| One of my husband's favourite places is Florida, since | | | | Scenic Railway.From midweek in the second week |
| he is an avid golfer and likes to get away from the | | | | onwards the weather took a turn for the worse. While |
| cold Canadian winter for his birthday in early | | | | planes were sliding off runways in Chicago and record |
| December.For a while now we had planned to visit | | | | temperatures were registered in the mid-western |
| Orlando, but neither one of us are into theme parks. So | | | | states, we were freezing in Florida where the mercury |
| there was the challenge for me: would we be able to | | | | hovered around 68 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (around |
| visit Orlando without setting foot into Disney or | | | | +20 degrees Celsius). So I bought a rain jacket, and |
| Universal Studios? For someone as curious as me this | | | | determined not to let the freezing cold interfere with |
| was a suitable challenge and I had been doing weeks | | | | our plans, we headed out to continue our |
| of searches on the Internet and communicating with | | | | explorations.On a day that was forecast to be rainy, |
| the Orlando Convention and Visitors Bureau to find out | | | | but just ended up being a bit grey and clammy, we |
| about interesting destinations off the beaten path.Well, I | | | | went out to discover Loch Haven Park, Orlando's |
| am happy to say, we arrived back safely yesterday | | | | center of science, art and culture. We then continued |
| from our trip, and the trip itself was quite an adventure | | | | our explorations further south to discover some of |
| since we decided to drive from Toronto to Orlando, | | | | Orlando's historic neighbourhoods and parks such as |
| about 2100 km each way! Actually, the drive was not | | | | Lake Cherokee and Lake Lucerne.As the drizzly |
| as painful as I expected. The drive through | | | | weather continued, we went on to visit Florida's Natural |
| Pennsylvania and West Virginia was nice and hilly, and I | | | | Visitor Center in Lake Wales, about an hours drive |
| particularly enjoyed coming over the ridge of the | | | | south of Orlando, where I got a really good |
| Appalachians, right where Virginia and North Carolina | | | | understanding of Central Florida's citrus industry. I spent |
| meet, where you get a beautiful view of the piedmont | | | | the afternoon in another famous attraction in Lake |
| area around Winston-Salem that spreads out towards | | | | Wales which holds two National Historic Landmarks: |
| the Atlantic in front of the mountain chain.And I am | | | | the Historic Bok Sanctuary, where I got to see the |
| even happier to say that in the 14 or so days that we | | | | beauty of the Bok estate and its historic carillon tower, |
| spent in Orlando, not only did we get to play a lot of | | | | combined with a tour through the historic Pinewood |
| golf (to make my husband really happy...;) - including | | | | Estate, which was decked out in full Christmas |
| Mystic Dunes, Champions Gate, Royal St. Cloud Links, | | | | decorations.During these 2 weeks in Florida, we got |
| Hawk's Landing and Timacuan Golf and Country Club, | | | | exposed to a lot of its plants, flowers and wildlife, |
| not to mention the Walking Hall of Fame experience of | | | | much of which you run into casually even while playing |
| the PGA Father Son Challenge at Champions Gate, | | | | golf or picknicking by the waterfront. Florida has a |
| but I also got to explore some really interesting places, | | | | surprising amount of natural diversity and I enjoyed |
| destinations I would not have expected in Orlando and | | | | watching the various types of birds, lizards, and |
| its surrounding region. I also had a chance to do an | | | | squirrels. The only thing we didn't get to see was a live |
| interview with GolfOrlando to get a much better idea | | | | alligator (with the exception of the well-hidden rear end |
| of why Orlando is called "The Ultimate Golf Theme | | | | of a small alligator during our swamp buggy tour - |
| Park".We started off our first week with a visit to the | | | | unfortunately I couldn't even get a good picture of that |
| Orange Country Regional History Center, which gave | | | | one..).On our drive home, on a bright sunny day (of |
| us a suitable historic background of Orlando and | | | | course...), we stopped off in St. Augustine, a historic |
| Central Florida. Then, for some sociological and cultural | | | | town founded by the Spaniards in the 1500s, and the |
| insights, we visited the Well's Built Museum for African | | | | oldest continuously inhabited town in the United States |
| American History and Culture in Orlando. To top off | | | | - a mighty photogenic place, I should add.So, you ask, is |
| our first day of exploration we enjoyed a walk around | | | | it possible to spend 2 weeks in Orlando without even |
| picturesque Lake Eola in downtown Orlando.The next | | | | setting foot inside a theme park and still have a good |
| item on my off-the-beaten path agenda was a | | | | time? Well, based on the above itinerary I'd say that |
| discovery of the City of Winter Park, a beautiful | | | | my plans to explore Orlando off the beaten path |
| suburb of Orlando, reminiscent of Old European towns. | | | | came to full fruition.Mission accomplished.Susanne |
| I also went on the Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour, | | | | Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and |
| which was an entertaining, informative and visually | | | | Transitions ( Travel and Transitions deals with |
| appealing excursion.The adrenaline revved up | | | | unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, |
| significantly on our next outing: a very high-speed | | | | real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers |
| airboat ride at Boggy Creek, that was followed up by | | | | and travel experts, insights and reflections, |
| a much lower speed swamp buggy ride in a | | | | cross-cultural issues, contests and many other |
| custom-built monster truck that took us through | | | | features. You will also find stories about life and the |
| authentic Florida landscape.After our golf outing at the | | | | transitions that we face as we go through our own |
| Royal St. Cloud Golf Links we enjoyed a wonderful | | | | personal life-long journeys.Submit your own travel |
| picnic by the waterfront in sunny downtown | | | | stories in our first travel story contest ( and have a |
| Kissimmee. Then, on a beautiful Sunday morning we | | | | chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the |
| drove about an hour outside of Orlando to reach the | | | | Amazon River."Life is a Journey Explore New |
| quaint town of Mt. Dora, where I hopped on the | | | | Horizons". |
| "Herbie Express", part of the Mt. Dora - Lake Eustis | | | | |