We had a much needed mini-vacation in Orlando last weekend, and it really hit the spot.
The impetus was that GOST was playing at Will's Pub on Sunday (his only FL show), but we decided to stay the whole weekend and enjoy ourselves a bit. Got a good deal on a nice hotel downtown, packed a couple bags, and bussed it back to our home away from home. It felt weird being there as an official "visitor," but also really good to be back after several months away. Orlando is brimming with ridiculously good food and stuff to do (amazing veg*n food options and quirky hangouts abound), and there are easily a few dozen places within a 2 mile radius of our hotel that we would have loved to visit. BUT we were only there for 2 days, and didn't want to splurge too much, so we pretty much only visited a few convenient spots, & some new places that popped up since we left. Saturday we did a little hotel room pre-gaming (as evidenced by the impromptu sink cooler) to save some $ on drinks while out and about, hit up Shakai Sushi for their happy hour, and finally went to the much-anticipated Joysticks Arcade Lounge and Retro Bar. If you are in Orlando, you need to check them out; decent drink prices, awesome atmosphere, and a bunch of vintage arcade games to play for F R E E (Well, for the price of your drinks. I am sure they want you to buy stuff while you're there). We left after a bit, then wandered around downtown for awhile, and then headed back to the hotel to chill. Sunday we got a bit of a late start, left the hotel and went to get some pizza from the new downtown Lazy Moon (a favorite local pizzeria) location. We enjoyed some fan-fucking-tastic pizza, and the $1 draft PBRs didn't hurt, either. ^__^ Did some more meandering in the Mills/50 neighborhood, visited an Orlando dive-bar institution, endured some of the Super Bowl by proxy, got hungry and walked over to Hawkers Asian Street Fare. We initially went bc we R E A L L Y wanted their 5-spice fries. Alas, we arrived and were informed they no longer serve them. U__U So we got some delicious, spicy vegetarian Tom Yum, & some Tofu Lettuce Wraps instead (I *promise* they would make any meat-eater happy). After our snack we headed over to Will's, since doors were at 8pm, got our wristbands and then left until the first act, a local artist Moondragon, came on around 9pm. He was great, but the second act, whom won't be named, thought LOUDER = BETTER (our resulting tinnitus says they're wrong), but fortunately the bar allowed re-entry, so we could come and go as we pleased during the shows. GOST was the headliner, so he went on last, and fuckin' killed it. I don't know how someone can jump around and interact with the audience as much as he did while wearing a fucking latex mask and leather jacket, but I was very impressed. Awesome show all-around, though I was hoping for some of his badass visuals on the projector screen behind him. Maybe he wasn't prepared for smaller venues to be equipped for that. *shrugs* Still metal AF. After the show, we walked to grab some coffee before retrieving our luggage at the hotel, and embarking on the journey back home. Yes, we left Orlando at 3am. Why pay for another night at a hotel? Our little trip was short, but so fucking sweet. We love you, Orlando! <3
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ÁINE & CROW
We're Here. We're Queer. We Drink A Lot of Beer. Webcomic & Travel Blog filled with cats, comedy, art, surreality, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, travel, music, food, and general slice-of-life weirdness. Follow the daily lives and antics of 2 (humans?), Áine & Crow, and 4 cats, Oni, Hannya, Kitsune & Tanuki, as they prepare to travel across the country in a converted van. Archives
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