A series of essays.....
.....as seen through my eyes!
"Home. Home tastes like the first bite you take of your favorite dish. You, then, open your eyes to see that family and friends are all seated at your same table." JEH
By: Jacqueline E. Hughes
Living and working within the sun-drenched, palm trees
swaying, culinary delightful, and culturally diverse area that comprises my
adopted city of Orlando, Florida, does not come without its many daily
challenges, as well as some amazing rewards!
Yes, we have our own 'growing pains' and they can sting
us with a preponderance of furor that can be unsettling to the faint of heart
yet, curiously, encouraging to those who learn to thrive on overcoming adversity
in an attempt to make our tiny 'dot on the map' a better place to live
in.
Sitting here in my home office, i-Pad at hand and in the
pleasantness of my own home, I feel safe and comfortable. For years I had been
what I call a 'commuter warrior!' Joining the thousands of others, I would
set-off each morning armed to the teeth with, what I hoped was, armor plating
set on wheels, four rubber tires to assist in absorbing the shock of minor road
moguls and ruts, tinted glass helping to protect me from the sun's heat and
glare, and plenty of hot, black coffee to fortify me until I reached my office.
Oh, and did I mention with plenty of A.C. pouring out of the vents with the
intent of avoiding possible heat exhaustion while attempting to keep my
hairstyle fresh and perky during the forty minute drive into work?
My saving grace: I really, really liked my
job!
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| 'THE I-4 CORRIDOR' INTERSECTS CENTRAL FLORIDA FROM TAMPA TO DAYTONA BEACH |
I consider my alternate 'saving grace' was not having to
spend too much time along the I-4 Corridor, affectionately known to locals as
the I-4 parking lot. Often considered the bane of motorists driving through
Orlando, Interstate 4 stretches from I-275 in Tampa to I-95 at Daytona Beach and
can be a bit confusing to our out-of-town guests as it maintains a diagonal,
northeast-southwest route for much of its length, although it is signed
east-west.
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| I-4 PARKING LOT THROUGH DOWNTOWN ORLANDO |
Throughout my twenty years of living here, I have often
believed that my beloved Orlando is as quirky as quirky can be and I don't think
I would have it any other way. I truly enjoy living here.
However, as with the changing times happening in our
world (our country) today, I liken them to the struggles of our very own
Interstate 4: No matter how many engineering improvements take place today, you
can count on each one of them being outdated by tomorrow! Whether the excuse is
politics, power struggles, lack of insightfulness or funding, we always seem to
be one step behind and a day late instead of well ahead of the game.
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| UNIVERSAL STUDIOS ~BLUE MAN GROUP~ |
For an area that depends on the reliance of imagination
(imagineering) and the enormous amount of tourists it can attract in order to
keep our 'La La Land' attractions lucrative, Orlando and the surrounding areas
have never been able to keep up with the high-traffic demands placed on our
roads and highways.
It's as though Orlando continues to operate ten years in
the past with regards to its infrastructure in ratio to the permanent residents
it has attracted via employment opportunities, especially within the medical
profession. Add in the influx of tourism in this area, and you now have a recipe
for transportation chaos and ongoing nightmares.
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| GAVIN & BRENNA ABOUT TO BOARD ORLANDO'S SUNRAIL |
Adding SunRail, Orlando's commuter rail line, several
years ago, represents exciting new travel for locals traveling to and from work,
dining, and shopping. SunRail now runs from the town of DeBary north of Orlando
to Sand Lake Road and the attractions of International Drive located on the
south-west side of the city, with expansions of the rail projected in the near
future.
Despite everything in its way, the Orlando area has
certainly bounced back with a flourish after the economic recession beginning in
2008. She keeps attracting tourists from all over the world as judged by the
air traffic associated with the Orlando International Airport (MCO) as being not
only the busiest airport in Florida, but the thirteenth-busiest airport in the
United States.
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| FOUNTAIN LOCATED IN ORLANDO'S BEAUTIFUL HARRY P. LEU GARDENS |
Speaking as a local, I will be the first to tell you
that I agree with the fact that the, nothing less than, sketchy driving rituals of
many of our tourists leave numerous safety habits to be desired! From
International Drive to all of the attractions on the west-side of Orlando and
heading east towards Cocoa Beach and the Kennedy Space Center, tourists abound,
twelve months out of the year. So, we locals do learn to adjust, look out for
the 'other guy,' and hope for the best while navigating to and from work,
shopping, or play.
Now, let's get off of the streets, park our vehicles,
and have a look around at our fair city dubbed, The City Beautiful.
We are a good-sized city with a population of around
1,998,000 souls living within close proximity to one another and, like all major
cities, we have our share of crime, homeless citizens, and (sadly) a terrorist
act that devastated the world let alone our close-knit community. Pulse
Nightclub was horrendously attacked last year on June12, 2016, and was the scene of a
mass shooting killing forty-nine people and injuring fifty-three.
I apologize. That was not the 'upper' story I had intended to tell. However, the event at Pulse Nightclub is a fact
and has been written down in the history books as the scene of the deadliest
mass shooting by a single gunman in U.S. history. We will never forget our
fallen heroes.....
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| THE CITY BEAUTIFUL |
Fun history fact: According to Neil J. Young in his blog
entitled, Public Seminar, the nickname of The City Beautiful dates back to at
least 1908 when local officials borrowed it from the "City Beautiful" urban
planning movement transforming places like Cleveland, Detroit, and Denver. In
those cities, progressive city planners designed parks, museums, and public
plazas to beautify and organize the urban landscape. In Orlando, a rural cow
town at the time, City Beautiful represented something different, an aspiration
rather than a reality. A hope that the small assortment of ranchers and citrus
growers could one day develop into a full-fledged city.
Orlando is the home of the University of Central
Florida, UCF, an American metropolitan public research university. It's
diverse student enrollment currently stands at over 63,000. The university opened the
UCF College of Medicine in 2006 and it is one of the first U.S. medical schools in
decades to be built from the ground up. The college is a founding member of
Orlando's growing Medical City at Lake Nona.
Rollins College, located in Winter Park, is the alma
mater of Fred Rogers, the noted figure on the Public Broadcasting Station (PBS)
who is best known for creating the educational preschool television series,
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, which featured his kindhearted, gentle, soft-spoken
personality.
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| STROLLING AROUND ROLLINS COLLEGE |
Rollins College is a private, coeducational liberal arts
college in Winter Park, situated along the shores of Lake Virginia. The small
campus defines Southern charm between its architecture and moss-draped live oak
trees, to the boardwalk that meanders the shoreline of the lake. This has been a
special place for us to take our own visitors to for a slow-paced afternoon
walk, a visit to the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, or a current production by
students and staff being performed at the Annie Russell Theatre on
campus.
Ethnic restaurants abound in Orlando, the
surrounding area, as well as in the theme parks themselves. With our current
emphasis on eating fresh, eating healthy, many local chefs gear their menus toward
seasonal choices of locally grown fruits and vegetables, grass-fed meats, fresh
non-farmed fish, and desserts that guarantee not to enlarge the waistline.
Season's 52 is a prime example of eating well, eating healthy.
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| HEALTHY SELECTIONS AT SEASONS 52 |
In addition to the many themed attractions located on
International Drive, such as WonderWorks (the upside down building) to Ripley's
Believe It Or Not, eating tapas delights at Cafe Tu Tu Tango to juicy steaks at
Charley's Steak House, this is a great spot to spend time at. Comedy Clubs,
shopping, and catching your favorite movie are adventures available along this
very busy, exceptionally touristy, location.
Yes! We do have our very own Orlando Eye that was completed in 2015! We have yet to venture high above the maddening crowd in one
of its suspended, swinging boxcars....by choice. This may be something we will
gladly scootch over and allow the tourists to enjoy all on their own!
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| THE ORLANDO EYE |
I haven't even gotten to the topic of sports and
entertainment yet. What was I thinking? In addition to our football stadium,
which tends to change its name every few years or so, Orlando is proud of its
new soccer team, Orlando City Soccer Club, who recently opened their brand new
stadium located downtown. Nearby, The Orlando Magic live and play basketball in
their own 'new house,' the Amway Center, which often hosts live entertainment
performances, as well.
My favorite addition to the newly blossoming Orlando
scene is located just across I-4 from the Amway Center and, in my estimation, is
the crown jewel of the entire City Beautiful. Dr. Phillips Center for the
Performing Arts looks as stunning in the mid-day Floridian sunshine as it does
all dressed-up in a myriad of bright lights in the nighttime! Stage, acoustics,
lighting, sound....all based on perfection on the inside. I was fortunate to
have experienced the amazing sounds of Joe Bonamassa, the great American Blues
and Rock guitarist, here within the first year of the Center's Grand Opening which was on November 6, 2014.
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| A 'GEM' IN THE HEART OF ORLANDO DR. PHILLIPS CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS |
Well, there you have it, my home in this moment and
time. A place I have grown to love, hate, feel sad for, happy to be a part of,
and always, always, delighted to have my own, small niche in for the past twenty years.
Sure, we've been scared as hell by numerous hurricanes
along the way. We've had to say good-bye to our daughter and her beautiful
family when the four of them moved up to Michigan a few years ago to begin a new
life. In our forty-three years of marriage, this has been the longest time Dan
and I have settled down in any one location. Orlando has, truly, become 'Home'
to us.
Since our future appears to be heading back up north to
be closer to family and friends, my life will be changing once again. Will I be
ready for the change? I certainly hope so. Until then, I will continue to enjoy
every aspect of my adopted hometown of Orlando and, like observing a small child, continue to marvel at how it
has grown-up these past twenty years.....right before my very eyes!
Copyright © 2017 by Jacqueline E. Hughes
All rights reserved
