The Deep South US Tour Pt2 – Orlando
We landed in Orlando ahead of schedule after what seemed like a fairly quick nine hour flight. The purchase beforehand of memory foam pillows helped me to more sleep than usual on a flight, probably an hour in total! This, in between watching three films from an abundant choice: Jurassic World: Dominion, Talladega Nights, and The End of the Tour (highly recommended true indie film about a writer).
I couldn’t drink on the plane due to picking the car up immediately after landing to save messing about the following day when the true road trip would begin. The constant searching for reliable road trip vehicles beforehand proved futile. I’d settled on a Toyota Rav 4, but Alamo upgraded us on arrival and gave us a choice of about fifteen cars, all parked up waiting to be our trusty companion for sixteen days. Not knowing much about cars, I had no idea what I was looking for, but what caught my eye was a metallic red Chevy Blazer. The reason being was that it was a metallic red Chevy Malibu that guided us through the American West seven years ago. The choice was made for us!
Now to navigate my way to the hotel having not driven abroad since the last US trip. I set up the Sat Nav and within five mins STILL missed the exit I was supposed to take. Luckily, U-turns on dual carriageways are common practice in the US, so within seconds I was able to rectify my error, but I was still driving like Miss Daisy, hands at 1:50, sticking to the speed limit, and hugging the right-hand lane for dear life, with Suze pointing left every time I veered to the right, which seemed to be a nervy trait I pick up when driving on the other side of the road.
Twenty mins later we arrived at the Quality Inn off International Drive. It was cheap and perfect for our solitary night stay, even boasting a pool, which we sadly wouldn’t have time to use.
There was a cluster of bars and restaurants within a five minute walk, set on some kind of retail park layout, so we headed there for a much needed drink. We entered Ole Red, a typical American style bar which had live music playing constantly throughout the day, so it was as good a place as any to start. We bought two beers, and I was flabbergasted to be rinsed of $22… in a plastic cup too. The joint was a bit like a Hard Rock Café, i.e. something that promotes rock n roll, but really isn’t.
Having said that, the band that played were pretty darn awesome. They were called JT Curtis and The Florida Scoundrels (great band name btw) and they carried a typical deep southern country rock vibe, getting us in the mood for the music that was likely to be blasting from every orifice as our trip progressed.
We left Ole Red and headed to Tin Roof, another live music venue. We felt much more at home here. Colin Christopher was the man on the stage, along with another accomplished guitarist. They played a barrage of covers, a lot from rock n roll’s heyday, including some gems like ‘Time’ by Pink Floyd, which was surprising.
The drinks did the job, but we remained sensible, knowing that we had a mammoth six and a half hour journey the following day. My impressions of Orlando were mixed. The area we were in was extremely touristy and the bars and restaurants reflected that, all lacking a certain edge and a little too polished for our tastes. I’m sure there are better parts in Orlando suited to us, but the idea of the trip was to get down and dirty in places with soul and history. Although Orlando served a purpose, I’m glad we didn’t stay a second night.
