This will be the fourth straight year that my brother and I have made a short trip to central Florida to see a few Cleveland Indians spring training games. The problem is that I like baseball and the Indians but really don't like the town of Winter Haven or the city of Orlando.
Winter Haven is a sort of trashy town about an hour drive from Disney. There are a few hotels in town but they range from the Best Western and Days Inn to the Super 8. Once you're there, there's not a terrible amount to do other than go to the games and go drink at Beef O'Brady's or a place called Tanners. The only redeeming food is a place called Gary's Oyster Bar and Seafood House in Lake Alfred, the town to the north. Good oysters and other seafood plus mai tais served in styrofoam cups. Gary's kind of prickly but the two guys running the bar are fun. It's also important to show up a little early before the place fills up with seniors and their oxygen bottles.
We're trying something new this year and staying in downtown Orlando at the Westin Bohemian courtesy of Priceline giving us two nights for a total of $255 instead of the $317 per night that westin.com offered. Hopefully we'll be able to miss on some of the traffic and bad food that has plagued our previous stays around Disney. There are also a few bars down the street from the hotel which means we won't have to drive to go out at night.
Sunday, February 19, 2006
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Starting this blog to cover this year's travels. Going to start with baseball spring training in scenic Winter Haven, Florida. Following up with two US World Cup fixtures in Germany during June and Court 1 for the first day of Wimbledon. Got the World Cup tickets from US Soccer's first-come, first-served process and the Wimbledon tix through their lottery process that started in December.
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