As mentioned back in February, “Date Night at Leu Gardens” is held on the first Friday of every month through December 2008. Featuring a romantic movie on the largest outdoor screen in Central Florida, the Gardens’ gates open at 6:00 pm with the movie showing at dusk. Pack a dinner picnic basket and blanket or chairs and enjoy a romantic outdoor movie in a beautiful garden setting underneath Florida’s starry-sky. Grilled items, popcorn and drinks are available for purchase. Garden admission is: $7 adult plus tax, $2 child (K-12th grade) plus tax and all movies are free for Leu Garden Members. For more information check the web: www.leugardens.org.

Feature Presentations

September 5 – The Legend of Zorro
October 3 – Ghost
November 7 – Dirty Dancing
December 5 – White Christmas

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Halloween is a one, maybe two-day event for me in most years. If I get a costume at all, it’s usually not fully realized until the latest possible moment.

However, in looking at the search terms that are bringing visitors to Living Orlando, Halloween appears to be more of a one or two-month search for all of the scary things to do around town in late October. If this sounds like you, I’ve got at least one idea for you leading up to Halloween.

Step into the world of the unknown with Kissimmee Ghost Tour’s “Ghost & History Tour” for a hair-raising ninety-minute stroll into the spirit realm of Kissimmee. You’ll hear tales of murder, mayhem and mystery and search along the shadowy streets and alleys of Kissimmee’s Historic Downtown District.

For example, there are stories about a young girl who plays, to this day, in a playground and loves to makes the swing sets swing. There’s also a story about the “Ghost of the Lake” and how he still haunts the lake looking for the dock.

Best of all you’ll get to see some of the paranormal pictures taken along the tour route and are even encouraged to bring a camera to capture paranormal pictures of your own.

Tours are a available nightly, and require and advanced registration. The price for adults is $19, children 8 to 12 are $9, and kids under 8 are free. To make a reservation, simply call 321-251-5204 or visit www.hauntedkissimmee.com for complete information.

If you take any good pictures, send them to us at Living Orlando and we’ll post them on the site. We’re definitely lacking in pictures of Orlando-area ghosts.

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Opa!

Just in case you read that last line as “opa”, let me write it again …

Opa!!!

Tucked away in a corner on the second level of Pointe Orlando, Taverna Opa nearly disappears between the bright lights of Hooters and B.B. King’s Blues Club. The unassuming exterior of the restaurant could put a person to sleep. But just as good things come in small packages, the dining experience at Taverna Opa is anything but relaxing.

The exuberant atmosphere can be felt the moment you walk through the door. With music filling the air and a belly dancer entertaining the entire room, Taverna Opa is a destination restaurant where friends and family come to have a fun time over a great meal. In fact, parties of 20 or more are not uncommon on any given night.

The menu includes a combination of traditional Greek cuisine and semi-Americanized fare. From what I tasted and saw around me, I can confidently say that the food doesn’t disappoint. I definitely recommend looking through the traditional Greek items first, but regardless of your food choice you’ll be in for a enjoyable evening.

From comments on another Taverna Opa post, I wasn’t too sure what to expect on my first visit. I’m happy to say that the festive - often spontaneous - atmosphere of the restaurant made for a wonderful celebration.

Note: The preceding post took me nearly three days to complete and has reminded me that I am neither a writer, nor a restaurant reviewer. I’ve also misplaced my digital camera’s USB cable so I can’t even post my own pictures from Taverna Opa. I (We) had a great time at the restaurant, though, so I had to post something.

Photo is property of Taverna Opa

Popularity: 3% [?]

Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orange County Mayor Richard Crotty, along with Central Florida community and business leaders, will unveil the recently completed design of the new Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center this Friday (August 22). The event, which will be hosted at 455 S. Orange Avenue (the round building across from Orlando City Hall), will begin with a commemoration ceremony at 10 a.m. and will remain open for public viewing until 1 p.m.

The Dr. P. Phillips Orlando Performing Arts Center plans to develop a mixed-use urban arts center with three main halls, educational facilities, a public theater plaza, and retail and commercial expansion. It will be Central Florida’s destination of choice for arts, cultural and entertainment programming and will serve our diverse community by educating and nurturing artists, arts organizations, audiences and students throughout the region and the state of Florida.

I’m really excited about the new performing arts center. Having attended a few shows at the Bob Carr and a couple at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center over the past two years, I can confidently say that Orlando’s current venue needs to be repurposed. I’m hoping that the designs of this new location will add to my excitement. The recently groundbroken events center didn’t disappoint.

If all goes as planned, I’ll update this post early next week with pictures from the event and possibly a few design images. If you have the chance, however, stop by the event and see them in person. For more information, call (407) 839-0119, or visit www.orlandopac.org.

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Damu Cherry, an Ocoee resident, will compete in the Women’s 100-meter hurdles final on Tuesday evening (Tuesday morning in Orlando) after qualifying through two preliminary rounds. This is Cherry’s first Olympics and she is expected to contend for a medal.

To read her athlete profile, visit the NBC Olympics website.

Good luck, Damu!

UPDATE: In one of the closest finishes of the Olympics, Damu Cherry finished just out of the medals in fourth place of the Women’s 100-meter hurdles. Dawn Harper of the USA won the gold medal, with two other runners finishing in a dead heat for the silver. The photo-finish left Cherry only 1/100th of a second behind those two second-place finishers. In fact, five of the eight competitors finished within 2/100ths of a second.

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On a recent visit to the Orlando Museum of Art, my wife picked up a brochure with the headline, “Real Orlando. Real Entertainment.” After looking at the cover, I wasn’t expecting much. Maybe a few coupons to local dinner shows or a map of the best outlet malls in the area. Nothing special, for sure.

But then she said, “Hey look at this. It’s a list of all the shows in Orlando for the 2008-2009 season.”

“Cool”, I said, still thinking it was just a brochure with only minor value as a reference for what was upcoming over the next few months.

“For ninety-nine dollars,” she continued, “we can get a ticket to the Orlando Opera, Orlando Shakespeare Theater, Festival of Orchestras, Orlando Museum of Art, the Broadway Across America Tour, Orlando Philharmonic and the Orlando Ballet.”

“What,” I gasped. “That doesn’t make any sense. Tickets to only three or four of those places is more than a hundred bucks. No way you get all of them for 99 dollars.”

After reading through the brochure, however, I saw that she was correct. Seven tickets for only $99 with over 35 shows to choose from. With most of these shows still yet to come in the 2008-2009 season, there was little question that we’d be taking advantage of the deal.

Sponsored by the Orlando Opera Company, the “Real Orlando. Real Entertainment” offer is in its third year of existence and may just be the best deal of any kind in Orlando. There are only a few minor restrictions, which can be read about on realorlando.org. As far as I can tell, there is no cutoff date for this offer, but you’ll want to act soon as many of the 2008-2009 seasons start soon.

Image is property of realorlando.org

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