Mount Dora & Lake Dora

Nestled 184ft above sea level, Mount Dora is a charming historic village in the heart of Lake County in central Florida.  Being located 40 minutes northwest of Orlando, off Highway 441, it is about an hour’s car journey from Kissimmee.

Mount Dora dates back to the Civil War.  It was originally named Royellou after the children  of Postmaster Ross Tremain  (Roy, Ella & Louis) - the name was changed to Mount Dora in 1883. 

And when the railroad arrived in 1887, Mount Dora became, and continues to be, a popular winter retreat for hunting, fishing & boating.

The town is nowadays renowned for it’s shopping, possibly the best antique shopping in Florida, and for its annual festivals and historic buildings.

There is at least one city-wide festival held nearly every month of the year, and together with the regular monthly ‘Film In The Park’ every 2nd Friday of each month, ‘Mount Dora At Dark’ every 3rd Friday of each month, and live music most evenings, there is plenty to entertain you during your visit:

JanuaryArts Festival

February          Music Festival

March              Dragon Boat Festival, Antique Boat Festival

April                 Reading Festival, Sail Boat Regatta

May                 Taste of Mount Dora

July                  Old Fashioned 4th of July Festival

October           Bicycle Festival, Craft Fair

November        Mount Dora Plant & Garden Fair, Antique Extravaganza

December        Christmas Parade, Lighted Boat Parade

There are a couple of tours that are also well worth taking:

The Mount Dora Trolley offers narrated 50-minute tours on board a climate controlled trolley, exploring historic neighbourhoods, and provides information about the town’s pioneers. 

The Inland Lakes Railway operates an hour long narrated return tour to nearby Taveres, on board a vintage railcar pulled by a 1942 locomotive.

And interestingly, in 1981 the entire town was painted pink when some of ‘Honky Tonk Freeway’ (staring Beau Bridges) was filmed there.

A mile or so outside of Mount Dora is Lake Dora; one of the finest lakes in all of Florida, abundant with exotic water life and birds, and there is even a lighthouse.  Lake Dora connects with waterways that can lead you direct to the Atlantic Ocean by boat. Probably the best place to take a boat tour is on the Dora Canal from Tavares, which incidentally is the geographical centre of Florida. 

Or you can just stroll around the edge of the lake, walk along the jetty at Grantham Point and enjoy its serenity.  Walk further and you come to Palm Island boardwalk nature trail, which meanders through groves of cypress trees growing on the water’s edge.  You can follow the boardwalk, or take one of the trails through the woods, which all link up, so there is little chance of getting lost.

For more information:  www.whattodoinmtdora.com

HOMOSASSA SPRINGS WILDLIFE PARK

Visitors can stroll along unspoiled nature trails and see deer, bear, bobcats, otter and cougar at close range. Many varieties of birds such as flamingos, herons and egrets make Homosassa their home. There is an education centre which allows you to have a hands-on experience. There is a floating observatory where you go below the water’s surface to view the manatees. Open every day from 9.00 – 5.30, ticket counters close at 4.00. The visitor centre and main entrance is located on US Highway 19 in Homosassa Springs. For more information, call (352) 628-2311.

LAKE TOHOPEKALIGA

Close to downtown Kissimmee, a boat tour here is a great way to get away from it all, and there are good chances of spotting unusual birds such as the bald eagle and the osprey. Boat trips depart from the marina, and there are boats and fishing tackle to hire.

SAINT AUGUSTINE

This is on the east coast and one of the oldest towns in Florida and makes an interesting day out. It has a compact historic centre and the main street is packed with historic buildings, shops and restaurants. It is reached by heading towards Daytona Beach and then heading towards Jacksonville.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTRE

An interesting day out on the East Coast with bus tours of the launch pads and a chance to learn all about the space programme.

Take the SR528 toll road east from Orlando to SR407 and follow the signs.

CALADESI ISLAND

This is on the west coast and reached by heading towards St Petersburg and then going north from there. It is a peaceful area and has a boardwalk leading to a lovely beach where people are often to be found searching for shells known as sand dollars.

SIESTA KEY

This is just past Sarasota and is a quaint island which has Florida’s only quartz beach which is like very fine sand and does not get hot even in the height of summer.

ST PETERSBURG

This takes about 90 minutes to reach mainly on the I4 to Tampa. This is a more touristy resort with plenty of hotels and places to eat with a good wide beach. The sunsets are worth the drive, and a good place to eat is at Hurricanes in the south of the resort. John’s Pass Boardwalk in Madeira beach is an interesting place to visit for unusual shops and good fish restaurants.

GARDENS

There are a couple of nice gardens to visit in Orlando, the Harry P Leu gardens, a haven of peace just north of downtown Orlando. These gardens cover 50 acres, and near the entrance the lush RavineGarden leads down to a boardwalk and a gazebo which overlooks the lake. To the west, there are magnolias and camellia woods which are at their best November to March. The floral centrepiece is the Rose Garden, a popular setting for weddings among the 1,000 scented bushes.

South of Orlando, on the 325 S Scenic Highway to LakeWales, are the shady woodlands of the BokTower gardens. The tower has a world-class carillon and is perched on top of IronMountain, the highest point of the Florida peninsular. There are 157 acres of gardens, containing thousands of azaleas, camellias and magnolias.

This Years (2009) Disney Marathon will take place over the weekend of January 8th. - 11th. They are expecting around 45,000 runners to take part. (Not quite as big as The Great North Run!!). There is a Half Marathon on Saturday, along with a Family Fun Run & Kids race. The runs start from Epcot to Magic Kingdom, returning to Epcot. The main event is on the Sunday where the route is from Epcot through Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdon, Hollywood Studios and then back to Epcot. There are all the Disney Characters along the route cheering and encouraging the runners, it is a site not to be missed. We have been lucky enough to be over for the race once, the atmosphere was fantastic. The event has gained the name THE 26 MOST MAGICAL MILES IN THE WORLD.

This years race is a sell out to take part so if you would like to take part in the 2010 or start mentioning it in your advertising for your villa, you need to do it now!!!

If you are lucky enough to be in Florida this January make sure you put it on your holiday planner, it really is great morning out.

Mary Phillips

It is located next to the ‘Team Mickey Athletic Club’ shop and ‘Basin’ the homemade soap shop at the Marketplace End of Downtown Disney.

They have 2 sections - there is a Cafe with indoor seating that serves speciality Ice Cream Sundaes and Cones, Milkshakes, Sodas and Ice Cream Floats plus a large variety of hot beverages: Hot Tea, Coffee, Hot Chocolate, Sodas etc.

The other section is the Chocolate Shop but you can also buy drinks to ‘take away’ or ‘to go’ from the counter on this side. There is always a lady with a basket just inside the shop, she never comes outside so you will have to go inside the door to find her. She gives away small bars of chocolate to everyone in your party. These usually tend to be milk chocolate with runny caramel inside but the last time I visited in Sept 2008, they were giving away Peanut Butter ones because they were promoting their newest flavour. They retail for $0.45 each if you like the chocolate and want to buy another one or two. They also sell milk and dark chocolate bars with a variety of fillings such as mint, caramel, hazlenut, almond, raspberry, peanut butter and these also come in gift boxes, bags & baskets. They do the smaller squares in gift bags with all one filling or a varity of fillings or of course individually. They have Halloween gifts in the shop at the moment and will start with all the Christmas promotional items soon. You can also buy jars of the delicious Fudge Sauce that Ghirardellis are famous for.
 
The shop is nearest to parking lot B and the address is:
 
Downtown Disney - Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop
1710 E. Buena Vista Dr., Bldg. 7
Orlando, FL 32830

Hours
Retail: Sunday — Thursday, 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Friday — Saturday, 9:30 a.m. to 12 Midnight

Fountain: Sunday — Thursday, 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.
Friday — Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 12 Midnight

Phone 407.934.8855

Higgins House is a lovely Victorian house, built in 1894, which has been lovingly restored and features a Victorian parlour, numerous antiques, plus 5 bedrooms and 4 full bathrooms all with mod-cons, courtyard and varanda. Breakfast is taken in an elegant Victorian dining room and consists of many home-made specialities, including muffins, breads, jams & jellies.

Sanford is the oldest city in Central Florida, dating back to the 1830’s. It is also the County Seat of Seminole County. Two museums showcase the history of the area – The Museum of Seminole County History, and the Sanford Museum, which illustrates the history of the city of Sanford and the life and times of City founder Henry S. Sanford.

After exploring the many fascinating antique shops along Main Street, we made our way to North Palmetto Avenue, where we took the Romance Cruise along the St. John’s River. It was a wonderful experience and, if you have the opportunity to take it, an excellent luncheon is provided, and there is musical entertainment. There is also a similar evening cruise provided. Monroe Harbour Marina on Lake Monroe, is also part of the St. John’s River. There are some magnificent water-front town houses and condos, and brightly painted river front shops and restaurants.

If you decide to take advantage of early baggage check-in at Sanford Airport, why not see for yourself what Sanford has to offer. We particularly enjoy visiting Willow Tree Café on E. 1st Street, where we opt for a table outdoors, where we can enjoy the atmosphere of the historic buildings and shops, before making our way back to the airport for car return and passenger check-in.  

We booked our tickets in advance and saved a few Dollars.

We say, Go ON, Spoil Yourselves & The Kids, you will not regret it.

Mary & Larry