The Cornerstones

Once upon a time, back when Disney was in charge of the marketing material, there were five cornerstones upon which Celebration was based: Community, Education, Health, Place, and Technology. Their definitions of these cornerstones and the way in which they would supposedly be worked into everyday life was quite lofty.

For example, Health would mean more than just having a hospital close by in case of illness and emergency. It would go beyond the curing of illness, to encompass wellness as a lifestyle and to encourage staying fit and healthy. The hospital itself features a health club, and miles of walking/biking paths run throughout the town as a testament to that cornerstone.

Community was, of course, meant to be that sense of closeness and neighborliness that is missing in so many suburbs today. Block parties, clubs, and community events were aimed at bringing people together. I think Place was meant to go hand in hand with this cornerstone, as that sense of community would foster a sense of pride in our hometown. Many communities in Florida have a transient feel due to the number of part-time residents who use their homes only for wintering or vacations. Originally, Celebration had rules to ensure that it would be its residents' primary home.

Technology was the pie in the sky promise that every home in Celebration would be wired, as would schools and offices. Children at school would be able to instantly call up information on the web to enhance their learning experience, and their parents would be able to check their assignments and grades online.

Speaking of technology in the schools, I suppose that could link up with the Education cornerstone too. That was perhaps one of the biggest promises and expectations of this town. Kids would attend the same school from kindergarten through senior year of high school, and each child would live up to their full potential as they were guided by the lastest and most innovative learning techniques.

Unfortunately, those promises soon hit the hard brick wall of reality. Perhaps the most famous failure was Education. I won't go into all the sordid details, as they have been covered in enough books and newspapers, including the "Wall Street Journal." But let's just say that multi-age "neighborhoods" and a lack of textbooks, structured assignments, and grades worked about as well as "open classrooms" (i.e. classrooms without walls) did in the 1970s.

The Education controversy continues to this day, and the vision of that original cornerstone has been altered and changed to a version that bears little resemblence to the old ideas. The school now employs more traditional methods, and now it only goes up to eighth grade. The Celebration High School is now in its second year for ninth through twelfth, and it has been the instigator of many controversies of its own.

Technology didn't come to fruition in quite the way it was planned, either. The school didn't use computers in the ways envisioned in the initial lofty plans, and the homes are no more wired that those in comparable communities.

We do have the hospital with its fitness center to assist us on the road to Health, and the walking paths too, but I don't know just how seriously the concept is taken. Before the law against electric and gas powered scooters was enforced, I would chuckle at the sight of overweight youngsters zipping around town on their motorized toys. And why use a walking path to get downtown when you can hop in the NEV, or even the Hummer, and drive there so much faster?

Community and Place have their controversies, too. Rather than being known as Celebration, we are often thought of as "The Disney Town." In the eyes of many outsiders, we're not a community in our own right, but just an extension of the theme parks and resort next door. And there have been squabbles between home owners and renters, full time residents and snowbirds, and other "us" and "them" feuds that seem to go against the sense of one big happy "family." Interest in community events is dying down, as evidenced by the recent demise of the "Lights & Lemonade" committee, due to declining attendance at their events.

And does that all really matter? After all, how many brand new residents even know what the cornerstones are? What was once a backbone of the original Celebration marketing campaign has now been reduced to an afterthought.

Sure, that may sound bleak, but I would like to propose that the cornerstones are not forgotten after all. Sure, they may have morphed beyond something that looked good to present to prospective home owners once upon a time. And no, they're probably not what the original planners and the marketing folks at Disney originally had in mind.

But we're not like a theme park attraction. Real people in a real town don't always grow according to the rules and go in the direction they were set upon. I think that we've tailored those cornerstones into something that works for us and fits into our everyday lives. If you look around you, you'll see all five of them alive and well in Celebration 2004.

For example:

Education: Yes, this one is controversial, but that very controversy shows just how important it is to this town. If people didn't care so deeply about ensuring that their children get the best education possible, the conflicts and disagreements wouldn't exist. Whether it's caring enough to put your child in a private school or to band together with others to change the public school, it's obvious that education matters in Celebration. When people stop caring, the cornerstone of Eucation crumbles. This has happened too often at other schools, but there is no danger of it happening here.

The high school has been another educational adventure, but sometimes I think that the parents get more bent out of shape than the kids. There was a lot of worry because of the influx of teens from outside of town, but other than a few incidents, things seem to be going as well as you might expect from any similar school. The kids I've talked to often wonder what all the grown-up fuss is about. They are proud of their school and are showing how wonderfully adaptive young people really are.

As for Health, now that the motorized scooters have all but disappered from our town, I see kids riding bikes and skateboarding again. It's great to see them out in the sunshine and doing something healthy. When I was a kid, I would leave the house in the morning on my bike and not return until dusk forced me back inside. I can't even imagine how many miles I pedaled, and I never thought of it as "work" or physical labor. Back then, it was known as "having fun," and it didn't require a motor.

And there are lots of adults who seem to care about health too. My husband and I love to bicycle for miles through town, and we see many other bicyclists and joggers out and about every day. Celebration has several pools, and I almost always see a few intrepid lap swimmers dodging their way around the splashing bodies.

Technology exists here, too...not in the futuristic way that was promised, but it has taken an interesting turn. Celebration residents all have access to "The Front Porch," a community intranet that is as lively as any in-person discussion with your neighbors. It features information about events (parades, craft shows, and the like), activities (sports, exercise classes, club meetings), and newsworthy items (like when one of the pools is closed due to a kid's "Winnie the Poo" accident).

But the best part of "The Front Porch" is the discussion forums. In this Age of the Internet, people don't gather outside in the oppressive Florida heat to gossip. They do it right at their keyboards. Some of the discussions get heated to the point of scariness, but most of them stay within reasonable boundaries.

Of course, the forums are also used for more mundane but useful purposes. If you've lost or found a pet, have something to sell or give away, or are looking for some kind of recommendation, post it and your neighbors will be happy to assist.

For every Front Porch there is a Back Fence, and that would have to be www.34747.org. It is not an official Celebration website, and, unlike the Front Porch, posters on its forums can choose to remain anonymous. For this reason, it tends to be a lot more free-wheeling. It is moderated, so it doesn't get too crazy, but it definitely offers the online equivalent of back fence gossip. Or maybe it's more like the 2004 equivalent of the old days, when people would climb on a soap box in the park and spout off about the topic of their choosing (or maybe that's actually known as "blogging" now, ha ha).

The only bad thing about the Technology cornerstone as it has manifested itself in Celebration is that it is not community-wide. I suspect that only a small percentage of residents actually visit the Front Porch. I have met some who don't even know it exists, and some who have signed up for it but who have no clue on how to access it. Still, for web savvy people, it's great.

The Celebration online forums also offer a New Millenium version of Community. There are people who I've never met face to face, but I feel like I know them based on reading their posts. There are some whose identity I don't even know; all I know is a screen name from 34747.org, but I still feel that sense of "knowing," and they are still vocal and valued members of our virtual community.

Community exists in the real sense, too. Sure, some organizations are folding, but others, like Neighborhood Watch, are springing up, and plenty of residents are active in putting together community events. We've had wonderful block parties here in East Village, and Celebration-wide events like Founders Day are still well-attended. Neighborliness is a way of life unlike anything I experienced at my last home. I hardly knew my neighbors there, even though I'd lived in the same building for a decade. In Celebration, I've made wonderful new friends within a month of moving in.

I believe that Place is going to increase as we come into our own as a real town; that's what we are, despite how outsiders perceive us, and that is especially true now that control has been turned over from Disney and into the hands of the people. Sure, we live on what used to be Disney property, and it's darned nice to live so close to the parks, but that isn't the main feature that defines us. I'm not sure what exactly does, but I think that we're in the process of finding that out.

That's my take on the Cornerstones, for what it's worth. I suspect that, as more time passes, the memory of their existence as an "official" entity might fade away. But even when they're gone as official concepts, they will linger as tangible parts of life in Celebration that will grow and evolve as we ourselves grow and evolve as a town.

If you have comments on my blog or questions about Celebration, you can email me at celebration@mailblocks.com

Visit my Celebration website at www.celebrationinfo.com

The Villages of Celebration

Many newcomers (myself included) are not aware that the town of Celebration is actually made up of several "villages." You won't see any official billboards proclaiming, "Welcome to North Village" or "Now Entering East Village." Artisan Park does have some kind of brick-column-and-tile-picture thing at its entrance, and the entrances for Lake Evalyn and Aquila Reserve are more apparent than the others. But for the most part, the transition is so seemless that you'll never even realize you have left one village and entered another.

But even though the boundaries are, for the most part, invisible, each village is a separate entity with a character of its own. Each area has it advantages and drawbacks, and each one is unique in its own specal way.

Here is a quick rundown on the villages. Just remember, this is my two cents, so take it for what it's worth. Other opinions may vary, but this is my blog, so my opinion goes! And thanks to Jan E. for her assistance on the village boundaries.

NORTH VILLAGE
North Village is the closest village to 192, the mega-tourist strip. You can reach it easily if you make a left turn off of Celebration Avenue before crossing the bridge. The intersection has a traffic light, and the lane is left turn only. I always get lots of amusement at watching the tourists, who have no clue that Celebration Avenue is going to turn into a one-lane road. As soon as the left side of the road turns into left-turn-only, they suddenly slam on the brakes and turn on their blinkers; the more ballsy ones just cut the right-lane drivers off.

North Village has some golf course frontage and easy access to 192, 417, and I-4. But that 192 proximity means that it is practically next door neighbors with the Old Town amusement area. The attractions there include a 300 foot tall slingshot chair, 300 foot tall swing tower, and a noisy, G-force-inducing dragster ride. The neon lit towers beckon visitors from miles away, and noise from the attractions is an ongoing sore spot with many residents.

But for the people who moved in after the rides were there, I look at it like people who move down the road from an airport and then complain about the planes roaring overhead all day long. If you didn't do your research and figure out the obvious, there's not much anyone can do for you. Recent arrivals to North Village can't help but notice those 300 foot towers. It doesn't take much sense to deduce that Attractions + Tourists + Busy Strip = Noise.

North Village has a good-sized community pool, conveniently located in the center of the main drag. It is mostly a residential area, but there are some businesses, like Children's World, in the area. It's a bit far from downtown; you can get there reasonably fast on a bike, but you have to cross the bridge with its famously narrow sidewalks. However, it is nice and close to the new Water Tower Place strip mall, which features such crowd pleasers as Joe's Crab Shack, as well as the usual variety of "strip stores." A new Goodings grocery store is in the future plans.

Besides being convenient to major streets and expressways, North Village is also close to the office buildings on Celebration Place. For those who work there, the commute would be all of two minutes; you'd spend more time finding a parking space than driving.

CELEBRATION VILLAGE AND WEST VILLAGE
Celebration Village (also called Main Village) and West Village are adjacent. Celebration Village encompasses the downtown area, while West Village starts at the back of the grade school school (right hand side of Celebration Ave. as you head into town, just past the flagpole) and includes Westpark, Starling, Trumpet, Nadina, Canne, and part of Greenbrier. West Village has plenty of golf course frontage, but the golf course club house is actually located in Celebration Village.

These are the two original villages, where the Celebration "pioneers" first settled. Celebration Village came first, and West Village was Phase 2. Many people like them for their proximity to the downtown area, which can be easily reached on foot. But that convenient proximity also means hordes of tourists and traffic jams at certain times of the year. Still, many people consider it a badge of pride to live in this area.

Lakeside Park, home of a heated swimming pool, is located downtown, and Celebration Village also features the "home business district" for people running their own cottage industries. Most of the businesses are real estate offices, but there are a few others, such as the Bumpus architectural firm. I had the pleasure of touring their home/office during the Holiday House Walk, and it was gorgeous and very unique.

The Celebration Village/West Village area features another architectural landmark. If you turn right a few streets down after driving over the bridge and wander around a bit, you'll stumble upon a home that looks for all the world like the Bates Motel house. When people try to insist that Celebration is a cookie cutter town, I just show them a photo of that place. If you'd like to see it, click here to view a photo on my Celebration website.

LAKE EVALYN
This quaint little neighborhood is just past the downtown area, on your left. If you don't turn in, you'll see the brick wall that blocks off the homes from the sidewalk running along Celebration Avenue. It is very close to the school, so like downtown, it is a very convenient place to live if you have grade-school age children in the public school system.

In a stroke of originality by some would-be imagineer, this neighborhood was named after the lake that fronts the most desirable homesites. The lake is ringing by a walking path that leads to downtown, which is mere minutes away by foot. Lake Evalyn doesn't have its own pool, but it is within a reasonable distance of both Lakeside Park and Spring Park's swimming facilities. It's a very pleasant area, where you can take a stroll along the lake and feed the family of ducks that has taken up residence there (although I hear they don't pay their homeowners assocation fees).

The one drawback is that most homes have tiny, post stamp-sized yards. Some don't even have a front sidewalk. Their grass simply ends at the parkway. The official marketing blah-blah describes this as being meant "to evoke a Key West feel." I think that's market-speak for "let's cram in as many homes as possible."

Still, it's a cute little area that allows people to live near downtown without being in the midst of tourists and traffic.

SOUTH VILLAGE
Head a little farther down Celebration Avenue and you'll find South Village on your right. You'll know you're there when you see Spring Park, which features a lovely pool. This area is a little farther from downtown, but still within reasonable striking distance. It's mainly a residental area, with no major distinguishing features like 300 foot towers or the Bates Hotel. But it's a comfortable place with a nice variety of homes, and you can easily access the "back entrance" to town from Waterside Street. This allows you to get to Celebration Boulevard, and you can easily access World Drive to get to Disney World without major traffic headaches.

If we had purchased the condo we originally put a contract on, this is where I would be living. The unit we would have bought was kitty corner from Spring Park.

ROSEVILLE CORNER
I've heard Roseville Corner referred to as part of South Village, but it is actually adjacent to East Village. It's a little enclave of single family bungalow homes, duplexes, and triplexes. This is where the bungalow models that I couldn't find while house hunting on our first visit were located.

It's a pleasant area, and convenient to the East Village pool, although I do find the row of duplexes and triplexes to be somewhat crowded. Of course, I am totally spoiled because my own triplex is located on a street of single family bungalows with large side yards and a grassy park-like area across the street.

But Roseville itself is very pleasant, too, with easy access to Celebration Avenue. It's a bit far from downtown, but that means it's also quiet and relatively crowd free.

EAST VILLAGE
East Village is my home sweet home, and I love it! You can get to East Village a couple of different ways. You can turn left just past the Lake Evalyn area, or you can make a left on the last street before you enter Artisan Park. Either way, you'll eventually end up in the same general area.

We have a community pool, although it's rather small; it's still a nice place to cool off on those summer scorchers. Because we're so far off the beaten path, we never get traffic and crowds. Downtown is a good 20 minute hike by foot via the path that links up with the Lake Evalyn walkway, but you can make it much more quickly on a bike.

The major drawback that I've found is that delivery people will inevitably get lost, no matter how explicitly you give them directions. Now, when they frantically call from their cell phone, my husband just walks down to wherever they are and leads them back to our house.

Peronally, I like a peaceful neighborhood, but I guess that East Village is rather extreme. Several of my nieces and nephews recently came for a week's visit. They spent a lot of time relaxing in my porch swing, and one day one of my nieces exclaimed, "It is always this QUIET here?!"

AQUILA RESERVE
If you turn left on Celebration Avenue and then drive for a little ways through East Village, you'll find the turnoff for Aquila Reserve on your right. It's a lovely wooded neighborhood with a big lake ringed by a walking path. I often encouter deer there when I go biking at dusk.

Aquila is pretty far from downtown, but this means that it's even more peaceful than my little corner of East Village. It reminds me of a larger Lake Evalyn, right down to the non-existent yards in some of the houses. But there many with big lots, too, and I can see that there might be an advantage to the no-yard homes. If you don't have to bother with your own landscaping, you'll have more time to enjoy the gorgeous wooded land around you.

ARTISAN PARK
Artisan Park was originally rumored to be an "age 55 and up development" (some wags dubbed it "Rest Village). But that idea was quickly abandoned, and now it's just a huge area that is billed as "The Last Great Neighborhood in Celebration."

Besides being the final area to be developed, it is also the only one that is not being developed directly by The Celebration Company. Instead, it was turned over to Arvida/St. Joe.

Artisan Park can be easily found by following Celebration Avenue as far as it goes. As of this writing, most of this area is still under construction, although the first brave families have already moved in.

Artisan is far from downtown, but I don't think it will be as peaceful as East Village or Aquila Reserve because lost tourists tend to stay on Celebration Avenue. On snowfall and leaf fall days, I predict that there will be lots of lost sould wandering around back there.

Artisan will have a community center and pool, but unlike the other village pools, it will only be open to its own residents. To me, that smacks of exclusivity and goes against the principles of Celebration. They will be able to use the pools in the other villages, but we can't use theirs. True, they will be paying a separate fee, but I still find it odd and a bit disquieting. Outsiders tend to think of Celebration as a snobby, exclusive area, so now I guess we have our own "exclusively exclusive" neighborhood.

I enjoy the street names in Artisan; unlike those in the rest of the town, which tend to be flowers or variations on how to append the words "Park" and "Celebration," these are all named after various types of craftsmen. My favorite is Stonecutter, and every time I bike by it, I expect to see Homer Simpson and hear the strains of the Stonecutters Lodge song.

Those are the villages of Celebration, and those are my thoughts about each of them. As I said earlier, these are strictly my own opinions. The viewpoint of others might vary widely. But what it all boils down to is, when you think of the town of Celebration, don't lump us all together into one big heap. We've a collection of many vibrant neighborhoods that, when put all together, make up our beloved town.

Learn more about Celebration on my website: www.celebrationinfo.com

Dining in Downtown Celebration

One of the good things about living in the Kissimmee/Orlando area (or a bad thing if you pack on the pounds easily) is the fact that just about any kind of cuisine imaginable is available within a reasonable striking distance. From Chinese to Japanese to Indian to German to Cuban, that's all here and more. You can flash back to the 70s with fondue or eat in a tropical rainforest. You can watch an Arabian show, a jousting battle, or a friendly rivalry between the North and South, all while stuffing your face at the same time.

For most of these experiences, you have to leave Celebration and venture out into Tourist Land. But our fair town offers its own delicious cuisine choices. Often my husband and I are feeling lazy and don't want to venture too far. It's nice to know that we can head to Market Street and still have a plethora of choices without travelling more than five minutes from our home.

In this blog entry, I'll share my review of Celebration's restaurants. Keep in mind that all opinions expressed are solely my own, based on my fussy and particular tastes. Your experience may vary, so take what I say with a grain of salt. But for what it's worth, here goes:

Market Street Cafe: The Market Street Cafe, formerly known as Max's, was the first place I ever dined in Celebration. It's very easy to find, right on the corner of Market and Front Streets, across from the lake. It's an old-fashioned diner, complete with Art Deco decor and counter seating, in addition to booths and tables. There is also an outdoor dining area, which is a Godsend to smokers since Florida law prohibits all smoking inside restaurants. Personally, I love that law because now I don't have to sit in a "non-smoking" area that is right next to smoking; the smoke doesn't know it's supposed to stop at that invisible "wall" between the two tables.

The menu at Market Street Cafe is heavy on comfort foods, but there are some "fru fru" items, too, such as coconut breaded shrimp (one of my favorites). You can see a few of the menu items by clicking here. The entrees are missing from that link, but they include lots of burgers, chicken, meat loaf, etc.

The appetizers tend to be large enough for a meal, so often I order one or two of those instead of a traditional entree. Besides the shrimp, I love the nachos, and the pot stickers are quite delicious too. Try them with the orange sauce that is usually served with the shrimp. My husband is a big fan of the quesadillas.

I am an iced tea lover, and Market Street Cafe gets a big thumbs up for serving the fresh brewed variety rather than the Nestea swill that comes out of a tap. That crap is on a par with a true Southerner eating instant grits (those of you who have seen the movie "My Cousin Vinnie" will know what I'm talking about). Better yet, the iced tea is flavored. I don't like it sweetened, but a hint of flavor is fine. It goes down so fine on a hot summer day.

For entrees, I often opt for the taco salad, but with nachos instead of the taco shell bowl. It is huge and I almost always end up taking leftovers home. Another favorite, which is not on the menu, is the pulled pork sandwich. I've had it as a special, and it was fabulous! I wish that it was a regular menu item. Speaking of sandwiches, they have a Cuban sandwich that is a good choice, too. When you have a choice of soup or salad with your meal, you can never go wrong ordering the mushroom soup.

I am partial to ice cream sodas for dessert, but my husband usually opts for the fruit cobbler of the day. We used to be quite addicted to the cappuccino smoothie, but a while back they changed something; I don't remember whether it was the machine they use or the type of mix, but the quality declined. That drink used to be as smooth as velvet, but then we had a couple that were loaded with ice chunks. Finally we gave up, and I have replaced that addiction with Barnie's iced coffees.

Market Street Cafe serves breakfast, too. We are not typically breakfast people, but we've had it there once, and the chocolate chip pancakes were scrumptious.

At peak tourist times, there can be a lengthy wait to be seated, and they don't take reservations. I wish that there was some sort of Celebration resident priority seating, but no such luck. They do pass out beepers so you can wander a bit down the street while waiting for a table.

Once you are seated, you can count on decent and usually prompt service. My iced tea glass is almost always kept filled, and our food and desserts show up in a reasonable amount of time.

Market Street Cafe also has a free rewards program. You sign up and receive a card that earns you points for every purchase. When you reach certain levels, you get a freebie such as a drink, appetizer, or lunch entree. We have already worked our way through three or four levels.

Overall, Market Street Cafe is a keeper. When we just can't decide where to go, that's almost always where we end up, and we've never regretted it.

The Columbia: Before Florida's no-smoking law went into effect, we avoided the Columbia because it had a cigar bar. Even when a cigar area is separate, the stench tends to permeate all surrounding areas. With my allergies, that would not contribute to a pleasant dining experience.

Now that they are smoke free, the Columbia has become one of our regular haunts. It is a branch of the original Columbia Restaurant in Tampa's Historic Ybor City, and it features all of their famous dishes. One of my favorites is the 1905 Salad, which can stand as a meal in its own right. The menu is heavy on Spanish/Cuban dishes like empanadas and ropa veija. If you have a hard time choosing, you can easily make a meal of a selection of "tapas" (appetizers) that will allow you to graze on your own personal buffet.

If you select a full meal, plan on bringing leftovers home. If you are looking for something a bit lighter, but still more substantial than a salad, be sure to try one of their sandwiches. You will be served a wonderful loaf of fresh baked bread while you are waiting for your order. Be careful not to fill up on it; it's addictive!

I love to wash down my meal with a delicious glass of sangria. The only problem is that it goes down too smooth! Besides traditional sangria, the Columbia also offers a white champagne variety.

You can sit either inside or out. Because I don't like being around smoke, I always opt for indoors. The restaurant is decorated in an intriguing Spanish style. You'll enjoy pouring over the knick knacks and reading the newspaper articles on the walls that chronicle the Columbia's storied history.

Click here to see the Columbia's menu. You'll find it just past the movie theater on Front Street.

Seito:
Seito is a Japanese restaurant with a sushi bar, which is guaranteed to attract my raw-fish-loving husband. Personally, although I'll eat beef so rare it's still mooing on the hoof, I won't touch uncooked sea creatures. He claims I don't know what a rare taste treat I'm missing, but I'm happy to continue living in the dark.

It's not that I am not an adventurous diner. I love escargot (snails in garlic butter), which taste a lot like sauteed mushrooms to me. I adore hackpeter, which is a German dish that is basically raw ground beef mixed with raw onions and a raw egg broken over the whole thing for good measure. I've tried a nibble or two of sushi, but it's something I know that I'll never develop a taste for.

Actually, my husband is not the most adventurous sushi eater. He sticks almost exclusively to tuna, and he wouldn't be caught dead trying something like eel or squid. Seito has the full range of offerings, so he can always find plenty of tuna to please his palate.

I don't suffer when we go to Seito, as I love vegetable tempura. It was actually my fondness for this dish that opened my husband's horizons to sushi. He had never been to a Japanese restaurant before we got married and I dragged him to one to indulge my tempura craving.

Don't confuse Seito with the many Japanese steakhouses that are dotted throughout the Orlando/Kissimmee area. Places like Kobe and Bennihana cook Teppan style, at a grill right in the center of your table. Many Americans consider that to be "Japanese," but Seito is much closer to an authentic experience.

Seito is not limited to sushi and tempura...not by any means. They have a variety of stir fry dishes, soups, salads, and teriyakis. Click here to see an example of the Seito menu.

Like all of the downtown Celebration restaurants, Seito has indoor and outdoor seating. It is located on Front Street, midway between Market Street and the movie theater.

Celebration Town Tavern:
Celebration Town Tavern is just past the Market Street Cafe on Front Street. It's a combination neighborhood bar and restaurant that features excellent clam chowder, plus a variety of steak and New England-style seafood. It's a little taste of Boston right in the middle of Central Florida. If you are married to a sports fan, like I am, he (or she) can watch the game while dining.

The Plantation Room (Celebration Hotel):
The Plantation Room is the restaurant inside the Celebration Hotel. It's a lovely, peaceful oasis of gourmet food served in an elegant atmosphere. The menu changes frequently, according to the season and the whim of the chef, but you can view a sample menu by clicking here.

The Plantation Room is definitely not a budgetary dining experience, but it is well worth the cost. We have been there once for dinner, but we like their special holiday buffets. They have a special offering on 4th of July (when they featured a picnic with a pig roast and a special fireworks viewing area), Easter, Mother's Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Like the regular menu, the buffets are on the pricey side (I think it was around $40 per person at Christmas), but it was definitely worth it. The soups and salads are so good that you'll have to remember to save room for the main courses. I loved the squash soup and the bourbon sweet potatoes, as well as the most godly mashed potatoes that I have ever tasted. You also received a glass of champagne with your meal. Meal cappers included cookies, pumpkin pie, and cheesecakes.

The only thing that made me cringe was the risk of germs from the unsupervised children putting their grubby paws all over the food, particularly the desserts. They would pick something up bare-handed, then plop it down again, and one even dropped a hunk of pumpkin pie on my good dress.

I did enjoy the ambiance of the piano player serenading the diners with carols. Years ago, before Eisner economics, my husband and I had a holiday tradition of dining at the Brown Derby in Disney-MGM Studio. There was a piano player who did carols there, and my Christmas season was never complete without hearing his rendition of the Snow Miser/Heat Miser theme. Now the piano is long gone, a victim of cut-backs. But as I dined at the hotel, I suddenly hear the familiar note: "They call me Snow Miser, whatever I touch, turns to snow in my clutch..." My sneaky husband had requested it for me when I wasn't looking.

Herman's:
Herman's, which is just before the movie theater on Front Street, is primarily known as an ice cream shoppe, but it has an amazingly robust food menu too. I am addicted to their bubble gum ice cream, but my husband has indulged in their pesto salad and pronounced it delicious. They also have a variety of soups and sandwiches. When the traditional sit-down restaurants are too crowded, Herman's makes a great option.

You can eat in at Herman's or take your food with you. I like taking my ice cream cone and eating it across the street, in front of the lake, rocking in one of the many scattered rocking chairs. Unfortunately, I can only do that half the year. The other half, the scorching Florida sun melts the ice cream almost instantaneously.

Barnie's Coffee:
I am firmly convinced that Barnie's puts addictive drugs in their coffee. How else can you explain the fact that I must consume at least one of their flavored iced coffees each day in order to maintain my sanity?

The great thing about Barnie's is that their flavored coffees actually taste like the names indicate. Too many flavored coffees tease you with their tempting scent, but when you brew them, they just taste like plain old coffee beans. In contracts, the chocolate mint coffee that you buy at Barnie's tastes just like a Thin Mint Girl Scout cookie, and Sweethearts Blend will have you convinced you are drinking a liquefied chocolate covered cherry.

My husband likes the hot drinks, but I prefer my coffes iced. There are two or three flavors available each day; I typically go for German Chocolate Cake or Santa’s White Chocolate, which has a seasonal name but is available throughout the year.

Click here to go to Barnie's website, which features a photo of the Celebration shop. Barnie's is on the corner of Bloom and Front Streets.

Sherlock's:
Sherlock's is located on Bloom Street, just down the street from Barnie's Coffee. You can spot it easily by the red English-style phone booth in front. It is well worth seeking out, especially if you are a tea lover like I am. And I'm not talking about run-of-the mill, everyday tea in a bag. When I was a child, my Hungarian grandmother brewed up fresh chamomile strained right from the flowers. At Sherlock's, the tea leaves are strained, not bagged, and the difference is as obvious as the difference between fresh brewed iced tea and the Nestea swill that comes out of a tap.

You may be overwhelmed by the choice of available flavors. Personally, I am partial to the rose and cinnamon varieties.

But no British tea shoppe would be complete without scones and pastries. I adore scones with Devonshire cream, while my husband usually opts for some type of cheesecake or fruit tart from the selection case. There are also some limited food selections, so you can easily enjoy a pleasant lunch at Sherlock's.

We've never had a full meal there; we'll probably try it someday, but I'm not too fond of the seating arrangements. The inside is, of course, non-smoking, but it adjoins a courtyard. The door is often open, and the smoke blows right into the building. Worse yet, once while selecting my scone, I was bowled over by the stink of someone puffing on a cigar out there! Ugh! Not exactly an enhancement to my appetite. I prefer getting take-out and eating it at home or out on the lakefront.

Sherlock's goes beyond tea and goodies to offer a vast selection of wine. We haven't explored that yet, but I know that we'll get around to it if I can every force myself to forgo my cinnamon tea.

Sherlock's also sells a variety of souvenirs and Sherlock Holmes memorabilia, as well as a selection of candies from England. Click here to view the Sherlock's menu. You'll be amazed at just how many varieties of tea are available!

Well, that about sums up my dining experiences in Celebration. Our town may not have as many options as 192, but the ones we do have are great. No sense in fighting the tourist traffic when you can eat right in your own backyard.

Learn more about Celebration on my website: www.celebrationinfo.com

Front Porch Follies

People who live in Celebration might think that the title of this entry refers to the community intranet. Every now and then, certain topics like motorized scooters and school politics turn a relatively calm site into a hotbed of community debate.

But no, I am actually referring to the real, physical thing: that extension on the front of a house for the purpose of lounging around, relaxing, and maybe even socializing with your neighbors.

When I was a kid, the front porch was the place to be on lazy afternoons and balmy summer evenings. At our first house, in the city, there was no room for a chair, so our family would simply sit out on the steps. Our next door neighbors had nothing but a stoop, so they would wander over to share our more spacious facilities.

We eventually moved to my grandparents' house in the suburbs. Their porch was by no means palatial, but it was large compared to our previous home. There was enough room for two chairs, and they would often be posted out there like neighborhood sentries. Back in those pre-cable television days, you could often find more interesting "programming" going on outside than on your Radiation King floor model t.v. set.

My grandparents had access to a more interesting "channel" than most, since their house was right across the street from one tavern and across the alley from another. Of course, the best programming on that channel was usually confined to the weekends and didn't start until later in the evening.

When I eventually moved to an apartment, I was limited to a stoop like my long-ago neighbors. But fortunately I wasn't stuck in a large, soul-less apartment complex. I rented a studio apartment in a garage building, with another apartment above me. My landlord lived in the house in front and also rented out his upstairs. My next door neighbors were an elderly couple, and there was no fence between our yards. Between them and my landlord, the yard was always abloom with flowers, and I often brought my cats out on a leash and sat reading in the sunshine. Granted, it wasn't exactly a front porch, but it served the same purpose. Since all our backyards were close, and many were unfenced, it was still a good way to touch base with your neighbors.

That neighborhood was an old one, in a district with several historic homes, and it was still hanging on in something of a timewarp. We still had a corner store, although I think it was teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, and neighbors still came out to sit together and share a beer on the porch or in the backyard, or to exchange the latest gossip over the back fence. When the UPS man came and I wasn't home, he'd simply leave the box with whoever he could find, even if they were strangers living down the block. The neighbor would look up my name in the phone book and call me to tell me they had my parcel. I met a couple of people at the far ends of the block that way.

We had all the typical small town characters: the neighborhood gossip who knew everything that was happening with everybody, the elderly people who were always on the watch, the rowdy gang of kids that runs through everyone's yards. I don't mean any of this in a negative way; people were involved and knew what everyone else was doing, which was great for a single woman living alone. I never felt afraid because I knew that the elderly couple next door kept an eye on my comings and goings. The neighborhood gossip who lived on the other side was at my door within five minutes of a storm/power failure, making sure that I had candles. We all looked out for each other, and our whole neighborhood was our "front porch."

But once I got married and moved to a condo in a newer neighborhood of a different suburb, everything changed. Our condo building had twelve units, and we lived literally on top of each other (three floors with four units each). But I never really got to know anyone, with the exception of the biker who lived below us. The "Harley Man" was a wonderful, involved neighbor who really cared about our building and our condo association. He was known as the "Condo Cop," keeping things in line. I really missed him when he finally moved away, as the lack of caring by others quickly became apparent.

Back in the early days, our condo complex would have a yearly block party. But within two or three years, it died out from lack of interest. Once our Harley neighbor was gone, people in our building started grinding out their cigarettes into the hall carpeting, partying into the wee hours with bass so lound that people could hear it three floors down, and leaving coolers, clutter, and even garbage on their balconies. There was absolutely no sense of pride and no consideration for other people.

When we first moved into that building, back when it was brand new construction, I was pleased that our unit featured a balcony. Since it wasn't wide enough for a swing, I immediately purchased a glider so I could sit outside as often as possible. Each year, for the first few years, my husband would dutifully haul it upstairs for the summer and downstairs to our garage for the winter. But although I enjoyed my "front porch," being three stories up made it difficult to connect with neighbors, and some people seemed to purposefully avoid contact.

There was one couple who lived on our floor who would go out of their way to avoid even making eye contact, let alone saying hello. At first I thought I was imagining things. One day they pulled into the parking lot at the same time as I did and sat in their car until I left mine and entered the building. Okay, could be coincidence. But it happened again and again, and I found out from a couple of other neighbors that they'd experienced the same thing.

Then, in the winter, a freak March blizzard snowed us all in. In a display of building-wide cooperation, every person from every unit went downstairs to dig out our garages together. Since they were all attached in a row, a cooperative effort made this much easier. But one unit's occupants were missing; it was the anti-social couple. They were definitely home, but they didn't come out and join us. When we were all done, all of the garage doors were dug out except theirs. Finally, half an hour after the rest of us had gone inside, they came out and shoveled theirs all by themselves.

Unfortunately, as the years passed and people moved out and in, more neighbors had the attitude of that unfriendly couple than of those of us who had worked together. Eventually, it got to the point where I didn't even know the first names of most of the people in our building, and I would have been hard pressed to match the last names on the lobby mailboxes with the appropriate faces.

When we decided to buy a place in Celebration, and I thought the only thing we'd be able to afford was a condo, the most disappointing thing for me was that I wouldn't have a real front porch. I planned to dress up my balcony with a glider, flowers, and a fountain, but I knew it just wouldn't be the same. Then, when we found our triplex, I was estatic because our unit featured a lovely porch that even had enough room for the porch swing that I'd coveted for years.

Apparently, our building was originally supposed to be a Colonial style, which only has stoops on the end units. But somewhere along the line, it was switched to a Craftsman, which has a porch on each unit. The model was also a Craftsman, and the exact unit that we were purchasing, so I was able to see exactly how much room I'd have available.
I was pleased to see that a swing would fit in nicely, with room left over for a couple of rockers and various decorative items that I could change with the seasons.

Once our home was done, the quest for porch furniture began. It was easy enough to find the rockers, as I like the ones at Cracker Barrel. The only question was whether to get white or natural wood-colored. My husband lobbyed for wood because he thought it would be the best match for our beige building. His opinion won out (you gotta let men win the small battles so you can focus on the war), and one Sunday morning I drove over to the local Cracker Barrel and watched as the manager kicked a couple of tourists out of a pair of rockers where they'd been waiting to be called in for breakfast, greased them up (the rockers, not the tourists), and somehow squeezed them into my vehicle.

The porch swing was more challenging to find. We made the rounds of all the local Lowes and Home Depots, but unfortunately we were a bit too close to the Christmas season, which pretty much starts in September. At most of the stores, the porch swings and other yard items had been stashed away to make room for plastic Santas and Christmas trees. We found a few shabby, flimsy models, but we were holding out for something nice looking and sturdy so we could get several years of service out of it.

Finally, our quest was rewarded. At one of the area Lowe's, we found a nice plantation style swing that would fit on the porch, and also, more importantly, in the car so we could get it there.

We had a ceiling fan installed at the same time as the swing was hung. Even though it was fall, and the mild weather had chased out the pervasive mugginess, we knew that we'd be glad to have the fan next summer. I found some cushions at Pier One, and my outdoor relaxation area was ready for occupation.

Porches are a fixture on the majority of homes in Celebration. They range anywhere from a modest porch, like mine, with just enough space for a swing and chairs, to glorious wrap-arounds that embrace entire houses. My favorite home model is the Victorian with an enormous wrap-around porch, but that was definitely out of our price range. I also love the houses that have an upper balcony, in addition to the porch below.

One thing that always amuses me is to see a porch swing hanging in an area that is obviously too small. When biking or walking, I've seen more than a few houses with swings hanging on such narrow porches that they'd break a window if you actually dared to swing on them. I'm not sure of their purpose, since it would be hard to sit there and remain still. The temptation for motion would be too great, at least until you smashed through the glass. Oh well, maybe they're for decorative purposes only, but those windows are in danger if a strong wind storm ever blows in.

Myself, I get as much use as possible out of my swing, with plenty of rocking motion. I do have to rein myself in a little, though. If I go too high, I eventually whack one of the porch posts. I've already branded them with a few chips in the paint, so I don't want to do any more destruction until I touch them up.

In one of the books I read on Celebration, the authors said that although the big porches and small front yards common to the town were designed to encourage people to socialize, this rarely happened in real life, at least outside of Lake Evalyn. Of course, if you've ever seen the yard sizes and proximity of many of the houses in LE, close interaction with your neighbors is unavoidable.

But happily, I haven't found their observation to be true, at least in my little corner of East Village. My neighbor in the mirror unit on the other end enjoys her porch even more than I enjoy mine. She was a lovely ceiling fan and comfy wicker furniture, along a fountain and all sorts of quaint little decorations. Often when I come out to relax on my swing, I see her across the lawn and we both move to one porch or the other and have a nice little chat. Our neighbors on the other side, who own a single family bungalow, have not one but TWO porch swings, which they brought with them from their former home. They are often outside, either alone or with company, and sometimes we wander over there to socialize. Our middle neighbor in the triplex has a nice porch, too, but with three little ones she doesn't have much time for hanging around outside.

Thanks to the miracle of laptop computers, cordless phones, and wireless internet, I can be out on the porch even when I need to work. Somehow working just doesn't feel as combersome when its done in the sunshine while swaying gently on a swing.

I don't know all of the neighbors on our cul de sac, but part of the reason is that we are still commuting back and forth to the midwest because of our jobs. But even in the limited time that we are at home in Celebration, I know my nearest neighbors better in nine months than I know the people in my condo building that I've shared with them for years. And once we're in Celebration permanently and never have to leave home again, I know that our social horizons will expand. I am very anxious to get involved in community groups, Neighborhood Watch, and the like.

Not far from us, on another street, there is a lively group that hosts an annual block party. It extends from their porches to the park area in the center of their group of homes, where neighborhood families all gather together. It's a wonderful chance to meet your neighbors, let the kids run and play together, have a cookout, and have some good old-fashioned neighborhood fun. This fall, my neighbors and I hope to host a similar gathering on the little park-like area in our cul de sac. We will have many new neighbors, as condos and townhomes are going up fast. It will be a fun way for us "old timers" who have been there all of a year to get together and to welcome the newcomers to our neighborhood.

Sometimes I worry that the same apathy that overtook our condo association will creep insidiously into Celebration. I was sad to hear that the Lights and Lemonade Committee disbanded because of poor participation. But there are still many well-attended community events, and I hope that there are enough like-minded people to keep them going strong.

Learn more about Celebration on my website: www.celebrationinfo.com

The Bittersweet Saga of Skippy

According to popular Celebration lore, the Skippy saga should never have happened. After all, we have a reputation as a town that does not tolerate disorder. The houses all sit in orderly rows, with well groomed yard and white-shaded windows. Those who do not edge their grass are place in public pillories, and if you actually dare to do something as radical as parking a camper outside your house, you'll be branded with a scarlet R for "Redneck" (or would that be for "Randy Quaid"?).

If all of the rumored rules were true, Skippy would have been hauled to the junk yard many years ago. But the trusty brown Dodge Dart with the cancerous case of rust sat like a sentry at the entrance of town long before I arrived. I read about him in one of the Celebration books before I ever saw him in person (pardon me for referring to a car as a "him," but I can't help but personify Skippy as he had a personality all his own, and he was a true town character). I saw his photo on the internet, so when I finally "met" him in person, I felt like I was in the presence of a celebrity.

The first time I ever saw him, he was parked in his usual spot, on Celebration Avenue right past the entrance to town, in front of the Marisol apartment complex. His owner lived in the red house across the street, but Skippy was too much of a free spirit to confine in the garage or driveway, or even right in front of the house. I had heard that he occasionally moved around town, but every time I saw him, he was within a few inches of his accustomed spot. I always wondered how long he'd be around, as the house had a "For Sale" sign in its yard for as long as I'd ever known it. But eventually I stopped even noticing the sign, as it seemed that no buyers would be forthcoming any time soon. Perhaps Skippy scared them away.

When Skippy greeted visitors to town, they knew his name right away. You can see why for yourself if you click here to view a picture of him. He may have been mute, but he knew how to announce his name loud and clear. Perhaps his last name was BEE FUN; at least, that's what his license proclaimed.

My husband and I quickly joined opposite sides of the "Skippy Camp." Skippy was an issue that had apparently polarized Celebration residents for some time. One camp (of which I was a member) had come to love Skippy. These people considered him something of a town mascot and viewed him with cautious affection in the same way you view the crazy lady down the street with 20 cats or the man who wanders the sidewalks mumbling to himself. Characters like that can be a bit frightening when you first meet them, but then you discover that they're harmless and they become a part of the neighborhood landscape. Soon you know that you'd miss 'em if they were gone.

Those in the other camp (my husband included) hated Skippy and thought he was an eyesore. It was an additional insult that he was one of the first things people saw when they entered Celebration. Celebration is a land of Hummers, NEVs, and Minis, and the poor ancient Dodge Dart just didn't fit into that upscale image.

There are regulations in the covenants governing abandoned junk cars, but Skippy technically wasn't "abandoned" (his status as "junk" was debateable). Although I never once saw him move, I suspect that he moved around just enough to skirt the rules. He was properly stickered and tagged, so as long as he was drivable and was parked within the prescribed regulations, there wasn't much anyone could do.

All the while our home was being built, Skippy welcomed me back on each visit. It was like seeing an old friend waving a friendly hello to pass him on the way into town. My husband, sitting in the passenger seat of whatever rental vehicle Bill Shatner and Priceline had conferred on us, would mumble some suitable nasty words as I beamed, "Oh, look, dear, there's Skippy! Hi, Skippy!"

Once our house was done, we started the 1500 mile commute. We would typically arrive at the airport around midnight, so we didn't get to town until 1 a.m. But no matter what the time, faithful Skippy was still there to greet us. I always knew that I'd arrived home when I drove over the bridge and picked him up in my headlights.

I did hear that he was a proud participant in the 2003 Fourth of July parade, but unfortunately we weren't in town for that. Since our house wasn't done yet, we didn't want to pay the prime holiday rates to travel to Florida that week. I was quite sad that I missed the opportunity to see him actually moving.

Then, one dark and evil night, the unthinkable happened. Someone vandalized Skippy! They slashed his tires and stole his customized license plate. The whole town was outraged; even those who had objected to Skippy's unseemly presence condemned the act of violence. Was it the work of a renegade Skippy-hater who wanted to render him inoperable so he could finally be towed? Or was it a random act of violence on a convenient target? Perhaps we'll never know.

Skippy disappeared briefly, and I thought that he might be gone for good. But soon enough he was back, sporting a new set of tires and a note in his window indicating that he had been vandalized and that his license was applied for.

Unfortunately, his return was short lived. After over a year (probably much longer, but definitely a year that I know of, since that's how long it had been since we had put the contract on our home), Skippy's house was sold!! His owner moved away from Celebration, and the old faithful Dart went along with him.

On the internet, there was some sporadic joking about taking up a collection to buy Skippy so he could located permanently in Celebration as a town icon. I think he would make a much more interesting logo that the biking girl being trailed by a dog that is currently featured on the town seal. But saner heads prevailed, and Skippy was gone for good. His only legacy was a few leftover oil stains on the pavement by his old sentry post.

The next time we drove into town, I felt that something was missing. I thought that my husband would be happy, but amazingly he turned to me and said, "You know, I miss Skippy." He would probably deny it now, but once the old faithful car was gone, I could see that it made him melancholy.

No car will ever take Skippy's place. There was a rusty, battered, bird shit-encrusted MG parked in the downtown area that was briefly in the running. But whereas Skippy had personality, the MG was just nasty and annoying. Happily, it was soon towed away.

I haven't even lived in Celebration a year yet, but I can't help but feel that I witnessed the end of an era. Those who have come after me might hear the legend of Skippy, but it's something you had to experience for yourself. Oh well, at least he's immortalized in oil stains and a photo on the internet. And perhaps wherever his owner moved, he's polarizing a whole new townful of people.

Skippy old buddy, I miss you.

Learn more about Celebration on my website: www.celebrationinfo.com

Disney Forever

Once upon a time, Disney proudly touted its ties to the town of Celebration. You couldn't miss the connection from the moment you approached the town on 192. The water town at the entrance announced, "Disney's Town of Celebration" in big, bold letters.

But running a real town populated by real people 24 hours a day is much different than manipulating the controlled environment of a theme park. Cast members on the payroll have to dress and act in a certain way mandated by the Mouse. People in their own homes don't, even if those homes sit on land that was once Disney property.

I won't go into fiascos such as poor construction quality on some of the earliest homes or the failed experiment in "innovative" education. Those have been documented ad nauseum by way too many authors and reporters.

Suffice it to say that Disney soon felt an urge to distance themselves from their creation. They say it was all part of their ultimate plan, but they tend to say that about everything ("Yes, the freak inland hurricane that just destroyed the Magic Kingdom was all part of our ultimate plan of rennovation."). Personally, I suspect that the many gaffes convinced Mama Bird (Mama Mouse?) to kick the fledgling out of the nest a little sooner than planned.

One day, a long time back, "Disney's Town of" suddenly and silently disappeared from the water town. As the years marched on, Disney continued to back off bit by bit. Now, they're almost totally withdrawn. The last village, Artisan Park, was sold off for development by an outside company called (at the time) Arvida. The workers at the Preview Center, who were once employed by The Celebration Company (i.e. Disney) were given the option of becoming Arvida staff.

The Celebration golf course was next; it was sold off to new owners, as was the entire downtown area. Now Market Street and the surrounding area are owned by a company called Lexin, although many people don't even realize it. Quite a few think that Disney is still in charge, and I've met more than a handful who still think that Disney owns the entire town.

Some Celebration residents see Disney's departure as a good thing, allowing the community to finally claim its birthright as a real, full-fledged town under the control of the people. Others are not so pleased about the changes. Only time will tell just how positive or negative the transition will ultimately be.

But at present, The Celebration Company isn't totally out of the picture. It still owns many large parcels of land located along the Celebration Boulevard ring that it is marketing for commercial development. Someday I know that the area will be clogged with hotels and offices and whatnot, but for now I love coming home from Disney World on World Drive and turning onto the circle with its lush thickets of palm trees and wetlands. It makes me feel like I live on a secluded little island ringed by a buffering oasis of green.

Of course, no matter what happens, the Disney name will forever be entwined with that of Celebration just as surely as hordes of tourists will flock to Orlando each summer. 10 years from now, 20, and even 50, Celebration will still be known as the town that Disney built.

How can I state this with such confidence? Well, aside from the fact that in 50 years I'll either be dead or too senile to remember what I said today, I know that it's human nature. It's the same cosmic law that comes into play when you work at a company for many years, doing the same job, and then eventually change departments. Even if you stay in your new position for a decade, people will call you with questions related to your old job forevermore. You might not be listed in that role in the company directory anymore, but it doesn't matter. People who can't remember what they had for lunch two hours ago will remember that 15 years ago you used to handle insurance questions. It doesn't matter that you've worked in finance for 10 years now. You'll be hearing from callers with questions about insurance until you quit the company or retire.

This principle definitely extrapolates to corporations. Disney Cruise Line is a perfect example. Well over a decade ago, the Disney characters could be found on the Big Red Boat, owned by Premiere Cruise Line. But eventually Disney terminated the licensing agreement and started a cruise line of its own.

For a while, Premiere featured the Looney Tunes characters in place of Mickey and the gang. Eventually they went broke, and their ship was literally repossessed while in port, leaving the passengers and crew members stranded.

Disney's ships couldn't be any more dissimilar to Premiere's. Unlike the Little Red Barge, the Magic and Wonder are elegant ships with blue/black hulls and with Mickey's trademark profile on a "wave" on the smokestacks (which are the only red parts of the exterior). There was never any connection between the two cruise lines. The characters are the only thing they ever had in common.

I have cruised Disney an obscene number of times. If you'd like to know just how obsessed I am, click here to read my Disney Cruise Line blog. I consider myself an expert on the topic, and if you look at the blog, you'll see why. But I constantly encounter people who say, "I sailed on Disney Cruise Line in 1992." I point out that they were on Premiere Cruise Line, and they say, "No, it was definitely Disney Cruise Line," even when I explain that Premiere used to have Mickey. Pointing out that Disney Cruise Line did not set sail until 1998 does absolutely no good. Nothing can convince them that their memory is flawed, no matter how many facts I spout.

I am a true crime book buff, and many of the books I read contend that eyewitness testimony is generally the least reliable type of evidence. Juries give it high credibility, but it is notoriously inaccurate. I found this hard to believe until I thought about all the "eyewitness" accounts of trips on Disney Cruise Line in the 1980s and 90s that I've been told about. The people who insist that they sailed on the Magic or Wonder back then would pass a lie detector test with flying colors, because in their minds they know they are telling the truth.

Just as Disney's ill-conceived alliance with Premiere will haunt them forever, or until Western civilization collapses, so too will their association with our town. No matter what the water tower says, no matter who runs the downtown, we're Forever Disney for better or worse.

Learn more about Celebration on my website: www.celebrationinfo.com

A Bike Bike Here and a Bike Bike There

In Celebration, the car is king, but you can still find some unconventional means of transportation giving some competition to the autos. The more unusual choices include Segways (the two-wheeled "human transporters" that were supposed to revolutionize transportation) and glorified electric golf carts known as NEVS, or "Neighborhood Electric Vehicles." During certain times of the year, you can tour the town via house drawn carriage. There used to be lots of electric and gas-powered scooters until a Florida law prohibiting them was finally enforced.

Out of all of the above, the most fascinating for me is the Segway, although I doubt it will ever be more than a niche vehicle. It has some good applications for mobility impaired people, but for mainstream use it's never going to catch on. I remember its inventor making lofty statements about how tomorrow's cities would be designed around the Segway. He must have been sniffing some good white stuff, or else he was desperately trying to make a self-fulfilling prophecy. A Segway on the streets of any big city would be a trial lawyer's dream.

But they're fun to just bum around on. We've ridden them on several of our Disney cruises (they allow you to ride them in the lobby or on Castaway Cay, although the speed is cranked way down so you can't do too much damage, and the price is obscenely expensive for only a few minutes). I want to do the new Segway tour at Epcot, where you get to ride around World Showcase, or else go on one of the tours offered by Relay (the dealer in Celebration).

But overall, for me the alternate choice to the car is my good old-fashioned bicycle. Well, actually it's a new fashioned one. It has an obnoxious amount of speeds...something like 12, or maybe 15. It's a cheapie K-Mart model that has been fitted with a rear rack for transporting goodies that I buy downtown and little Mickey heads on the tire valves that light up when I hit a bump (good for my frequent after-dark jaunts).

In theory, Celebration is a bicyclist's dreams. There are miles of bike-friendly paths weaving throughout the town, and they are even lighted for night rides. In practice, navigating them can be rather challenging. The path near downtown is often choked with tourists who are too busy gaping to make some room on the path. And even the locals seem to love to walk five abreast, and many consider it a supreme inconvenience to move over and let a bike through. When I say the words "Excuse me," they give me a look like I've just made a rude comment about their mother's sex life.

Still, even with these challenges, one of my greatest pleasures in life is riding my bike around the town. My husband and I will both bike to the high school and then to North Village. Once, we got really insane and biked to the Logan's steakhouse on 192, then biked over to the nearby Publix for some light grocery shopping before pedaling back home.

There are lots of bike racks downtown in strategic locations, so we can easily leave our bikes while we bum around the farmer's market, have lunch at one of the restaurants, or enjoy a coffee from Barnie's or an ice cream cone from Herman's (make mine pink bubble gum, please). Sometimes my husband goes biking along while I putz around the house, and he's perfected the art of riding home with one hand on the handlebars while balancing an iced coffee in the other as a treat for me.

Biking is almost a necessity when there is a special event going on. Even though there is a large parking lot downtown, plus a generous portion of street parking, it all seems miniscule in size when the restless hordes descend upon the town. The streets are clogged with traffic, and the parked cars extend from the asphalt into the grass and finally onto any flat, or even semi-flat, surface in the general downtown area.

With my bike, the worst parking woes I have to worry about are finding the most convenient bike racks are already full. But I know where there are plenty of others, and my husband and I always manage to find some space. I remember reading in one of the Celebration books (by a couple who lived here a couple of years for the sole purpose of writing about it and then bailed) that the mother wouldn't buy bike locks for her kids. What planet is she from?! Even if I trusted my fellow residents implicitly, there are too many strangers in town for me to leave my bike unlocked. It way be an $89 K-Mart special, but I'm still rather attached to it and used to it. I've read enough blurbs on the community intranet about unlocked scooters that disappeared from racks and bikes that were stolen from garages for me to leave mine in such a tempting state.

I am a paranoid biker, and I always wear a helmet. I've had a lot of close brushes with cars blowing through stop signs or speeding and not watching where they're going, but so far I've never actually been hit, or even bumped. My husband and I did manage to survive a drive-by heckling once, though. In a big city, it would be a drive-by shooting, but people in Celebration are more civilized. Instead, the car just goes by while the driver shouts obscenities, with no weapon other than the words.

We were on Celebration Avenue, just passing Waterside, which is a common thoroughfare to get in and out of town. As we were preparing to cross the road, a car full of teenagers came screeching up. I don't think they liked the fact that they had to stop because we were crossing. Once we were past them, they peeled off in the opposite direction, yelling, "Rich Celebration bitches on your rich Celebration bikes!"

I guess I have to excuse them because it was pretty dark out, so that must be why they mistook my banged up cheapie for a "rich Celebration bike." And I'm sure that they considered the flashing Mickey lights on the tire valves as the ultimate in pimping out my two-wheeled transportation. My husband was offended that they'd mistaken him for a "bitch," but as I thought about it, I began to realize that they were actually complimenting us. Since we live in a triplex, I'd always though of us as the trailer trash of Celebration. After all, the woman I saw walking through the model when we were buying our home had shuddered at the thought of anyone living in such a tiny place. I'll never forget how horrified she sounded when she said to her friend, "Can you imagine someone actually living in one of these?"

Now I'd been mistaken for a rich Celebration bitch. Perhaps the kids in that car actually thought I was heading over to "Millionaire Row," the street lined with mansions that leads into East Village. Maybe they thought I was am independently weathly that I spend all my days and nights riding around on my pimpin' rich Celebration bike, forcing cars to stop at stop signs. Ah, what a lovely fantasy!

But unfortunately, the reality is that we only get to bike in our free time, and there's never enough of that. But at least we can do it most of the year, with no frigid Midwestern winters to force us to keep the bikes stashed on the garage rack at least half of the year. When you're out on the walking paths or driving around town, maybe you'll see me one of these days. You'll recognize me easily: I'll be the bitchy one on the rich Celebration bike.

Learn more about Celebration on my website: www.celebrationinfo.com

Wildlife Encounters

I am no stranger to wildlife, having grown up near forest preserves that are teeming with deer, foxes, raccoons, possums, and coyotes, as well as the traditional birds and squirrels. I own horses and love to ride on the wooded trails, so I've spotted plenty of critters in my time.

But Florida is home to some interesting fauna that I had never encountered before. Sure, there are plenty of familiar animals. I've come upon deer while biking in Aquila Reserve at night, and I've seen lots of turtles (mostly dead in the road) and possums (also mostly dead). But the notable new sightings are the aramdillos and the alligators, both of which can be found quite easily in Celebration if you have a little patience and very sharp eyes.

The first time I spotted an armadillo was while I was driving through town after a visit to the construction site of our new home. It was busily rooting away on someone's lawn, right next to the alley. I gleefully pointed it out to my husband; up until that time, I'd thought the little critters were found only out west. Shows you how much I know. Silly northerner!

We pulled into the alley and stopped (typical tourist behavior, but we were still officially tourists at the time). We both watched, fascinated, as the aramdillo totally ignored our proximity and continued its destruction of the lawn.

Not long after that, on our next trip to town, we spotted lots of wild turkeys strutting on the flattened areas of East Village that would soon be new homes. The poor things were probably confused as to why their habitat was rapidly disappearing and being turned into "human nests." Happily, they have stayed in the neighborhood, and I still see them in Aquila and even, occasionally, closer to my home.

My first gator encounter didn't come until later. I had a pretty good idea of where the scaly creatures were hanging out because of the photos on www.34747.org, an excellent site about Celebration that features an ever-changing array of photography. Many of the past photos are archived on Tom's neat site - click here to visit. In addition to gators, you can see armadillos. birds, and other Celebration wildlife. And contrary to popular rumor, they are not Audioanimatronic.

At any rate, I knew that a gator was hanging out in the lake by the East Village walkway. My husband and I bike there frequently, so we started watching out for the "East Village poodle snatcher," as he was dubbed in the 34747.org caption. Sure enough, one day we spotted him, looking for all the world like an innocent floating log. But when you looked closely, you could make out the cold, reptilian eyes and the little snout with nostrils protruding just above the water line. He was serenly floating around the lake, perhaps in search of unsuspecting prey or maybe just enjoying the cool water.

A few months later, there was a great photo of a gator sitting on the grass near a lake that we recognized as being pretty close to our house. The next time we were out biking, we stopped at the lake, and sure enough, there was Mr. Gator. But this one wasn't in the water. He was relaxing on the grass, just as he had been in the photo. Fortunately, he was the across the lake from us. He probably wouldn't be considered large by people who have grown up around gators, but to us greenhorn city folk he looked enormous! My husband was so thrilled that he'd seen his first gator. He didn't count the other one because it had been in the water; this one was much more up close and personal.

But more intimidating than the gators are the snakes. I know that there are poisonous snakes in Florida, and although I am not afraid of reptiles in general, I have a healthy respect for them when they might be venomous. I knew they were around, but I hadn't seen any in person. Then, one night, my husband and I were riding back from downtown on the trail that goes along the lake in East Village. I biked past some dark blobs in the path, and I could swear that one was shaped like a snake. I called back to hubby, "What was that?" He responded, "I think it was so garbage."

Not too much farther ahead, we encountered a woman and her dogs. She said, "Is the water moccasin still on the trail?" Yikes!! It turned out that what my husband thought was trash was actually doggy "potty" bags. The woman had been heading home with her dogs when a snake blocked her path. She tried to frighten it off the trail by tossing some bags at it, but it wouldn't budge. Finally, she gave up and started heading in the opposite direction. It was a longer way, but at least it was snake-free. I don't know for sure if it was a moccasin, but if it was, I shudder to think how close my husband and I both passed to it.

My second snake encounter was in Aquila Reserve. This time, I didn't even see the snake. I had biked over and stopped when I saw some people watching a gator that was swimming around the lake. We started chatting, and a man who was also gator-watching warned me that there was a water moccasin on the trail over on the other side of the lake. I quickly decided that I would return the way I had arrived, which was via the snake-free street.

We saw a jogger heading towards the area where the snake was supposed to be. Suddenly we saw him turn quite abruptly and come jogging back out way, and at a considerably faster pace! The man said, "I warned him that the snake was there." I guess he had to see for himself. Personally, I'll take someone else's word for it.

But although the snakes can be scary, they don't even begin to compare to the sinister turkey vultures. The vultures are the morticians of the animal kingdom. Every morning, if I'm out early enough, I see them cleaning up the remains of the previous night's road kill. And the turkey vultures and big and strong! I've seen a couple of them dragging a carcass nearly as big as they are, or even bigger, off to the side of the road so they can enjoy a leisurely meal without worrying about passing cars.

Other than that, most of the wildlife is fairly sedate. I've heard that there are still wild hogs, but I've never encountered one in person. Every now and then, I find a mini-frog attached by its sucker-toes to our back door, but they appear to be harmless. There are two dogs who live behind us who like to occasionally run over and run around my legs while yapping fiercely. But I know that they're all show, and they succumb pretty quickly to petting, so I guess they don't really count as "wildlife."

Our next door neighbor has a dog and a cat. The cat loves to come over to visit, and she'll even slip inside if you're not watching. She's a very social creature, and she loves to make the rounds of all the neighbors to receive her daily dose of admiration.

One night, I was sitting out on my porch swing when I heard a rustling in the bushes. I didn't see anything, so I decided that it must be my imagination. Then, all of a sudden, I heard the rustling again and a big, white creature leaped onto the porch! Just as I was about to panic and flee into the house, I realized that it was my kitty friend. She was out making her night rounds and must have noticed that I was sitting outside. Of course, that meant she had to stop by for a little visit. She curled up on the swing with me for 15 minutes of petting before continuing her prowl.

Interestingly enough, I never see birds or squirrels around our house. My neighbor put out a bird feeder, and the seed has remained completely untouched. In the midwest, we've got all sorts of feathered friends, like robins, sparrows, and mourning doves, flocking in the yards and christening our cars. And there is always a squirrel or two skittering across the lawns or up the trees. In Celebration, that's curiously absent, at least in our neighborhood.

But there is plenty of bird life once you venture off into the wooded areas. I am continually fascinated by all the new and interesting kinds of feathered friends that I've spotted. One of these days I'm going to have to get a book on Florida's native birds so I can put a name to them.

Animals are not the only creatures that fascinate me in my adopted home state. Florida has opened up a whole new world of amazing (and annoying) insects. The summer invasion of love bugs drove me crazy for a month. They seemed to be especially attracted to the color of our house, and they invaded our porch in renewed waves as fast as I could sweep them away.

I had encountered fire ants on previous visits as a tourist and had learned how badly they can bite, so I had our yard treated proactively. Thankfully, I've never seen any of the little buggers around there, and I hope I never will. I also never want to see "saw palmetto bugs," which I've been told is Florida-speak for roaches. I know that they are very common, but in the midwest you only get them in your home if it's very dirty. Having roaches there is a sure sign that you're a slovenly housekeeper. Quarterly treatments have kept them out of our Florida house so far, and I hope that it continues that way.

Of course, there's no way to ward off the mosquitos, despite the best efforts of the abatement team. I keep a steady supply of "Off" spray in the medicine cabinet, but I always forget to put it on before I go out on the porch. Interestingly enough, my husband can come out and sit with me in the same spot for the same length of time, and they never bite him one. He goes inside with pristine skin, while I have itchy lumps and bumps and welts on every exposed patch.

I'm sure my fascination with Florida wildlife sounds silly to natives who have grown up with it all their lives. But to me it's a whole new habitat to discover, and I'm enjoying every minute of the experience.

Learn more about Celebration on my website: www.celebrationinfo.com

Founders Day Festivities

After closing on our home in August, we were anxious for our first Founders Day, which is celebrated in mid-September. It is a real, honest-to-goodness hometown holiay, commemorating the founding of Celebration. I'm not sure which "founding," since there have been a lot of milestones (the day the homes went up for sale, the initial groundbreaking, the day the first resident moved in, etc.), but it doesn't matter. To me, any reason is good enough to have a town-wide party.

The biggest item on my Founders Day agenda was to get in the town photo. It's an amazing feat, as the idea is to get a photo of every Celebration resident gathered all at once in Lakeside Park. Of course, not everyone shows up, but there is a respectable number. This year, there was even a carrot on a stick to help entice the reluctant people: a free raffle for everyone who participated, with prizes donated by the local businesses. The photographer goes up on a crane, everyone says "Cheese," and voila! Another year in Celebration's history is commemorated for the ages.

My husband could have cared less about the photo, but he knew that the local restaurants would have booths set up. That meant he could indulge in some sangria from the Columbia. Also, both he and I were looking forward to the unveiling of the bricks. Each year, at the base of the flagpole on Celebration Avenue, near the school, bricks are inscribed with the names of all the people who purchased new houses in the past year. We couldn't wait to see "our" brick, immortalizing our dream home. The unveiling was set for shortly before the town photo, so we figured we'd find our brick and then mosey over to Lakeside Park, a short walk away.

At the brick unveiling, we were as excited as kids at an Easter egg hunt, searching with all the other enthusiastic newcomers for our own little piece of immortality, Celebration-style. My husband searched in one area while I scoped out another, but we were having no luck. Our next door neighbors were there, too, so I told him to look for their brick as well. Someone heard me say their name and shouted, "Their brick is right here!" Sure enough, there it was. That gave me renewed hope that ours would eventually turn up.

We searched and searched, and photo time was rapidly approaching. Just when I was about to lose hope, we finally located our brick. Of course, we had to act like tourists and take a bunch of photos. In pondering the length of our search, I realized that the bricks could be used as an initiation rite for newbies, sort of like a fraternity initiation.

I can just picture it now: Tell all the new residents that there is a brick in their name, but of course there are NO new bricks. Have a few shills planted among the crowd to occasionally yell out, "I found mine!" so the newbies won't get suspicious too quickly. Finally, after they are ready to go crazy from fruitless searching, let them in on the joke. Perhaps the last person to give up the search could even win some sort of prize. I know, I know, I have a cruel sense of humor!

At any rate, we found our brick in time to head over to Lakeside Park for the raffle and photo. As you headed to the photo area, you received your free raffle ticket. Then you staked out your spot among the others who were rapidly gathering to be a part of the 2003 town picture. There was an area marked off on the grass with tape in which we were all supposed to position ourselves.

I noticed that several people had interesting strategies for standing out in the crowd. Loud clothing seemed to be the most common (myself, I was wearing my yellow Celebration shirt), but one enterprising woman was wearing a set of rabbit ears. I've seen "Stitch ears" at one of the Disney stores, so maybe I'll make my own fashion statement next year.

My personal strategy for easy location was to choose an end spot. Hubby and I jockeyed for position as the crowd continued to swell. Finally, it was photo time, and the photographer on the crane somehow managed to get us all in the picture. Of course, we didn't get to see the results right away, but the print showed up in the next issue of Celebration News (the official Town Hall newsletter), and copies were available for purchase. Since it was our first year, I had to buy one. I went all out and purchased a large copy, despite an obscene price, that is now framed and hanging in our hall.

I highly recommend displaying your Founders Day photo if you have one. We quickly learned that guests love to play "Where's Waldo?" and try to find us among the crowd. Surprisingly, many of them don't ever manage to locate us; I thought we were pretty easy to spot, since we're right on the end. Maybe that's a bit too obvious, and they're thinking it will be more of a challenge.

After the photo, everyone crowded around to see if they were holding a lucky raffle ticket. But in order to see if you were a winner, you had to pay a bit of "tribute" by sticking around for the award presentations that came first. Various people were honored for their community service, and a number of new rocking chairs were dedicated. Everyone waited politely, if a bit impatiently, and soon enough it was time for the part that everyone was waiting for: PRIZES!

The grand prize was an overnight stay and dinner at the Celebration Hotel. There were also two first prizes of golf at the Celebration Golf Club. In addition, there were dozens of other items such as gift certificates from various local restaurants and shops like Barnie's, Herman's, and Seito.

As we waited for the numbers to be called, I nudged hubby and said, "Just you watch. I bet I'll win the golf!" I firmly believe that God has a sense of humor; I have never golfed in my life, and neither has my husband, unless you count the miniature variety. So I figured it would be a good divine joke if I won the one prize that I would have no real use for.

The winner of the hotel package was announced, and then came the first golf award. The number was announced, I looked at the ticket in my hand...and, lo and behold, I had won!! I was totally in shock. As I walked up to get my award, I just kept mumbling to myself, "But I don't golf! I don't golf!" I'm not familiar with golfing prices, but apparently I had just one a relatively valuable award.

My husband and I are much more into fine dining than learning to play to new game, so I stuck around while the rest of the prizes were awarded and traded with someone who'd won a Seito gift certificate. It was worth considerably less than the golf, but it didn't matter to me. I just wanted something we could use, and the golf went to someone who would appreciate it properly. My nephew, who is a golfer, would have probably loved to play on the Celebration course, but unfortunately he wasn't coming to visit until the following summer, when the certificate would be expired.

Founders Day festivities continue throughout the day, and the big capper is a fireworks display over the lake. This year, it was sponsored by the developer of Artisan Park, and we were optimistic that they'd put on an impressive show.

After bumming around town until early evening, we headed home for a while, planning to return for the spectacular in the sky. That night, we decided to walk back to town. It's a good way to avoid traffic, and the walking paths that wind throughout most of Celebration make it easy to get downtown. There is a path in East Village that starts near the pool, heads past Lake Evalyn, and takes you right into the downtown area. It's only a few minutes by bike and about 20 minutes on foot. We had recently purchased some collapsible camp chairs, so we decided to bring those along.

When we reached the path, we found that many others had the same idea. Despite the darkness, we encountered lots of people heading in the same direction. We arrived downtown shortly before the fireworks were slated to being. The crowd had grown substantially, but for some reason most of the tourists hadn't wandered onto the grass around the lake. They were clustered in the downtown area, which was fine with me. I don't know if the "Residents Only" sign at the entrance to Lakeside Park's parking lot had intimidated them, but I seriously doubt it. I think they were doing the usual "human sheep" behavior and sticking with the rest of the crowd.

We set up our camp chairs and settled in. The fireworks show began with a loud bang, and suddenly the sky was alight with color. We had an almost perfect view, and we really enjoyed the dazzling show. It was well worth the 20 minute walk and a perfect capper to our very first Founders Day.

All too soon, the fireworks were over. We figured that the party would wind down soon, and we were worn out from a long day of fun, so we packed up our chairs and headed home. There were a lot of people on the walking path between downtown and Lake Evalyn, but they thinned out considerably as we neared East Village.

I don't know if there will be another Founders Day in 2004. Since Disney sold the downtown area, it has been nearly impossible to find firm information on which special events will remain. Hopefully this event has become a tradition that will last as long as Celebration, but even if it's gone, at least we got to celebrate once. The photo in our hallway brings back lots of fond memories of those first wonderful weeks in our new home.

Next time: Wildlife Encounters

Learn more about Celebration on my website: www.celebrationinfo.com

Living With Tourists

When you purchase a home in Celebraton, you receive information entitled "Living With Gators," in addition to a warning about pesky critters like snakes and mosquitoes. I don't know about the gators, but I think that a document that should be required reading for all potential Celebrationites (Celebrants?) is "Living With Tourists."

I made the decision to move to Celebration with my eyes wide open. Having been a tourist myself for years, I knew exactly what I was getting into. But every now and then I meet people who complaint about the constant stream of out-of-towners and the inconveniences that they cause.

I'll admit that I've had some annoying encounters of my own. Sure, it's irritating when I can't get a table at Max's or one of the other downtown restaurants because the "outside" crowd has pushed the wait up to over an hour. And I hate it when I buy an iced coffee at Barnie's and then wait to use the restroom in a line of half a dozen people, none of whom has made a purchase.

But overall I don't mind the tourists all that much. I see them as a part of the mix that makes Celebration, and the entire Orlando/Kissimmee area, such a vibrant place. I also remind myself that they bring in dollars to support the downtown area and the special events, such as the autumn leaves and snowfalls, that I enjoy so much. I try to support the downtown stores as much as possible, but since they are geared more to visitors, a lot of my money is spent outside of town. Hopefully the tourists make up the slack because I'd hate to see the stores shuttered and the streets bare.

I've learned the side roads to avoid most of the traffic, and when a major downtown event is going on, I bike or walk rather than search for a parking place. I allow plenty of extra time to get anywhere in the peak season, and I eat at places that take reservations during the special events or busiest times of the year.

Most of the tourists I've talked with are very nice and polite, if a bit befuddled by the existence of Celebration Boulevard, Celebration Avenue, and Celebration Place. I try to help them because I remember when I was a newbie and was befuddled by trying to get around town, too.

Usually, when I encouter a carload of lost people, they are looking for a downtown event, so it's relatively easy to get them pointed in the right direction. But sometimes they've ended up in Celebration totally by accident due to its proximity to 417 and I-4. I once encountered a poor guy, caught in the midst of the snowfall traffic, who only wanted to find 192 and his hotel so his exhausted family could fall into bed. Then there was the nice British family who wanted to know if they were in Winter Park or Winter Garden (I forget which one). They had no idea where they were or how they had gotten there. At that time, I was too new to be of much help, although I pointed them to downtown where I hoped someone could assist them.

Perhaps the Tourist Annoyance Thermometer is higher or lower depending on where you live. My husband and I have most of our lost tourist encounters while out biking or walking between North and South Villages. I've noticed that for the most popular events, like the snowfall, North Village seems to get a steady influx of people who, for some unknown reason, feel compelling to turn left into NV rather than continuing down Celebration Avenue. Perhaps they are attracted by the brightly colored lights on the 300 foot catapult tower.

On our street in East Village, it's extremely rare to encouter a tourist unless they are more hopelessly lost than usual or are simply driving around town. My husband has assisted a few who have made too many wrong turns and have wound up in our neck of the woods, desperate to escape but making an endless circle. But generally our neighborhood is immune from most of the hullabaloo.

I think that will be even more true once Artisan Park is complete. Before it existed, Celebration Avenue ended at the street that leads to our house. Anyone who followed it to the end had to either make a U turn or turn left and head towards our neighborhood. Now I suspect that they will continue down the avenue and end up somewhere in Artisan. Perhaps they will gather on the clubhouse lawn and wait in vain for paper leaves or soap bubble snow to fall.

So far, I've only had one memorable negative encouter with tourists since I've moved to Celebration. My husband and I were dining at the Columbia, and there was a huge Spanish-speaking tourist family seated nearby. Their kids were running amok in the restaurant while the adults talked and drank. One little boy kept literally climbing into our booth and running his toy car along our seats. At first, one of my patented "death stares" drove him way, but he was back a few minutes later.

When I said something, he played the old "I don't understand English" game. When I was a teenager, I babysat for a Mexican family, so I can still spit out enough to make myself understood. He looked totally shocked when I told him to go play somewhere else in his native language. When the shock wore off, he went off to bother other patrons and left us alone for the rest of our meal. Eventually, all the kids from the family left the restaurant. The adults didn't seem to care a bit; they just went on eating and drinking. I have no idea where the kids went, but they were rather young to be off on their own in a strange town, especially if they really couldn't speak English. I don't know if they ever made it back because the adults were still there when we left.

That one rude incident is more than made up for by the amusement of watching tourists by the lake trying to figure out if the birds, fish, and turtles are real (heck no, they're Disney Audioanimatronics). I even had one worried person ask me if he had to pay to park on the downtown streets. I assured him he didn't, but he still seemed skeptical. I guess he had spent too much time being nickled and dimed to death at Disney World, and he couldn't believe his luck at finding a prime (and free) spot on the street downtown during the autumn leaf fall.

Even when there's no special event going on, the tourists are easy to spot. They're the ones driving 10 miles per hour in the 25 zone, with a marked propensity to make abrupt stops and/or U turns. It's annoying, but I definitely prefer them to the impatient locals who think that speed limits don't apply to them and who blow stop signs as though they are invisible. A poky tourist is much less likely to hit a child who runs out into the street or to rear end someone than the Type A residents who tailgate so close that I'm convinced they'll soon be forcing me to go faster by pushing my car.

I've learned through experience that when you live in Celebration, you learn to work around the busy season at Disney World, too. Besides learning the back roads to avoid the WDW traffic, you learn how to have a good time at Disney World itself.

When you live in the Mouse's backyard, you don't feel the compulsion to arrive at the parks at opening time and to stay until close, trying to pack in as much as possible in the precious hours inbetween. I have learned that the water parks start emptying out a couple of hours before closing time, so that's when you'll find me enjoying relief from the heat and an absence of lines at Typhoon Lagoon. I make a priority seating for lunch or dinner at one of the parks, and we grab Fast Passes before our meal. By the time we're done, it's time for a quick ride before leaving. And of course, who can resist the singles lines at Test Track and Mission: Space before watching Illuminations from one of the little-known prime spots? I am also an expert in fun things to do around the WDW resort without ever going into the parks.

I feel sorry for the tourists because they can't enjoy all the wonderful attractions on a daily basis. I also hate to see how they get fleeced by some unscrupulous companies. We fly a lot, and I almost always hear people being blatantly lied to at the car rental counters: "Florida law requires you to buy our insurance." "You're the only person today who wasn't smart enough to buy our coverage." "The car size you rented is too small for your party. You're going to have to pay for something larger." (They like to use that last one when they are out of the size the person rented, meaning they should be upgraded for free.) And don't even get me started on the used ticket resellers and the time share scammers!

Yes, tourists can be annoying, but I'm also flattered to live in a place so wonderful that people from around the world want to visit it. Like the gators, snakes, and mosquitoes, it's all a park of living in Florida. And like gators, you have to watch out for the tourists, but you can learn to co-exist peacefully.

Next time: Holidays and Celebrations

Learn more about Celebration on my website: www.celebrationinfo.com