Take A Holiday Dinner Cruise In Florida

Posted on November 16, 2016 by floridatraveler

In looking for ways to entertain winter and holiday visitors, I realized that I forgot about a way to combine dinner and a cruise to see the Christmas and holiday nights of the Florida waterfront.  And to be perfectly honest, some of our cities look better at night when everything is lit up.

Tampa is offering a two for one cruise this year.  Besides their usual dining cruise schedule, on some December dates the large Yacht StarShip, is offering a bonus holiday buffet.  Before or after the Yacht StarShip cruise, guests get on Tampa’s Pirate Water Taxi and sail up the Hillsborough River.

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This is one of the largest dinner boats

This cruise gets you a waterside view of downtown, the historic Tampa Bay Hotel, the huge Straz Entertainment complex, and waterfront restaurants.  Normally the Water Taxis have some thirteen stops along Tampa’s Riverwalk which goes from the History Center up to the old waterworks, home of Ulele Restaurant.

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Cruising Tampa On A Dinner Boat

If you prefer cruising the Intracoastal Water and the Gulf of Mexico at Clearwater, there are the spectacular dinner cruises of Starlite Cruises, offering fine dining, dancing, and great views of the hotels and resorts of the islands of Pinellas County.  The company actually has four different types of books available also for private parties and special events.

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Cruising Off Clearwater Beach

If you want a dinner cruise with a little more action and partying, there is the Key West Party Cruise on the William Street docks.  With one price buffet dinning, a load calypso dance band, and unlimited margaritas and rum runners, you’ll think you are on an island cruise.

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Key West really dresses up the docks and boats at Christmas and the island city is in a very happy mood.

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Party Dining Off Key West

For Florida Gold Coasters there is the Majestic Princess Dinner Cruises out of Riviera Beach in Palm Beach County.  The dinner cruises sail down to Palm Beach and watch all the incredible waterfront homes all lit up.

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Dining With the Palm Beach Mansions

If you don’t like going modern with large millionaire yachts, you can enjoy a dinner cruise in Panama City of the Betsy Ann Riverboat.  It’s a little bit rustic Florida and country South but that is also the vive in Panhandle Florida.  It should be no shock that the company also owns PoFolks and the Triple J Steakhouses.

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Posted in adventure vacation, attractions, dining, Florida Food, florida history, Recreational Experiences, Restaurants, travel | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Florida’s Famous Mansions Are Open To Visit

Posted on November 8, 2016 by floridatraveler

Whenever my wife and I vacation in North Carolina, we have to stay at the incredible Biltmore complex, the largest private house in the United States.  I’m not certain I would want to reside in a place with 43 bathrooms to clean, but tourists love to see how the very rich lived throughout our American story.

Florida had its own tropical Biltmores and they do cost less to visit than the Asheville spread.

The Viscaya Museum and Gardens, Coconut Grove, Miami

My favorite Florida mansion is the amazing former Villa Vizcaya, F. Burrall Hoffman’s unique Mediterranean Revival design with Baroque elements. Built from 1914 to 1922 from James Deering, owner of International Harvester, the 180 acre estate is extravagantly tasteful inside and in the best landscaped house gardens in Florida.

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I am most attractive to the way Columbian landscape designer Diego Suarez combined the layout of elaborate Italian Renaissance gardens with tropical plants and Floridian coral and limestone.   Miami-Sade County operates the beautiful property and it is conveniently located near the Vizcaya Station of the Miami Metrorail.

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Ca’ D’Zan, Sarasota

The architectural gem of the Florida Gulf Coast is Ca’ D’Zan (House of John), the waterfront 1926 palazzo on Sarasota Bay.  It was the home of James Ringling who made Sarasota the winter headquarters of his Raingling Brothers and Barnam and Bailey Circus.  The Ringlings loved Italy and hired famed New York architect Dwight Jame Baum to design a 56 room Venetian Gothic masterpiece filled with European collectibles.

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When visiting The Ringling, tourists get an all-day attraction for the 40 acre complex also includes the massive 1925 21-gallery Ringling Museum, a treasure trove of Renaissance art, one of the largest in the USA.  The U-shaped palace surrounds a courtyard of priceless statues and Italian gardens.  A third attraction of wonder is the Ringling Circus Museum, filled with circus artifacts, including the Ringling railroad car known as Wisconsin.

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After a tour of Ca’ D’Zan, if you really like the mansion, I suggest you take an additional tour (more $) of the interesting servant quarters, the giant vault on the second floor, and a rooftop view of scenic Sarasota Bay.

 Whitehall, Palm Beach

Railroad magnate Henry Flagler’s 1902 palace of marble is a little outrageous like its owner.  The 75-room Gilded Era mansion was built as a wedding present for his wife Mary Lily Kenan Flagler.   It is Beaux-Arts architecture with the columns of a Greek temple.  I always found the mansion a little impersonal, but perhaps this is because the house was later the front lobby and public rooms of a huge bayside hotel.

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My personal favorite addition is the beautifully restored 1885 Railcar No. 91, the one Flagler rode down to Key West on the now gone Overseas Railway which later became the Overseas Highway. I won’t tell you what about the interior of the railway car – you will be surprised.

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The Casements, Ormond Beach

Built originally in 1910 for the Rev. Harwood Huntington as a winter home, the house was named for the distinctive casement windows which helped keep the interior cool even in the summertime.  In 1918 the retired John D. Rockefeller made the house his winter residence and the property immediately became the focal point of the small beachside community.

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The City of Ormond Beach uses the building as a civic center and gives tours of the house and the restored two-acre English garden along the Halifax River.   It is easy to see why Henry Ford and Will Rogers felt the house was so relaxing and peaceful.

 

 

 

Posted in art, attractions, circus, florida education, florida history, Florida parks, florida vacations, museums, railroads | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

November Has Its Moments In Florida

Posted on November 1, 2016 by floridatraveler

November is an in-between time for vacationers in Florida and many enjoy the fact that many of the snowbirds have not arrived and most natives have deserted the beaches as the water lowers into the 70’s (burrrrr).   The big festival parades and winter showcases are after Christmas and Florida’s holiday boat parades are packed into the first few weeks of December.  But November has its share of events.

Here are some of our picks for vacationers and residents looking for a weekend or more of places to go and things to see.

Best Big Event:   the 57th anniversary of the world’s largest boat show, the Ft Lauderdale International Boat Show starting in two days (November 3 to the 7th)

If you don’t think Ft Lauderdale deserves to be called “the Yachting Capital of the World” then I suggest you visit this boat show.  A rich Arab potentiate would find many of yacht to his liking with the super-yachts complete with helipads.  This show is so big you find a daily or multi-daily ticket for the boats are spread across seven yacht basins.

It is a treat to just visit places like Pier Sixty Six and the Bahia Bahr Yachting Center, but to board a 200-foot yacht and at least dream you are a buyer is a fun experience.  Oh, well, I can afford that inflatable boat.

Best Competitive Event:  American Sandsculpting Championship

Fort Myers Beach will host the 30th Annual American Sandsculpting Championship from November 18th to November 27. Professional sandsculpting masters from three continents will compete for the big prize, but everyday has competitions and even lessons in the art.  There is plenty of food and children’s activities.

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This is the largest competition of this type in Florida, a state that takes its beach art very serious.  I witnesses the amazing Quick Sand Speed Sculpturing a few years ago and could not believe you could make that quality of artistic object out of sand in such a short time.

Best Arty Event: St. Armands Art Festival

Very few Florida towns can match Sarasota for its art patronage and talented artists, and the 28th Annual St. Armands Art Festival, which takes place November 12 and 13 is special due to its location.   St. Armands Circle is an island dining and shopping paradise, but the artists make it a special time to visit.

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The great thing about this festival is it is free, but you must come early to get good parking.  The good news: the famous Mote Aquarium is just a mile northward on adjacent City Island and the public beaches are less than that to the south.

Best Down Home Festival:  Yankeetown Arts Crafts and Seafood Festival

On November 19th and 20th it seems most of the people in the Big Bend area of Florida northwest of Gainesville will be heading to the small fishing

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village of Yankeetown on the Suwannee River near the Gulf of Mexico.  Part of the personality of small town Florida is the friendliness of the people and the unusual homemade arts and crafts.

The event spreads out along tree-lined Riverside Drive where people can catch a boat ride on the Lower Withlachoochee River.  This is not tourist country – the town has no hotels and motels.  Of course, parking and admission is free.

 Best Family Event:  Greater Jacksonville Agricultural Fair

The largest fair in Northeast Florida starts Florida’s long winter fair season, but this fair is very family oriented with lots of free entertainment and children’s educational programs where city kids visit the barns and visit the farmers.  Even the celebrity shows from Foghat to Little River Band are priced at $10 rather than some of the high concerts prices of many fairs.

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The fair opens tomorrow (the 2nd) and runs for two weeks.

Posted in attractions, dining, florida history, Florida parks, florida vacations, Recreational Experiences, small towns, travel | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Floridians – Who Are We ?

Posted on October 25, 2016 by floridatraveler

When you live in Florida, you seem, as a recent Sonic ad noted, to be another world.  We are in the South, but we are not Southerners.  Just ask a guy in Alabama or Georgia  if you don’t believe that statement.   We are not Northerners despite all the snowbirds.  We are Floridians and we are somewhat alone and often weirdly different.

I am guilty of telling my students the popular statement: “The more south you go in Florida, the more north it becomes, until you reach Miami and then you are in Cuba.”  That is valid unless you get lost coming out of the Miami International and you might find yourself in Little Haiti.

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Street Festival in Cuban Miami

As late as 1900, we were the least populated state south of the Mason-Dixon line, but today no one is feeling sorry for our growth into the most populated state east of the Mississippi.  And since I include lakes and ponds in my geography (sorry Georgia) Florida is also the largest state east of the Mississippi.

But who are we Floridians?  With all our senior citizens, we have a birth rate (just 1.77) that would mean a declining population if not for the thousands of people moving into Florida.   We are a state of outsiders.

 For every ten “2015 new arrival Floridians”, only two are babies born here; six people come from other states and two people arrive from other lands.  In fact 23% of all Floridians were born outside the United States.

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Everyone knows we have 700,000 Cubans, the majority population of Miami, but we also have 300,000 Haitians, 300,000 Mexicans, 240,000 Columbians, and 200,000 Jamaicans.

And yes, we Floridians are old.  One in five of us are senior citizens.   Us oldsters are no longer pouring into Miami and Fort Lauderdale.  The rich ones are going for gated communities in Naples, Jupiter, and The Villages, but the less urban counties are starting to fill up. There are fewer backwoods roads here in Florida.

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Food Truck Festival in Tampa

We Floridians have overcrowded roads, but according to AAA, we are NOT the worst drivers in the country.  You people in New York and New Jersey have that honor.  Unfortunately, a lot of you Northerners retire or snowbird down here.  Remember also that Florida rental cars have for many years been disguised  to cut down on car thefts so that person you scream at on your Florida visit could be one of your neighbors from up North.

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We have a high crime rate, but its impact upon most tourists is not so high.  As in the North, the most violent crime areas were in poor neighborhoods where drugs and poverty  prevail.  Despite the Miami Vice image, Miami doesn’t have the highest violent crime rate.  Homestead (18th in USA with a 1 in 60 chance of being a victim), Riviera Beach (37th), and Lake Worth (42rd) are the high violent crime areas.

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As a tourist state with lots of people carrying lots of loose vacation money, Florida attracts criminals of all sorts.  Serial killers Ted Bundy and Aileen C. Wuornos came to Florida from elsewhere.  They were caught in Florida and given the chair at Raiford.

A more serious type of crime for you visitors is property crime like stealing, pick pocketing, and white collar scams.  And the highest crime rate in Florida for that type of crime is South Beach (Miami Beach) with a crime rate of 99.14 per 100,000 for property crimes.  other top crime rate cities include Orlando (78.19), Daytona Beach (74.10), Panama City (70.27), and Key West (69.47).  It should be clear that tourists are the target.

Floridians are not as dumb as we are often presented in the national media.  Many of our educational issues stem from Florida’s huge growth since 1950, its massive immigration population in South Florida, and large pockets of poverty in both urban and rural areas.  Tampa, where I live, has added ten high schools in the last twenty years and the respective number of junior and elementary schools.  I don’t even know where half of these schools are located.

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With 161,668 students Miami-Dade College is the largest college in the United States.  The University of Central Florida with 60,767 students is second only to Arizona State in university enrollment.  Florida’s community colleges, most of them offering four year degree programs, are designed first of quantity and opportunity. 95% of all Floridians are within a one hour drive of a college.  As of 2015, 23 of the 28 Florida College System institutions are offering $10,000 bachelor’s degrees.

But being so different and often alone has its many negative factors.  Despite our population and voting power, the State of Florida had never produced a President or a Vice President.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2016-2017 REVIEW: WALT DISNEY WORLD DELUXE RESORTS

Posted on October 17, 2016 by floridatraveler

Walt Disney World has eight official Disney Deluxe resorts and much to Disney’s dismay, we include the Swan and Dolphin in this mix for while they are not Disney-operated, they are complete upscale resorts with Disney transportation and character meals.

Unlike most of the urban locations, WDW has so much real estate that these resorts are not high rise and all have lush grounds, feature pools and more, theme restaurants of all shapes and sizes, and an orientation to families.  The Disney resorts are: Animal Kingdom Lodge (1293 rooms), Contemporary (1008), Grand Floridian (867), Polynesian (847), Wilderness Lodge (727), Yacht Club (621), and Broadwalk (372).  The Swan-Dolphin complex has 2,265 rooms.

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The Beach Club At Night: WDW on the waterfront

Best Value For Money:  Wilderness Lodge, Animal Kingdom, Swan-Dolphin, Contemporary (Garden Wings)

The Wilderness Lodge and the Animal Lodge are usually $100 or more less than the other Disney resorts, and both rank high in restaurants, pools, and atmosphere.  Their weakness is their standard room combinations are good for just four adults and a baby in a crib rather than five people.  While Wilderness Lodge has direct boat transportation to Magic Kingdom, it is cancelled in bad weather requiring bus transport.  Animal Kingdom Lodge requires bus transport to all parks so this park is best for people with automobiles.

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Wilderness Lodge: Welcome to the Rockies

Disney and Swan Resorts often have rooms close to half the price of the Disney resorts – particularly if there are no large conventions in the complex. If you get a room with a Bay Lake view, the cheaper Garden Wing sections of the Contemporary match up with the Bay Lake side of the main building at a much lower price-tag.

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The Dolphin: Not Disney But At Disney

Best Rooms For Large Families:  Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Beach Club

 The Grand Floridians have some rooms at 440 square feet although the attic rooms are wonderfully romantic for couples, but not for small children. All Disney deluxe resorts (except Animal Kingdom Lodge, Wilderness, and Boardwalk) have rooms that sleep five plus one baby under age 3.  That means in WDW lingo two Queen beds and a day bed.    The Beach Club has a lot of forest view rooms, but it is within walking distance of Epcot.

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The Grand Floridian is Victorian Wonder In The Holidays

Best Restaurant Selections:   Animal Kingdom Lodge, Grand Floridian, Wilderness Lodge (tie), Contemporary (tie)

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The Animal Kingdom Lodge is Exotic

All Disney (and Swan-Dolphin) deluxe hotels have at least one moderately priced table service restaurant, an upscale fine restaurant, a counter-service food option, lounge and pool bars, and decent room service.  The Animal Kingdom has two incredible main restaurants and maybe the best buffet at WDW.  The Grand Floridian has many upscale restaurants, including the super-fancy Albert and Victoria.   If your kids are fussy go on the Disney website, AllEars, and Yelp for menus and the latest reviews.

Best Sports and Water Facilities:  Contemporary, Yacht Club, Polynesian

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The Contemporary Resort A-Frame with Monorail

Walt Disney World visitors have access to great golf courses and other recreational activities, but the resort needs a good lake for proper boating and parasailing activities.  The pool may be big and bland at the Contemporary, but the boating and tennis choices are very good.   Due to the alligator attack at the Grand Floridian, Disney has closed off its beach facilities to swimmers.

Best Pool Facilities:   Beach and Yacht Club, Swan-Dolphin resorts, Wilderness Lodge

With the longest lazy river at WDW and a monster two resort complex, the Yacht and Beach resorts shared pool facilities is the best at Disney.  Likewise the huge Dolphin and Swan complex has both an Olympic lap pool and two canyon pools with waterfalls, as well as Swan boat rentals.  The Wilderness Lodge has a beautifully designed pool system which starts inside the resort as a mountain river with rocks.

Most Romantic Resorts:  Animal Kingdom Lodge, Polynesian, Grand Floridian

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The Polynesian Resort On Seven Seas Lagoon

The isolated nature of Animal Kingdom Lodge means its facilities are almost empty during the day and few daytime visitors come by except those with restaurant reservations.  The Polynesian has beautiful gardens and the new huts built over the Seven Seas Lagoon are quite romantic although lacking underwater views and having a high price tag.   The Grand Floridian is upscale in every way with a decent adults only pool, delightful lounges, and restaurants which overlook the lake.

WARNING:  Go online and examine each resort and you will notice that almost 50% of the rooms even in these Deluxe Resorts face parking lots or court-yards or inner pool areas.  The term “water view” does not mean “waterfront.”  Advertised rates are usually of standard often poor view rooms.

Posted in adventure vacation, attractions, dining, disney, Florida Food, florida history, Florida parks, florida vacations, Historic Hotels & Inns, Restaurants, travel, Walt Disney World, wdw | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Florida’s Lesser Known Museums Are Hidden Gems

Posted on October 12, 2016 by floridatraveler

The other week my wife and I visited the fabulous Ringling Museums in Sarasota.  It was Smithsonian Museum freebie day and the 44 acre property was so jammed with people, we paid for a special tour just to get into the lesser seen rooms of Circus magnate John Ringling’s 56-room waterside mansion Ca’D’Zan.

The trip reminded me that while tourists, snowbirds, and residents attend Florida’s more famous and large museums and centers, the Sunshine State has dozens of lesser known places worth visiting that are rarely the subject of travel brochures and television documentaries.

Here are some of my favorite lesser known attractions:

The Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Gardens in Winter Park is rather unique for and art museum for it is the actual final home for the famed Czech-born sculpture.  You can see how he designed his home and decorated it with some 200 major sculptures.

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The house is located on beautiful Lake Osceola.  Florida was an inspiration to him and at age 71 he married for the first time here.

No museum matches up to its location better than The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum near the shell-infested shoreline Sanibel Island.  This is more than just a massive collection of shells from around the world.  You can take educational walking tours along the Gulf of Mexico shores and learn about Florida shells and sea life.

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The life size replicas of giant squid, octopus, and nautilus are the favorite of kids.  Most adults love hunting in the large gift shop for exotic shells.  The museum has thirty-five exhibits.

Thousands of people visit Saint Augustine each week, but most don’t realize a few miles away in Palm Coast is the Florida Agricultural Museum, a huge complex of historic rural buildings complete with livestock whose heritage dates back to the days of Spanish Florida.  I love those ugly piney rooter hogs.

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Horseback Trails Are Big At Agricultural Museum

There’s a dairy barn, a complete farm homestead, even the site of a 1770 saw mill on the property.  Better yet for many there are horses you can rent for trail trips or even take horseback riding lessons.

Florida has several good maritime museums, usually located near a good seafood restaurant and some charter fishing vessels.  My favorite is the Florida Maritime Museum in Cortez near Bradenton.

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Cortez is still an old-time fishing community centered around the N. E. Taylor Boatworks and a bunch of fishing operations.  The museum is located in the old 1912 schoolhouse which once served a community of fishing families, many of them coming to Manatee County in the 1880’s from the Outer Banks of North Carolina.

If you are traveling in Florida and wonder what hidden museum treasures may be just a few miles down the road, I would go online to the Florida Association of Museums website at www.flamuseums.org, where you can look up museums by type and location.

Posted in florida education, Florida Food, florida history, florida vacations, museums, travel | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Floridians Are Full Of False Advice On Hurricanes

Posted on October 4, 2016 by floridatraveler

Another hurricane is heading toward the Florida East Coast.  Historically October is Florida’s worse hurricane month and the Fall months far surpass the Summer for serious hurricanes.

It was 2004 when Florida got nailed by four big hurricanes, but myths and bad advice about hurricanes seem to given to newcomers by long time Florida residents as well as snowbirds.   So here are some hurricane notions that you’ll soon hear if you travel Florida from May to late November:

Leave one window slightly open when a hurricane approaches.

This myth came from Tornado Alley people (Oklahoma, Texas) and it is false for both hurricanes and tornados.  Maybe people once believed that air pressure difference between the storm and the inside of your house will prevent your house from exploding.  Your house will only explode if a giant flying projectile (like your neighbor’s car) comes smashing through your front door.

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Hurricane hits Davis Island in Tampa Bay

Tape all your windows up with masking tape to prevent breakage.

Believe it or not this dumb trick might even result in more broken glass of smaller windows. The only way to prevent broken windows is to cover them completely with wood or buy professional metal hurricane boards.

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Stay away from water

Fill up the bathtub with water.

 Just today I heard a person on the Weather Channel report, “Many Miami stores have run out of bottled water, so fill up your bathtub.”   Unless you have the proper equipment for purifying water, bathtub water should be used for washing your body and clothing and dishes.  Drinking bath water is not a good idea.

Category 1 storms are no big deal.

 The five categories of hurricane created by the National Hurricane Center are based upon wind at the center of the storm, but the danger of a storm is: (1) where your house is in reference to the center of the hurricane, and (2) which way the wind and storm is coming.

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More people are killed by storm surge than hurricane winds.   A Category 1 storm going into a large bay like Tampa Bay or Charlotte Harbor will send a great water surge at the bay coastline and would be worse than a big hurricane going 100 miles out from the coast.

Sand bags will keep the water out of my house.

Sand bags might be effective for a few inches of water and if the water recedes.  Water will eventually seep through sand bags and sand bags never stopped flood waters.  An L-shaped thick plastic going up your wall a few feet and under the sand bags will be the most effective way of using sand bags.

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Although it is a pain to scrap off, sealing your doors and lower walls with the white foam stuff that seals out water is fairly effective.  It can also get a little expensive.

I can also go to a storm shelter; they have everything.

Most of Florida’s shelters are in high ground schools and public buildings.  They have limited amounts of food, blankets, and medical supplies.  They do not provide beds and entertainment.  Those places are called hotels.

My screened in swimming pool will protect my sliding glass doors.

 Putting lawn furniture and garbage cans on a porch or even inside a screened pool area will not prevent them from flying around when the screens get shopped up by flying tree limbs.  Anything that could fly around should be inside the garage, a storage room, and even inside the house.  Safe is better than neat.

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Historic Florida Train Trips Inside The State

Posted on September 27, 2016 by floridatraveler

Until trains connected Florida with Northern markets and people, Florida was the least populated state in the South, the least populated region of the country.

At a time when transcontinental railroads were building westward, Henry Flagler was building a railroad down the Florida East Coast, Henry B. Plant one down the Florida West Coast, and William Chipley across the Florida Panhandle.   These railroads meant Tampa cigars, Indian River oranges, and Florida winter vegetables could reach New York and Philadelphia in two days.  It also meant middle class Northerners could take a train to Florida by 1900 and cruise on a steamboat down the St. Johns River.

Trains, not airplanes, started Florida as a winter vacation destination.

It is shocking how today train service had declined.  I remember going to the Punta Gorda train station to pick up my British aunt and uncle who were coming down from Toronto.  Fortunately, there are still some ways to enjoy Florida’s railroad legacy on a trip or vacation.  Here are some choices:

The Florida Railroad Museum (frrm.org) south of Tampa in Parish on US301 not only has a large collection of diesel-powered trains in their rural collection, but also offers 13-mile round trips into the tropical wilderness of Eastern Manatee County.

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During the winter season, there are numerous theme and reenactment rides, including a train robbery.  The Ashley gang robbed trains from horseback long after Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid fled to Bolivia.

The Gold Coast Railroad Museum (gcrm.org) pays tribute to the Florida East Coast Railroad but has many weekend train excursions.  There is even a two-foot gauge children’s steam train ride.

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Old Number 153 Rescued People from 1935 Hurricane

This museum has several historic trains including the Ferdinand Magellan, the Presidential car used by Presidents from F. D. Roosevelt to Ronald Reagan.  There is Florida East Coast Railway 4-6-2 No. 153, the train that rescued hundreds of people from the Florida Keys just before the Hurricane of 1935 destroyed the bridges.

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FDR Campaigned From This RR Car

Down in Fort Myers is the Seminole Gulf Railway (semgulf.com) which has 118 miles of track for train trips, including a neat drawbridge over the Caloosahatchee River.   Using the tracks of the Seaboard Coast Line, the railway offers a 3.5 hour dinner train trip and a mystery train experience. The Christmas schedule is very interesting, offering combo-train-boat trips.

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If you would like to take a trip along the scenic hills of Central Florida, you could ride the Tavares, Eustis & Gulf Railroad (http://www.orangeblossomcannonball.com), with stations in Tavares and downtown Mount Dora.   The 1907 engine is my favorite on the wonderful lakeside excursions.

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A Trip Around The Lakes of Central Florida

Visitors will get an addition surprise when they enter the passenger cars for most of them were obtained from Western movie sets so you can pretend you are part of a movie like “True Grit” or “3:10 to Yuma.”

Posted in environment, florida history, florida vacations, Historic Buildings, railroads, Recreational Experiences | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

FLORIDA’S GREATEST MAN MADE ATTRACTIONS

Posted on September 21, 2016 by floridatraveler

THE OVERSEAS HIGHWAY has become a video symbol of Florida in films and publications across the globe.

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There is nothing like it in the world – a 113 mile highway (US 1) going southward from Florida to Key West.  It had its base on an incredible 1912 Overseas Railroad destroyed in a Hurricane in 1935 which killed over 400 railway workers.  Now it is a multi-lane highway with 42 major bridges including the scenic Seven Mile Bridge.  You have seen parts of the old bridge filmed for famous action scenes in movies.

THE GREAT WALL OF FLORIDA, better known as the Hoover Dike, is the largest unknown attraction in Florida.  Tourist driving down US27 go past it thinking it is a 35 foot hill.  There are no hills in South Florida – it is a 109 mile multi-path giant dike surrounding the second largest lake found in one state in the United States.

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Behind that hill is a gigantic lake

In 1928 2,000 people were killed by a thirty foot tidal wave cause when a Hurricane went across the huge but shallow lake. So in Florida’s largest WPA project, the dike was built. Except for a gap at Fisheating Creek, people can bike and horse ride along the Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail.  And do a little bass fishing.

THE VAB BUILDING at CAPE KENNEDY, known at NASA as the Vehicle Assembly Building was until 1974 the tallest building in Florida and it still is the tallest structure outside an urban area in the USA.  It is the largest single-story building in the world, since it houses the massive Saturn V.   Located at Launch Complex 39, the 129,428,000 cubic foot building will be the home of the future Space Launch System (SLS).

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THE SUNSHINE SKYWAY BRIDGE, spanning the entrance to Tampa Bay is an acable-stayed beauty, rated by the Travel Channel as the Number 3 bridge in the world.   In 1980 the original 21,877 foot complex was the site of a major disaster when a freighter in a fog hit the main span, destroying the bridge, and sending cars and a bus to their doom in the waters below.  The new bridge opened in 1987 with protections to prevent future ship crashes.

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Travel Channel’s #3 bridge in the world

THE VENETIAN ISLANDS AND CAUSEWAY may not be very popular with environmentalists for the 1920 roadway from Miami to Miami Beach, built in 1920, started a boom of man-made islands filling in bays across the Florida East Coast.  The islands built along the Venetian Causeway became the waterfront home of dozens of famous Miami celebrities and fostered dozens of similar Florida island communities.

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Man-made Island Living

WALT DISNEY WORLD revolutionized entertainment world wide and the 1971 park became the largest and most visited tourist attraction in the world, promoting added big parks like Universal and Sea World to come to Orlando, the family vacation center of the USA.  The technology from monorails to underground sanitation systems continues to amaze engineers and designers, but most people are just stunned at the size of the 43 square mile world.  WDW is the main reason why Florida became the first state with over 100 million visitors in a single year.

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Disney Springs At Night From A Balloon

Disney has twenty-seven themed resort hotels, nine non-Disney hotels, four theme parks, two theme water parks, eight golf courses, a huge camping resort, and more.  The Disney transportation system is bigger than only a few cities: 372 busses, 3 ferries, 9 friendship boats, 15 water taxis, 10 motor craft, and three monrails that farry 180,000 passengers every day of the year.   Because of WDW and the Orlando boom, Florida no longer has “a tourist season.”  Spring and fall visitors are just a few million visitors off summer and winter.

Secret: there was once a Walt Disney Airport at WDW but it was not for tourists and it is no longer in “operational use.”  When you taxied to the office, the runway actually sang “When You Wish Upon A Star.”

 

 

 

Posted in attractions, disney, disney springs, florida history, florida vacations, Recreational Experiences, travel, Walt Disney World, wdw | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ten Small Florida Vacation Towns You Should Visit

Posted on September 12, 2016 by floridatraveler

Tired of a Florida vacation in an overcrowded, overpriced metropolis?  Perhaps you should spend some vacation time in some of Florida’s small towns, where they appreciate every visitor and offer personalized services

Here are ten of my favorite small town spots to visit and even spend a few days:

Matlacha –  There are no beaches on Pine Island but the people in the fishing village of Matlacha don’t seem to mind since this funky and arty community will rent you any kind of water vehicle you want to explore the beach-filled islands of Charlotte Harbor.

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Matlacha’s Bridgewater Inn is Over The Water

Destin – There are only 12,000 residents on this man made island but in the summer months it seems like all five million tourists came at once. Amazing sand beaches, great seafood restaurants, and lots of water sports make Destin a Panhandle target to visit.

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Destin Has A Lot Of Everything

Jupiter Island – This is the richest per capita town in Florida, but while the rich hide in their gated mansions, you get the beach, the lighthouse, and a lot of neat restaurants and recreational services.

Vero Beach – The Dodgers may have left but the Piper Aircraft Company and a beachside Disney Resort are still in this Treasure Coast classy town. There is a neat downtown on the mainland and on the island besides a great beach, a diversity of restaurants, and lots of parks.

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The Oceanside Disney Resort in Vero Beach

Islamorada – The Florida Keys are laid back, but I like the friendliness of the 6,300 people who call this town home with its nice beach, great Plantation Yacht Center, and protected harbor.

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Tourists Often Drive Right Past Islamorada – Dumb

DeFuniak Springs – People visit this Walton County Victorian town to see its Chautauqua Hall, historic churches and incredible mansions.  The village even has Florida’s oldest library.

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The Chautaqua Hall of DeFuniak Springs

Everglades City – Surrounded by the Everglades, this town is for adventurers.  You can fish, hunt, and ride air-boats into the vast swamps of Florida.  The town bank is now an unusual hotel and the Rod and Gun Club is a famous hideaway for the rich.

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The  River of Grass Surrounds Everglades City

Tarpon Springs – Few towns have as colorful attractions as this Tampa Bay village, with its Greek Sponge Docks, antique-centered downtown, and its bayous surrounded by Victorian mansions. There are famous resorts and quaint bed and breakfast spots not far from town.

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At the Sponge Docks of Tarpon Springs

Apalachicola – Famous for its oystering, this port city has a historic downtown, wonderful inns and waterfront restaurants, and access to the Panhandle’s best fishing grounds. The town does a great job of presenting its history.

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The Historic and Delightful Gibson Inn, Apalachicola

Boca Grande – The pride of Gasparilla Island, Boca Grande welcomes the rich and exclusive in the winter months and the world’s best tarpon fishing in the summer. This is a bikers paradise.

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At the southern tip of Boca Grande is the Lighthouse and Museum

 

 

Posted in disney, florida history, Florida parks, florida vacations, Historic Buildings, Historic Hotels & Inns, Recreational Experiences, small towns, travel | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment