In the Kissimmee area for example, the main drag along the US192 is full of restaurants, and of course some are better than others.

Now I am old and wise enough to know that recommending restaurants is asking for trouble, so this is just an overview of some we have tried, and what is generally on offer.

The breakfast buffet deals, of course, are legendary. Places like the Ponderosa Steakhouse offer an “all you can eat” breakfast for $3.99 (drinks are extra). There’s a very wide choice of food from the healthy to the very unhealthy, and you can certainly skip lunch after one of these extravaganzas. The buffet experience also enables you to sample American favourites such as grits, and biscuits and gravy.

More upmarket – and not too far from the 192 – is the Market St Café in Celebration. It is a typical smart American diner and the food is good, without being too expensive. You can create your own breakfast and the Eggs Benedict is a speciality.

For dinner, you can find Chinese buffets, Mexican, Italian, Thai, Indian and Japanese. Sea food restaurants abound and often supply buffet menus. Try The Crab House, Red Lobster, or Angel’s Lobster and Seafood Feast.

If you are looking for the American experience, there are many diners which give very good value such as Bahama Breeze, Chilli’s, and Logan’s Road House (free peanuts on the table, just throw the shells on the floor!). And remember that the burger you order in the US will be a proper burger with 100% meat, unlike the version you would avoid back home in the UK.

A trip to Downtown Disney, or the Universal Boardwalk gives you the opportunity to try out some very nice restaurants, such as the Rainforest Café, Wolfgang Puck, Fulton’s Crabhouse, and Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville.

For a more sophisticated dining experience, many hotels have more exclusive surroundings. The Omni, near Champions Gate, has several restaurants none of which would break the bank.

Another area for smart restaurants, where it’s probably best not to wear shorts, is just off International Drive on West Sand Lake Rd.  There you can try the Timpano Chophouse and Martini Bar, Seasons 52, and Antonio’s. Antonio’s also has a sister business called Cafe D’Antonio in Celebration where you’ll enjoy “…the taste and style of a more expensive place”

Don’t forget your discount coupons. Many of the more popular restaurants and diners accept discount coupons to be found in coupon books from tourist information centres.

Coffee and “sodas” (coke, sprite etc) are generally topped up at your table for free, and you won’t even have to ask.

Tipping is always the problem. It is very rare to get poor service and a tip of between 15% and 20% is expected. Remember that waiters are poorly paid in the US, and rely on tips. It certainly ensures that service is good. Do check your check (bill) carefully though; some restaurants will add the tip on automatically, so don’t tip twice!

Andy Brownlie

Now if you want to drink at Sloppy Joe’s and soak up the Hemingway experience, you have a choice. You can take a road trip down the east side of Florida via the Florida Turnpike. This is a 390 mile trip (one way) and will take the best part of seven hours if you don’t want a break. You will, however, have the opportunity of having a look at such places as Palm Beach and Miami. After Miami you take US 1 down the Keys starting with Key Largo, (a good place to break your journey overnight), and taking in Islamadora, Long Key, Marathon, and Seven Mile Bridge to name only a few, before you get to Key West,the home of Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville

If you do fancy the road trip through the Keys on US 1 (sometimes called “The Overseas Highway”), you should go during the week and avoid the very busy weekends. The road is only two lanes in places, and being stuck in a traffic jam is not the best way to see the Keys.

Some people love the long car ride down the Keys, and across all the bridges, but there are those who do find it all a bit “samey”, and tiring.  

There is, of course, an alternative which will allow you to combine a shorter road trip down the Gulf coast with a trip to Key West.

200 miles from Orlando, and a much shorter three and a quarter hours away, at Fort Myers Beach, just south of Sanibel Island, you can take the “Key West Express” – a high speed ferry which will get you there in a leisurely three hours. You can go just for the day, and spend from 11:30am to 5pm in Key West, or spend a night or two drinking in the atmosphere.

The ferry, with air conditioned interiors and outdoor sun decks, will cost around $145 return. You will have to leave your car in Fort Myers (car parking is free) but you can well do without a car in Key West anyway.

So, go on - Join the nightly sunset celebrations at Mallory Square, and choose which way you would like to get there.

Andy Brownlie

Kissimmee Old Town, on the shores of Lake Tohopekaliga (Lake Toho, to you and me) is well worth a visit. And if you want to impress the locals, do pronounce their city’s name correctly, with the stress on the second syllable - “Kissimmee”.

Kissimmee (previously known as Allendale) was incorporated as a city in 1883. It was the heart of cow country and the sound of the men “cracking” cow whips led to them being called “Florida Crackers”. Ranching and citrus packing remained an important part of the local economy until the opening of Walt Disney World in 1971. After that, tourism took over, although cattle ranches still operate nearby.

The Kissimmee downtown area is a bit of real genuine Americana, and is pedestrian friendly. Yes - you can park your car and actually walk around streets full of brick buildings, boardwalks, shops and restaurants. Currently the Kissimmee downtown area has several restaurants, an art gallery, photographers, and a number of retailers selling clothing, music, art, antiques, video games, and furniture; plus lawyers, doctors, accountants, architects, printers, beauty & barber shops.

We came across the Farmers’ Market which operates at Toho Square on Thursdays from 7 am to 1 pm. It is modest in size but has lovely fresh produce for sale.

And if you are looking for some good ol’ “down home” cookin’ and a bit of old time service, do what we do, and eat at Joanie’s Diner at 120 Broadway, Kissimmee. You will not be disappointed with the food or the friendly service. It’s where the locals go.

Should you be in Kissimmee in the evening you can also go on ghost walks, and hear tales of the “headless horseman”, the “hanging tree” and the “ghost of the lake”.

A lot of money has been poured into the area for improvements, and a lot of the historic houses in the roads leading down to the lakefront have been renovated or rebuilt and are well worth a look. Also on the road down to the lake is the very quirky “Monument of States”.

Down at the Lakeside, you can walk along a long promenade by the lake which has piers, bait shops, boat slips and marinas. Chill out, watch the fishermen, or take an airboat ride, daytime or night time. There’s also a lot of green space for relaxation down by the lake, with playgrounds, picnic areas and bike paths, all well used by the locals at the weekend.

Do have a look at Kissimmee. It’s well worth it.

Andy Brownlie

Believe it or not, the manatee, or “Sea Cow” is a distant cousin of the elephant, and scientists have traced them both back some 60 million years to a common ancestor. Their forelimbs contain three to four fingernails, very similar to an elephant’s.

Manatees are herbivores, eating only aquatic plants, and typically grow to about 2,000 pounds and almost 12 feet. Unhappily, their backs often bear the marks of boat propeller scars, as they tend to graze near the surface of shallow water. They have no natural predator, but contact with humans (and their boats!) along with loss of feeding grounds (also down to the humans) has made them an endangered species

So Where Can I see Manatees in the Orlando area?

The easy answer, of course, is at Sea World, but it might be more fun to see them in the wild. We have seen manatees on the Gulf Coast where they congregate around docks in the summer months, and around the Merritt Island area by The Kennedy Space Center.

In the cooler months, however, the ocean gets too cold for manatees, so they look for warmer waters. They typically come to inland Florida waters via rivers and canals.

The best place to see manatees inland is at Blue Spring State Park, just off the St. Johns River  (you can get there on the I4), between November and March. There they have a boardwalk which gives perfect viewing.

If you want to get up close and personal, go to the Crystal River area, and go snorkelling or rent a small boat. As many as 300 manatees winter in the Crystal River area on the West coast, 80 miles north of Tampa, and less than 2 hours from Orlando. Again, the best time is from late November until the end of February and it is recommended to avoid weekends if you want to avoid the crowds.

Strangely enough, the Tampa Electric Company is a great place to see manatees during the colder weather. The company’s Big Bend Station on Tampa Bay attracts manatees in winter to its warm-water discharge and they have built a special manatee viewing centre with a viewing platform, open from early December to March (closed Monday and Tuesday). From the I-75 in Tampa take the ApolloBeach exit onto Big Bend road. The viewing centre is at a turn after the road’s intersection with U.S. 41.

Happy mermaid hunting!

Andy Brownlie

Driving in the USA is, for most people, much easier than driving in the UK. The roads are generally wider and less congested (apart from the I4 at rush hour!), and automatic transmission and cruise control add to the enjoyment. We have found that American drivers are much more courteous than European drivers and this may or may not be due to the American perceived right to bear arms.  Certainly it is not generally a good idea to gesticulate to someone who may have a gun in his glove box.

Speed limits, contrary to popular belief, are very similar to the UK and obviously should be obeyed. Speed cameras are happily few and far between in the States, but look out for those sheriff cars parked sneakily on central reservations!

There are no roundabouts of course, but you have to contend with the “four way stops” where there is no clear right of way. At these intersections, drivers must look at the other stops to see if there are any other vehicles stopped or moving. The idea is that vehicles leave the stop signs in the same order in which they arrived. The first vehicle to arrive at a complete stop is the first vehicle allowed to leave the stop sign by the other drivers. It actually works very well, although I can’t imagine drivers in the UK being so patient!

On the subject of all “Stop” signs, it can’t be emphasised enough that “Stop” does mean “stop”. It does not mean “slow down” a bit. Make sure that you come to a complete halt before proceeding. Many Brits have been prosecuted for failing to observe the distinction.

On the plus side, in Florida it is usually quite legal to turn right at a red light if it is safe to do so – but stop at the “Stop” sign first. (There are some exceptions, and there will be a sign at the intersection in those cases informing you that it is not allowed at that particular place).

Finally I come to the “school bus”. I can’t begin to explain the cold sweats that come over me when I see one of those iconic yellow vehicles as there is U.S. legislation regarding passing or overtaking them. Basically, if they stop to let children off, lights flash and traffic from either direction must immediately stop, no closer than 100 feet from the bus, and not move off again until the bus does so, or the lights cease to flash.

Having said that, I have found driving in Florida a comparative pleasure, and it is a great way to explore the real out-of-the-way Florida.

Please do not take my jottings here as any definitive information on US driving, but do take some time to acquaint yourself with the official US driving laws. Drive happy!

Andy Brownlie

The Orange County park is built around one of the Apopka area’s crystal clear springs. Rock Springs bubbles up from a cleft in a rock and, instead of spreading out into a pool, becomes a swiftly running stream that quickly slows to a meander. The activity of choice here, and the major reason for the park’s obvious popularity, is riding down the stream in an inner tube or on a float. Being that the water source is a natural spring, the water is crystal clear and cool, but not too cold. The depth varies between 2 to 4 feet deep, so it is possible to walk in the river, although you have to watch out for rocks and weed.

About two thirds of the way down, the river widens out into a series of pools, surrounded by grassy areas to sunbathe and picnic. Here you can swim and snorkel, or just continue on your way on your tube. The whole tubing trip takes about 25 minutes.

The park area by the lazy river has an excellently maintained system of boardwalks, so it is easy to get out, make your way to the start, and go down again.

Another actiovity loved by children is searching the river bed for fossilized sharks’ teeth, left behind when the area was at the bottom of a shallow sea.

Most of the rest of the park is given over to nicely shaded picnic tables, most with a barbecue nearby. There are restrooms and it is possible to buy very basic food here, but taking a picnic, or a barbecue, would be best.

The park is very popular with locals, so it might be best to avoid weekends.

Don’t make the mistake we made, and drive into the park without your tubes. Tubes are not available in the park, so unless you bring your own, stop at one of the tube rental shops near the park entrance before you go in. They are not expensive.

Another word of warning – alcohol is not allowed in the park, and this is enforced. We saw a couple having to pour their beer away before being escorted unceremoniously out of the park by the Sheriff.

To find the park, take the Rock Springs Road north from Apopka; right onto Kelly Park Road and follow the signs.