Our first 17 anniversaries were spent with students at conferences or camps. To Amy’s credit – she never complained about that. So I absolutely wanted this 20-year marker be something very special. Since we honeymooned at Disney World, what better place to celebrate the anniversary?

We stayed at the Port Orleans: French Quarter Resort on the Disney property. I also got us reservations for dinner at the California Grill on top of the Contemporary Hotel – so I thought. You can see Magic Kingdom from there and the plan was to eat dessert, see the fireworks, have the romantic music playing…you get the picture.

As I’m getting ready to leave for Florida, I realize that I never got a confirmation email from Disney about the dinner reservation. I call and it’s not there. They don’t have any record of it at all. We’ve got the room at Port Orleans, just no dinner at the California Grill.

The lady was very nice – gave me a couple of other locations to see the fireworks – but I was pretty upset at myself.

We get off the plane in Orlando and I have a voicemail. It’s Guest Services at Disney. The lady that was helping me was calling me back but we missed each other. Her voicemail said she’d be out of the office until next week sometime.

Next day we get to Port Orleans and it is gorgeous. We got a touch of Mickey in the room and it felt like we were in New Orleans. The streets, the look and the beignets! Oh yeah.

I finally get dinner reservations at another restaurant. It wasn’t California Grill but it was still nice and we could head over to the Polynesian for the fireworks afterward. That’s when the craziness started. I get a phone call from Jennifer at the California Grill. She saw it was our anniversary and while she didn’t have a 9pm spot, she had an 8pm, would I be interested. I said – yes but it’s already 5ish now and we’ve got reservations that I’m not sure I can get out of this late. I really appreciate the effort and the thought. So I hang up.

My phone rings 10 minutes later. It’s Jennifer from the California Grill again. “Mr. English, this is your 20 year anniversary, right? I mean, you really need to have this dinner at the California Grill. So I’ve taken care of those other reservations for you. We are covering the fee for them. See you at 8, okay?”

Needless to say, I was floored. What kind of incredible service is that?

So what do you do to kill time at Disney before 8pm dinner reservations? You check out the other hotels on the monorail. Here are some pics…

We check in on the 2nd floor of the Contemporary Hotel for the California Grill. At check in, we’re told that they are running about 15 to 20 minutes behind on their reservations but to go on upstairs and enjoy the view and the lounge. We are escorted on the express elevator to the 15th floor. At the main reception desk upstairs, I notice the manager, his name is Gary. I asked him about Jennifer, she got off earlier in the night but I made sure he knew about what she did for us. He smiled and said — oh, that’s not all she arranged for you.

Instead of being 15 minutes behind, right at 8pm we were taken to our table. Not just any table but a small table for two located in a cozy corner with an incredible view of Cinderella’s Castle and all of Magic Kingdom. Our table was sprinkled with Mickey Confetti as well.

Bill would be our waiter for the evening. By the way – every staff that we ran into wished us a Happy Anniversary. Very nice touch. The view and the service were outstanding, the food was even better. Bill walked us through the menu. We did a Sushi starter platter. I ordered the Beef Filet, Amy took on the Pork Tenderloin.

I wouldn’t order the sushi platter again. The shrimp, tuna, and salmon were outstanding. So was the white nut shrimp roll. There was another fish on it that was good but the other rolls and mackerel were not to our liking. But it sure did look pretty.

The entrees were the best. The steak was probably the best I’ve ever eaten. All of the food was incredible.

We were really taking our time with the meal. We thought if we were slow enough, we could be finishing up dessert right as the fireworks started. The waiter had already cleared a couple of other tables in his section. We really shouldn’t have worried about it.

As he cleared our plates, he said ‘Alright guys, want you to take a little break. I’ll be back here in about 10 minutes with dessert menus that way you guys will be eating dessert while watching the fireworks! And only order one dessert. I’ve got something special for you.”

Here’s what he ended up bringing us along with free glasses of champagne to celebrate our anniversary. That is peppermint ice cream with a chocolate cake with a hot fudge cream middle. Bill also brought us a piece of chocolate mousse cake. Complete with the “Happy Anniversary” chocolate placards.

And the fireworks were incredible with the soundtrack from Magic Kingdom being piped into the restaurant. Overall, the BEST anniversary ever. What a great experience and I’m blown away by how the Disney staff just took care of us and once again used a little magic to make it happen!

Here are some more pics!

This is the letter I wrote the team this week…

An open letter to our students going on a mission trip this summer,
From your favorite pastor. (Okay – I’m your only one. Just humor me for a moment.)

I don’t want to sound over-dramatic but there two things that I think the Lord is pressing on me to say to you.

First – thank you. For the last 4 years, the only international mission trips that Western Hills has been a part of has been with students. It should NOT be this way – we grown ups should be modeling for you what the Great Commission and Great Commandment look like. But it is. You are showing us.

You are showing us to be obedient to the command of Jesus – to go into ALL the world to tell ALL people about Jesus. We need this. I need this. Without this model – we’ll never grow into the church we need to be. You are the church of the NOW.

Second – hang in there and get wet.

What the heck is that supposed to mean?

Here’s what it means – Joshua 3 – God has given this ridiculous sized mission to a young leader named Joshua who has never led before. The mission was to occupy the land that God had been promising Israel for hundred of years. It would be a mission of incredible importance and supreme danger.

The biggest obstacle? The first 50 feet in front of them. The Jordan River. In flood stage.

In order to get to the land, they had to cross the river and it just looked insurmountable. Joshua was thinking about giving up before they ever got started.

Look at how many times God says to Joshua “Do not be afraid, have courage” in the first 3 chapters. It’s ridiculous. It’s beyond ridiculous. It makes you wonder if Joshua was really just a big baby and God was having to babysit him. Why does God take so much time at the start to “talk Joshua up?”

Because the biggest obstacle to completing the mission of God will always be the first 50 steps. ALWAYS!

The enemy knows that if he can get you to quit early, it’s done. People who have seen God work and have a taste of God coming through at the last minute – they don’t quit. They know better. So the pressure to quit is ALWAYS at the start, near the beginning.

And again at the very end.

Back to Joshua 3 – get wet. God is going to give Joshua a glimpse of what He can do if he will just obey. A glimpse enough to get him moving and obeying. God tells Joshua and the leaders to go stand in the Jordan river as if they are going to cross it.

When they do this — the river stops flowing. It becomes a dry river bed. Easy to cross. And they cross it. And hence a pattern is started for God’s people. You start the journey, you be obedient, you get wet. Then I’ll show up. But you are going to have to get wet first.

So my friends, here is what I’m telling you…

GET WET, PEOPLE!!!!!!

And let the rest of us watch God work in you and through you.

It’s my honor to be your pastor and friend.

Here is the review from Food & Flicks. I had a very different experience.

First, it’s a cool looking, modern-minimalist place. No clutter, just a place that you would expect to have in a metropolitan area like Denver or the Plaza even. So – kudos for that.

Staff was friendly and engaging.

Food:
I ordered the quiche…and they didn’t have it. I then ordered their salad with hummus. And they didn’t have that. So I’ll go with the Turkey Club and they didn’t have that.

I quote my conversation with the cashier at this point.

Me: Okay…so why don’t you tell me what you do have on this menu.

Guy: Pretty much anything you see on the menu.

Me: I’m 0 for 3 ordering off the menu. Help me out a bit.

Guy: We have a soup.

Me: Great, what is it?

Guy: It’s the Soup de Jour.

Me: LONG PAUSE. So you’re telling me that the soup of the day is the soup of the day?
(To be fair, he could have trying to be funny and it just didn’t work. I couldn’t really tell.)

The other guy finally tells me it is a Cheese Ale soup. I order it. My buddy (who invited me to the place) ordered a Cranberry Chicken Salad Sandwich. We both ordered the Ecuadorian coffee. It was the best thing of the whole experience. The coffee was outstanding…a bit expensive…but outstanding.

The soup was good but tiny. Very tiny. Think small coffee cup size. My friend said his sandwich tasted great as well. But…

Price:
There is no way around this – it’s expensive. 7 to 9 dollars for a salad or a sandwiches that are medium to small portion sizes, with no chips or side or drink is a bit much. It’s like tourist prices….but without the view or travel.

What made it all the more disappointing was just yards away stood my favorite place to eat – The Burger Stand – where I could have gotten a huge hamburger, whole side of fries and a drink for the same price as my cup of coffee and cup of soup.

Overall Experience:
It’s a nice place. It is a quiet, comfortable place to meet and talk over coffee.

But don’t go there hungry. While the food quality is outstanding, the portion sizes versus pricing is considerably out of kilter.

UPDATE: Just learned that today was the first day they were serving food. A ‘soft open’ I believe is what they call it in the Biz. That may explain not having the full menu available.

Chris Gnagi invited me on a “Civic Leader” flight out at Forbes Field today. (Why he thinks I’m a civic leader is a whole other discussion.) Got to the gate at 7:30, inside the auditorium by 7:45. At 8 am, the briefing started. After some time on the history of the National Guard, the actual flight crew walked us through the mission.

We were going to fly down to Springfield then over to Oklahoma City then back to refuel and do training runs with a B-52 out of Barksdale AFB (LA). The KC-135 that we were using today was built in 1957 and can fly halfway around the world before needing to refuel. They can refuel anything military and NATO. No helicopters and no commercial airlines.

Chris got me in the cockpit for takeoff. Lots of communication between pilots, cargo crew, ground crew, and tower. Lots of knob twisting and checklists. Found out there is triple redundancy on the engines and power generators. That’s good to know.

Each engine has to be spun by air pressure first. As they gain speed, fuel is pumped to them and is ignited. Each engine does this independently. I feel the plane pop a bit with each engine coming up to speed. Those quick take-offs in the movies that let the good guy get away? I don’t think that is happening with this plane.

Pilot is getting last minute instructions as to what runaway to use for takeoff, what elevation and climb he needs to take. Then he has to report who is on board. “18 souls onboard.” 14 passengers, 4 crew but they still say – “souls” when reporting how many people. I like that.

Wylie 31 Heavy is our call sign. Rogue 07 (Zero-Seven) is the B-52 we are refueling. As we taxi to takeoff we got confirmation that Rogue 07 is airborne.

The first overwhelming feeling is takeoff. 4 huge engines just lifting this beast off the ground. All the while there is constant conversation on the radio – altitude, tower control, bearing information. It’s multitasking on steroids. It feels much like a commercial airline take off except for one major difference – the noise. It’s loud and I’m thankful for the headset.

About 10 seconds after lifting off there is a glitch. The landing gear. There was the big bright light on the lever that indicated that not all the wheels were up. Pilot calls back to cargo for visual inspection. Cargo tells us that he can see the wheels and that they are in retracted but we have no confirmation that the they are locked in place.

During this whole time, the tower is giving instructions as to heading and altitude and speed and climb rate. There is quite a bit of chatter. We are told the nearest plane to us is a Cessna about 6 miles away at 6500 feet.

We get to 4,000 ft and the pilot goes “around the horn” on recycling the landing gear. This means every crew member says yes/no on whether to re-engage the landing gear then pulling it back up. All say yes. The pilot tells tower what is going on. The landing gear lever is dropped and I can feel the plane start dragging. It’s like someone has hit the brakes. The wait a few seconds then pop the lever back up. All lights go dark. In this case that is a good thing because that means the gear is up and locked in place. All good, off to refuel.

We are at 6k ft and are clear to go to 23,000. It’s pretty foggy. Heavy cloud cover. Can’t see anything. Until we get to 23,000. Then the sun pokes thru and you can literally feel it warm the plane.

On radar we can see these white dots with numbers on it. +7 means that plane is 7, 000 feet higher than we are. -4 means 4,000 feet lower.

We get a call – Rogue 07 is inbound, 1 mile away. They will be coming up on our right wing. Gnagi gives me a nod to head back to the boom. I drop my headset off and am immediately overwhelmed by the noise. It is loud. The only way to really communicate with one another is screaming.

I make my way down the cargo bay, grab an airmask to wear in case the cabin loses air pressure and some much needed ear plugs. You can see here that they come with simple instructions. This mask comes with 5 minutes of oxygen. (That’s what the label says.) I guess that means if the pressure goes, they’ve got 5 minutes to get to a lower altitude.

I can see the B-52 off our wing and it doesn’t look that big. In the galley pics below, if you look closely it’s just underneath the wing. Of course…that is one mile away. He’s about to get a lot closer.

The boom operator lays down on this couch and has both feet and hand controls over the boom. There is an extension that comes out and actually connects with the plane. There is also some play with the boom – up/down and right/left.

There is close to 80,000 lbs of fuel in this bird. (I think that is the number…it was pretty loud in the plane so don’t quote me on that.) It’s located in the wings and under the fuselage where most aircraft put luggage. Gravity does most of the work moving the fuel around. Less mechanical dependency, less mechanical failure. Chris tells me that it’s possible to send fuel from the receiver plane to the KC-135 but not preferred. In fact, he said only in extreme emergencies would they even attempt it.

It’s hard to describe the feeling laying down watching a B-52 fly right up underneath you. So I shot some footage with my iPhone instead. What a ride!!!

NOTE: The footage is in HD and looks incredible but is taking a ridiculous long time to upload. So I’m working on a faster process but the video is coming. And it’s pretty incredible. I’ll update it again on Twitter when it’s finished. In the meantime, enjoy the pics.

Video is done and here it is. Be sure to watch it in HD. Pretty awesome.

Toucan Express
1003 S.E. Quincy
Topeka, KS 66612
(785) 233-5900

Grabbed lunch with my good friend Gary Manford yesterday and we decided to try the Toucan Express – Brazilian Buffet. After 10 years of visiting Brazil, my family has a love for the Brazilian food and culture.

Let me get the most annoying thing about this place out of the way right now. Parking. I realize that really isn’t the Toucan Express’s fault but this location has seen something like 37 dinner restaurants come and go. I think the biggest reason is parking. There is nowhere to park and the 4 places you can park is going to cost you about a $1 an hour – in coins.

START OF MINI-RANT: I wonder if the city of Topeka really wants the downtown area to thrive or not. They seem to do everything in their power to make life difficult for the customer. It’s a shame because I can count 6 places that I think are superior places to eat but are absolutely ridiculous to get to because of parking and parking meters. END OF RANT.

I didn’t have any coins. So I walk in and ask Gary if he’s got any coins and he doesn’t. The waiter reaches in his pocket and pulls out 3 quarters and gives them to me. That has got to be the best service I’ve had in a long time. (And you can bet I rewarded him greatly with my tip after the meal.)

The decor is sparse. I wanted there to be this overwhelming sense of smells and sights that took me back to Brazil. The smells were there. The sights were not. Of course, they are still in their soft opening phase. If you aren’t familiar with what a soft opening is – see Oceans 13.

Toucan Express only serves lunch as of right now and every day is a different menu. Today being Thursday meant we got the Brazilian Roast Beef and Chicken Stroganoff. Of course, there were the usual rice, beans, yuka – potato like root from Brazil (very good), and their cornbread. Two kinds of cornbread – the regular and coconut. I’m not a fan of coconut but Gary is. I lost track of how many pieces he ate. I assume that means he thought it was very, very, good. Rice pudding was also served as a dessert.

The food was very good and hearty…and plenty of it. The beef skewers were outstanding. Thin pieces of beef wrapped and marinated — good night, it was good. I’m not really doing it justice. The cook came out and spent some time talking to us. She asked about our food and the conversation turned to her home in Rio de Janeiro.

Overall: Good place to eat. 10 bucks gets you all-you-can-eat buffet and a drink. Pretty reasonable.

Parking is a nightmare, I hope they can overcome that.

Future Plans: Chef said that the hope is to have a churrascaria on the weekend. That’s the swords full of meat for those of you wondering.