Transportation
Capturing a Decade of Characters on Orlando's Skid Row
Photographer Bryan Soderlind shares his collection of images from the infamous Orange Blossom Trail.
Growing up around Orlando, the first place I learned to stay away from was the Orange Blossom Trail, aka where U.S. Route 441 joins up with U.S. 17/92, a highway that runs south-north on the west side of the city. You could, and still can, find just about everything good, bad, and weird about Central Florida on the Trail.
The first draw on the south end is Gatorland, an animal park that bills itself as the "Alligator Capital of the World." Heading north from there, you get the Florida Mall, Goodwill Orlando, and more strip clubs, strip malls, adult toy stores, and by-the-hour/-day/-week motels than you can shake a stick at. Also: lots of sex workers, and the Parliament House, Orlando's most storied gay bar.