Carter Gaddis, Writer & Editor

Jimmy Buffett beckoned. Margaritaville was made for memories. My future wife and I strolled along the neon-bright thoroughfare at Universal CityWalk, taking our first steps into a lifetime together.

This was 2003. Beth and I had only been dating a short time. It was a big weekend — our first overnight trip.

We chose Islands of Adventure, Universal Studios and CityWalk. You only really know a person after you’ve spent a day standing in line for roller coasters and a night eating, drinking and relaxing under the stars.

Everything felt new. At Universal Studios, we enjoyed Shrek 4D, Men in Black and Twister. At Islands of Adventure, we braved the Incredible Hulk roller coaster, Jurassic Park River Adventure, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man and I even convinced Beth to attempt Doctor Doom’s Fearfall.

The things you’ll do when you’re young and falling in love.

The lines flew because we were together. At the end of the day, we bought a customized brass coin from a bazaar near Poseiden’s Fury — an Irish shamrock on one face, a Scottish thistle on the other.

We still have that coin strung on a necklace, hanging on a hook in our bedroom. It’s an everyday reminder of that wonderful day.

And then came the evening — CityWalk. We went into it with no plan, other than grabbing supper somewhere and maybe a drink or two.

We were pretty tired from the day’s theme park adventure. Yet, when we got back to the Universal Orlando complex, we felt energized and ready for more fun.

This was all back in 2003, remember. Even then, when the complex was still relatively new, there was so much to do and see and eat at CityWalk that the only problem was narrowing down the choices.

Flash forward to earlier this month, when my neighbor, Ken and I attended the Facing Fears Together blogger event at the invitation of Two Traveling Moms and Universal Orlando. Beth was originally invited, of course, but her work commitments prevented us from re-living that first, great road trip experience.

It was Beth’s idea to invite Ken, who is a great neighbor and a better dude. He and I thoroughly enjoyed Halloween Horror Nights, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios, and two nights at the retro-themed Cabana Bay Beach Resort.

Unfortunately, parenting commitments prevented Ken and me from joining the other event attendees on the first night for supper at the new Mexican restaurant at CityWalk, Antojitos. We decided to make up for it on our last night there by taking in all the night life CityWalk could throw at us.

In 2003, when Beth and I were there, we started at Margaritaville. It was a Saturday night, though, and tables were scarce. We decided to eat at the bar.

I ordered my favorite — conch fritters. We both ordered the cheeseburger in paradise. I washed the food down with a beer or three, and Beth sipped a daiquiri.

Our bartender was like the conductor of an orchestra. Everything flowed and he never missed a beat.

Flash forward again, and Ken and I were there at the bar, starting our night at CityWalk. I ordered a double Captain and Coke. Ken had a Jack and Coke, then switched to beer.

I also ordered conch fritters.

Then, I noticed something about the bartender. He looked familiar …

It was the same guy who had helped make my first experience at CityWalk with Beth so memorable. I asked him if that was even possible, if he might have been behind the bar at Margaritaville 11 years ago. He said sure, it was possible. He’d been there long enough for that to be true.

I decided to go with it. I certainly remembered him from somewhere. His name was Shawn, and he was cool about it when I asked him if I could snap a quick photo to commemorate the moment.

I then sent Beth this photo, to see if she could guess where we were:

She didn’t guess. That’s a hammerhead shark, by the way. It was hanging directly over our heads while Ken and I enjoyed the first leg of our CityWalk excursion. After my second Captain and Coke, that shark just begged to be photographed.

From there in 2003, Beth and I decided to chill at a movie. We watched X2, which was how I discovered she was a big X-Men fan.

I tried to convince Ken to head to the movies, too — he had not seen Guardians of the Galaxy, and I wanted to see it a fourth time. Fortunately, he had other ideas, and a movie wasn’t on the list.

I am not going to get into the rest of the night. Suffice to say, after a visit to Pat O’Brien’s, I appreciated the prompt and reliable service of the shuttle bus back to Cabana Bay. Ken is made of sterner stuff, so he met up with a group of our fellow Facing Fears Together attendees at the Groove — where, I later heard, they danced the night away.

We slept it off the next morning, grabbing a quick and tasty breakfast (and plenty of coffee) from the Bayliner Diner before making the quick drive down I-4. We talked of nostalgia and new memories and looked forward to being home.

It was the ideal way to end an incredible couple of days and nights at Universal Orlando — new memories now mingle with the old, and I can’t wait to go back.

Disclosure: DadScribe was invited to attend the Facing Fears Together event by Two Traveling Moms and Universal Orlando for review purposes. All experiences described were true to the best of my knowledge, and all opinions are mine.