I have only been here for a little over half a day, and I have only been in the tourist sections, but I get the feeling I am not going to meet anyone actually from Orlando. It is kind of weird- there appears to be no distinct regional culture- other than the clean, sanitized corporate Disney.
At any rate, consider this a wide thread.
Michael D.
Is Orlando in a time zone that’s a day behind?
PaulW
You’re in Mickeytown? You poor, sad bastard.
If you want to meet actually Orlandians… head to Daytona Beach, they’re all sunning over there. ;-)
T. Scheisskopf
If you can drive over to Tampa, do, and go here:
bernssteakhouse.com/bs_frame.htm
Excellent steaks and great service. When I went there, it was my drinking days(long over). I asked the waiter if they had anchovy-stuffed olives for my Voddy Martini. He said no. When he returned with the drink, it had the anchovy-stuffed olives. I asked him how he got them. He said he stuffed them himself. He got a very big tip. Great steaks, great wine selection. Worth the drive.
Orlando is more Waffle House/Appleby’s.
r€nato
shit, if you’re in Tampa, go to Ybor City for that awesome Cuban cuisine.
r€nato
Orlando is indeed like some soulless Hollywood set. Ugh ugh ugh.
Cinderella Ferret
A wide thread to spin a yarn?
Apparently, Orlando has been another one of those cities that is a great place to be from.
ATS
Drive up to Flagler Beach and check out the Topaz. Flagler is 1940 Florida.
scarshapedstar
Well, John, you might want to read on up the unique governmental arrangements of Disneyworld.
Gold Star for Robot Boy
Hell, you should’ve mentioned earlier you were headed to O-Town. I lived there 4-1/2 years, leaving in ’05, so I know the place pretty well.
If you have a rental car, head up I-4 to downtown. The Orange Avenue/Lake Eola area has some good restaurants; my girlfriend was a huge fan of Ichiban sushi.
If you don’t have a car, then you’re hosed. Say hi to Mickey.
Rudi
T. Scheisskopf – The local Tampa liberal rag says that the executive chef left your restaurant, seems she and boy-owner couldn’t get along.
fuddmain
Just outside of downtown near Highway 50 and 17-92 there is some excellent Vietnamese food. Viet Garden is my favorite. Be sure to order the Garden Rolls.
I’ve lived here all my life, except for 5 year in Gainesville. I’m feed up with the heat of summer, but the wife hates cold, so I’ll probably die here.
Rudi
sptimes.com/2007/11/06/news_pf/Hillsborough/Bern_s_loses_executiv.shtml
Rudi
JC – Maybe you should drive over to Tampa/Pinellas Park and visit the Shiavo Shrine, bring food and water.
Dreggas
John here’s a tip,
Disney did to Orlando what they have tried, and for the most part failed, to do to Anaheim out here in CA. They OWN it. Here they use their “tourist dollars” as a blackmail tool to get the city of Anaheim to let them do whatever the hell they want. Want to put in housing the average person could afford? Not if it is within viewing distance of disney. Mickey and the rest might as well be goose stepping through the park.
Third Eye Open
you want blogging material…check out Celebration, Florida.
Its what America would look like if the social-cons had their way.
Xenos
Watch out- there is an CPA mini-convention going on at the Marriott. Those guys can go crazy after a few drinks.
Mike W
If you want to really experience Orlando, you need to go to Parramore . . . after dark . . . or you could try picking up a hooker on the the Trail.
capelza
Go to the Kennedy Space Center if you have time. The husband and I went to Florida a decade ago and Orlando is a strange souless place. Miami metro was interesting and we rented a car and drove down to the Keys, that was cool.
But the Kennedy Space Center…fucking awesome. At least when we were there, the way it was run for visitors was amazing. And they have a building with a full size Saturn rocket on it’s side, suspended by it’s various stages.. The husband was like a little kid again (we are that generation that saw astronauts blasted off into space strapped to one of those).
john
Speaking as a former resident, you’re absolutely right. There is *no* distinct regional culture which is what made it so refreshing when I finally moved away to a city that has so much (Pittsburgh!).
Michael D.
I’m watching the shuttle land. That never ceases to amaze me. I’m like a little kid everytime it happens!!
Focus On Your Own Damn Family!
Mercury/Apollo launches. The whole school gathered in the gym/lunchroom to watch them on the black and white TV the teachers rolled in on a cart.
I still remember every launch.
Tax Analyst
You need to be careful with a wide thread…be careful who you tap at.
Never been to Orlando. Hope you find something of interest.
capelza
Focus On Your Own Damn Family! ..exactly..and OMG, the moon landing. I remeber every detail of where I was, who i was with…it was incredible.
We went to the mother-effin’ moon! What happened to us? Though it looks like China is on it’s way.
hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/008200711071719.htm
Michael, I just saw that…I still get a chill everytime they land. It must be residual Kennedy optimism, but when that thing lands, I still feel proud to be a human being, in the best way.
Focus On Your Own Damn Family!
Capelza,
It makes me feel jejune and Pollyanna-ish to say this out loud, but we were at our best as a people then. My god, I’m tearing up just typing this.
Apollo 13 was one of our shining moments. Ingenuity, brilliant minds, dedication with a gloss of plain old good luck.
Did you every watch the extras on the DVD. Gene Krantz choked up just talking about it, even after all those years. Steely-eyed missle men, indeed.
I have to have a little cry now.
Peter ve
I know someone from Orlando. She lives in Rhode Island, two sisters are in LA, and her brothers are over on the Naples area. I think it’s the influence of what Carl Hiassen calls “The Rat”.
The last time I stayed in Orlando, I went to the Columbia Restaurant in the Ybor City neighborhood in Tampa for dinner. Good food, great atmosphere.
capelza
I haven’t seen the dvd. I should. Apollo 13 was an incredible moment. For all the reasons you mention.
Yeah, pollyanna-ish is a great word for it, unashamedly so. I do think we were open to possibilites then…we’ve closed ourselves off, more and more. We begrudge every dime spent looking ahead.
HyperIon
hey i thought i was the only person who knew about the Topaz. The food used to be great..yeah, old Florida. And right on the beach…well, right across A1A.
Berne’s was a favorite prom/grad destination in the late 60’s when I was growing up in Tampa. The Columbia has been around a long time. Unfortunately many of the Ybor (prounounced eeBore NOT whyBore)) city cuban sandwich joints are no longer. I’d kill for a good hot cuban.
Orlando is a sad place. It got big but is still full of ignorant white people (several of whom are relations), although there are many more brown folks from mexico and the southern hemisphere there now. It is a city of “attractions”–Sea World, MGM, Ripleys, etc.
Paul L.
What no outrage here on Bush administration officials manipulating the science of important public health reports because of political considerations?
No doubt that the Bush administration is in the pocket of big food.
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