Dirt Nap – Not at Winter Park's New Base Village! - by Mike Periolat

As a 16+ year resident of Winter Park, we “semi-locals” sometimes have very short memories of how things use to be in Winter Park. The other night, I took my 3 & 4 year old girls to a birthday party in Winter Park's New Base Village. There were people milling-about everywhere, coffee at Starbucks, German Beers, Mexican food, people ice skating, and a great ice cream/sandwich shop for the B-day party go-ers. Santa was there taking pic's with the kids and Winter Park Resort/Intrawest were really putting forth an effort to entertain the locals and visitors at Winter Park's New Base Village. Parking in the garage is free after 3:00, which is awesome, and the new Cabriolet is a fun little ride for the little ones! As I sat there having a Starbucks, it finally hit me – WOW, I'm in Winter Park, having a great time in an area that just twoyears ago was a dirt (mostly mud) parking lot. Intrawest really should be applauded for having the vision to developWinter Park's New Base Village and further thanked for bringing our Resort Town a great looking and fully finished product! Times have been tough these last 2 years, but Intrawest stuck to their initial plan, pushed forward and finished this portion of the Base Village.....and it's great! I don't miss walking through the ankle deep mud and as a “local” I have NO complaints!