cabot circus

after doing an incredible job packing on thursday, i can relax a little bit & we can resume checking out bristol.

late yesterday afternoon, we popped by explore@bristol & discovered there is a bristol information desk. perfect. i have some burning questions about the local bus service & so far, everyone we have talked to (that is, sony-ites) deem the bus system too difficult to figure out & therefore should be avoided at all costs. i am undeterred as i have 2 bored kids, no car & a small flat to go home to.

the friendly bristol information desk attendant is able to give me some solid bus pointers - price, schedule, stroller compatibility, kids free, bus stops as well as a very helpful map outlining the various routes available to those vehicularly handicapped.

pulling out my #1.60, we wait for the 500 to take us away to cabot circus, which isn't a circus in the clown & eleplant sense but really more a collection of stores, both inside & out kinda like a mashup of the grove & the bev cen featuring both upscale & pedestrian stores. something for everyone. this is going to be awesome.

so a 500 bus approaches & i get the kids ready (the stroller has already been folded up) to board.

and the 500 zooms right by us.

damn. apparently, i need to "signal" the driver that we ACTUALLY want to GET ON the 500 bus that despite the fact that we are SITTING at the 500 bus stop waiting for said bus.

so we must wait another 20 minutes. thankfully i am able to entertain & distract 2 3yr olds like a ninja until another 500 bus comes along.

i hand over my #1.60 & in return get an all day return pass for the same bus. so #1.60 for a round trip & 2 kids. not too shabby.

the 500 loops around the harbour before heading over to the temple meads/broadmead part of town, so i figure we are in for a little sight seeing before reaching our final destination.

what i don't realize, is that you have to give the driver a heads up as to where you are headed. because otherwise, the driver will come to the last requested stop, bust out a paper & start reading. without a word.

now we aren't the only people on the bus. there is also an elderly woman behind us who i perhaps think just rides the bus around all day.

i approach the driver & ask if this 500 indeed goes to cabot circus. maybe it's his break & he's awaiting a relief driver? another bus? haley's comet? either way, if i was the bus driver & there were 4 people just sitting on my non-moving bus, i'd probably say something. like "hey, where did you want to go? because if there are no requests, i am going to check voicemail, text a few friends & update my status on facebook. so speak up now if you want a destination other than where we are sitting precisely at this moment."

as soon as the driver is alerted to our final destination wishes, he promptly puts the bus in gear & says we'll be there in 15 minutes.

and 15 minutes later, we are dropped off at cabot circus.

it's a tad chilly today & thankfully everyone, including me, is dressed for it. the wind has picked up a bit making it colder than it really is. especially between buildings.

lucky for us, there is an indoor mall so we immediately make tracks for the bristol mall.

the bristol mall is a little on the sad side. not as sad as the fox hills mall near culver city that has been left behind in time but still sad nonetheless.

on the upside, there are bathrooms & i have 2 people who i have to potty patrol today.

we find a toy store that has a thomas the tank engine setup & manage to spend almost an hour inside the toy store just playing with the display. i feel badly because we have probably worn out our welcome that i compelled to buy a beach ball on clearance & a hanging display for the kids artwork.

i want to hit castle park as the kids need some open space to run around but lunch is in order. we head to the food court where there is a pirate themed area including an "eat in" pirate ship near the burger king. perfect.

the kids get BK kids meals complete with a cloudy with a chance of meatballs jello mold toy. sony hosted a screening before we left & amazingly, gemma remembers all the character's names & proceeds to quiz me to see if i remember, which i don't.

we finish lunch & go to yet another toy store. a mechanical remote control crane interests dignan so i revisit the poop/potty issue & promise that if poops on the potty this evening, we will come back tomorrow and buy him that crane.

it has his interest piqued but he seems skeptical.

an afternoon treat is in order as my energy level is draggin' like illegal hot rods on a saturday night so we hit up miss millie's cookies for the 2nd time today as they were actually "out" of cookies on our first try about an hour ago.

kids fueled up on sugar, we are ready to take on castle park which supposedly has this amazing play area for kids. as mentioned, it's a tad windy out so hopefully it won't be too windy for the kids to enjoy some outside time.