I figured I should start this off by mentioning what has been going on in Orlando since late Friday night; it makes me wonder if a portal to Hell suddenly opened in the area. Concerning what happened on Friday, I had heard of Christina Grimmie way back when but even if I hadn't, a singer being shot and killed at a meet and greet after performing is very sad. I've never been in the venue where it happened-although I have driven by it many times before-so I don't know how security is... I'd complain about how Florida is terrible and yada yada yada... I know it could have happened at any place. Saturday night, I was actually in Downtown Orlando; I had the itch to go there and despite it being in the back of my mind, I did not think that anything would happen. A tragedy two nights in a row... that seemed incomprehensible. My time in the area went fine and I'll explain where I went later... I will say that on the way back I almost literally had a brawl between two idiots knock me on my ass and I had to run to avoid them crashing into me. I have no idea what the fight was about but I thought that'd be the worst thing about the night. Oh no.
Imagine my horror when a few hours after arriving back home I hear about that shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, which was like 2 miles south of where I was parked and about 3 or so miles from where I ended up. Before the news I figured I was too old to be out in Downtown Orlando so that's why I figured I would only do it once in a blue moon. Now... I even have trepidation of doing anything in Orlando for the next who knows how many days... not that I am going to let some A-holes ruin what I want to do, as they would love for people to live in fear like that. But what a tragedy this past weekend has been in the area.
Here's what I've done since last Monday. That day I stayed in as doom & gloom were predicted what with Tropical Storm Colin traveling in the northern part of Florida. Well, Monday night we got some wind and rain but otherwise it was not as bad as people thought it was going to be. I know people who got hit worse by the storm, so I don't want it to sound like I am bragging. Tuesday, I ended up getting a haircut and it was at a new place. For a long while now I've had it done at the Sportclips in Winter Garden but via a mailing advertisement I discovered there was a new Sportclips right in Clermont, only a few miles from where I live. That's definitely more convenient for me. That went fine and best of all, that aforementioned advertisement had a coupon for a free haircut for anyone to use for their first time there.
Wednesday, I went with someone to the local Cracker Barrel restaurant. I had a decent time there, as my Maine Blueberry Pancakes meal was good. Thursday, I went out and about. The traffic there and back was pretty bad but “Typical Florida” is what I should probably say about it. For the first time in years I saw a movie at Regal Cinemas The Loop; I've been to The Loop outdoor mall occasionally but the cinema not so much; there are other closer venues for me to see films. What I watched on this day was a double bill of the two The Conjuring movies. I rate both highly as they are great at what they do. I am not sure if Ed & Lorraine Warren have done everything that they said they did when it comes to the paranormal and the events of 2 are rather hard to believe as being what could realistically have happened... I still enjoyed it. Afterwards I had a late night bite to eat at the nearby BJ's Brewhouse and Restaurant. For the first time I tried their home brew Hefeweizen and Porter; I enjoyed both. I am thankful that in the past few years my tastes when it comes to beer has expanded and now I am fine with drinking more than just pilsners or lagers. I think I should drink more Porter beers, as the ones I've had tended to be good, and that applies to the one at BJ's.
Saturday night, drinking more beers made in the Porter style is what I did. I accomplished that feat by returning to Downtown Orlando; it's been a very long time since I went there on a Friday or Saturday night to visit a club and have a good time. I did see that there's now a German-themed place in the building that once housed the legendary Mako's; what an incredible bar/club that was, and I'll always cherish the good times I had there. I did not walk by there but I understand the Ghost Bar & Lounge (the place I went to after Mako's went out of business) is out of business themselves and a different bar now occupies that space; I'll have to try both out one day in the future. I instead went to the World of Beer that's by Lake Eola, meaning I had to do some walking to get there and back. It was a typical WOB and I had no issues to speak of... except that I wish they would have had two of the Porter beers they advertised that they had. I had to go with the Breckenridge Vanilla Porter, Funky Buddha Nib Smuggler, and JDub's Bell Cow Milk Chocolate Porter. All three were good in different ways and the last two were from Florida so at least I was supporting local small breweries. A random multi-ethnic reggae band from Jacksonville played and they were fine; most of the crowd there didn't seem to care about the band and that was unfortunate; they deserved more respect than that.
Sunday, I did not feel like doing anything, for understandable reasons. When I return a week from today... this area returning to normal would be nice; it'd be refreshing to only have to complain about nincompoops on the highway rather than be disturbed by incidents from terrorists who commit horrific acts way too close to home. As is, not much is on the agenda as of now.
No comments:
Post a Comment