Totally forgot to post!

Column from Friday, enjoy!

I had forgotten just how stunning the Cheyenne Saloon & Opera House was until I stepped back into the building for its grand opening last weekend.

Then again, I wonder if I ever appreciated how beautiful it was originally, before the Church Street venue closed seven years ago. The last time I was there, I was freshly legal to drink, which is probably why the memory is a bit fuzzy. I remember a friend was meeting up with some guy who dug country music as much as she did -- me? Not so much. I hung out by the ornate staircase and kept company with a bottle of Bud.

Then again, did anyone fully appreciate Church Street in its heyday? We all knew it was a fun place to go when relatives were in town -- or, as in my case, if you wanted to escape the suburban constraints of being a teenager in Lake Mary. Most just accepted its always being there. And then one day, it wasn't.

Today, the place is a sight, from the three tiers of saloon seating overlooking the dance floor and stage in the center of the 20,000-square-foot wooden structure to the stained glass and brass throughout. The employees were in Wild West saloon period gear and all had smiles on their faces.

The smiles carried over to the packed house, there to see Collin Raye, the act rechristening the stage of Orlando's version of the Grand Ole Opry. A couple of friends in our group that evening are big fans of Raye; the rest of us are big fans of bars, and this was topping the list of one of the most beautiful I had ever seen. We sat on the second tier, directly behind the stage -- since we were facing the performer's back, the big screen anchored from the ceiling helped folks in obstructed-view seating get a glimpse of the show.

The crowd was definitely mixed, with fans of yesteryear packing the house along with younger country fans checking out what is a new venue to them.

Hopefully, they'll keep acts such as Raye coming, because the drink prices were a bit high for the dust bowl that is currently Church Street. With $7 Jack and Cokes, I had to double-check I was actually on Church Street and not Disney property. I know there are bills to be paid in a place like this, but you want the people to keep coming, and with prices like that it will be hard to justify no matter how beautiful it is.

Especially when the post-apocalyptic area that is 55 West's construction site is making Church Street look like it dead-ends smack dab in the middle of the street. But even without the music acts, the outdoor seating on the second floor and pool table and barbecue restaurant on the third give reason for people to stick around. We had a fabulous time talking about and gawking at all the antiques that adorn the building.

One suggestion though: The place really cleared out after Raye left the stage, and a house band came on playing "Brick House" and other wedding-reception faves. I'll dance to anything, but the majority of the crowd came to see a Nashville act -- as my friend Brad put it, "It would probably be a good idea if they kept playing country music, you know, since this is a country bar."

I'm not a big country fan, but he had a valid point. Who goes to a country bar to hear "Smooth" by Santana? And a club this size emptied by 11:15 on a Saturday night is not a good thing.

I only mention this because I really, really want Cheyenne Saloon to succeed, and hopefully breathe life into this area again. The fact that this beautiful building sat in dust for the past seven years is a shame; I don't want to see that happen again.

Cheyenne Saloon & Opera House is at 128 W. Church St., Suite 13 in downtown Orlando, go to cheyennesaloonandoperahouse .com