Lunch at Raglan Road in Walt Disney World with Old Friends
On the way back from spending the week with friends, Blake and Karen, on Captiva Island, we decided to take a detour to meet up with two other old friends we don’t get to see very often, who happened to be at Walt Disney World. We were heading toward Tampa and re-routing to Orlando would only a few of hours to the trip, so we arranged to have lunch in a pub at Downtown Disney before we had to get back on the road, again.
A change in destination … heading toward Tampa, re-routing to Orlando …
Aaron and I considered getting a hotel room and staying for a few days but we’ve already been away from home and the office for awhile. Plus, we might come down again in a few months, or, perhaps, meet up with some other friends in California later this summer depending upon our schedule.
Pulling into the money making machine that is Walt Disney World. Did any of you see the double-digit dividend hike in January?
We met at the Raglan Road. Despite all of our trips here, neither Aaron nor I have ever eaten at this particular establishment. We were surprised how huge it was inside because it definitely doesn’t look that way from the street.
It’s Jocelyn and Erika! You’ve met them both before but in case you need a refresher, they were two of the first people we met as freshman in college and had been assigned as roommates. Jocelyn, you’ve encountered several times. She came for a house visit a few years ago and when we were in New Jersey for a scholarship donation we had made to a local music school for one of our favorite professors we met up with her, Ian, and Ashly. You became acquainted with Erika a few years ago when we had lunch with her at her office in the GM building in New York City. She no longer works for Perry Capital but, instead, moved to another hedge fund as a way to fund her music career. (We all started out as vocal performance majors but she’s the only one who wanted to make a living at it, haha! She’s a working opera singer and was telling us about a production she had done in Pennsylvania recently.)
Hmm … I’ll give her some free advertising in case any of you are booking classical gigs on the East Coast. Here’s Erika in a performance in New York City a couple of years ago. She’s a Mezzo. She also has a food blog, to which I’ve linked in the past.
On to the food, for other Disney eaters out there who like documenting this sort of thing!
I had the daily special, which was an incredible pot roast with Yorkshire pudding and potatoes. The sauce balance on it was fantastic.
Aaron had Fish and Chips. It was good but he immediately regretted it because he tasted mine.
Erika had berry pancakes, which were delicious. The dark things in her lemon are cloves for a Hotty Toddy she ordered. I didn’t check the Whiskey brand but, fingers crossed, it was probably manufactured by Diageo given it was an Irish themed pub.
Jocelyn had … something I can’t remember. I need to check. She’s going to make fun of me for this. The last time I posted something involving her and food was when she made these delicious cookies in our kitchen and I got the ingredient list slightly wrong, calling for a re-edit. I’ve done it, again.
After an hour or more of good conversation, we walk through the shopping area a little bit together before saying our goodbyes. Aaron and I ended up browsing some stores but we wanted to get back on the road so we decided not to get anything since we’ll likely return soon. Tonight, we’re going all the way to Nashville, Tennessee. We should have stopped back in Atlanta, Georgia, but we want to press on as much reasonably possible.
On the drive, one of the books I worked my way through was The 48 Laws of Power which, frankly, reads a bit like narcissistic fantasy pornography for delusional 14 year olds. However, the historical anecdotes are second to none so it’s worth buying just as a jumping off point for additional study resources. The author did a great job bringing together accounts of different phenomenon throughout history. Just try not to roll your eyes too hard at the gross oversimplifications, reductio ad absurdum, and flashbacks that might make you think you are momentarily in a 1980’s movie involving psychopaths who quote the Art of War. One of the best reviews of the book warns you should read it in the spirit of “The Screwtape Letters”, which is excellent advice.
We passed some place called the Rosen Inn. I found the architecture style interesting. I’ve never seen anything quite like it in the hospitality space at that price point. I don’t know anything about the brand; who owns it, the franchise terms. I’m putting it here to remind myself to research it in the future.
Driving, driving, driving.
Can I just say that I did not anticipate the anti-evolution billboards, the anti-gay billboards, the anti-abortion billboards, the “apocalypse is coming” billboards, and the strip joints-next-to-trailer parks (I don’t mean this as a joke, I mean it literally, so please don’t think I’m making light of it) in rural Georgia? It is very different than the nice areas like Atlanta. In fact, it’s weird to think Atlanta is even in the same state because I loved it during our trip to the World of Coca-Cola. I could live in Atlanta tomorrow were it not for the equal rights thing. Yet, the difference between it and the rest of the state was so pronounced, you would honestly think someone was mocking the region. We passed one billboard with a flag waiving behind a bald eagle, staring off into the distance, announcing something like, “Turn Back to GOD America!”. Another one yelled, “EVOLUTION IS A LIE! GEN. 1”
The level of obsession, which surprised even us, was something to behold. And we live in the Bible Belt where it’s not unusual to meet someone who believes the world is 6,000 years old and who home schools his or her kids with book series like this one from Ken Ham. (Yes, the same Ken Ham who indoctrinates children to believing that dinosaurs existed up until a few thousand years ago; that mankind lived amongst the Tyrannosaurs like we do modern dogs and cats because the Jewish book of Genesis must be taken literally rather than figuratively.) That might give you an idea of how off-the-charts it was.
We also did more than one double-take when we spotted random Confederate States of America flags flying by the side of the road. That was different. It is hard for me to fully comprehend this exists in the same nation Newport Coast does, or Laguna Beach does, or Manhattan does, or Denver does, or Santa Fe does, or the farmlands of Ojai do. Think of how differently children raised in each of those areas compared to here are going to experience life.
This was … weird to me. Very weird to see this. I’ve never seen it. Can you imagine seeing one of these in Kansas City? Missouri’s divide happens around Springfield, where the culture and demographics further south is demonstrably different the culture in the Northern part of the state.
Driving, driving, driving … in the middle of the night, somewhere in rural Georgia – perhaps near the state line? I can’t recall – out of nowhere, this bright building appears offering fireworks. In winter. I’ve watched enough episodes of the Twilight Zone to know this random, oddly placed building in 1960’s-style neon is not some place we should stop. It’s a trap! Keep going …
We made it to Nashville, checked into a hotel near the airport so we could get some sleep before getting back on the road.
And, this is where we are now …
… we’re back in the freezing winter of the Midwest.
It only gets worse … It was so cold you could feel the frigid hand of winter trying to reach through the glass. How were we in sunshine less than twelve or eighteen hours ago?
Aaron, who has done the driving up until this point since I was reading, needs to sleep so I’ll be taking over in Illinois and Missouri, going through St. Louis, Columbia, and on to Kansas City.
