Driving back it's almost like I haven't lived here for years. It was refreshing to see the corner of Oak Ridge and OBT the way I saw it driving through looking for an apartment in - 1996? - I think. It wasn't the hood to me then but a nice green place with blue sky and cheap rent. I was happy to be leaving school even though I had loved that too.
Today I noticed the Save-A-Lot that I liked was gone. The crappy one is still here. Last night I noticed that Cypriana is gone. It was a great homey place with a mad genius chef in the kitchen. He'd stir up classic Greek stuff and add things that were delicious. There was a Floridiana sauce from orange juice and liqueur for instance; and cinnamon green beans. Too bad the hummus wasn't that great but where did they go? It makes me so sad to think how many families have lost everything they own trying to run a restaurant. Remember Testarillo's? Peeza they served; and little fluffy bits of cake- a lunch special that includes drink and dessert - isn't this what we want?
Disney looks different. They're adding overpasses and the two parking garages don't look out of place to me anymore. Bits of land between things that used to have trees on them are being cleared. I really liked all the borders of trees that blocked one's view between constructed areas so you couldn't tell how close together everything is. At Animal Kingdom the vista now includes a huge square building when you used to just see trees. Disney Springs now has a Spanish or Mediterranean or South Florida style. The place where you buy tickets looks like a Cracker Barrel. There was an hour wait. But the deal is fine.
The McDonald's on OBT is knocked down and being rebuilt. There is nothing there but the sign; which I think states that it's not open- as if there were any question.
There are big piles of dirt by Casting at Disney and some other places there, at the corner of Oak Ridge and is it San Antonio? Across from the Chinese place... The apt complex seems to have quieted down, and there still is no one in the Tom & Chee ever- I'm glad it's still in business, but why is it? There is a Chik-Fil-A where the Friday's used to be on Sand Lake and OBT- the same plaza where World Market left us. That was such a fun store to look around in- notice I said look around in, not buy stuff- maybe that's the problem.. Firehouse Subs on Kirkman and Conroy has moved over to a little store at the other end of the plaza for a coming Smashburger. That's a surprise. Either move to another location or close, right? But same plaza. The Bojangle's McDonald's area on 436 is still weird. Nobody's in the Bojangle's and somebody's digging a big hole where the Bennigan's used to be.
The Changing Your Your World banner was gone; but I didn't investigate.
It's been a year since I've lived here without wondering if that's true.
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