My apologies for not posting this a few days ago like what was planned. Other things have happened that I’ve been preoccupied with… don’t worry, nothing bad.
One fun happening was returning to the Magic Kingdom a few weeks ago. The highlight was riding TRON Lightcycle/Run again; for the time, there were some minor changes meant to plug TRON: Ares. The ride now has a storyline where “code” from the enemy in Ares has infected that world, meaning there’s more red than blue during the ride… and instead of Daft Punk’s music from TRON: Legacy, the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack from Ares is heard. To state the obvious, back around this time in 2000, I never would have thought that NIN music would be heard during a Disney ride… I wouldn’t have believed there was a TRON ride, either.
One weekend afternoon, I went to a unique place in the middle of nowhere. It’s an old general store founded in 1922-the appearance hasn’t changed much since then-and is located by a former railway. Richloam General Store has very nice employees and various retro gifts for sale. Not that many pictures were taken while there-a rude family was milling about the entrance. I state that as they had a dog with them, despite obvious signs that dogs weren’t allowed in front of the store. I’ll be happy to return one day, hopefully not as busy. It was charming and quaint.
Another night, a
trip was made to Pointe Orlando, a place rarely visited by me. Given the new
expensive rates to park there, there isn’t great motivation to visit more
often. That’s a shame, as that location has never drawn huge crowds and some
interesting new places have opened. That includes Taffer’s Tavern-that’s Jon
Tapper of Bar Rescue fame. That’s a show never seen by me although more than
one person I know is a fan. My visit was due to general curiosity more than
anything else. The building is best described as “cozy” but I can’t carp about
the service nor the food. In addition, Pointe Orlando has a new hallway best
described as “a liminal space.”
It certainly beats PopStroke, a.k.a. the "hip" miniature golf place that has the involvement of Tiger Woods. The bar area looks great and the food was alright... however, having to do EVERYTHING on your phone was enough to turn me off even before the lousy service and the excessively loud music/noise. I will never return.
As done the past several years, some days last week (including Thanksgiving) were spent in the Fort Myers area. As always, the time spent down there was fun. This time I was able to spent some time in Naples for the first time. Some areas are ritzy, especially the HUGE mansions that can be found right by the beach. No new restaurants were visited, although that is OK as that’ll change this month and the day after Thanksgiving, the now-yearly tradition happened: a sub sandwich was picked up from Lennys Grill & Subs to eat a few hours later for dinner.
I’ll return sometime later in December.
