We’re back! I won’t actually get to publish this article for a while, but I wanted to start writing as soon as we got back so I wouldn’t forget anything.
You can refer to Who’s Who if you want details on who these people are.
To start our weeks’ worth of wedding adventures, we had to wait for my parents to get into town. My mom flew in Tuesday morning, and my dad and his best friend Malcolm drove in late Tuesday night. They live together but they traveled separately so my dad could stop off to visit some relatives in another part of Florida. Originally, I thought Dad and Malcolm would be getting to my house on Wednesday, but no one listens to me.
Not much happened on Tuesday. Mom and I ran some errands and worked on packing up the house. I’m normally really good at packing, but with all the extra stuff we needed for the wedding, in addition to needing separate bags for Fort Wilderness, and the Yacht Club, I found myself short on suit cases, and short on time. Thankfully some friends were kind enough to loan us theirs. Then Mom and I just had to figure out how to make everything fit.
That took way longer than I care to admit.
The Welcome Bags alone took up like three and a half suit cases. Pirate hats are really tricky to pack without smushing. We wound up putting all five pirate hats we were bringing in a pop-up hamper, and I had the worst time putting the Bears in a suit case. I could carry Duffy, but I wanted to carry everyone.
Wednesday, Mom, Jay, and I were up relatively early, considering it was our last real day to sleep in, and we headed off to Lee Nails and Spa in Windermere. My friend Alexis had recommended it, and her nails are always perfect. Mom was getting a manicure; Jay was getting his first manicure and pedicure, and I was getting acrylic nails for the first time in my life, plus a pedicure.
I honestly could have skipped the pedicure since I don’t wear open toed shoes thanks to the heel lift, but this was all the pre-wedding pampering I was really going to get.
Watching Jay play with the massage chair, from the pedicure, was really the most fun part of our spa experience.
I debated long and hard over getting acrylic nails. I keep my nails super short normally, so even with a manicure, trying to get them pretty and even is a challenge. I usually only get manicures for special occasions, and I’ve probably had more manicures in the last year, than I’ve had in the last three years. So, I decided to bite the bullet, and get the acrylic this once in my life so I wouldn’t have to worry about it, and hopefully they’d be harder to mess up.
The results were worth it, but trying to live with the acrylic nails for over a week was a struggle, let me tell you. I’ve tried to get the acrylic nails off twice at home, and I’m going to have to suck it up and go pay a salon to take them off, because the DIY method is getting us nowhere.
(Side note: I wrote this before the world shut down. In reality, I couldn’t go to a salon. I wound up cutting the nails as short as I could myself and waiting for them to fall off. It took two months for the last one.)
Like I said, I don’t get my nails done often, but Lee Nails and Spa is by far the nicest place I’ve ever been to. The treatment we got with the basic pedicure, was more similar to deluxe pedicures I’ve gotten in Tennessee, so I definitely recommend checking them out.
Once we were done, we had to head home pretty quickly to change, because our appointments took longer than I expected, and we had a 2:30 pm reservation for Footgolf at Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course with my Dad and Malcolm.
What is Footgolf you might ask? Well, basically, footgolf is golf with a soccer ball, and you kick it instead of using a club. I’ve known I wanted to take my Dad and Malcolm since Jay and I tried footgolf out back in September last year. Since my Dad has been to Florida exactly three times since I moved here in 2013, this seemed like the best opportunity I would get.
So, we all piled in the car, and headed towards Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course. Mom stayed at home to work on packing some more, and then she would meet us for dinner later.
To get to Disney’s Oak Trail Golf Course, you have to drive like you’re heading to Shades of Green, which is the resort exclusively for active and retired military. Once you get to the gate, you show your ID, and explain you’re going to the golf course. They’ll give you a parking pass, and tell you to turn right. You can park anywhere in that lot and then you walk into the Pro Shop to check in, and pay for your game. Once you’ve done that, you follow the ITTY BITTY tiny little signs past the driving range, to the Footgolf area.
The Cast Member at check in was actually the same Cast Member from the last time we played, and he remembered us! Apparently, my last name is distinctive. We all had to sign in on a check in sheet that is also a waiver, and then pick out our soccer balls.
The Footgolf Course has one practice hole and nine real holes. Since Jay and I had done this before, our Cast Member friend let us go ahead, while he explained things to the group that came in right behind us.
Footgolf is extremely simple. Try to kick the ball in the hole. It’s exactly that easy and exactly that hard. I don’t know how they set the Pars on this course, or who came up with this, but very few of us ever hit par.
Once upon a time, I was a really REALLY good soccer player. My Dad was actually a coach and a referee. However, I haven’t played soccer in almost nine years. So, my biggest concern was not letting my body think it could do what it did ten years ago, and making sure I didn’t pull a muscle. It wouldn’t be the first time I blew a quad kicking a ball because I kicked without thinking.
I went first, and thankfully didn’t pull anything. Also got only about half the distance pre-ACL Surgery Chelsea would have gotten, but that’s okay. I’d like to blame the fact that I was using tennis shoes instead of cleats, but that’s probably got more to do with my aim, than my power.
Getting the long kicks towards the hole isn’t the hard part, it’s getting the ball in the stupid hole on the short kicks that’s the hard part. Several times you’d get up to the hole in one or two shots, and then it would take another four to get the ball in the hole, on a four-par hole.
I’d like to know who set the pars for this course.
Hanging out around the back of the course was a flock, or “rafter” of turkeys, because apparently that’s the name for a group of turkeys. Yeah, I had to Google that. Who comes up with these things?
We were keeping a watchful eye on the turkeys and the male was keeping an eye on us. So that was fun, and slightly terrifying. I just had this horrible mental image of a ball flying through the middle, and them coming running after us. If you don’t think a turkey is scary, you have clearly never been close to one. In Florida, birds do not play around.
This time, none of us put the ball in the water hazard. The group behind us did, however, and we were quick to shout that there was a pool skimmer to retrieve it. The last time we were there, Jay put his ball in the water, and we didn’t realize there was a net until he was already soaked to his knees. Whoops.
We finished faster than we expected. Dad and Malcolm were ready to be done, but I felt like I was just getting into the swing of it. Eighteen holes would probably be too many, but I feel like nine just isn’t enough. Maybe twelve or fifteen would be a nice middle ground.
Malcolm, surprisingly, came in first. I was in second. I never could score if I was looking right at the goal, it always came as a side shot. I have no idea who was third or last because we can’t find the scorecard now that we’re back! Then again, I let Jay keep score so who knows if that math was right.
We went back to turn our soccer balls in, and the nice Cast Member from earlier took our photo. For the life of me, I do not remember what his name was, but he took a group picture for us.
The four of us made our way back to the Pro Shop, so Dad could buy a golf club cover, and I tried to call Mom to tell her we were done sooner than expected. It took me a couple tries to get a hold of her, so she could meet us for dinner.
Now you’d think two days before we headed for Port Canaveral for Disney Cruise Line, we’d be going to some cool Disney restaurant, but no, we were headed for Sunset Walk, down by Margaritaville on 192, to go to Ford’s Garage.
I discovered Ford’s Garage when my boss took me there for lunch back in February 2019. It might be a chain, but it’s a great chain. It’s one of Jay’s favorite places and I knew my parents and Malcolm would like it too. Good food, affordable, and the coolest bathrooms I’ve ever seen. Seriously, they put the theme parks to shame on bathroom theming. Apparently, I forgot to take any pictures while we were there.
After we got done at Ford’s Garage, Mom, Jay, and I headed back to the house to work on more packing. Dad and Malcolm went to Miller’s Ale House, which I’m pretty sure they think is better than any theme park. My brother’s plane landed at 9:00 pm, and Morgan went to pick him up for me and bring him back to the house.
Gary, who was going to be staying on Morgan’s couch, got dropped off at our house to wait for her to get there. Mom put him to work assembling the favor boxes and bubbles she got at the last minute, due to AC Moore going out of business.
You can read about what Gary was up to before he got dropped off over on Coasting With Culture.
Footgolf Details:
Cost: $22 per person. There is a $5 discount if you’re staying in a Walt Disney World Resort hotel.
Value: It’s a little pricey for what you get, but it’s stupid fun. Footgolf was probably the most fun my Dad and I have had in years, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world, even if that’s not a very traditional pre-wedding activity.
Duration: About two hours.
Add Ons: None.
You are supposed to adhere to the golf course dress code for Footgolf. Check out the footgolf website here.
Check back next week to read about the Welcome Party!
