“Jersey Boys” and Bahama Breeze make a great evening!

We had a busy and very good weekend.

Mrs. Poolman and I headed down to Jacksonville for a quick overnight with her sister and brother-in-law, Bonnie and Rick, and to see the touring production of “Jersey Boys.” It was a lot of fun. Another couple, friends of Bonnie and Rick’s, also joined us. We started the evening with dinner at Jacksonville’s new “Bahama Breeze” restaurant. That is well on my want to becoming my favorite restaurant chain. It was really good! I had the grilled chicken with cilantro crema. Oh my! I thought I had died and gone to heaven.

I spent most of the dinner getting up and checking the Florida-Louisville “Elite Eight” game in the bar. Unfortunately, the Gators blew an 11 point lead in the last seven minutes to lose out on a trip to the Final Four. It was the only downer of the evening.

I have wanted to see the “Jersey Boys” for several years and have been on the look-out to find a touring group that would come close to Savannah. The show follows the story of the musical group, the Four Seasons (Frankie Valli, Bob Gaudio, etc.) I’ve been a Four Seasons fan since I was in high school. The production mixes drama scenes with many of the groups musical numbers. The music starts off a little slow as the show tells the story of the group’s early years. However, once they got their first hit in “Sherry,” their careers and the production took off.

This show is all about the music. The actor / singers did an excellent job. The actor who played Frankie Valli stole the show with his solo of “Can’t take my eyes off of you.”

If you like the music and have a chance to see the show, it’s definitely worth the price of a ticket.

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Off to Mouseland!

We took a few days off last weekend to join Mrs. Poolman’s older sister and husband in Orlando. They traded with some friends —  a week at their mountain house for a week at the Wyndam Bonnet Creek Resort at Disney World. They had a three bedroom condo and asked us if we could join them for a few days. Of course we said, “Ah, yes!”

Windam Resort Bonnet Creek

Our condo

Mrs. P and I actually spent our honeymoon at Disney World – way back in 1976 when the area around the park was a tiny fraction of the development there now. And the only Disney developments were the Magic Kingdom and a few other small auxiliaries, like “River Country” which no longer exists. Even EPCOT didn’t open until around 1978.

We also lived in Orlando in 1979-80 when I worked for the ABC affiliate there. Poolboy was born in Orlando. So while it’s safe to assume we have some familiarity with the area, the tourist section of the area has change dramatically.

We drove down from Savannah on Friday and met B & D at the condo. It is rather high-end and very nice.

On Friday night, we treated our hosts to dinner at Bahama Breeze. This is a chain restaurant of the Longhorn Steakhouse – Olive Garden family, but it is very good. I wish they had one in Savannah. I had the shrimp and grits off the daily special menu and was very happy. Mrs. Poolman had a grilled chicken with mashed potatoes, a cilantro-cream sauce and cheese.

Grilled checken with cilantro crema

I had to taste it. It was heavenly. We will try to duplicate it at home sometime soon. Both our guests also enjoyed their dishes. I thought my brother-in-law was going to lick the plate, but he restrained himself.  The bill for four adults (without alcohol or tip) came to right-at $75. That’s not bad at all for a tourist area. Two thumbs-up for Bahama Breeze.

Tomorrow, we will be sitting through a time-share demonstration and then off to Epcot.