About 6 months ago, I noticed that Disney was sponsoring a new event, the "Expedition Everest Challenge" in the Animal Kingdom park. Other than stating it was a 5k and team adventure race, I really didn't know anything else about it. I was pretty upset about having to bail on the half marathon back in January, and thought this race would be a run thing to do. I talked my buddy, Renee, who drags me into all types of mischief, into doing the race with me. Paybacks and all.
Since my Disney annual pass was good until December 2008, I was excited to get my $$ worth yet one more time. Not to mention, I have only been to WDW in December and January, I was excited to go at another time of the year.
Since my Disney annual pass was good until December 2008, I was excited to get my $$ worth yet one more time. Not to mention, I have only been to WDW in December and January, I was excited to go at another time of the year.
Disney offered a fantastic race package rate at Coronado Springs which just continued to make the trip financially feasible. Coronado Springs is really beautiful but it is absolutely huge. They have a lovely lagoon with sand and hammocks spread around for those interested in a little sunny relaxation. They also boast the largest hot tub on Disney property - we made use of that following the race.
After checking in, we hopped a bus to EPCOT. When planning this trip, I couldn't believe our luck as we would be arriving on the first day of the 13th Annual Food and Wine Festival. Oh yeah, life is good! 
During this festival, booths are set up all around the world showcase, with samples of food and beverages from various countries available for purchase. We started on the Mexico side and immediately sampled Moet & Chandon champagne from Reims and paired it with a selection of cheese from Holland, Italy, and Spain. We were certainly off to a good start.
From the Spanish booth, I tried the chilled tomato and garlic soup while Renee had the seared tuna w/spicy red pepper coulis & garlic herb ciabatta. We both paired our selections with a Bodega Don Olegarico Albarino. Yum. In Shanghai we shared ginger ice cream. It was very refreshing, "cleansing the palate." La-di-da! In Cape Town, we had my favorite of the day: Durban Spiced Chicken w/coconut milk infused root vegetables paired with a Pinotage. This was rockin'. The vegetables tasted like they had been cooked with cloves and the sauce had a subtle kick to it. Oh my.
With only a short stop in Germany to buy my favorite Christmas ornaments, we had been non-stop grazing. Did I mention that we were seriously feeling the effects of the alcohol? Lucky for us, we had just arrived at one of the US booths where we snagged lobster rolls and Sam Adams Lager and grabbed seats at the American Pavilion to watch Big Bad Boodoo Daddy. I love this band and felt lucky that I was going to get to see them. We had great seats for the show, and were able to take a little break.
Following the fantastic show, we hit San Francisco for Seared Beef Medallion w/ Cheddar Cheese Polenta paired with a Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. this might have been my second favorite. The polenta was really creamy and rich. Ready for some dessert, we stopped at the Louisiana booth for Praline Bread Pudding w/ Bourbon caramel sauce. The booths were starting to have longer lines as we came to the French booth. I had Escargot in brioche with champagne (of course!) while Renee continued with dessert, a Milk Chocolate Creme Brulee paired with a sparkling pomegranate Kir. At this point, we pulled up a bench to rehydrate and people watch. Hard to imagine, but we were indeed toasty again. Our last culinary sampling was Puerto Rico where we had Mofongo and a frozen Pina Colada where I immediately had brain freeze.
It took us 5-6 hours to complete our tour of the booths and believe it or not probably only hit about half of the selections. Some were crowded and some offerings weren't very interesting.
This event has a lot of tastings and lectures, but they weren't spelled out in the brochure. It was one of those things that if you stumbled upon it you could do it. While I would have liked to have done one of the tastings, it really didn't diminish my experience. I had a blast.
After grabbing our final beverages - WATER - we found a good central spot to plop and wait for Illuminations. This fireworks/laser show never disappoints. It was a spectacular end to a spectacular day. Thanks, Renee, for this great pic.
No comments:
Post a Comment