Kissimmee

Central Florida, the only part of the state where I haven't spent a decent amount of time, is really nice. You can tell the land is a long tranitional zone between two ecosystems--the hardwood canopy of North Florida and the Everglades swamps of South Florida.

We had a great day at the ballpark yesterday. There was, unfortunately, a wicked line drive that hit a fan and halted the game for thirty minutes while emergency personnel attended to her. We certainly hope everything is okay with the woman who was injured--it was pretty frightening to see.

We had dogs and lemonade and popcorn. I brought the old glove out, but didn't snag any foul balls. The stadium is really fan-friendly and both teams were signing autographs before the game. The grapefruit league is neat--affordable and accessible. It's almost like the players forget they're in the big leagues for a month.

I met a member of the Astros front office and came away really impressed. He and I sat far down the third-base line and chatted about baseball and our families. The Astros made a fan of me (although it was nice to see my Orioles take home the win--the Birds looked good!), to be sure.

We visited historic St. Cloud and Lake Helen, a pair of beautiful Florida villages that just oozed charm. Orlando was easy to navigate and clean; I imagine Disney has a large say in ensuring that the city sparkles when folks pass through.

All in all it was a nice one-day trip. I think we'll look at maybe hitting a few more games during spring break at the end of the month. Anyone out there thinking about looking to relocate to Central Florida should take a visit. Very nice part of the country...