Book Reviews and Money Saving Tips

First Watch is a breakfast/lunch café. It is a chain but I have never been in any of their restaurants besides the one on Radio Road in Naples. It is just a smidge pricey but well worth it. The pancakes are multigrain, huge and just over the top delicious. They have a very upscale and interesting menu with a sumptuous range. Hmm,hmm good! Free Wi-Fi is a benefit but vastly overwhelmed by the wonderful food. Service is good but be prepared to wait on weekends as it is jammed. Week days are a better time to go for breakfast. You will spend $25 for breakfast for two which is very reasonable for the quality. I intend to try their other restaurants if I ever see one as this is a dining delight.

I know that another blog ranting about the overpriced under quality food at Disney World is hardly news. However after experiencing both the service and the food at the above restaurant, I need to vent. First I would advise get the pizza. We didn’t have it but it looked good. Second grab your wallet and your heart when you look at the pizza prices. $16.00 is the price for a personal pizza. Wow! $28 is the price for an 8 slice large pizza. Again, WOW! However I think the pizza is a better idea than the $28.00 veal parm which we had. The veal was ok; the sauce was insipid at best. The pasta was Spaghetti Torta. I googled Spaghetti Torta and discovered that it is “a good way to use left over spaghetti.” I was a bit dismayed to discover that my overprice meal was a good way for the restaurant to use the left over pasta from the rest of their menu. The recipe I saw called for baking but our server said it was fried. I prefer my eggs fried alone not with spaghetti. Then there ...

A guest post by Steve Hartfelder of Diamond Case.   I have referred to Diamond Case in the past, they are an independent, family owned and operated business in Anaheim, California.   I have had personal experience with their exceptional knowledge and customer service which is why I recommend them.  They will sell and ship nationally.   I do not get any compensation for recommending them.  Click Here To Go To Diamond Case for the full post.

You are in Disney World and you want to maximize your entertainment dollar. Who doesn’t? Sometimes the lines can drive you to distraction or possibly it is the screaming child with a full diaper that is flailing away at the back of your head unbeknownst to the stressed out parent carrying them. (maybe the parent knows and doesn’t care) One way to alleviate lineitis is an app for your phone telling the wait times at each ride. It actually works and works well. I am sure there are others out there but I downloaded the free app, Disney World by Undercover Tourist, off of the marketplace. It works great. You should give it a shot if you want to enhance the value of your exorbitant ticket prices.

Recently we were lucky enough to be in sunny and warm Naples Florida. We were looking for something to do besides play golf and swim. You can do that every day but once in awhile it is nice to have a change of pace. Sweet Liberty is a 51’ catamaran that sails out of Naples harbor. It was still early in the season so there were only 6 of us on the boat. The captain, Mitch, and the crew, Kevin, were professional and very friendly and informative. The boat is well appointed with plenty of cushions and blankets and two bathrooms. We motored out of the harbor and through some Port Royal inlets that had some of the most phenomenal homes I have ever seen. A statistic that seemed preposterous is that 85% of the homes are vacant on any given day. These are multi-million dollar vacation homes that have to be seen to be believed. Once we reached the Gulf, Kevin raised the sail and Mitch turned off the motor and we sailed along the coast. The air was brisk and the sailing was ter...