Trudy here. As Nanea mentioned in the first installment of her “Florida Trip”, we’ll be publishing her diary entries with Sarah’s trip photos in the next several issues of The Islandshire Gazette. So, let’s get on with the show and join Benny & Nanea on their “Dream Vacation”! Just click on any photo to enlarge!
Today’s the day! I know I’m supposed to be writing in my diary before bed, when the day is done, but I can’t wait until tonight. I’m so-o-o-o happy! I’ve waited all my life to go on this Dream Vacation, and today’s the day that my dream comes true! Benny is the best brother ever! He’s packing up the car with Sarah and Auntie while I write in my little book, and he even let me pick his clothes for the day and everything! I love Benny! I think I love everybody today!
We (Grammy, Sarah, Auntie, Benny and I) left GreatGrammy’s house early, and Benny napped the whole way over. I was too excited to sleep, though, so I got to sit up front with Grammy . . . Benny and I wore our best Hawaiian outfits today, with lots of fashion accessories. We must have looked just right, because a lot of people noticed us. I ask you, can you think of a better place to wear your dress that actually CAME from Hawaii?! . . . How green and sunny everything looks here! This was the best day of my life! [Sigh] You know, it isn’t every day that a girlie gets to spend the night at The Disney Polynesian Resort . . . Benny and I couldn’t even wait until we got to the lobby area to have our first picture taken. Just outside the car, there was this huge boulder of black lava rock that we climbed up on. I hope the picture turns out okay, because the parts of me that touched the scratchy rock got very hot. Benny said it was just part of the Vacation Sensation, but I did notice he was rubbing the backs of his legs as we walked away. I wonder how many beads you could make out of that little hill? I have black lava beads back home for making jewelry for my Pearl Stall. Now I’ll know what it looked like before someone took the time to roll the little round beads. No wonder they’re never quite smooth . . .
Every piece of the Polynesian grounds is unique to them, even the little buildings for the workers. It’s hard to tell the actual visitor rooms from the resort work buildings. Everything is soooo cute! Benny and I are going to have to remodel and redecorate our house on Islandshire. I’ll probably wait to mention it to Benny until we’re back home again. And I don’t mean GreatGrammy’s house. I sure hope he doesn’t read my diary . . .
We left our bags in the car, because were couldn’t check in until later in the day. (I insisted on bringing everything we brought for the whole trip, because you just don’t know what you’ll be in the mood to wear until it’s time, right?) Benny and I wanted to walk through the whole grounds before checking in, and I’m glad we had as much time as we did. My Dream Vacation Resort was much bigger than we thought, and there was so much to see. They’ve built winding paths all over the place, with a lot of Hawaiian landscaping, so it doesn’t take long to forget that you just left behind a concrete parking lot with a steady stream of big buses. Once you walk behind the first greenery, it’s like you’re really in Hawaii! Benny said I shouldn’t keep saying that, since I’ve never been to Hawaii, but this is MY idea of Hawaii! And it’s MY Dream Vacation!
Even the signs and garbage cans were special! It’s a good thing they had a lot of them, too, because it’s easy to get lost on those paths. And, boy, do you need to drink a lot of water to keep yourself hydrated down here! Even the bottle recycling cans were specially designed for the Polynesian, and there wasn’t a piece of furniture or structure that’d look this perfect anywhere else . . . Except for around our house back home.
They had cute carvings everywhere, even on top of the buildings! And a lot of the plants were different, too, even if they did look a little dry and wilty. (Turns out we came here during their dry season.) There was a particularly nice sign for the Guest Laundry that gave me ideas. I hope Sarah got a picture of it, because our Luau Laundromat would look really good with a sign like that.
Oh, I just remembered, the funniest thing happened today. All over the place, the resort had what I thought were the cutest little Flossie houses (my Grand Champion chicken, you know). I kept telling Benny that we needed to get one for Flossie, to keep the sun out of her eyes when she laid her eggs, but he just looked around and asked “Where?” When I finally got him close to one, he laughed and said, “That’s a disguised speaker for the island music that you hear everywhere you go in the grounds. I don’t think Flossie would like all that noise, and she’d probably stop laying eggs.” I wouldn’t want that, so I just crossed that bit of decorating off my list. They were pretty cute, though, because you didn’t notice them right away. Maybe we could get one for Flossie and just not put the speaker inside with her. Maybe I’ll put it back on my list again.
I kept batting my eyes at Benny, hoping he’d get the idea about redecorating our house. He just kept smiling and asking me if my Dream Vacation was everything I’d hoped it would be so far. Maybe tomorrow I’ll think of a way to be a little more direct about it. Besides, all that eyelash batting made me a bit dizzy. Sarah took ever so many photos today. I hope they turn out. Just wait ’til you see the size of the Hibiscus flowers here! And the colors!
Benny & Nanea’s story will be continued in our next issue. They look so happy! I think we all agree that it couldn’t have happened to two nicer people . . .