Celebration, Florida

[Chris Coles]

Re: Celebration, Florida

* My reward was an antique coffee pot, made of solid silver [likely in what is now Yemen or Oman] with hand-hammered Arabic calligraphy [done over a carved wooden form]...forlorn and tarnished completely black when I discovered it buried in a large pile of salvaged metal door hardware. The whole process of negotiation took more than five hours, during which I drank so much tea I thought my bladder was going to explode. The negotiations stretched the limits of my "restaurant Arabic", but ended in the perfect outcome for everyone...I bought it for a pittance, and the merchant couldn't believe his luck to secure such a windfall [I paid him in US Dollars] from his newfound stupid tourist "friend". My Arab travelling companion, who had amused himself patiently watching the proceedings, popped my victory bubble by declaring, once we departed via the alley, that "You could have got it cheaper if you weren't in such a hurry". It remains one of my favourite artifacts of my time living abroad; a constant reminder of a memorable and enjoyable encounter with another human being in a far away land.

In a very real way, you also illustrate the unseen problem with the original concept for the new town in Florida; no new industry.

Cairo is full of small businesses that make things like coffee pots, from strange substances called "metal" using something even less understood by the lawyer and his wife, manual skills.

[don]

Re: Celebration, Florida

I should have posted this here originally. Will it be the vacation destination for many from Celebration?

Facing a rising tide of joblessness, the governor of Kentucky has found one solution: build an ark.

The state has promised generous tax incentives to a group of entrepreneurs who plan to construct a full-size replica of Noah’s ark, load it with animals and actors, and make it the centerpiece of a Bible-based tourist attraction called Ark Encounter.

The theme park was conceived by the same Christian ministry that built the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Ky., where dioramas designed to debunk evolution show humans and dinosaurs coexisting peacefully on an earth created by God in six days. The ministry, Answers in Genesis, believes that the earth is only 6,000 years old — a controversial assertion even among many Bible-believing Christians.

The Creation Museum has drawn 1.2 million visitors in its first three years — proving that there is a sizable paying audience for entertainment rooted in a literal interpretation of the Bible.

The developers of Ark Encounter, who have incorporated as a profit-making company, say they expect to spend $150 million, employ 900 people and attract 1.6 million visitors from around the world in the first year. With the Creation Museum only 45 miles away, they envision a Christian tourism corridor that would draw busloads from churches and Christian schools for two- and three-day visits.

“It’s our opportunity to present accurate, factual biblical information to people about a subject that they’re really interested in,” said Mike Zovath, a senior vice president of Answers in Genesis.

In the interest of verisimilitude, the ark is to be built with wooden pegs and timber framing by Amish builders, Mr. Zovath said. Animals including giraffes — but only small, young giraffes — will be kept in pens on board.

“We think that God would probably have sent healthy juvenile-sized animals that weren’t fully grown yet, so there would be plenty of room,” said Mr. Zovath, a retired Army lieutenant colonel heading the ark project. “We want to show how Noah would have taken care of them, taken care of waste management, taken care of water needs and food needs.”

The park will include a 100-foot Tower of Babel, a first-century Middle Eastern village and a journey through the Old Testament, with special effects depicting Moses, the 10 plagues and the parting of the Red Sea. For children, there will be a petting zoo, live bird and animal shows and a play area with ziplines and climbing nets — all Bible-themed. Even the trainer, Dan Breeding, will present animal acts with a Gospel message about creation.

The entry fee for adults would be somewhere in the middle- to upper-$30 range, said Cary Summers, the lead consultant, who has run large entertainment attractions in Branson, Mo., and helped expand the Bass Pro Shops into shopping and entertainment complexes.

Mr. Summers said the developers had options on 800 acres of land in Grant County, Ky. If all the approvals are granted, they expect to break ground next year and finish by 2014.

He said they had been offering the proposal quietly for two years, and also showed it to officials in Ohio and Indiana. But Kentucky was by far the most receptive and offered the most generous financial incentives, he said, because it sees tourism as a promising means of economic development.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/us...s%20ark&st=cse

[Chris Coles]

Re: Celebration, Florida

We can all watch it float away when sea levels rise; but in which case, I guarantee the animals will be left behind.