A Storyteller's Adventure
This past Tuesday was my day off and I spent it like I spend my other days off— in the parks, of course. This day was different, however. It was the first day in awhile that my roommates and I all had the day (or morning) off. To celebrate, we all decided to take a trip to the Container Store and Ikea.
At the Container Store, I was able to purchase a small sandwich box that could hold my sandwiches and snacks for work. The store itself had a lot of options in terms of containers, organizational items, and furniture pieces. It was overwhelming at first, especially since this was my first visit to a Container Store, but it was great to have my roommates there to ground me.
Then, we drove across the street to IKEA, while listening to ABBA’s Dancing Queen and Mamma Mia, appropriately. Since it was around noon and we hadn’t eaten anything before leaving, we decided to eat at IKEA before shopping around. That’s where I had Swedish meatballs for the first time.
I can’t believe I’ve never had Ikea’s famous Swedish meatballs before! They tasted great, and the sides were delicious, too. This meal plus a bottle of water cost $6 with tax. Such a great deal.
Oh my gosh it was amazing! The sauce (gravy?) was great, and the mashed potatoes were buttery and delicious, as mashed potatoes typically are. The veggies were steamed and seasoned well, too. Overall, such a great meal for a good value. I’m a food blogger now.
Afterwards, we quickly returned home and I transferred all my belongings from my purse to my backpack (I have a designated backpack for the parks), and took the ART 10 bus to Disneyland.
I met up with some friends at DCA, and we soon walked over to Storyteller’s Cafe at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa. They had been in the parks all day, but were kind enough to invite me to have dinner with them. Two of them were from my workplace and the others were roommates and friends of theirs.
I’ve eaten at Storyteller’s once before, but I had the buffet option. This time around, I wanted to try ordering off the regular menu.
The decor and ambiance of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa is unparalleled, and Storyteller’s Cafe is no different.
The waitress first came out with bread and butter, which was delicious. I liked the cornbread, but would have preferred it if it had bits of corn in it (but I’m not complaining, all bread tastes good to me). I ordered the Chicken Paillard for the main course. From the menu, it is a lightly-breaded chicken breast, roasted potatoes, heirloom carrots, and lemon-caper sauce (pictured below). This dish was different, but good. The lemon-caper sauce definitely was a defining flavor of the dish. I liked the potatoes, but the carrots tasted too different from the orange ones I’m familiar with. The chicken was tasty, as well (look how great I describe food. Gordon Ramsay who??). Overall, I feel like I would have preferred the spaghetti (I am a woman of simple tastes, okay?) and only ordered this because I wanted to try something different.
All in all, my experience at Storyteller’s was great, and I had the chance to meet some amazing new people and bond with co-workers.
After dinner, I joined my roommates to ride the Indiana Jones attraction for the fifth time in five weeks (as an anthropologist, it’s the law). Then, as if some force in the universe willed it, we saw our roommate Penny sweeping up the queue line right as we were getting in line. It was the best thing, ever, to see our roommate doing her job as we were visiting the parks. She walked with us throughout the entire length of the queue.
Indiana Jones Queue Crew
“…and they were roommates”
Later, I grabbed a dark-chocolate covered pineapple skewer at the Candy Palace. I’m not sure how I managed to eat 3/4 of it after a full lunch and dinner, but I did. I saved the rest for the next day. We were joined by another roommate, who had been in the parks all day with her friends, and made our way over to Trader Sam’s. Trader' Sam’s is the bar located at the Disneyland Hotel, and is well-known for its tropical theming and cool theatrical effects. You kind of have to experience it to understand what I’m talking about. Every now and then, a storm will hit the bar (only in the indoor seating!) or a volcano will erupt. It’s hard to tell, but there’s an inactive volcano in the background of the image below.
After waiting a few minutes in the line outside for indoor seating, we went inside and saw some work friends. We ordered our drinks and stood nearby our friends. There was limited seating, but standing still worked and we were able to talk about work and de-stress with one another. I ordered a virgin piña colada, as I am trying to cut out alcohol in my life. I usually only drink alcohol when I’m around friends drinking it, but I don’t really enjoy the experience. Plus, I am trying to live a healthier lifestyle.
If you like piña coladas…
We left after maybe an hour there, but not before deciding to hang out and have drinks again sometime in the future. Again, I still don’t know how I managed to keep everything down since I had two full meals, dessert, and now a very sugary drink. That’s Disney magic at work!
To end the day, I rode home with my roommates and prepared myself for my next day at work. To confirm, yes, this is a typical day off is like here at the DCP. What an adventure.
