Cheers!

Holy crap, what a terrible day at work today. What a terrible week. Dang, a terrible month!  Hospital life is tough, which is why I give thanks to Louisiana's own; drive-thru liquor stores!  I really don't think any other state has them, but we sure do like 'em down here! 

I don't drown my sorrows in alcohol, but on a dreary Friday with no work in the morning (that's a first in a few weeks), I decided to get Chris and myself a couple of frozen daiquiris.  Two for one. Woo hoo! 

So, why in the world am I even mentioning this?  Because it made me think of the tradition Chris and I have started on our trips to Disney World.  No matter what is going on at any other park, the first park we always hit is Epcot.  No, we don't skip over to the Magic Kingdom to witness Tinkerbell fly, or to capture the warm fuzzies of Main Street.  We head over to Epcot - for the beer.  After a long day of travel, the first thing we want to do is go have a quick bite to eat and some beer. Or in my case, a Grand Marnier slush in France.

Most people walk into Epcot and mozy over to Soarin' or Test Track, but we keep on walking - all the way to World Showcase and take a right (never a left).  We don't want Mexico's churros and margaritas.  We want fish and chips from London and a big ole honkin' Guinness.  The big beer, the one you've been practicing for.  We have our snacks, we have our beer and slush and we mozy.  We stroll.  We sit on a bench and take a deep breath and look at each other and say, "Whew.. we are finally here. Cheers!"

Then, the fun begins.  Each year we tackle it and each year we fail.  I know you've heard of it, and you may have even attempted it yourself.  Yep -  you guessed it....

This is when you attempt - and I say attempt - to hit every country in World Showcase and grab an adult beverage from each one. It may sound easy, but it is much harder than you think.  We get about half way through and can't take anymore. We never get drunk, just FULL.  We shoudn't start with Guinness, but how can we resist?  But it really is fun and by the time we make it over to Germany, I grab some of my favorite wine and am ready to sit down and people watch.

We get a good spot for Illuminations, watch the show (which always brings tears to my eyes) then call it a night.  To us, there is no better way to start out our Disney vacation.  Shoot, being tired from the travel then having our bellies full of food and drink, we sleep so well and actually wake up super refreshed and ready to tackle whatever we will be facing the next day. I suggest you try it sometime, you may actually enjoy it and you may be starting your own new tradition.

Now, if you'll excuse me - my daiquiri is melting....