Orlando - Day 1 - Dinner Theater

So, we left for Orlando last Friday for a long-weekend vacation. My sister was sweet enough to stay at our place and take care of Bailey - thanks sis! The first day of our Orlando vacation went pretty smoothly. We finished packing that morning, caught our plane in the afternoon and arrived right around 4PM, which was time perfectly by my SO, so we could go straight to the hotel and check in.



We took the complimentary shuttle to the car rental place, got our car and headed to our hotel. (See the airport in the background? I suppose technically, that is a hotel connected to the airport, but you get the jist)



We arrived at our hotel, checked in and settled in to relax for just a bit. We had the whole evening to spend at our will, so I decided to take my SO to a dinner theater. I remember growing up in Orlando that a dinner theater was a great thing-to-do in tourist-town and that we tried pretty much every dinner theater in town. My fave was King Arthur's Court, but that apparently shut down a few years ago. My next fave was Arabian Nights, so we chose that for the night. A quick tip on dinner theaters - check with your hotel concierge, because they can usually get you discounted tickets. Just remember to tip them - not sure what the going tip is for a concierge so if anyone knows, leave a comment, if you don't mind - I hope we gave her enough!



We accidentally drove to Disney (missed our turn on 536) so after some circular driving, we finally made it to Arabian Nights just in time to catch the end of the magician pre-show. After a greeting from some dude in a purple robe, we were let in to the arena where salads were waiting for us. Thank goodness because we were starving!



Now, I did check some reviews for the place before we headed over and they all said the food was terrible, especially the steak. I decided to go with the chicken option, which I thought was pretty good. The chicken didn't have much flavor, but it wasn't quite as bad as I expected based on the reviews.



My SO decided to try the steak, which he wasn't thrilled with, but I warned him! An important thing to know about dinner theaters is that you don't go for the food - you go for the entertainment. If you go to a dinner theater, don't expect to be blown away by the food - it's good, but usually not great.



Now, while I found the show to be pretty entertaining, another important thing to know about dinner theaters is that they're just that - "theaters." Your kids will probably end up having a better time than you, but I suppose it depends on what you're expecting. You also need to remember you're in Orlando where they're trying to market towards tourists. The show will probably be silly, corny, and sometimes over-the-top, so don't expect Broadway.



I had a good time. The show was pretty good, the horses were beautiful, and I thought the riders did some pretty amazing tricks - flipping, juggling, balancing, and all that fun stuff.



All in all, I'd say a dinner theater is a good thing to do in Orlando, but only if you're willing to let yourself have a good time without expecting complete perfection from the food and the show. My fave dinner theaters are: Arabian Nights, Medieval Times, and Sleuths Mystery Dinner theater. If you want a perfect dinner theater, you may want to try one of the Disney ones - they're not perfect, but Disney has an extremely high standard with everything they do, so you may like it more than the ones around I-Drive (International Drive - the "tourist area"). The only one I've done is the Luau at the Polynesian Resort and it was very good!

Has anyone out there done a dinner theater before? What did you think?

The Wreck of Richard and Charlene

I knew several months ago that I'd be going to Charleston, SC for Memorial Day weekend, so when I saw Giada's Weekend Getaways for Charleston (which will air again on June 15th - see web site for details), I tuned in! One of the restaurants especially caught my eye - The Wreck of Richard and Charlene. Located where a trawler, the Richard and Charlene, wrecked during Hurricane Hugo, hard to find, only spread by word of mouth...the place doesn't even look like a restaurant or have a sign...how cool is that? Maybe I've been watching $40 a Day one time too many, but I've been seriously inspired by Food Network to look for the unique eating spots in every city I visit. Not to mention I've always liked eating the foods I can't get back home. I somehow talked my fiance and two of his frat-boy-like friends into going.

Just like Giada said, the restaurant is hard to find and doesn't even have a sign. To the left and right of the location are two shrimping docks (at least I think that's what they are)


Not much to look at from the front, eh? It seems the best places are these "hole-in-the-wall" spots. I believe Giada said to look for the huge anchor in front of the restaurant (far right of the photo)


In the entrance, there are tons of pictures...apparently of friends and family...and a certain celebrity we know and love. They have a picture of Giada with some of the staff and her actual menu. See, here at The Wreck, you are given a paper menu and get to circle your meal of choice with a marker. Your meal is started with a yummy bowl of boiled peanuts, which I love! The menu touts that the Wreck was voted "State's Best Shrimp" - fried shrimp, that is. Of course, I ordered the fried shrimp, and they truly were some of the best fried shrimp I've ever had. I also got to try the grilled shrimp, but I'd definitely go for the fried if you ever eat here.


Here's a picture of the back of The Wreck. You can see their screened-in patio area, which is where you'll be seated if you grab a bite to eat.


I even got a great shot of the sunset from the dock area.

Only downfall of this wonderful spot is that it's a bit old-fashioned so they don't accept credit cards and they don't split checks. Remember to bring your checkbook or some cash and be prepared to figure out your own check if you're splitting the tab. Either way, the billing policy is not enough to keep me from headed back to this local favorite.

The Wreck of Richard & Charlene is a must-see if you're headed to Charleston, SC! Be sure to visit their web site for menu, history, and more info - http://www.wreckrc.com/