Orlando Off The Beaten Path Discovering Central Florida Without Visiting Any Theme Parks Can It Be Done

•Hello From Orlando Central Florida s Wildlife An Abundance Of Diversity
When you go to Florida, wildlife confronts you everywhere. Especially all the exotic birds fascinated me, often you come up close to subtropical bird species while playing golf or picnicking in a public park. Central Florida is actually a much more interesting destination for naturalists than I would ever have expected. Both Florida's plant life and wildlife are surprisingly diverse and Florida is the 3rd most ecologically diverse state after Hawaii and California. It is a nearly flat...

•Hello From Orlando Part 3 An Evening Walk Around Lake Eola
Monday, November 28, 2005 Exploring Downtown Orlando - A Beautiful Walk Around Lake Eola After our interesting visits to the Orange County Regional History Center and the Well's Built Museum of African-American Culture and History, we decided to continue our explorations of downtown Orlando and its surrounding historic neighbourhoods. After driving through beautiful residential areas, framed by majestic oak trees adorned by Spanish Moss, we decided to take a stroll around beautiful Lake...

•Hello From Orlando Central Florida s Parks And Gardens Offer An Abundance Of Colours Shapes And Textures
Florida has a great amount of biodiversity and nature lovers will enjoy the great variety of plants found in the Sunshine State. On our recent trip to Orlando we had a chance to visit several locations with a beautiful parks and gardens, such as the Harry P. Leu Gardens and the Historical Bok Sanctuary. Even my excursion on the Scenic Boat Tour in Winter Park brought me up close to some of the fascinating flowers and plants found in the Orlando area. Florida has a mix of subtropical and...

•Hello From Orlando learning About The Story Of Citrus Florida s Natural Visitor Center
One of the things that Florida is known for is, you guessed it, is orange juice! The citrus industry has been playing a big role in Central Florida for many decades, and considering its importance, I wanted to learn a bit more about it. So with the help of the Orlando Visitors and Convention Bureau I was able to locate Florida's Natural Growers, a citrus-processing cooperative that produces the well-known Florida's Natural brand of juices. The cooperative was founded in 1933 and today more...

•Hello From Orlando 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...

•Hello From Orlando A Little Picnic Lunch In Kissimmee
After our exhilarating airboat ride and swamp buggy tour at Boggy Creek, we snaked our way north towards Orlando and decided to have a picnic lunch in the Orlando suburb of Kissimmee. This town is located at the doorstep of Walt Disney World complex and offers a variety of tourist class accommodations near historic downtown Kissimmee. The historic downtown districts feature walking tours, antique shops, shopping, dining, or sightseeing. According to the City of Kissimmee's web sitelocal...

•Hello From Orlando A Walk Through Winter Park A Hint Of New England In Florida
Just a few minutes north of downtown Orlando awaits Winter Park, a charming picturesque suburb steeped in history. After my excursion on the Scenic Boat Tour, my local expert Wanda Salerno took me on a little walk through town past beautiful historic neighbourhoods. With is origins as a citrus growing region, Winter Park became a major destination for wealthy northerners during the early 1900s, who came into town by train to reach their elegant winter retreats, seeking shelter from the cold...

•Hello From Orlando Part 7 Yeeehaaw Our High speed Adventure At Boggy Creek Airboat Tours
After my rather quaint and leisurely scenic boat ride through Winter Park, a rather different boating experience was in store for me: a high speed airboat ride through Lake Tohopekaliga, provided by Boggy Creek Airboat Rides. We got started early in the morning and took the first tour out. The temperature must have been about 45 degrees Fahrenheit or so, and in wise anticpation we both wore our Canadian winter jackets. Good thing, because it gets pretty darn cold zooming along at high speed...

•Hello From Orlando Part 9 Exploring Scenic Mount Dora On The Herbie Express
In my quest to find unusual destinations to visit in the Orlando area, I stumbled over a little town by the name of Mount Dora just about 45 minutes north of Orlando. I had read that it was a very picturesque small town located on a lake, and one of its main attractions was a scenic railway. Mount Dora is only 27 miles or 43 km northwest of Orlando. It has an elevation of 184 feet above Lake Dora, which makes it Florida's only mountain top town. Indeed the rolling hillsides and winding roads...

•quot Hello From Orlando Part 5 The Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour quot
The Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour, founded in 1938 and located just 15 minutes north of downtown Orlando, is one of these lovely side trips that combine beautiful scenery, a bit of local history, some close-up exposure to local wildlife and vegetation with a relaxing outing in a slow-moving 18-passenger pontoon boat, all complete with expert (and sometimes humorous) narration provided by the boat's captain. The tour takes you through 3 lakes: Lake Osceola, Lage Virginia and Lake Maitland. On...