TCD is Thankful for Thanksgiving at the Fort Trip Report

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Well, here we go.

Another TCD trip report!

Woo Hoo!

This is my 14th here on FF.net!

Does this place rock, or what?

The TCD twins get Thanksgiving week off from school. The TCD big sister does not.

So, our trip began on Saturday, November 19th with a detour to Tallahassee.

We had to go see FSU play in their final home game of the season.

We would be checking in at the Fort on Sunday, but our path first traveled a bit north.

We will cover our visit to Tally in this first post.

Then, we will be on to the Fort.

For five nights!

That's a long visit for the TCD gang.

We are usually just weekend warriors.

But not this week.

And, what a great week it was. Perfect weather (almost), lots of Fiend action, the first TCDRWOG (TCD Real Woman of Genius), a secret mission, a discovery of some cool old Fort relics, and lots more stuff! You'll see.

But, as always, we must begin at the beginning.

Which was our drive to Tallahassee.

We left early in the morning from home.

By late morning, we were cruising through Crystal River when we spotted a manatee.

Everyone loves manatees, especially the TCD twins, so we just had to stop for a photo:

I have no idea what that manatee was doing there, or what he was advertising or protesting. But, his van had US government tags.

Weird.

We then pressed on to Tallahassee.

We presented the TCD big sister with a gift- her very own official FSU pillow pet:

The TCD big sister is doing great at school. She has been an intern this year with the FSU athletic department. She already had an article published in the FSU program for a previous game, and she wrote the cover article for this week's game:

She got to interview FSU's QB and then write the article. She did a great job on this one, too!

Here is a photo from our tailgate decorations- our tribute to Thanksgiving:

We were this far away from the stadium- not bad:

Here's the gang- the TCD twins with their big sis and my DD's friend who is a boy (apologies for the blurry shot, it was getting dark, and a few beers had been consumed by the photographer) :

Here's an almost candid tailgate shot:

The pre-game festivities included some fireworks:

The FSU band:

For this game, a real Seminole Indian chief got to plant the spear, while the FSU Chief Osceola watched:

We ran into our first Real Man of Genius there at the game. This fellow figured he would get himself on TV with that puny sign, even though we were about 50 rows up from the field:

I'll bet if you watched the game on TV you remember seeing that eye-catching sign.

Here are the TCD twins in the stands (my older DD and her friend got to watch from the press box):

The game was very close. Check out the stats with 1:16 left in the game:

FSU had the ball at this point, and was able to move to around the 50 yard line. They went for a first down on a fourth down, and they didn't make it, which we thought meant the game was over. But, then there was a review on the play:

Virginia got called for a facemask, and the Seminoles got the ball back.

They moved it a little further, and then they tried a 50+ yard field goal.

FSU has a great kicker.

But he missed it!:

The final score:

My oldest daughter was crushed.

On our way out of the stadium, a guy was selling commemorative t-shirts. Apparently things did not go his way, as he was selling the shirts two for ten bucks. The twins got new shirts out of the deal:

We got back to our hotel room at around 1 am.

We would be up early to get back home to pick up the camper and head to the Fort.

We will pick it up from there in the next post.

I am thankful that my oldest DD does not attend college further away. It is nice to be able to visit her on a weekend trip.

TCD

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Cool, another trip report!!! I'm in!!!!

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

:popcorn:

[Momof6....aka Marty 769]

I'm in on the ground floor! Woo-hoo!

[Crazemama26AKA Janelle 5]

Yea! Another Turkey-Day trip report! It was great meeting you and thanks again for the spike!

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

So TCD is" thankful for Thanksgiving at the fort" I would venture to say that all of us fiends are thankful that you were at the fort so we get yet another TCD trip reprot to read!!!!!!!

Cool pics of the FSU game......college football is NOTHING like that up here!!!!

Congrats to older TCD daughter on having her article published......way cool!

Looking forward to more!

Hey, I made the first page!!!

Heidi

[SCTigerCock 171]

Sweet! Another TR!

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Awesome! Another TCD trip report...and I may be in this one!

[SCTigerCock 171]

Awesome! Another TCD trip report...and I may be in this one!

You MAY, but YOU have a TR to write. Get to it, no more reading threads until you post something new in the TR!

Do we need to call INC?

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Well not first but first page.. and just glad it finally got started!! Glad to see non-twin TCD DD.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

You MAY, but YOU have a TR to write. Get to it, no more reading threads until you post something new in the TR!

Do we need to call INC?

get him....

TCD - you aren't the only one that gets nagged for updates!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Cool, another trip report!!! I'm in!!!!

Great to have you aboard, Carol.

But shouldn't you be packing or something?

:popcorn:

Pop some more, Ed.

We are going to be here for a while.

I'm in on the ground floor! Woo-hoo!

Good job!

I'm glad you made it in early.

Yea! Another Turkey-Day trip report! It was great meeting you and thanks again for the spike!

It was great to meet you and your DH as well.

And your twins are the cutest things I've seen since the TCD twins were that size!

So TCD is" thankful for Thanksgiving at the fort" I would venture to say that all of us fiends are thankful that you were at the fort so we get yet another TCD trip reprot to read!!!!!!!

Cool pics of the FSU game......college football is NOTHING like that up here!!!!

Congrats to older TCD daughter on having her article published......way cool!

Looking forward to more!

Hey, I made the first page!!!

Heidi

Thanks, Heidi.

I am glad that you are joining the party.

I'll be sure to get some meaty posts in here for you to read.

And, in case you didn't notice, I'm proud of my DD for getting this article published too.

It's her second one already, and this she just became an intern in the athletic department.

Next year, there's a chance she will get a higher position and possibly even travel with the team!

Sweet! Another TR!

Sweet, indeed!

Awesome! Another TCD trip report...and I may be in this one!

Strike the may.

There will most def be some DaveInTN in this one!

But, I may have to skip part of the story (about our brief visit to you know where to look for you know what) to give you a chance to tell it first.

We'll see how it goes.

You MAY, but YOU have a TR to write. Get to it, no more reading threads until you post something new in the TR!

Do we need to call INC?

Ah, come on, leave Dave alone. I don't want him to rush. His report is going to be epic!

As I understand it, he is probably just reading and posting from his phone right now, and we will have to wait until he gets to his computer for an update on his TR.

Well not first but first page.. and just glad it finally got started!! Glad to see non-twin TCD DD.

I am glad that I got it started, too!

The non-twin hasn't appeared in too many TR's lately. But, she used to be with us all the time. We were hoping she would stop by on this trip, too, but that didn't play out.

get him....

TCD - you aren't the only one that gets nagged for updates!

Yeah, well I usually deserve to get nagged.

TCD

[stefa70 205]

This is what I feel like when I read a TCD report

Though I'm not convinced that your not still canoodling with Lou, I have no further comments.

[doodlebug....Cherie 461]

I'm in too. A little late but I'm here.

[Gots2pitt.. Jeff 64]

This is what I feel like when I read a TCD report

Though I'm not convinced that your not still canoodling with Lou, I have no further comments.

Ok is that a 3 on the Ohana scale? I see a vapor trail?

[stefa70 205]

Ok is that a 3 on the Ohana scale? I see a vapor trail?

:rofl2: From Caddyshack 2: "He's a fonzanoone, he farts in the bathtub and bites the bubbles" :rofl2:

[Roller ... aka Ed 351]

Ok is that a 3 on the Ohana scale? I see a vapor trail?

Looks like it boiled the water, too

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

This is what I feel like when I read a TCD report

Though I'm not convinced that your not still canoodling with Lou, I have no further comments.

I don't know what canoodling is. But, I'm pretty sure that I have done none of that with Lou.

In fact, despite our best efforts, Lou and I never even met up on this trip!

That was a bummer for me.

I'm in too. A little late but I'm here.

Not a problem.

You're on page 1.

You're doing fine!

Ok is that a 3 on the Ohana scale? I see a vapor trail?

I see it too.

I didn't know there was a scale.

If it's a scale of 10, then that is definitely more than a 3!

:rofl2: From Caddyshack 2: "He's a fonzanoone, he farts in the bathtub and bites the bubbles" :rofl2:

Caddyshack 2?

Really?

Should I watch it?

Looks like it boiled the water, too

Good one, Ed!

OK- I'm caught up with the comments.

So, I guess it's time for an update.

Why not?

TCD

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

Thanks, Heidi.

I am glad that you are joining the party.

I'll be sure to get some meaty posts in here for you to read.

And, in case you didn't notice, I'm proud of my DD for getting this article published too.

It's her second one already, and this she just became an intern in the athletic department.

Next year, there's a chance she will get a higher position and possibly even travel with the team!

TCD

That is awesome, you should be VERY proud!!!!

Way to go TCD daughter!!!!

Looking forward to those "meaty posts"!!!

Heidi

[we3peas 12]

Did I make it on the 1st page too? Can't wait to hear what you discovered on this trip.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Let's get to the Fort, shall we?

As stated, we got back to the hotel in Tallahassee at about 1 am.

I certainly had no trouble sleeping.

We were up by 7:30 and on the road by 8.

We were all excited to get to the Fort.

Ordinarily, my drive to the Fort is about an hour and a half to two hours.

Today, I first had to drive about 225 miles from Tallahassee to home.

We got home at around noon.

The plan was to pull out by 2.

I did my best, and we almost made it.

It was more like 2:30 when we left.

We got to the Fort a little after 4.

It's good to be TCD.

I had heard about it already (from DaveInTN), so I wasn't surprised to see that the Christmas decorations were already up at the Fort. The last few years, they haven't gotten to them until later in the week. I liked seeing them as soon as we arrived.

Here's the entrance sign:

The guard shack is decorated, too:

As I said, it was a little after 4 on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I thought we would have a bit of a wait at check in. But, lo and behold, they had all of the lanes open, and I was able to pull right up! It's been a while since that has happened:

Make sure you notice the decorations on the check-in lanes.

The lobby building was decorated too:

So, up to this point, everything had gone according to plan.

Including my round-trip drive to Tallahassee, I had driven around 550 miles on my way to the Fort. A lot of you drive much, much further.

I had made my Thanksgiving reservations quite a while ago.

As is my custom, I reserved a partial hook-up site.

That meant we would be in either the 1500 loop or the 2000 loop.

I love the 1500 loop. I don't love the 2000 loop.

I had faxed a request for the 1500 loop.

That usually does the trick.

But it didn't this time.

We were assigned to the 2000 loop.

Fail!

I asked the castmember if it was possible for us to upgrade. I could tell she was a newbie. She didn't even bother to ask me what I had in mind, or offer to make a call, she just said sorry, but the campground is full- there are no other sites.

I knew this probably wasn't true.

So, I pulled up, parked, and went in to the lobby. The castmember there was a bit more helpful. She made the phone call, and then cheerfully told me that I could move to the 1900 loop! I told her no thanks. I asked her if there was anything at all that I could upgrade to. She checked and said, sorry, but no.

What can you do?

I've camped on the 2000 loop before, and it really isn't that bad, so I headed over to our site.

The site next to us had three cars on it. One of which was kind of hanging into our site.

The site across from us had two cars, and a lot of tents and stuff. All of this made our site look small and crowded.

I didn't like this at all.

The TCD twins really didn't like it.

I decided that I needed to call in a big gun.

I went to see a dear friend (who is also a Fiend) and asked if there was anything she could do.

She called somebody.

She told me to go set up on 1208.

I guess the Fort wasn't so full after all.

I just wasn't asking the right people.

It's good to be TCD.

I have never camped on the 1200 loop before.

Why would I want to?

But, that would be our home for the next five nights.

And, I was thankful to not be on the 2000 loop.

Oh, I forgot to mention that while I was on my quest to get my site changed, I had briefly pulled my truck and camper over to park along one of the interior roads. As I exited my truck, an old friend was driving by on his cart.

It was The Troll!

Do you remember him?

Norm?

He authored a very interesting trip report here on FF.net a few months ago.

It was the one with all of the interesting photos.

He and his lovely wife were there at the Fort with their two fur babies.

I saw them a couple of times after that, but we really didn't get a chance to catch up.

They did tell me about a campground up in the panhandle that I may be checking out some time soon.

And, I got to see Zoey again, and met their new dog.

Hey Norm, if you're reading along, it was good to see you again.

And, I hope you'll share your great photos here again.

So, all of this jostling around put the time at after 5 before I started getting set up on our site.

The TCD twins took off on an adventure.

I know they visited the Poly, and that they got to see the Castle lighting ceremony, which they said was very good.

They came back at around 7-ish.

I had everything pretty much set-up by then.

So, you know what that means.

It was time for our traditional first meal:

A Giddyap And Go from Trail's End.

So we Giddyapped down there.

Guess who we ran into again? Troll and Mrs. Troll!

The Fort is funny like that.

All of the Trail's Ends decorations were in place.

Like this wreath:

Here's a close up of one of the ornaments that I really liked:

And, here's the Christmas tree:

We had 15 minutes to kill before our chicken would be ready, so we walked over to say hello to our old pal Fiesty. She wasn't home.

But we got to enjoy her decorations:

This is Fiesty's neighbor Tina's site:

This is the sidewalk between Fiesty and Tina's sites:

And this really nice display was at the front of Fiesty's site:

In case you don't know Fiesty or where her site is, this sign will help you identify it:

This scarecrow was along the side of Fiesty's site:

And this is Fiesty's Saints guy:

I think there was something a bit morbid about this arrangement (which was probably intentional):

All that is pretty nice, isn't it?

So, you know what I did not receive a copy of in my check-in packet?

The holiday site decorating guidelines.

You know, the ones that a big stink was made over right before Halloween?

I guess those went out the window.

Because for sure one of the rules was no decorations within 5' of a sidewalk.

I did catch up with Fiesty later on this trip and complimented her on her decorations. One thing that she was very clear to point out is that her site was decorated for Thanksgiving, not Christmas. The Christmas decorations will come out later, but she did not want to overlook a very important holiday.

And, I agree with old Fiesty.

We need to stop and count our blessings.

And, I'm going to do that as I write this trip report.

I am thankful for friends like Fiesty and Hilda, who are always at the Fort, and who are always willing to help out and make other guests' stays more magical.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, our chicken.

It was done.

We went with the Cowboy Beans since it was a special occasion.

Everything was great, as usual.

Then we chilled a bit.

One of our Thanksgiving week traditions is to participate in the Extra Magic Hours at the Magic Kingdom on Sunday night.

Tonight was Sunday.

The Magic Kingdom was closing at 12.

Which meant that the EMH's would run till 3!

Before we headed there, we did some looping.

I saw DaveInTN and his family.

He filled me in on who was at the Fort, and where they were.

I took a little nap in the official TCD hammock.

And, then around midnight, we headed to the marina.

That's right- we headed to the MK at midnight.

That's how we roll.

Here are the girls at the entrance:

I love all the poinsettias!:

We all love the Castle Dreamlights:

Do you ever wonder how these lights work?

I do.

Here's a close up taken from under the castle door. You can see that the lights are attached to a net, and draped over the castle:

The amazing thing is that you really can't see the lights or netting when you look at the castle from a distance in the daylight. I'll have a photo later that shows that.

I'll just go ahead and admit that despite our desire to, we didn't make it to 3 am on this visit.

It had been a long day for all of us, and we were tired.

I think we headed back toward the boat at around 2.

With the ride back and some late night looping, it was about 3 when we hit the hay.

It had been a great, but long day.

But, tomorrow was just Monday, and we would be at the Fort until Friday.

Woo-Hoo!

I am thankful for the friends that I have made at the Fort, like Hilda and Judy.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

Funny thing. We were at the Fort for Christmas and I can't remember what the Castle looked like at night but it sure looks purty in your pictures...

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Great update! And you are correct, I am relegated to posting from my phone during the day. So no updates from me yet. Typing an entire trip report update on this little swype keyboard would be infuriating.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

Love the late night MK pictures. I am already packed TYVM! As a matter of fact my suitcase is already on its way!

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That is awesome, you should be VERY proud!!!!

Way to go TCD daughter!!!!

Looking forward to those "meaty posts"!!!

Heidi

OK- I just put up a post with plenty of photos.

Stay tuned for more!

A lot more!

Did I make it on the 1st page too? Can't wait to hear what you discovered on this trip.

Yes you made it!

Last one on the first page, but you made it!

I think you will be surprised to see what I found.

I sure was.

I am going to let you know where I found the cool things, so you can go and look for yourself.

TCD