STAY AT HOME:
Two-week order to shelter in place went into effect Thursday
Many areas of Orange County seemed quieter on Friday, a day after a stayat-home order went into effect.
Many areas of Orange County seemed quieter on Friday, a day after a stay-at-home order went into effect for the next two weeks.
The order, issued by Mayor Jerry Demings, still allows residents to shop at grocery stores, exercise outside, order takeout, see a doctor or pick up supplies to work from home.
And there are many exemptions to the order, including hardware stores, gas stations, laundromats, liquor stores, construction sites and repair shops.
Downtown and west Orlando
From the Lynx main bus station next to Interstate 4 to Orange Blossom Trail at Church Street, activity had eased notably Friday afternoon compared with the day before, which also was diminished from more ordinary times.
At the bus station were essential workers – in Walmart and construction uniforms, for example – and essential tasks. A man was toting three cases of Budweiser. “I’m ready,” he said for the uncertainty of staying at home. “I don’t know if that’s good or not.”
Day laborer Michael Old Elk Warrior, 30, was carrying two shovels, waiting for a bus ride to a check-cashing place. “It’s not going to affect me,” he said of the coronavirus. “What will affect me is if there is no work.”
A homeless woman, Gayle Wessel, 55, was debating a cheap hotel without washcloths and towels or a sleeping place in east Orange County hidden by plywood and a sheet of vinyl. She said she was jailed recently for sleeping at the airport.
At Orange Blossom Trail and Church Street, a gritty intersection where little softens the noise of congestion, traffic had eased markedly from Thursday, enough so that elevator music piped through speakers at the Mobile station a block away was briefly audible occasionally.
The usually high-energy intersection was a mixed scene. Church’s Chicken still had a cluster of men, lounging on portable chairs in the shade of the business’ sign. A small crowd waited for ice cream at the window of Goff ’s Drive In. But the Discount Auto Center and Muffler Shop, churning with business the day before, was chained shut.
Barnett Park
In Pine Hills, Orange County’s 159-acre oasis of green was nearly deserted on Friday.
A day earlier, before the mayor’s stay-at-home order kicked in, knots of fitness groups stretched on patches of
thread-bare grass, squealing kids romped on the playgrounds, and Lester and Lance Axson, lathered in sweat, practiced drills they hope will help them defend wide receivers if the threat of coronavirus eases enough to let college football return in the fall.
Only the Orlando brothers, freshmen at Campbell University in North Carolina, returned Friday, working out on a sand-volleyball court because the football field was gated closed.
Sharrieff Smith, 42, of Orlando, who works out in the park in Pine Hills three or four times a week, noticed the eerie quiet, too.
Just a few souls strolled past as he went through an exercise routine while his son, Cairo, 3, played with a miniature construction crane under chin-up bars.
“A major difference,” he said of the emptiness. “I hope people see this is serious and take it serious, too.”
College Park
Edgewater Drive’s shopping district was mostly empty Thursday afternoon, with the restaurants closed but for takeout, and their sidewalk tables sitting empty. A few customers were at the Doghouse, picking up takeout orders of hot dogs and tater tots.
Friday afternoon, however, the hot dog shop was empty except for the employees standing behind the counter. No one was at The Soda Fountain, the ice cream store next door, either.
Carlos Aguilera owns both.
Spring should be a busy season for both shops, and Friday should be busier than Thursday, Aguilera said.
But not this week. “It’s been slow day,” he said Friday afternoon. “Like 20 percent slower.”
That could change by evening, he noted, as the end of the work week typically brings in more diners wanting a meal made for them and night time is often when families head out for ice cream.
“We just have to wait and see,” he said.
Lake Eola
One exception seemed to be the downtown park, which drew people jogging, walking and sitting around the lake. Some watched the swans or enjoyed their lunch hour in the shade on Friday, just as they had done day before. In a nod to social distancing, most avoided walking directly next to someone, switching to the other side of the path
Friends Mindy Gordon and Kevin Corzine met up as usual at the park on Friday for a picnic lunch — though they were sure to sit a few feet apart. They both said they’re taking the new order seriously but still needed some time outside.
“I feel like it’s also important to get outside, sweat a little, get some Vitamin D,” said Gordon, 50. She said it’s been lonely spending her days working from home, alone with just her cat, especially as an extrovert.
“We agreed to be responsible,” Corzine said. “It’s great to be out.”