ORLANDO, FL -- After spending all or most of your money at the
world
capital of theme parks, what do you do with the rest of your vacation?
Visitors who find that being a tourist here is synonymous with thin wallets
might consider the free sights in the world's premier tourist attraction.
If you've visited lately, you might think any notion of free is a Disney
fantasy.
And don't misunderstand because while a lot of hotels and attractions have
supposedly "free" offers, what they mean is that if you book, say, two
nights in a hotel, you get a third night "free." Not accurate because you
have to first buy two nights' to get a third.
What we're referring to here is really "free," no strings.
No better place to start than usually pricey Walt Disney World.
Surprise?
Take a trip to the attraction's BoardWalk near the Swan and Dolphin hotels.
It's reminiscent of Atlantic City's own famous wooden pathway. You can sit
on benches and watch the passing parade.
If you want to splurge, buy an ice cream or a hot dog, or rent a
four-wheeled bicycle.
Posh Park
Avenue in Winter Park is the area's version of Rodeo
Drive with a leafy park where you can sit on benches, people-watch and feed
the always-hungry squirrels. Remember as you go through the trendy stores
that you don't have to buy.
You have to pay to get into many art centers, but not the cozy one at
Rollins College in the area's premier suburb, Winter Park. Exhibits are top
quality at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum, which features 6,000 objects with
the oldest collection in the state of European and American paintings,
sculpture and decorative arts. It's open daily except for Mondays.
In nearby Eatonville, a town founded and inhabited solely byAfrican-Americans, you can learn about its most famous resident at the Zora
Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts. The well-known writer was a
leading figure in the Harlem Renaissance.
As visitors,
you might skip classes at the Maitland Art Center,
but the facility listed as a Florida historic site also has always-changing
exhibits and attractive gardens.
There are things to see all year round at the Fort Christmas Historical Park& Museum, which features a traditional Florida "Cracker" house and a replica
of a fort built during the Seminole Indian Wars more than a century ago.
Visitors can also view a sugar cane hill and historical farming equipment.
Native
American artifacts are among the attractions at the
Museum of Seminole County, which also has a picture gallery, a country store
and assorted historical documents.
Other free museums in the area include the Bradlee-McIntyre House, a 13-room
Queen Anne-style home in the historic district of Longwood, another suburban
area.
Not far away, there's also the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education
Center, which takes visitors through the pre-World War II hardships of
Jewish communities in Europe. Key events and documentary evidence are
presented in multi-media form with many personal histories that vividly
present the tragic events.
Folk art is the centerpiece of the Pine Castle Center of the Arts inOrlando. The grounds and buildings provide visitors a look at the arts,
skills, life styles and craftsmanship of early Floridians. Note that you
need to call for an appointment to see the museum.
A further footnote about local museums: even the ones that charge often
have free days or evenings.
If parks are
more to your liking, check out one of my own
favorites: Big Tree Park, about 15 miles from downtown in suburban Longwood.
The park has a breath-taking cypress tree known as the "Senator."
Why bother with this particular tree? At age 3,500 or so, it's one of the
oldest in America. And at almost 140 feet tall, it's also one of the
largest. The park is open daily from 8 a.m. to sunset.
Downtown
Orlando has its own Big Tree Park, which lives up to
its name with a variety of large oak trees at Thornton Avenue between Marks
and Weber streets near downtown.
If you're
into flea markets and happen to be here on a weekend,
the area's premier adventure is Renniger's Flea & Farmer's Market on US 441,
near Mount Dora, about 25 miles and light years from bustling Orlando. The
picturesque, quaint old Florida town likes to say it is grateful to be away
from the area's major highways. It is known as the town that everyone wishes
they had grown up in. It also hosts a variety of free festivals throughout
the year.
If you're into hiking, you might check out the Florida Trail Association,Central Florida Chapter, which has several excursions each month. These
range from historical walks to trail maintenance trips to beach walks.
And don't
forget the beach, of course.
Locals in Orlando usually are divided between those who prefer the more
raucous Daytona Beach and those who opt for generally laidback New Smyrna
Beach, both of which are no more than an hour's drive from Orlando.
Both
destinations are along the Atlantic Ocean, where another
choice is Melbourne Beach, which is the place to go to surf or to watch
others looking for the perfect wave.
There are
also turtle watches, and keep in mind that your trips
here may not be limited to hours of sunshine. Deserted beaches at night are
perfect places for stargazing in the black velvet clarity of the Central
Florida sky. And if you're fortunate enough to chance upon a nighttime storm
in the ocean, it's a sight that dwarfs man-made fireworks.
If you get to
the Melbourne area in Brevard County, home of the
space program adjacent to Orlando, you might stop in the Liberty Bell
Memorial Museum. More than three centuries of American history and culture
are spread out here, including a full-size replica of the Liberty Bell,
model warships and airplanes, clothing and a gallery of U. S. flags.
If you thought taxi cabs or car rentals were pricey, it might surprise you
to find out you can get around for free, at least in downtown Orlando, via
the LYNX buses. Board one at the Orange County Courthouse and visit the
well-stocked local library. Jump on the bus for a ride back to the
courthouse, where you can take an elevator to the top for the view.
One final
footnote: If you're willing to go through a sales
presentation, various timeshare operators in the area offer free tickets to
Walt Disney World and other attractions. The positive part is that the
pitches, which are generally not aggressive, often take only about 90
minutes, and children are usually welcome.
