What I leave behind

We have been extremely involved in our upcoming move north. It is all very exciting - not only do we get the usual fun benefits of moving (new route to work, new sights, new grocery stores, etc) but we also get an entirely new set of perks. We have an entirely new city, new state, new region to explore. There is new flora, new fauna, new weather. We have new landscapes and new restaurants to eat at and new museums to see.

But all of this comes with a price; we are going to miss Orlando. We have always thought that we would eventually leave Orlando, maybe even leave Florida, but now that we're faced with actually moving, and moving so soon, I am already starting to feel sad.

For one thing, I will miss the extreme convenience of theme parks. I won't necessarily miss the heavy loads of tourists, but I never really minded them all that much. Now that I have less than four weeks left in the state I grew up in, I want to make a mad rush and see all the things that I won't see again, or see soon anyway. Disney, for example; we've wanted to go for a while, but just haven't gotten around to it. Now, if we have time to see anything, it'll be only one park. We may not even get a chance to see it at all. Universal too, although I'll miss that place far less. I'd love to see Kennedy Space Center too, but that looks unlikely.

I'm making a list of the places that I'll miss when we move to Raleigh (in no particular order).

• Austin's Coffee
• Infusion Tea
• Einstein Brothers Bagels
• Park Ave CDs
• Downtown Disney, including the Virgin Megastore
• The Woodlands restaurant
• The Social
• The Red Fox Lounge
• Fuji Sushi
• Publix
• The House of Blues
• The Orange County Public Library
• The Winter Park Library
• The Enzian
  
• Orangetree Antiques
• Ron Jon
  
• IKEA
• The beach
  
• Winter Park Art Festival
• Leu Gardens
• WPRK
  

Some of these things we rarely used. I felt good just knowing that they were there. And I know that Raleigh is hardly Mayberry. There will be plenty (if not more) exciting and interesting restaurants and shopping and museums. But I am still going to miss Orlando. I grew up just an hour away and have lived my entire adult life here. It will be sad to leave it all behind.