LIFE LIST: Disney Restaurant-1900 Park Fare

When: August 2013

The Grand Floridian Resort

Where: 1900 Park Fare inside The Grand Floridian

Cost: Included in our Disney Deluxe Dining package, and this was easily the fanciest meal we had and the one that stood out the most. It was buffet style dining and as I've mentioned before I am not a fan of buffets but like everything in Disney it was top notch! This buffet was the largest and had the widest variety of food.
*Reservations MUST be made in advance-ours were made 5 months in advance.

Why this is on my list: I like any sort of themed restaurant and if characters are involved- even better! I had NO CLUE how incredibly decadent this resort would be, just waiting in the lobby was worth the trip here! We walked into the most grand lobby I've ever seen at a hotel and the first thing I noticed was a gentleman playing the grand piano and wearing tails, it was exquisite! The restaurant inside, 1900 Park Fare was also equally enchanting with life size carousel horses and over sized chandeliers.

Will I do it again? YES! This resort is incredible and 1900 Park Fare left us not only with the greatest memory from the trip, but one of the greatest moments of my life-my daughter was so excited to meet Prince Charming and ask him "to be married" then he said she could have his first dance after Cinderella. Our sweet little 2 year old was perfectly in her Cinderella dress danced with Prince Charming, it was ABSOLUTELY the most precious thing I've ever seen in my entire life, then at the end of the dance, the Prince bowed and on cue my little darling curtsied. It was the magical moment you see in commercials for Disney World. All of the characters were wonderful, Cinderella gave my daughter special attention but my biggest thank you goes to Prince Charming for giving us this memory that will last forever.

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LIFE LIST:WATCH ALL THE OSCAR NOMINATED FILMS

When: January/February 2014 The Oscars aired March 2nd

Cost: Yikes...way more than expected...I am not anxious to get our Comcast bill....or rather I'm not anxious for my husband to get the bill and see just how many I rented that cost between $6 each and $15 each. I watched some in the theater which wasn't too bad when I went by myself or a friend because I would go during the matinee price of $5 but when my husband and I went we had to go during later hours which was $10/per person, plus snacks and a babysitter so those became pretty expensive.  Also I had renewed my Netflix subscription at $8/month for unlimited rentals. And you gotta love REDBOX, too bad they all weren't on REDBOX at $1 each you can't beat it!

Why this is on my list: I love watching the Oscars every year but when I do I never have any clue what's going on because usually I never see ANY of the movies. I've been wanting to do this for years and although I only had 6 weeks to take on the challenge I thought what the hell, I'll finally go for it! In 6 weeks I watched 33 of the 58 Oscar Nominated Films.

Will I do it again? It was a challenge to find all the movies. Some were still at the theatre so I went to see Wolf on Wall Street and Lone Survivor and Gravity (all good choices to see on the big screen) which were great movies! I had planned to see more at the show, including the winner for best picture 12 Years A Slave but they retire them quickly and I never got a chance, it was available for 1 week On Demand but it was $18-seemed like too much to spend on a rental. Others I rented from Netflix and then in the last 2 weeks before the big night Comcast offered many of them On Demand including the Short Films, Animated Shorts, and Foreign- I thought those would be the most difficult to find but those were actually the categories where I was able to see ALL the nominated features.

The Oscar Noms that I highly recommend....

GRAVITY
LONE SURVIVOR
THE WOLF ON WALL STREET
THE GREAT GATSBY
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
PRISIONERS

The ones that were TERRIBLE....

BEFORE MIDNIGHT
AMERICAN HUSTLE
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
THE BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN


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LIFE LIST: SEE THE BANK JESSE JAMES ROBBED

              
            "Stealing, of course, is a crime, and a very impolite thing to do." 

When: June 2014

Where: Liberty Missouri, near Kansas City

Cost: $6/ adult

The doors, wood flooring and the safe are all original.

Why this is on my list: I have a personal interest in Jesse James, my great grandpa claimed that he fed him lunch. The story goes that Frank and Jesse James rode up on horseback by their ranch and they gave them a meal in the late 1800's...the next day the sheriff came by asking if they'd seen the duo. Who knows if it's true but I think it's cool and every time I hear something about Jesse James my ears perk up. I really enjoyed this museum. It was just me and my daughter on our tour where the guide painted a very descriptive picture of what happened on that day. When it comes to historical events I've decided that I can only comprehend what's happened if I can see it. It's one thing to hear about Jesse James' crew robbing a bank...it's another to actually stand inside the building, looking out into the town to see where his thugs were keeping watch and see the ACTUAL safe that was robbed. I love the feeling of standing in places where turning points in history were made.

The Safe robbed by Jesse James Crew

Something I'd recommend? Yes. It is really interesting to see this piece of history which is the place of the first successful daytime bank robbery, the guide is very knowledgeable and a great storyteller. This woman tells the same story all day every day but it's not rehearsed or as if she's reciting word for word. I always appreciate it when your guide is enthusiastic and captivates your attention. The bank museum also has a great gift shop, I think I would visit again to get more souvenirs and because I enjoyed talking with the woman who runs the museum so much.

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LIFE LIST: GO INSIDE THE PENTAGON

Where: The Pentagon in Arlington Virginia

When: February 2009

Cost: Free

Why this is on my list: I have visited the D.C. area many times and I am always looking for as many things to do as possible, I got very excited when I came across this!

Something I'd recommend? Yes, the only thing is that you have request a tour several months in advance and you have to get there early. I absolutely would not recommend taking small children. I think the tour was about an hour but the content would only be appreciated by an older audience as far as children go. The Pentagon is living historical building and even though the tour is vague it is still informative and very interesting and just so cool to actually be INSIDE THE PENTAGON. A must if you're in the D.C. area!

Will I do it again? Absolutely. I'll get in the Pentagon as much as I possibly can, also I think my husband would like it and when my daughter's old enough I think it'd be a great place to take her.
There is only one spot where photos are permitted (above) and I choose to have mine with the Marine who gave us the tour.

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LIFE LIST: HYATT AT THE ARCH HOTEL

Where: The Hyatt At The Arch Hotel in St Louis Missouri is directly across from the Gateway Arch. In fact it is the closest building to the Arch.

The view from the $99 room.

When: June 2013 on my big 30th Birthday trip!

The first night was just my daughter and me.

Cost: I stayed in 2 different rooms at this fabulous hotel- the standard room was $99 and the suite was $180. The reason was because the first night it was just me and my daughter so we didn't need the larger room and I was trying to keep the cost of our very last minute trip down. The $99 room was so nice with a decent view that I almost cancelled the suite, how much nicer could it be? I was already quite pleased with my room. Luckily I did not cancel and we stayed in the corner suite which was much larger than the studio apartment we lived in a few years ago....actually now that I think about it, the standard room was also much larger than our studio apartment.
It was the coolest way to wake up on my 30th birthday in an awesome suite, with large picture windows looking over the Mississippi River and a front row view of the Gateway Arch, and my husband had decorated the room in the middle of the night with balloons and signs-absolutely the best birthday ever. St Louis quickly became one of my favorite cities in the U.S.

Why this is on my list: While doing research for my trip to St Louis there was no doubt that this was the best hotel choice. I always like to pick a unique hotel and what was unique about the Hyatt at the Arch one was the spectacular view. I am still amazed by the extremely reasonably priced room for what I got, which was a view unlike I've ever had at any other hotel (well, expect for that one time I went to Hawaii and stayed on the ocean) impeccable service, 2 very large, flawlessly clean rooms. And there's a Starbucks inside the hotel, they recycle, delivered a newpaper to my room each morning, a nice gym that I would have liked to use but appreciated that it was there, when I needed a few supplies they sent them up to my room free of charge...on top of all that the location is sublime. It was so awesome to just walk across the street and be at the Gateway Arch. If there's one thing I truly have a knack for, it's choosing the most magnificent hotels to stay in.

Will I stay there again? There was a bellman in the lobby who asked me this question and after I replied "of course! Why would I stay anywhere else?" he said "Good, cuz if you do I'm gonna find out about it, I'm gonna go to the hotel where you staying and start acting crazy until they kick us both out, then I'll bring you back here!" This guy was hilarious, I absolutely loved the staff here, they were so friendly and helpful, there were 3 that really stood out, Keith, Zack and Brad, they were a delight to talk to and made this trip even more special.

The Lobby

 Something I'd recommend? If you stay anywhere else in St Louis, you'd be doing a disservice to yourself, and you can't beat the price. Essentially there's no reason t stay elsewhere. 

the standard room

Large spacious walk in closet w/safe

$99/night room-bigger than my old apartment

My only complaint...I've never stayed somewhere you had to pay for internet access. But It's worth it to get the low room rate.

the corner suite 

This bathroom/closet was huge.

The view from the corner suite only $180/night.

Related Posts:

see the Gateway Arch

go to the top of the Gateway Arch

Budweiser Brewery Tour 

30 Adventures on my 30th Birthday Trip

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LIFE LIST: ARTHUR BRYANT'S

Where: Arthur Bryant's Barbeque in Kansas City Missouri

When: Father's Day, June 16th 2013

Cost: About $10/plate

Why this is on my list? My husband spends a lot of time in Kansas City and he always goes to this restaurant, he had heard about it from the Food Network- I think it was 'Diners, Drive ins and Dives', I was floored that my husband had done something 'life listy' that I hadn't! When I found out we'd be in KC on Father's Day I thought this would be the perfect dinner for a man on Father's Day- a giant plate of down home BBQ.

Something I'd recommend? I am not gonna lie...this diner is in a very sketchy part of town, it is no frills inside, and the food was good but certainly not the greatest meal I've ever had. Had my husband not been with us and had this place NOT been featured on television there's no way I would have eaten here. I like to visit restaurants that I see on the Travel Channel and Food Network but this was kind of a 'been there, done that' situation. If it was in a nicer area I'd probably go back, but as it stands now...once was plenty. I am glad we went and it was a cool way to celebrate Father's Day.

Related Posts:


T Rex Cafe
Legoland
Kansas City Botanic Garden
Budweiser Brewery 
See the Gateway Arch
Go to the top of the Gateway Arch 
30 Awesome things on my 30th Birthday Trip
Kansas City Public Library 


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LIFE LIST: LUNCH AT CINDERELLA'S CASTLE

When: August 2013

Where: Cinderella's Castle inside the Magic Kingdom, Disney World Florida

Cost: Since we had the 'deluxe dining plan' it did NOT cost extra 'money', it was however 2 meal vouchers instead of 1 like everywhere else we ate. Which was fine because it included a lot; Your child gets a special photo opportunity with Cinderella along with a 8 x 10 printed photo (included), a magic wand and wishing star from Cinderella, a full meal including desert. And we got to visit with Snow White, Ariel, Jasmine and Beauty. Each of the princesses come right to your table and you are able to take as many photos as you'd like. The 'character dining' in Disney World was absolutely the best aspect of our time in Disney World, particularly for our young daughter, 2, who adores all the Disney Princesses. If you do not take advantage of the character dining you are really missing out.

*reservations must be made in advance, for best results 6 months in advance.

Why this is on my list: I remember eating there when I was about 10 years old with my Aunt, I know I liked it and knew that if I ever went back I wanted to experience it again and it did not disappoint. It was a joy to be able to take my daughter to Cinderellas Castle, she got to meet Cinderella herself and all the other princesses...needless to say she was in heaven.

Will I do it again? Already planning our next trip, though this time I will use my own advice and make the reservations as early in advance as possible to arrange better timing.

Related posts:

Disney World
Animal Kingdom Lodge Hotel 
10 Tips to Enhance Your Trip to Disney World

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