Disney's BoardWalk and Afternoon Tea at the Garden View Lounge

I was hoping to have my Wine & Dine Half Marathon race recap up today, but I have been so exhausted that I couldn't get myself to write a long post. I think all of this traveling and home renovating is finally catching up to me! Instead, I bring you the day of the half marathon.

Since Wine & Dine is a night race, we had the whole day to do as we pleased. After breakfast, we walked from our hotel, Disney's Yacht Club Resort, to Disney's BoardWalk. The BoardWalk was inspired by the Atlantic City BoardWalk and is a lined with shops and restaurants.

Views of Disney's BoardWalk from the Beach Club

We took a leisurely stroll and visited some of the shops.

From the BoardWalk, we also had great views of the Yacht Club from across the water. I was hoping to fit in a run around the BoardWalk on Monday or Tuesday of our trip, but that was not to be.  

In the afternoon, we headed over to the Grand Floridian for afternoon tea at the Garden View Lounge. One of the things I dislike about Walt Disney World is the amount of time you spend getting from one place to another. It took us over an hour to get to the Grand Floridian and we were late by a significant amount of time for our reservation!

This was my first time visiting the Grand Floridian and it is as gorgeous as I had imagined. I was hoping that the gingerbread house would be up by our visit, but it was not. I read that they started building it a day or two after our vacation was over. 

Beautiful lobby of the Grand Floridian

Chandelier in the Grand Floridian

We finally made it to the Garden View Lounge and were greeted by Chip and Mrs. Potts on the marble floor! Such an awesome touch.

We each ordered the Buckingham Tea, which included a pot of tea, assorted tea sandwiches, a tart and scone and a choice of dessert.

Assorted tea sandwiches

Jam tart and scone served with preserves, devon cream and lemon curd

Strawberries and cream

 Everything was delicious, except for the jam tart which was very, very sweet. My pot of tea guaranteed that I had enough caffeine to get me through the rest of the day.

As we were leaving the Grand Floridian, this band was playing in the lobby. So fancy.

We made our way back to the Yacht Club, purchased some food for our pre-race meal and took a short nap. We had plans to go for a swim before our nap, but it was getting cold.

Next up, a look at my soggiest and slowest half marathon ever!