Mon., 21 Jan 13

Up and out early (for us) by 9 am (after traffic) to try another flea market. This time we are going to the Webster Westside Flea Market in Webster, FL.

What a difference from the Orlando flea market fiasco.  This flea market has been going strong for more than 50 years, Here you can find everything imaginable! There is everything from produce, flowers and baked goods to jewelry,plants, boutiques, antiques, musical instruments, electronics, food, drink and many other products and services! On the first Sunday of every month they hold a car and cycle swap meet. It is opened 

year-around every rain or shine.

I planned the trip on the less busy roads. After an easy and enjoyable ride (less than a half hour) we turned towards Webster. Two miles out we were "stop and go". This place is so huge and attracts so many people the slowdown was just the traffic coming in to the site. There were just as many cars coming back - some folks shop early.

Thanks to an early shopper we found a parking spot a short distance from the entrance. On the way in parking lots were filled as far as a half mile away. Luckily, we were only 5 minutes from the gate.

This place is huge. The only larger flea market we have been to is the San Jose Flea Market which is the largest open-air market in the USA. This is even larger than the Mesa Swap Meet in Arizona which takes us 2 hours to walk and shop.

Our first purchase was made at a booth that had a huge collection of Diz Pins. During this year's visit to WDW (Walt Disney World) we only purchased one Disney pin. Here we purchased 14 at two different booths.

The heat, sunshine and humidity took it's toll. We needed a cool drink. Rather than just a soda we decided on a frozen lemonade to cool us down. We sat inside to be shaded and to relax after walking so many aisles.
While there we met some great folks from Lakeland, FL. Everywhere we have traveled we always been fortunate enough to meet friendly folks that have done something to "make our day". Seeing my Route 66 ball cap they figured we were from the north and asked if we ever tried boiled peanuts. They were close. They thought Chicago - we're from Canada.

We were offered regular and jalapeno. We tried the regular. We had bought boiled peanuts once before; but it was so long ago we had forgotten what they tasted like. The boiling makes them soft. They have the consistency of baked beans. Boiled peanuts can be purchased from vendors along the roadside. Perhaps we will stop and pick up some next time we see them for sale.

A combination of the sun, heat and humidity helped us decide not to do the whole flea market. It was too large. We headed back to the entrance to pick up a whole flat of fresh strawberries ($10). At the very last booth before we turned into the parking area we found an old printer's tray. We thought it would make a nice display case for our grandson's small Lego Ninja and Ninjago collectibles.

This trip also helped me decide on the GPS. The Nuvi 3590 LMT was a great unit except for two fatal flaws. First, I could not see the screen. It has a screen similar to a smartphone which reflects so much light it is barely visible in the sunshine. Even when hand-held it was hard to see something other than my reflected face. The problem was compounded when the top was off the Del Sol. The second problem is that it has no earphone/line-out jack. At highway speeds the directions cannot be heard. I returned it to the Best Buy in Winter Garden where I had purchased the unit.

The Best Buy is near SR-535 which is the route we take into Disney's Fort Wilderness. We decided, being it was still an nice day, to head for Downtown Disney and Pleasure Island. Like the Flea Market, probably because it was MLK (Martin Luther King) day, the parking lots were packed. On the way in the Pluto (Disney overflow parking area) was packed, too.

Again, knowing people come and leave early, we found a spot near one of the entrances to Pleasure Island. We were feeling hunger pangs and scouted the choices. We have eaten here before (Planet Hollywood and
Bongos Cuban Cafe) we decided on trying something different.

We choose the AMC Downtown Disney 24. This is a Dine-In Theatre. Here a half dozen of the 24 screens offer "Fork and Screen". Here they offer food and cocktails paired with great movies in an immersive, big-screen theatre. Fork & Screen® offers reserved seating with upgraded seats, a personal call button and seat-side service. There is an extensive menu of featuring burgers, sandwiches and pizzettas. There are also appetizers, desserts and of course, popcorn.Guests must be at least 18 years of age or accompanied by a parent or guardian that is 21 years or older.

The Dine-in portion of the theatre has a bar (MacGuffins) rather than the regular popcorn and drink counter.
On the wall a definition of MacGuffin declares it was "coined" by the famed movie director and producer, Alfred Hitchcock, circa 1939. He popularized both the term "MacGuffin" and the technique, which he explained in a 1939 lecture at Columbia University. "[We] have a name in the studio, and we call it the 'MacGuffin'. It is the mechanical element that usually crops up in any story. In crook stories it is almost always the necklace and in spy stories it is most always the papers". Wikipedia, the free internet encyclopedia, has several other takes on this subject.

The "Fork and Screen" opens a half hour before showtime. Each section seats has four reserved seats with a counter style table. We sat in H7 and H8 which, for us, were the best seats in the house. They were mid-theatre, center and at a perfect viewing angle and distance from the screen. Our waitress came and took our order (Loaded Potato Skins/Turkey Club) which were equal to the standard chain restaurant fare. It arrived just prior to the start of the movie (Zero Dark Thirty). We thoroughly enjoyed both the meal and the movie.

After the movie we enjoyed walking back through the Pleasure Island venue. Several of the restaurants have live entertainment in the evening. We stopped to enjoy a variety of songs and styles on our way back to the car. It was a smooth trip back to the RV, taking about a half-hour.

We put the bedroom TV on sleep timer and set it for the Tonight Show. We both were asleep before it shut off - we even missed the monologue!