Downtown Orlando - Everyone's Downtown!

Our final afternoon in Orlando saw us heading to Downtown to check out what Orlando is like away from the theme parks of International Drive. We started at the Orange County Regional History Center which has four floors of interesting and interactive displays spanning from the first humans to ever settle the region, all the way through to the boom of Disney and beyond. For just US$9 you can take an Audio Tour Guide through time to see and learn all about the Seminoles, the citrus farms, the theme parks and the crackers! (Which is a term for colonial era American pioneer settlers of Florida).

One of my favourite parts of the History Center has to be the poster proclaiming that in the late 1800's, the Crackers invented the first ever "ride-up", drive-through saloon. Thirsty cowmen didn't even have to dismount their horses to buy a drink! How awesome is that! :-D I also really enjoyed wandering around the preserved court-room, where Ted Bundy left his name on one of the tables. So much history about the actual History Center building too!

The History Center is absolutely filled with things to read and do - Katie and I had been given two hours to explore it and feel that we didn't even scratch the surface. We think we've been tagged as the do-anything-adrenaline-junkies, but we also really enjoy cruising around museums like this one, especially as 'outsiders' - the information at the History Center is presented really 'easily' and we were hooked. Definitely worth a couple of hours one afternoon if you are exploring Downtown Orlando (plus it's beautifully air-conditioned!).

From the History Center, we strolled along Orange Avenue towards the Plaza Cinema Cafe, passing several quality looking bars all strongly (perhaps even more so due to the warm Florida afternoon) calling us in to try some American beers. Arriving at the Plaza, we where whisked away up to the 16th floor for a meet and greet with some of the minds behind Downtown Orlando and the rapid development of the area. The skyline of Orlando has changed greatly in the last few years and these people are the ones responsible for that. It was really interesting - as a citizen, you just kind of think - hey, someone built a new building, cool... but to actually hear the whys and hows of those new buildings was great - for example, the new Orlando Magic Basketball Arena being built in the traditionally black part of Orlando - they are using locals to build that, and if the locals don't have the necessary skills, they get trained up in an apprenticeship so they can do the job. It's so much more than just 'let's put a building over there'.

Our final engagement as finalists in 67 Days of Smiles was a tough one, we had to have all this delicious Spanish food at Ceviche on Church Street. Man I love tapas. We spent two weeks travelling around Spain and were absolutely hooked on the stuff. Ceviche did a fantastic job of recreating the flavours from Catalonia; from calamari to chorizo, Pork Shanks to the signature Ceviche dish, I don't think you could go there and order a bad meal! It was also a fabulous atmosphere to sit and chat with the other finalists now that 'boot camp' was winding down. Really amazing to find ten couples, who although they're in competition with each other, could become such good mates in such a short period of time.

NEED TO KNOW

Learn
Orange County Regional History Center
Where: 65 E. Central Blvd, Downtown Orlando 32801
Web: http://thehistorycenter.org
Phone: 407 836 8500

Play
Plaza Cinema Cafe
Where: 189 S. Orange Avenue, Downtown Orlando 32801
Web: http://www.plazacinemacafe.com/
Phone: 321 558 2878

Eat
Ceviche Tapas Bar & Restaurant
Where: 125 W. Church Street, Downtown Orlando 32801
Web: http://www.ceviche.com/
Phone: 321 281 8140