An Orlando Jewel: The Wells Built Museum of African American History and Culture

After I had received a general overview of the history of the Orlando area in the Orange County Regional History Center, I wanted to delve a little deeper into the social history of the Orlando area, and the Wells Built Museum of African American History and Culture was going to give me a more in-depth look into Orlando’s African American history.

To this day this area west of I-4 is primarily inhabited by African Americans and the difference in housing and facilities between this area and the downtown area is quite notable. As a matter of fact, the very name “Division Street” points to a distinct historical line of demarcation between black and white residential areas.

The origins of the Wells Built Museum date back to a prominent local African physician by the name of Dr. William Monroe Wells who started building the Well’s Built Hotel in 1926 to provide lodging to African Americans during an era of segregation when accommodations were not available to them in other areas of Central Florida.

Next door to the Wells’ Built was once the South Street Casino, a performance hall, which featured musicians that traveled the ‘Chitlin Circuit’ performing for audiences all over the country. The hotel opened with three storefronts on the first floor and hotel rooms on the second floor.

Dr. William Monroe Wells was one of Orlando’s first black physicians and came to the area in 1917. Born in Ft. Gaines, Georgia, in 1889, Dr. Wells completed his medical training at Meharry Medical College. During part of WWII, Dr. William Monroe Wells was the only African American physician in Orlando.

During segregation, white physicians did not treat African American patients. African American doctors, therefore, earned their money from people of their own race. He worked very hard to serve the growing African American population in Orlando. With the help of his assistant, Mrs. Josie Belle Jackson, Dr. Wells is known to have delivered over 5,000 babies in Orlando.

He treated patients who suffered from pneumonia, influenza, scarlet fever and other serious illnesses before drugs like penicillin were introduced. Many of Dr. Wells’ patients were extremely poor. He treated their illnesses though they many times could not afford to pay his fee. This allowed them to speak forcefully against poor conditions that existed in the African American community without fear of losing their livelihood.

Although African Americans were taxpayers like other residents of Orlando, they did not have access to recreational facilities, good schools, police protection, health care and other services that were provided to white citizens. This led him to build the South Street Casino and the hotel next door.

Dr. Wells booked bands and other big name entertainers to perform at the South Street Casino. Many famous performers that we know today played at South Street Casino within the Chitlin Circuit. A few examples of these performers are:

– Ray Charles
– B.B. King
– Louis Armstrong
– Guitar Slim
– Bo Diddley

African Americans came from all over the surrounding areas to Orlando to shop and take in performances of popular musicians at the South Street Casino. After the performances at the casino, the artists checked in at the historic Wells’ Built Hotel. In its heyday, the Wells’ Built provided lodging for clientele such as Pegleg Bates, Ella Fitzgerald, Roy Campenella, Thurgood Marshall, and Jackie Robinson. The entertainers and athletes who frequented this establishment made it one of the most popular venues for African Americans in the South.

Today the museum features over 6,000 square feet of display space. It retains the original hotel facade, a guestroom featuring authentic furniture, beading and decorations of the 1930’s, and also bears an original interior wall reflecting important architectural elements and designs unique to the period. Exhibition material collected for display include: official hotel documents, an original Negro League baseball jersey, photographs, artifacts, books, multi-media exhibits, slave records and other items of historic significance.

Dr. Well’s home has been moved to the site of the Casino and will be restored and opened to the public. The Well’s Built Museum of African American Culture and History is located just west of I-4 near Church Street at 511 West South Street, Orlando 32801, tel. (407) 245-7535.

Travel Tips to Getting the Cheapest Flights

Most of us like to travel by air, and quite comfortably too, but many times the budget we have makes it hard to get the usual perks that come with a nicely packaged flight. The result is that many people usually find it hard to get the cheapest flights as they travel by air. It is not as hard is it seems but there are some things that we just have to know in our quest to make the best of a budget which has many competing items and projects. Let us look at some of the things which we need to understand in order to get the cheapest flights as we jet around.

First, it is important to understand that most of the sites we visit for our travel needs fall under three basic categories; aggregators, booking engines as well as airlines’ booking portal. Aggregators are those sites which just give you the opportunity to compare the flight prices. They make their money via the adverts which they display on their sites, you know, the Google AdSense and hotel deals. Examples of these include Expedia.com. Booking engines actually allow you to compare prices and book through them for a fee which is added to the flight fare itself. They are authorized to process bookings on behalf of the airline. Orbitz is an example of such sites. The airlines bookings portals allow you to make your bookings directly through them. Southwest for example allows you to do this. That way, you save yourself the fee you would have paid the booking engine.

It is also very important for you to ask questions when you book for instance, try using the phone to book. You will usually get very personalized service and your questions will get answered. If you use the nearest airport, will you get a rebate? Just make sure that you ask and get answers. Also, try to negotiate. Who says you cannot negotiate? The price is not always fixed! You never know until you ask questions. You recall the popular saying…when I doubt, ask!
Make sure that you book ahead for example, three weeks is an ideal time frame and if within the time and when you are to travel, the price comes down, make sure that you ask for the difference as some of the booking sites like Orbitz actually allow you to have the difference back.

One of the biggest means of guaranteeing yourself cheapest flights is to exercise flexibility when making your travel plans. You should be prepared to travel at the times of the day when people are avoiding movement thus forcing the prices to reduce. Also there are days of the week or periods of the year when low passenger traffic reduces fares and gets you really low fares. Prepare yourself to make those flexible movements in your agenda.

I am sure these few tips will help you manage your flight plans within your budget and still enjoy your trip.

Online Gambling News – Tips to Stay Ahead of the Game

What can you find in online gambling news? If you are a fan of online gambling, then you will benefit from this great resource.Let’s say it’s football season and you want to bet on a big game. You have heard that betting on sports is a much better form of gambling than the casino games.There are reasons for this logic which include your knowledge on the game itself and your instincts regarding the game. Okay, so you are betting on the big game with team B as your pick for the winner. If you know that the main player has just been injured, then you may want to reconsider your bet. When you are trying to make decisions such as this, you want to know what the latest news is regarding bets on this team.Another online gambling news feature would be information on the government and rulings or laws being passed on Internet gambling. The news affects you and the way you play. It affects you as the player, as well as the online casinos.Have you ever wondered why some forms of gambling are illegal and some that aren’t? This is a topic you would find in the news, as well other topics relating to the law and gambling. There are a lot of things you may want to be on top of such as news regarding the Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and how it will affect you.There is an enactment trying to ban online gambling. What about technology regarding online gambling? We know how quickly technology can change and this includes the Internet casinos. So far, they have been a bit behind when you look at the technology of the Internet games and things such as X box Live.But with the larger search engines and such, why is the online gambling industry being left on the lower end of the spectrum? While you are searching and reading the online gambling news, you may find out interesting facts such as “The Osbourne’s”game hitting the online casino scene.Or maybe you want to know the latest about the online poker shows. With an election, you will have the latest in the polls which can affect the way you bet. You can go to your favorite online casino to place your vote, but only after catching up on all the news.

Observe the Opponents and Win the Game

Importance of observing your opponents when gambling have simply highest level of importance. Improving this skill will simply give you much bigger chances to win and honestly this is the gambling part of the game. In order to win you need to take the right steps that will results in obtaining a valuable information. How you do in the game is basically what you decide to do after observing your opponents. You can easily gather information while the game goes on and this will bring you much more wins and spare you good amount of money. Gambling and observation has much more in common that you could think.It is rather a good habit to remember that your opponents will also observe you. Do not give out information easily. Use various strategies to mislead your opponents and change them often. What I mean is that scratching your nose each time you have poor handed will bring you just loss. Find out when your opponent bluffs but do not give signs when you want to.Typical method called “watch and decide” is a great practice that will lead you to winning more often. Observe how does your opponent acts. What they do with their hands? In which direction goes their eyes when they have good cards and where when they were not so lucky? If you are good at this then after first part you can have a lot of precious tips on how to deal with certain people. After two games you will be able to analyze and compare even more information and that will give you much bigger chance of winning. See how people act when they are sure of winning and what they do when they are about to bluff. Simply take in consideration each details of what and how they act. The best time to take note of these details is on the beginning of the game but you need to know that in critical moments things get more visible. If you ask me, it is way better to confirm what you observed before than starting to take notes in your mind. Treat your opponents as a mine of information that can bring you gold and know that in a matter of a fact it is so. Pay close attention especially to players who have won a lot. That means that they are not only good but also that their defense is a little bit lowered.When it comes to online gambling you need to take advantage of the chat and messaging system. Get to know against who you play – is they player tight, loose, passive or aggressive. Tight player will play lower amount of hands than average one. Loose player will play a lot more hands. Passive player takes time before placing bet and aggressive one most of the time go for bet and rise rather than check or call. They simply want to lead the game by their own rules. While it is quite easy to win with loose and passive players it is much harder to play and win against tight and aggressive ones. They are usually experienced players with great skills. When you meet tight and passive player it simply takes more time, skills and patience to win. Loose and aggressive can bring you money but it is not so easy to play against them.To keep your wins on a higher level than losses you need to be a good observer. It takes a lot of time and practice to become one, but some people have habits and knowledge that makes it easier. Get a clear idea about other players strategy and way of playing the game. Take as much notes in your head as it possible. Then combine them with your strategy and positive attitude to win simply more often. Remember that other players also observes you so train yourself in body language to not give out precious information just like that.

Basic Steps to Playing Blackjack

Whether you’re playing blackjack online or you’re under the roof of one of a beautiful casinos in Las Vegas or Monte Carlo, the good news about blackjack is that the rules are not only universal, they’re also universally easy to understand. In fact, a kid of eight can easily master the skills necessary for winning blackjack. Better yet, blackjack is very fun to play, so it’s rare that you’ll find yourself bored when playing this game.The Primary Objective of the GameIn poker, the primary objective would have to be something vague such as “getting the best hand possible”. But when it comes to blackjack, the objective of the game is simple: the cards with an equivalent value to 21 or the one nearest to it wins. Simple to understand, isn’t it?Who is Higher and Who’s Lower?In poker, you have to familiarize yourself with what a flush looks like and what a full house compromises, then remember which one is higher. In blackjack, however, there are no card combinations to memorize. In fact, all you have to do is compute what the value of your cards is and if you still need to improve on it or stick with what you have.The counting system for blackjack is just like how it is with Lucky 9, only it’s a wee bit – emphasizing the wee here – more complicated. Cards numbering two to ten are counted as they are. Face cards – that would be the royal couple, the king and queen, and of course, the third wheel, the jack – are equivalent to ten while the ace can be calculated as one or eleven. You alone shall be able to determine whether your cards would be better off with an ace worth one point or eleven.Who Wins and Who Doesn’t?In poker, people who believe that their cards are not that strong or up to par with their competitors’ immediately choose to fold or give up. In blackjack, while there’s no such thing as folding, there is such as thing as an immediate game loss – this is what happens when your cards are busted. Cards are busted when the value totals something more than twenty-one.If you have busted cards, you lose right away or have to wait for the next round to play.BettingBefore you can play blackjack, you must always place your bet on the table first.Lastly, if your first two cards are identical, you can divide them and play them separately.