parakkum

Orlando has not shown very much to recommend itself to me. All the literature I picked up on things to do in Orlando emphasizes the many, many attractions, including the previously mentioned replicas of many fine attractions I grew up near in Southern California. On top of that, it's humid. However, without the humidity, you'd have a heck of a time figuring out where you were:

That's a random intersection on International Drive. I-drive, as some of the little pamplets call it, houses the Orange County Convention Center and a whole host of chain restaurants. Sadly, with the continuous flow of tourists here, there's no motivation to reduce prices or have good food (NB: not that all the food sucks, but I'm used to chain-quality food going hand-in-hand with chain prices).

There are a few standout structures, including a miniature golf course that's obviously trying to gather some Pirates of the Caribbean cachet and the one I opened with, Wonderworks.

Wonderworks seems to be an Exploratorium-esque place full of interactive exhibits. I don't know for sure, since I didn't care to pay to go inside. It's a great building from the outside.

The main positives so far in my Orlando experience have involved nature. There are the usual hyperactive lizards and squirrels that are even more used to people than Berkeley squirrels were:

(I was standing quite close to that little guy.)

Especially interesting to me has been the tremendous amount of plant parasitism I've run across here:

Closer:

That's growing on a random tree on International drive. And that was a fairly sparsely populated tree:

How much phloem is that tree losing every day?

To a casual glance, they can look like nests.

Neat, isn't it?

I didn't have the camera with me last night when I walked by some of Orlando's ubiquitous lake territory (read: swamps) and saw some lovely, big birds.

So, yay for wildlife and plants I don't usually see, and boo for humidity, heat and unamusing amusement parks.