Orlando

I just got back from my first visit to Orlando. First impression: wow this place is flat and really sprawlish. Lots of small lakes can be found throughout the city, which is kinda cool. What's not cool is all the commercialism of the town. It's kinda funny, to a point, that all the tourist spots aren't in Orlando proper, they're all located outside of Orlando. We stayed at a crap ass hotel on International Drive near Universal Studios. We chose this place because of it's location so we wouldn't have to go far after attending the Beer Fest at City Walk (which was really fun and full of loads of interesting people). We never made it to Disney or inside any of the theme parks, which was fine with me. I really don't have any interest in going. The city itself is small and kinda run down. We did eat dinner at a great restaurant in the city and hit up a few clubs too, which was fun and interesting. There's definitely a need for a vibrant downtown community for the people that actually live there. Granted, the city needs its tourists, but it also needs a place for the people who live there. I'd like to see where this city will be in 5 years since it's definitely trying to get the downtown going. As of right now, it seems kinda boring and uninteresting.

On another note, I finished reading "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" in preparation for the movie this weekend. Can't wait!