We save a lizard!

Yesterday was all a bit much in the parks, what with the crowds, the heat and the noise, so we decided to stay at the villa today and make the most of our pool. We did have the gardeners come around in the morning, though, and they made a right racket with their strimmers, ride-on lawn mowers and leaf-blowers. I'm not sure what the man wielding the leaf blower was doing as there weren't any leaves to blow away and all he managed to do was blow a load of debris into our pool!

Sophie was ecstatic today as she and Keith saved a lizard (well, they think they saved him!). He had somehow become trapped between her window and the netting covering the window and had been there a couple of days. Now, it might be that he was there because there was a rich supply of ants along the windowsill but they managed to get him out anyway and after the gardeners had gone we let him back out onto the grass. Sophie called him Geoffrey:

Geoffrey...temporarily held in a glass awaiting release.

We had to pack as well today, of course, and it's been the first time ever that we've moved from one villa to another so we made sure we put all of our groceries into bags to take with us. We just hoped there would be enough room in the boot of the car!

By the evening we were all packed and after showers we headed for the Irish pub near to Publix. Keith was very fond of their Goose Island beer they serve and Sophie enjoyed a very strong Margarita while poor old Mike and me had to be content with lemonades. It wasn't my favourite place to go to for a drink but at least we could sit outside and people watch!

Our dinner venue for the evening was the Longhorn Steakhouse on the 192 and turning into the car park we were dismayed to see people spilling out onto the path and others waiting on benches. It looked like we were in for a wait. We were told we could have a table within half an hour so we sat at the bar and had a drink. The place was heaving with people and the noise level was tremendous with a considerable amount of excited children adding to the racket!

I'd been looking forward to the meal all day as the restaurant is one of our favourites and their steaks are very good indeed. We were given bread to eat as we perused the menu and our drinks orders taken. I noticed a bottle of Apothic red on the wine menu selling for $32...I think it's about £9 in Tesco! Sophie had a glass of red, Keith had a beer and I had a refill of strawberry lemonade that I hadn't asked for! I already had half a glass! I managed to get Mike to drink it for me!

Naturally, we all ordered steaks. Sophie and I went for exactly the same - the New York Strip served with mashed potatoes and broccoli. Keith went for a T-bone served with fries and broccoli and Mike went for the Rib-Eye served with just fries. Our server, called Eric, was quite pushy and kept trying to "upsell" a load of things on the menu, such as trying to get Mike to have the Outlaw Ribeye for a much higher price, trying to get us to have cheese on our steaks and ensured that Sophie had a large glass of Cabernet rather than a normal one. I was going to have a glass of red with my meal as well but I didn't just so I couldn't give him the satisfaction of trying to sell me something. None of us liked him very much and this is very rare in America as we normally find our servers to be polite, friendly and chatty. All I felt we kept saying to him was, "No thanks", "No, we're fine" and it became a little wearing, especially as he kept popping by and continually asking if we wanted anything...yes! For you to go away and leave us in peace!

We enjoyed the steaks but mine was a little bloody for my liking. Sophie helped me finish it and said that mine was far more bloody than hers. We didn't have room for dessert and I thought Eric was going to burst into tears when we declined the pudding menu! The bill came to $126 and we left him a tip of course, but it wasn't a large one!

Back at the peace and quiet of the villa, I finally got my glass of red...and it was delicious!