I currently reside in Downtown Orlando. For the uninitiated, there is a difference in Downtown Orlando and Lake Buena Vista, the Disney area. It's about a 30 minute difference on a good day when there's not any traffic... which is never. Despite the drive and money for gas, there are so many reasons to live downtown. Here are a few of them.
1) NO TOURISTS. Lake Buena Vista is notorious for tourists (Thank you, Captain Obvious). It is impossible to get anywhere in a reasonable amount of time. Tourists make it so much worse. Dozens of vehicles drifting from the far right lane to the far left lane with no turn signal, slowing down on ramps because they realized that's not where they want to be at all, and stopping in the middle of the highway for no reason are just a few major annoyances residents have to put up with on a regular basis. I moved away from that area back in February, and I will never look back.
2) MORE CULTURE. Sure, Walt Disney World, Universal, and Sea World are great for the bajillion vacationers slash crazy employees who for some reason visit the parks on their days off. If you want any culture at all though, you gotta head downtown. Being a downtown resident makes the trek so much less time-consuming! Orlando may not be the most cultured place in the good ol' US of A, but there are more things to do. There's both a history and a science museum, dozens of community theaters with many plays performed all year round, and for you party animals there's sooo many bars and clubs up and down the streets you can get lost (and probably shot) at late at night! Win win!
I do want to point out one AMAZING theater I've grown quite a liking toward, and that in the Enzian Theatre just north of downtown in the Maitland area. This theater has it all for a movie buff such as myself. The screen on the inside plays all sorts of movies, mostly independent ones that don't make it to the bigger chains around the city. Every Wednesday night they play a free movie out of the lawn. The films they choose to show are usually of the cult classic variety. For instance this past year I've seen the original Tales from the Crypt, Barbarella, and hopefully in this next week... Flash Gordon (Ah-ahhhh!). I say hopefully because Flash has been scheduled to show three times this year. THREE TIMES! Every time it has been rained out. Ugh. I'm also considering getting a part-time job there btw. I'll keep you dear readers posted on how that turns out.
3) NATURE. Since I do still work in the Disney area at least six days a week, it is very rare that I get to venture out in the area I have chosen to live. When I do though, I like to check out the thousands of parks all right outside my door!
I've been fortunate enough to obtain a bicycle in the eight months that I've lived here. I chose not to ride it during the summer months i.e. hell on earth, but maybe now that the weather has finally decided to cool down I'll hop back on at least once a week. There's nothing better than riding around all the local parks, scaling every tree in sight.
what men do before noon
Earlier today my roomies and I decided to have a Roomie Day! That consisted of eating lunch (i.e. breakfast) at one of the local Maw & Paw restaurants in the area. Today's model was Chubby's. It was absolutely delightful and delicious, and I foresee many MANY return visits.
While we were still in the area we decided to check out one of the nearby parks. We stopped in Jay Blanchard Park and had quite the expedition (and not the Mickey's Jammin' Jungle type) (and I hate myself for referencing that just now).
Senior Year picture!!
That's right folks. Andie Mac, Twitterless Cartner, and I ventured out of our apartment into the wild and crazy outdoors. Now when I was a little kid I used to play in the woods all the time. I was even known to go camping every once in a while. However living here at Disney for quite some time now it had been a while since I had visited a state park, much less wandered through the woods. I'm a city dweller now. I COULD HAVE DIED! Alas, I did manage to survive our excursion. Here are a few pictures.
Andie and I decided to step off the beaten path. There was a small dirt trail through the woods, and I decided... hey why not see where this goes! See that picture above? That was around the time Andie was done. A few feet later I came upon what was probably the biggest spiderweb I have ever seen in my entire life. Needless to say, back to the sidewalk we went!
The three of us came across a map along out hike. There was a sign for "Wooden Bridges" a ways down the path. The symbol for it looked like an enclosed space so all three of us naturally assumed it meant the bridge was a covered bridge, and since those are like the cutest things ever we decided to check it out! Three miles in the blazing sun and two wooden bridges later, we realized that we had been incredibly mistaken, and our hopes and dreams were shattered. I cannot even begin to describe the anger festering in my veins. Oh, also how stupid I felt. Yeah, maybe stupid is the better word here.
Where's the damn shade?!
There was also a giant tree that would be guh-reat to climb!! So Cartner very gracefully hopped right up, and I... did not, despite many failed attempts and nearly dislocating my shoulder. I don't think Cartner will ever let me live that down.
Sorry I got a little off-track on the main topic when I started sharing the events of my day. It was just such a wonderful day I couldn't help but share! Also, there's no way today would've happened if we still lived in the Disney area. So thank you, Downtown Orlando, for letting us be all up in you on this fine autumn day. And everyone still living in that Tourist Trap should consider moving downtown. Because it's awesome.
