After a 3 hour drive from Wellington to Orlando, we arrived at the The Peabody Hotel. It was the first time I’ve heard of this hotel, their symbol is a mallard, and everything was duck-themed (even the soap in our room), which I found was super cute :D
They also had was is possibly the biggest, fanciest hotel pool that I’ve ever seen: the Grotto pool with an interactive water feature, sandbox, and a 20-foot slide!
The Grotto pool at Peabody
After checking in and settling down a bit, we went for dinner at one of the hotel restaurants: Capriccio Grill, an Italian steakhouse.
Le bf choose their signature steak, which was 20oz (O_O)! Clearly a good choice in his opinion, as he later told me that’s the best steak he’s ever had in his life.
Le bf’s plate: 20oz Bone in Rib Eye – Capriccio’s Signature Cowboy Steak
I took the Chicken Française, in the spirit of wanting to order something that I haven’t tried before (plus I figured it can be bad since it has the word “French in it and all).
My plate: Chicken Française –
Sautéed Chicken Breast in Egg Batter, Lemon Parsley Butter Sauce
The meat of the chicken was very tender, and the sour taste of lemon was just strong enough to make it very appetizing. The portion was a bit big for me since I ate a lot of the bread and the sides too, so the others helped me with it, and they all enjoyed it as well.
Le bf’s mom’s plate: Pappardelle Pescatore –
Shrimp, Crab, Clams, Calamari, Sweet Peppers, Capers, Olives, Tomatoes, Wine and
Lemon Butter Sauce
Sides:
Risotto del giorno, creamed spinach
The waiter surprised us after our entrees with an assortment of dessert samples in shot glasses. Each shooter is a sample of one of their signature dessert. I thought the idea was smart, these dessert shooters are just the right size for those who just want a taste of something sweet after a satisfying meal (plus they look really cute :D ).
Desserts: signature dessert shooters
Somehow le bf still had room in his stomach to want to order this:
Desserts: Hot Godiva chocolate cake
Though I was really full I couldn’t help but steal a few bites, since it smelled so heavenly. The quality of the Godiva chocolate was really good and sufficiently warmed up, so that the contrast between the hot liquid and the cold vanilla ice cream created a perfect match in the mouth.
After such a rich meal I tried to work some of it off by taking a quick dip in the hotel pool:
Night time swim in the huge pool
The next day, we woke up bright and early for a full day of fun at Aquatica Waterpark :D It was quite pleasant spending the day in different water rides since it was scorching hot outside.
And they also had various animals in the park! One of their most famous animal attraction are the Commerson’s dolphins:
Commerson’s dolphins
The black and white dolphins were smaller than I expected, since their appearance made me thought of killer whales. Commerson’s dolphins are one of the smallest dolphins and are found in shallow waters of the sub-Antarctic.
We also saw the big African spurred tortoise, they are the third biggest type of tortoise in the world.
African spurred tortoise
It came over so that I could touch it :D
The park was not very big, so we were able to go on all the rides at least once. Some of them include:
The Dolphin Plunge: 2 side-by-side enclosed tube slides going underwater where you can see the Commerson’s Dolphins.
The Taumata Racer: a high-speed competitive mat ride where the racers rip down a staggeringly steep hill, head first.
Share this with the world: