unsplash-image-fDsCIIGdw9g.jpg

Blog

Amy’s Heart and Home

Horizon West, As Told By Oscar Nominees For Best Picture

In a recent Sunday Drive, my husband Eric and I chatted about the nominees for Best Picture at the Oscars, and since we haven’t actually had the time or ability to see most of these films for ourselves…we thought it would be fun to connect each of the nominee titles to something we love about Horizon West! Our drives are always off the cuff, but after thinking about these topics some more, I wanted to share some extra thoughts with you in blog form. So, without further ado, let’s dive in!

Belfast

Belfast is a historical film about a family living in…well, Belfast in the 1960s, but here in Horizon West, the closest we get to Ireland is one of my favorite spots, Hagan O’Reilly’s Irish Pub! My family and I once went to England, Ireland, and Wales together for a short trip, and the food was amazing…but there’s something special about having a little piece of Irish cuisine close to home.

Oh, and if you ever find yourself there, do yourself a favor and try their AMAZING Pot Pie! It’s my absolute favorite.

Don’t Look Up

Don’t Look Up follows astronomers trying to save Earth from a deadly comet…so suffice to say we mostly focused on the title for our Horizon West connection here!

In the latest Sunday Drive, I mentioned how when you DO look up here in Florida, we’ve been able to see some exciting SpaceX launches that light up the sky. We don’t often hear about these launches in our daily lives, but helpful neighbors always make sure to give you the inside scoop so you can enjoy the view!

After filming that video, though, I thought about all the other things you can see in the Florida sky. As close to Disney as we are, one big thing that comes to mind is fireworks! My neighbors and I get a sneaky peek at the Disney fireworks every night…who else can say that? Also because of the proximity to Disney, it’s a common thing to see sweet, hopeful messages written in the sky by skywriters.

All those exciting things aside, Florida’s natural sky is an experience all on its own. Growing up surrounded by trees in Virginia, it’s really amazing how Florida’s flat land opens up the sky so wide you sometimes feel like you can see the Earth’s curve. From thick, white clouds to the stars at night, there’s always something beautiful to see if you look up!

Drive My Car

Drive My Car is a Japanese film about an aging actor and his mechanic-slash-chauffeur. Well, we might be aging, but I’m no mechanic, and my husband is no actor (well…maybe that one isn’t too far off), but we do spend a lot of time driving in my car, on the way to and from meetings with clients, builders, sellers…and filming Sunday Drives, of course!

Dune

Central Florida is lacking in sand dunes, but being so central to the state means we have easy access to both the Gulf and ocean beaches on either side of the peninsula. In the rare times I have a free weekend, I love having so many amazing options at my disposal: a quick trip down the road to Disney or Universal, or a short road trip over to whatever beach strikes our fancy.

As a beach enthusiast who grew up in Virginia Beach long before flying south, here’s a pro tip! The grains of sand on the ocean beaches facing the Atlantic are a bit coarser, meaning they can chip your nail polish if you’re wearing any! The Gulf side has finer sands, which don’t pose as much of a threat to your pedicure.

King Richard

King Richard follows the story of tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams and their father, Richard, but the name King Richard immediately makes my husband think of Richard “The King” Petty, a racecar driver who primarily drove the #43 car sponsored by STP Motor Oil.

Fun Fact: my husband Eric used to work as a producer for a show called Raceline with Joe Moore and got to see some amazing races back in the day! He was even once tapped with fellow racing legend Dale Earnhardt’s car, who just so happened to be my dad’s favorite racer! Check out the YouTube video for that full story.

Licorice Pizza

I really want to see this movie about love in the 1970s based on real memories from the creators, but I haven’t gotten to it yet! So for now, let’s talk about candy and pizza here in Horizon West.

There is no shortage of pizza places to try here. With a family of six, I know better than most how everyone has their “perfect pizza” made just the way they like it! From customizable personal pizzas at Pizza Press and delicious New York Style pizza from NYPD Pizza to sit-down restaurants like the Winter Garden Pizza Company in downtown Winter Garden (my personal favorite!) there is always a great slice of pie just a few minutes away.

If you’re a fan of classic candy stores, my husband loves Webb’s Candy Factory on Route 27. If you’re looking for a nostalgic candy shop experience, this is your place to go!

Nightmare Alley

Nightmare Alley is all about a group of schemers in 1940s New York, but when I first heart that title for the video, I thought about my “nightmare” street here in Horizon West…aka, a road that I just plain don’t like.

For me, Tiny Road will always be my nightmare road, but I’ll be the first to admit that this comes from past experiences more than anything. Before my family moved to Florida, I flew south by myself to see some of the areas we were thinking of moving to, and I found myself on Tiny Road. Not knowing where I was going and nervous of the hills of what was then agriculture as far as the eye could see…I hated it! Now, though, I drive on even Tiny Road with ease.

Truly, the nightmare road in Florida is I-4. Especially in Central Florida, I-4 is filled with eager families on their way to Disney, Universal, Sea World…the list goes on. I love the thought of new tourists experiencing Florida for the first time…but it makes traffic on that road a struggle. Vacation brain is a real thing, and it extends far beyond the Disney arches. On the plus side, living in Florida, I’ve rarely had cause to spend much time on I-4 thanks to alternate roads that are often quicker and a lot less stressful to navigate.

The Power of the Dog

Of course, when we hear “dog,” we’re going to think of our own pups! We call our big girl Lucy a “Million Dollar Dog,” because ensuring she and our other two pups had the space to run and play that she needed as a 98 pound (lovable) monstrosity was one of the determining factors of our move to a bigger lot this past year.

Fun Fact: While houses in Florida are closer together than some might be familiar with, they are built that way to prioritize depth over width. That means that your lot is designed to ideally give you more usable space in the backyard for you, your little ones, and your furry friends.

West Side Story

We all know West Side Story (both my husband and I dabbled in the show back in our performing days) but the Horizon West (Side) Story is something not a lot of people know! In short, the land surrounding Disney used to be all agricultural land, filled with orange groves and the like. Unfortunately, the state had a few deep freezes back in the day, and much of those groves and agricultural lands stopped producing the way they needed to for the farmers who lived and worked there.

So, with groves of oranges left abandoned, the area was rezoned as residential, and development began! Even now, we are still seeing wave upon wave of new developments popping up in these areas. It’s always sad to see those old groves and trees go, but it’s exciting to see all these new homes (and new neighbors) turning Horizon West into the beautiful place to live it is today.

Coda

We totally forgot to mention this one in our video! This movie is about a hearing teenager from a deaf family and how she discovers a passion for singing in her high school’s choir. It sounds like a beautiful film, and it connects to something else I love about this area.

My two youngest both attended West Orange High School, where the choir department is one of the best I have ever had the privilege to experience. They put in so much work to instill values of responsibility and hard work into their students in addition to their beautiful singing voices. The former choir director, Dr. Jeffrey Redding, is a Grammy Award winner, and students from West Orange were even part of the choir for a song in Frozen 2!

Okay, so some of these examples were a bigger reach than others, but I hope it was still a fun way to talk about some of the little details about living in Horizon West that you might not know of otherwise. Let me know if you’ve seen and enjoyed any of the movies nominated this year (I need recommendations for the rare times I can sit down and watch a movie!) and if there are any other tidbits about Horizon West you’d like to know more about. Better yet, if you want to experience Horizon West for yourself as a new neighbor, shoot me a text to my cell at 407-848-8042 so we can get started helping you find a Horizon West home!