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