with the kids in the pool.
And they had…
…
…
I mean, they had a ball. You knew I was gonna say it. Let’s just move on.
After spending an hour or so at the pool, we all went to our rooms to get ready for the night.
Tonight, we had a special outing planned – a sunset cruise on the Indian River!!
As you might recall from Day 4, we had taken a dolphin cruise with Captain Kirby of Treasure Coast Cruises and we also had a sunset cruise booked for later in the trip.
Well, this is that. The sunset cruise.
Ugh, keep up.
And thankfully, now that we knew who Captain Kirby was, we didn’t end up getting on the wrong boat this time.
Look at my wife. She’s pretty.
And look at the rest of the fam squad. Also…very attractive.
And look at us together. If you can. The beauty is kind of blinding.
As you can see in that picture by focusing squarely on my hand, we did bring some beers on board. But also, to plus things up a bit, Scott and Carrie brought some Prosecco and we brought a bottle of Fairytale Cuvee.
It was an insanely nice night out.
And not only were we seeing sunsets tonight, but we saw A TON of dolphins. Like, TONS. All around the boat.
And that sunset, you guys. Oof.
Now, I am no mathematician but I am pretty sure – Sunset + Dolphins = Aw yeah.
I don’t know. I feel like we should always do sunset cruises on vacation. They always end up being the time where we can just sit back and feel thankful. For the world around us. For each other. And for the fact that we get to live through so many amazing experiences together. Thanks so much for planning this, Nickie.
And that sky. Man.
What a great cruise. I highly HIGHLY recommend Captain Kirby and Treasure Coast Cruises if you are down in Vero. Both cruises were great, for sure and Captain Kirby was an awesome captain and tour guide. If I had to choose one, I would go for the sunset cruise on account of you get both dolphins and sunsets. But honestly, both were great.
And what a great ending to a great day.
The end.
Wait. What?
We haven’t even had dinner yet.
While we were on the boat, we asked Myles what he wanted most for dinner and he said barbecue. So we asked Captain Kirby for a barbecue recommendation. He directed us to Wilke’s 14 Bones Barbecue.
Spoiler alert. It was awesome.
When we got there we were seated outside but within a screened-in porch. Which was pretty much perfect.
We started off with some wings.
And some corn nuggets.
Scott and I also ordered a couple Manhattans. Of course.
For dinner, I ordered a platter with brisket and something they call Sloppy Bones…which was sort of like chopped beef and sauce. Sort of sloppy joe-ish. Seriously good.
And as you can see in that picture, I ordered fried okra and mac and cheese for my sides. Both were delicious. The mac and cheese was super creamy and the fried okra ended up being shared with the table because of how good it was.
When we had arrived, I informed the waitress it was Myles’s birthday so she brought out some peanut butter pie for him.
All in all, a really great dinner from beginning to end. I would 1000% go back to 14 Bones if we were back in Vero again. In fact, this may have ended up being my favorite dinner of the trip.
After dinner, we headed back to the resort for our last night. Womp. The resort was running another Mini-Golf Tournament so Scott, Gwen, Matilda, Myles, Owen, and I decided to partake. The kids were on one team and Scott and I were on another.
We gave it a valiant effort but Scott checked the scores the next day and, unfortunately, I believe Scott and I came in last and the kids came in second-to-last.
Shenanigans.
Still though. Fun.
And of course, it ended with ice cream.
And um, that was it. Our last actual day at Disney’s Vero Beach. We said our goodbyes to the Chicago Goodys at this point because we had to be up early to head out in the morning. Sad face, but so happy we got to spend all this quality time with them. We are pretty lucky, eh?
So yeah. That was Day 6. Pretty jam-packed day. And it was so much fun celebrating Myles’s birthday in Vero. He is a seriously cool kid and I legit love being around him. He is growing into an amazing human being and I can’t wait to see what the rest of life has in store for him. Love you, buddy.
Alright.
Stay tuned for Day 7!
…
…
OK, here is Day 7. Did you stay tuned?
Day 7
I decided to just squeeze Day 7 in here since really not much happened. This was the day we left so we were up pretty early to make the long drive back to the Jacksonville Airport. We were up at around 6AM or so and on the road soon after.
We made a quick stop for breakfast on the way. Nothing special or anything.
Ha, just kidding. It was super special. On account of it was McDonald’s.
Myles ordered up a Chicken McGriddle. And a shake. Really wanted to milk that whole “I’m on vacation” thing.
Owen and Nickie both got the hot cakes and sausage. Owen also got a shake. Of course he did.
And I got an Egg McMuffin. It was time to start transitioning back into you-can’t-eat-anything-you-want life. I mean, its not the healthiest thing. But its not the unhealthiest. So yeah…transition.
When we got to the airport, we dropped the car off and made our way to our gate. Nickie and I had a couple beers before boarding…
…and soon enough, we were on our way. Not much to really report from the flight. But once we got home, we were VERY happy to see our Lilo girl.
Oh and AND we got to visit with my niece and nephew, Steph and Mikey, that night to see BABY SOPHIA!!!
Saying goodbye to vacation sucks. But it’s easier when you have Lilos and Sophias waiting for you at home.
So yeah, that was our trip. What did I think of Disney’s Vero Beach? I LOVED it actually. It exceeded all of my expectations. I love the feeling of being on the beach surrounded by Disney touches. It was such a different type of Disney vacation, but one I would recommend. I’d love to add on a day at Vero after a Walt Disney World trip. I could totally see that as a way to unwind after the craziness of a Disney vacation.
So yeah, recommend.
And of course, as always, I loved being able to spend time with so many people that are important to me. I feel so blessed that many of our vacations are shared with people we love. Our family and friends are such a big part of our lives, its nice to be able to be together in new, fun places. Until our next adventure, keep smiling everyone.
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