While visiting Orlando for a conference, I decided to take a little detour for a nature fix. Wekiwa Springs State Park is one of many parks with springs in the area surrounding Orlando. It looked like the perfect place to enjoy a couple of hours in the sun.
This park has much to do including camping, swimming, kayaking, and what I decided to do on my trip—get lost hiking!
Well, I didn’t exactly get lost, but I did end up going down a trail that was once a trail but is no longer! I went literally off the beaten path. Oops! I guess Google maps isn’t always the most accurate about its park trails.
After my friends visited Miami, my friend Kim invited me to spend Memorial Day weekend in Orlando at her Airbnb.
Happenstance led me to eating a bunch of Asian cuisine from 3 separate countries in one day. We also visited a gorgeous botanical garden and kayaked lakes connected by canals.
This was an awesome, post-vaccination weekend and one I’d definitely do again sometime to see more of Orlando.
This month is the 50th Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and the 3 year anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting. So I have decided to write a bit about my experience visiting the Pulse Nightclub memorial back in November 2018.
Like many of my fellow queers and friends in the LGBTQ community, I was devastated on June 12, 2016 when I learned about the mass shooting that took place at Pulse nightclub resulting in 49 dead, 68 injured, and a world in shock.
While I went to vigils up in New York, my visit to Orlando was my chance to pay my respects in person and reflect more deeply on the reality of what happened.
Being there was even more powerful than I anticipated.
