Butterbeer

In my life, resilience usually trumps perfection.  But, yesterday's visit to Universal's Islands of Adventure Park  had been nearly perfect.  The only things that the kids really wanted to do were to see our friend Miss Laura, and to visit The Harry Potter theme park.   So, by 9:00 a.m., all goals had been met.  We found Miss Laura and her granddaughters in time to experience Hogwarts Castle with them.  And, even though Cassie had kept her eyes shut for most of the ride, she had sat next to Miss Laura while doing so!  

By mid-afternoon, the kids were getting weary.  We decided to go back to the hotel, let the kids swim, and return to Universal to have dinner at Margaritaville.  Yes, this part of the day would be for me.  I'd only been listening to Radio Margaritaville  for the past month in anticipation of our visit. On our way to the park's exit, we stopped at the restaurant to make a 6:45 p.m. dinner reservation.  We could probably avoid the expected thunderstorm and still have a little time to site see after dinner .

And then it happened.  Cassie touched my arm and quietly asked, "Are we still going to have time to get some Butterbeer?"  For anyone who doesn't know, Butterbeer is what Harry Potter and his friends drink.  For days, Cassie and her friends had been exchanging text messages about Butterbeer. Had she tasted it yet?  Was it as good as everyone claimed?  Did she get a picture of it?  Could she buy any to bring home for them to taste?

I inhaled, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. "I thought you and Daddy were going to get Butterbeer while I was taking Lacey to the bathroom?"

"Daddy said the line was too long," she replied.

The line was too long??!!  It took me nearly 20 minutes to respond to Lacey's emergency alert.  I had to weave my way all the way through Harry Potter's World and stop twice for directions.  I had to wait in line to get into the bathroom, wait for Lacey and then push my way back through the throngs enjoying Harry's world.  So, I don't think the line at the Butterbeer cart could have been TOO LONG!!   But, of course, I didn't say any of that.

"Let's see if there's somewhere else we can buy it," I smiled.  No, I'm not stupid. I knew the answer already.  But, I at least wanted to show my kid that I was willing to try.

After consulting with two characters on stilts, we backtracked to Guest Services and learned that the absolute only place to purchase Butter Beer was with Harry.  I knew there was no way we were going to walk all the way back there.  I tried another approach. We had purchased two-day passes to the parks.  What options did we have?  Well, the happy park employee explained, we could come and go as many times as we wanted each day as long as we visited the same park. However, we could only visit one park. That meant that if we didn't get Butterbeer today, we either wouldn't get any, or we would have to visit the same park both days.

"Don't worry," I assured Cassie. We'll get some Butterbeer when we come back for dinner. "

Around 5:30 p.m., a horizontal wind began moving the curtains in our hotel room and thunderclouds rolled past. I called the restaurant and changed our reservation to 7:45 p.m.   We checked the weather channel on TV and online as Cassie paced.

Eventually, I began Googling "Butterbeer."  Surely there had to be some other place to buy the stuff.  "Hey," I called to Cassie.  "I found a receipe for Butterbee.  We could make it at home!"

"How would we know if the recipe was right unless we tasted the real thing first?" she wisely asked.

Meanwhile, Les and I debated whether we really needed this Butterbeer.  Hadn't the kids had enough excitement?  As the rain continued and the sky got darker I suggested that we could drive to Universal and Les and Lacey could wait while Cassie and I ran through the park.  It was too windy for umbrellas, but we did have the ponchos. . . Les agreed, without pointing out that I was insane.  Having him wait in the restaurant wasn't even an option because all members of the party must be present for the reservation to be honored.   I saw Margaritaville slipping away.

We called the kids into the room and explained the plan.  It occurred to me that maybe I should turn this into some kind of lesson.  "You know," I started, "Someday you guys will be grown up with kids of your own.  And, you'll probably remember this day.  And, ah, well, . . . I hope you remember how much fun we had."

We ran to the car with our jackets covering our heads.  En route to the park, we saw a gorgeous double rainbow as the sun reappeared.  We parked and made our way through Dr. Seuss' world and back to Harry's, as a light rain fell.  Lacey struggled to keep up and understand what was happening, while Cassie beamed with excitement.  And, finally, we were in line at the Butterbeer cart, purchasing two souvenir mugs in spite of Lacey's doubts.   

 A quick time check revealed 12 minutes until our dinner reservation.  And, believe it or not, we did make it to Margaritaville.  Our table was about 10 feet from the Radio Margaritaville DJ and about eight feet from the stage.  And, although I really wanted to stay for the music, when everyone was finished eating I suggested we go back to the hotel. 

"Not yet, Mom," Cassie said.  "We want to stay and hear some music."

"Aren't you too tired?" I asked.

"Sure, I'm tired," Cassie said, "But, you got us Butterbeer."  Lacey nodded.

The girls didn't need to have a lesson.  And, they will remember. They'll remember the same way I remember how my Mom drove into Chicago to have my favorite doll repaired. And, they'll remember the same way I remember how my Mom drove me to Denver during an ice storm when I had a photography job.  In fact, why was I worried about what the kids will remember when they grow up?  They already understand.