I recently had the (mis)fortune of having to visit Orlando, FL for some training. Last weekend, I flew down there to do pre-conference (Convergence 2004) training on Microsoft CRM Customization to about 18 students. It was the first time for me in Orlando since college. I must say, my opinion of it has not improved since then. In fact, it may be worse now.
See, I have a rule when I travel: Never (or try really hard not to) eat anywhere that I could get at home. It's simple really. I like food. I like different kinds of food. If I have to travel, then I should try to make the best of it, right? Well, let's have good eats, at least.
Well, as it turns out, this rule flys in the face of Orlando and the very paradigm by which it operates. Orlando is a hyper-commercialized tourist-centric area, focused on families with children specifically. A local told me that because of this, Orlando attracts mostly national or very large regional chain restaurants. The principle being that it's hard to get some children to try new things, so give them restaurants that's familiar to them.
I just can't stand it, though. I love to explore the different cultural things an area offers via it's food. Sure, Orlando has it's little centers, but one of the restaurants in the Austrialian area is Outback Steakhouse. Please! I like Outback, but it's hardly authentic Austrailian AND I can get it at home. My idea of going to an Itailian restaurant is not Olive Garden. Nor is seafood summed up by Red Lobster.
That's not to say that my trip to Orlando was totally bad. In fact, I'm going to write two more stories on two of those events... The training facility I taught at and the car I rented.
Later.