Celebration Life

Want to know a guaranteed way of seeing a plethora of wildlife here in Celebration? Easy. Set out for a walk and leave your good camera at home. It works for me.

A recent walk from East Village to Downtown turned into Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom for us. We spotted a nice size snake (and when I say “spotted”, I mean that it was pretty big and lying right next to the path and scared the bejeezus out of us):

… which the iPhone failed to capture adequately. Further down, on the wooden pathway between Lake Evalyn and downtown, we saw otters (!?) in the swampiness. Add the alligator and armadillo seen along the way and it makes for a decent outing. Again, none of it properly documented as I left the good camera at home.

Still haven’t seen the wild boars yet, though we’re in no rush to do so.

Our first Celebration July 4th was a great time. This was our first big community event as residents rather than tourists.

We managed to catch the tail end of the 9am parade.

It was already steamy hot at 9:30 in the morning — uncomfortably so — but it didn’t seem to dampen anyone’s enthusiasm. We were surprised by the number of people that turned out! It was crowded but definitely manageable. Note for next time: bring the portable chairs. Once the parade was over we wandered around the downtown for a bit, grabbed a Coke from Upper Crust (10:15am ended up being a bit early for a pizza, though I had a serious internal debate about it), and strolled back home.

We spent the middle of the day hanging around our East Village (Blue Sage) condo. I was reading a book out on the balcony when a somewhat large, somewhat sweaty guy walked by on the sidewalk and said “Excuse me, can you tell me how to get to Celebration Ave.?”
“Are you trying to get downtown?”
“Yeah.”
“Are you on foot?”
“Yeah.”

He looked absolutely exhausted, drenched in sweat. I didn’t have the heart to tell him he was still a mile away from the center of activity, only that it was pretty far, about a 20 minute walk. I directed him to the trail behind Eastlawn… hopefully he found it!

Later in the afternoon, around 5 or so, friends Leah & Rory came over and we all walked to the downtown. We didn’t see anyone passed out along the path, so hopefully the sweaty guy found his way. Once downtown we immediately settled in to an outdoor table at the Celebration Town Tavern, and were thankful for it. The crew there took great care of us, and you gotta love the food and location! The people watching was fantastic from our vantage point.

Once nighttime settled in, fireworks started.

We couldn’t hear the music very well from our location, but the show was still outstanding, especially with the moon in frame. The geography of downtown and where the fireworks are shot from offered lots of great vantage points.

The best part of the night? Being able to walk home!

Just back from our first visit to Mulligan’s Pub (39 Blake Blvd.), and I expect we’ll be repeat visitors. There was a decent Happy Hour-type crowd when we arrived around 6pm but a lot of the people had shuffled off by 7 or so. Dinner for me was a $3 pint-of-the-day and a Shepherd’s Pie, while the wife downed a Kelly’s Wrap, which is basically a salad in a wrap. The feedback is that both choices were good, though I found mine a bit lacking in vegetables you’d typically find in a Shepherd’s Pie.

The staff was quite friendly and made the effort to make us feel welcome. Anthony greeted us shortly after a grabbed a table away from the bar, and between him and the other bartender they didn’t leave us wanting.

Overall the place had a convivial atmosphere. From what I understand from an ad on the table, there’s trivia on Thursday evenings at 7pm? Could be a good excuse for a repeat visit this week.

One of the things I like about living here is the relative proximity to wildlife. In Pennsylvania we were mostly limited to deer, Canadian geese, a groundhog that lived in the backyard, foxes, and Eagles fans.

In Celebration, it’s not that there’s more wildlife than southeast PA, only that it seems to be easier to spot. In just the 6 weeks we’ve been here, we’ve seen:

Grasshoppers:

Ducks that think they’re people:

Squirrels that are very acclimated to humans:

An alligator in the sidewalk outside our condo:

…and more, including deer, armadillos, snakes, lizards, frogs, raccoons, turtles, and too many birds to name. There are wild boars around, too, but we haven’t laid eyes on them, only the holes they dig.

What else is around? What am I missing?

For those not in the know, Imperium Wine Room (660 Market Street) features a half-price happy hour deal on wines by the glass. With inside & outside seating, excellent flatbreads (esp. the bruschetta), friendly service, and the aforementioned happy hour deal, Imperium is quickly becoming one of my favorite places.

Happy hour runs from 4-7, Monday through Friday (I believe… confirmation would be good!).

Just a reminder about the events scheduled for Celebration for July 4th.

The event schedule, according to http://celebrationtowncenter.com/events/details/a_flashback_4th_of_july/:

9:00 AM
July 4th Parade

5:00 PM
Free Park and Ride Shuttle Service Begins

5:00 PM Events gets started with Emcee Justin Smith
Event Opens- DJ Tami (Tami Davis) begins

6:00 PM Gina Marie Incandela performs our National Anthem. (Gina Marie is known as the Orlando Magic’s “lucky charm”. See her on ABC, Good Morning America, CNN, The TODAY SHOW, The Daily Buzz, Fox News, TNT and more)

6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
“The Reflections Band” performs live

7:00 PM-7:30
SHOUT! performs (Learn “The Hustle” and other 70’s classic dance steps from pros who know)

7:30 PM
70’s Costume Contest

9:00 PM- Gina Marie performs the National Anthem
9:00 PM- Patriotic Salute (more info to follow)

9:30 PM – 10:00 PM
Fireworks

10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
“The Reflections Band” performs live

11:00 PM
Event Closes

Celebration Hotel at night

Originally uploaded by bbhart

I took this picture a few years ago when we were in Orlando for a college reunion. My wife and I decided to splurge and stay at the Celebration Hotel, though we managed to find a deal online and didn’t have to spend that much after all. Our room was in an excellent location — top floor, corner of the building, so we had a view of most of the lake. During the day we relaxed by the pool, had a few drinks at the bar, made our way over to the Columbia for dinner, then a walk around the lake to cap the night.

This was our first overnight in Celebration, and to some degree planted the seed for our eventual move here.

Click on the photo for more pictures from the photostream at Flickr.