Another Year Older

It's odd, this year. Not that it has been a long standing tradition, but for the past two years, I have spent my birthday in Walt Disney World. In 2007 I was joined by my wife and other members of my family to celebrate turning,

As with any good trip to Disney, there was plenty of food to be had. We ate dinner at Le Chefs de France, The Yatchsman Steakhouse, Boma's, Mama Melrose's, and The Rose & Crown. My birthday dinner, at the steakhouse, was topped off with a Illuminations Fireworks Cruise.

Now, let Doc give you two tips. One, The Yatchsman Steakhouse is probably one of the top five restaurants on Disney property. Splurge. Have dinner there. Trust me on this. I recommend the rib-eye, medium rare. And two, you have not experienced Illuminations until you have seen it from the water. If you can have my friend from Passamaquoddy along for the ride to narrate the story, yes, there is a story to Reflections of Earth, all the better.

In 2008 I celebrated my birthday with friends in the Magic Kingdom. Among them, Ryan Wilson of the Main Street Gazette, Glenn Whelan of Passamaquoddy, and the godfather of Disney Geeks, Lou Mongello. There was no big deal made of the event, other than it was big deal to me to spend time in my one of my favorite places on Earth with some of my favorite people on Earth.

So, back to the premise of this post. It's odd this year. On the year that I could get into Walt Disney World on my birthday for free, I am not going. Whoa! It has taken a bit of getting used to that fact. And it will be tough missing my friends who will be gathering later in the month for the Studio 20 event. But, I suppose I'll get by. Because...

I'm Going To Vegas Baby!

For this year's anniversary of my entrance into the world (thank you mom), I will celebrating in Las Vegas with my daughter and her boyfriend. Now, as with any trip that involves me, there will be plenty of food. So far we have reservations at Canaletto in the Venetian, the Social House at Treasure Island, Joe's Seafood in the Forum Shops at Caesar's, and for my birthday dinner, we'll be enjoying the fountain show at the Bellagio from our table at the Eiffel Tower in Paris Las Vegas. Oh, we also plan on picking up a burger at BLT Burger at the Mirage, and I am sure we'll discover a few other places where we can enjoy some in-between meal snacks.

Oh, and I need to mention, that while we're there, we'll be seeing Cirque du Soleil "Love." This is the fireworks cruise for 2009! My daughter called me as she was leaving the show last year and said, "Dad, we have got to this." So, we are. And...Paul McCartney is at the Hard Rock Las Vegas our first night there. Yes, we are looking into tickets.

If you plan on being in Vegas, and see me walking down the street, taking pictures of all the lights, stop and say hello.

Okay, I won't look quite like that, but, you get the general idea.

More to follow...