My holiday diary: Spy Bar (Day 2)

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Originally uploaded by ambroseneville.

On Thursday we started out the day slowly, with a few games of Soul Calibre on the Gamecube. Thurston and Andrew were much more proficient than either me or Jack, but I have a feeling this will change over the course of the holiday.

That afternoon, we drove over to a couple of guitar shops (to look at potential purchases for me) and a pawn shop (to buy DVDs and gamecube accessories for T and Andrew). Apart from being able to buy colour gameboys for the equivalent of 8 pounds, the other interesting thing about the pawn shop was the sheer number of garden tools, fishing rods and drill/tool kits for sale. Although there was a sign saying that the ownership of all items was verified by the sheriff's office, I'd bet a lot of the merch was stolen from people's garages. They also had a big shotgun mounted behind the desk, ready for use, with a sign saying something along the lines of 'do not ask, this gun is not for sale'.

After that, we went to a fantastic record shop, better, certainly than any record shop I've ever been to in the UK. I bought myself a Cursive hoodie and a CD by a new band called Hanalei, and the other guys each bought t-shirts and CDs.

That evening we went to downtown Orlando, to find some bars. We looked around quite a few different places, many of which didn't look like we'd fit in, and then we finally landed on a little bar where a friend of Thurston's was DJing. I was most excited about the fact that they had Newkie Brown Ale on tap, something I've never seen in Wales or the South of England. Then we went onto another bar called the Spy Bar. It was a really nicely themed bar with secret doors and CCTV cameras all over the place. The picture of the 6 of us above was in a secret room, concealed behind a bookcase.

At the end of the night (it must have been around 1 a.m.) we went to an excellent diner called Steak and Shake, and I had a 'Frisco Melt which was delicious. We were served by 2 staff: a very friendly middle-aged woman, and a lunatic bald guy in his early 20s. On my way out, a girl and guy stopped me to say how much they liked my Cursive hoodie. Again, I went to sleep quickly once we got home, but I didn't sleep much beyond 4, because my body clock was still messed-up from the jetlag.