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