Discovering Orlando’s Historic Downtown Neighbourhoods and Parks
Downtown Orlando offers a welcome reprieve from the
purpose-built areas to the south-west of the city that have been
created solely to accommodate tourists. In fact, many of the
historic downtown neighbourhoods are beautiful, offer a great
variety of architecture, and give you a feeling of community
where regular people actually live and work.
Right around the downtown core are a number of beautiful
neighbourhoods that lend themselves nicely to exploration on
foot. Some of the streets are cobble-stoned, making them the
perfect destination for a neighbourhood walk.
After visiting Loch Haven Park, on this grey and drizzly day, we
decided to drive south, park our vehicle and explore some of the
central neighbourhoods on foot. We parked in Lake Cherokee Park,
walked all the way around the lake and delighted in admiring the
upscale architecture and the wildlife on the lake.
Bird lovers are able to see a great variety of water birds right
in the middle of town and we observed one waterbird, as it sat
quietly and then catapulted its head forward to catch its winged
prey, all within a split second…
On this misty day the atmosphere was even a bit mysterious, with
Spanish moss hanging down from ancient oak trees. You could
almost see mist drifting off the lake. One of the interesting
features of Orlando are its lakes, more than 300 of them, that
can be found throughout the entire city, and many of them are
equipped with facilities and public parks.
We carried on from Lake Cherokee to Lake Lucerne, which is
immediately south of Orlando’s downtown core. Several fountains
adorn the middle of the lake and you get a perfect view of
downtown Orlando’s architecture.
Orlando has a surprising number of public parks with special
facilities that provide recreational opportunities for local
residents as well as tourists. With the help of the City of
Orlando’s website I have compiled a list of some of the special
outdoor public spaces that Orlando has to offer. These places
include a very reasonably priced golf course, Loch Haven Park -
Orlando’s center of culture and science, the Dickson Azalea
Park, a variety of wetland areas, an ecology center, camping and
more. In one word, public spaces that offer free or inexpensive
recreational and educational opportunities:
Lake Cherokee is bordered by a 3.8 acre scenic park and
surrounded by the Lake Cherokee Historic district, a residential
neighborhood with architecture representing virtually every
significant period of Orlando’s history.
Lake Eola Park is a popular destination in the downtown area,
with many people taking advantage of the beautiful surroundings
to walk at lunch or in the evenings. The sidewalk that circles
the lake is .9 miles in length, making it easy for visitors to
keep track of their walking or running distances. Other
activities available to park visitors include renting ($10 for
hour) swan-shaped paddle boats, feeding the live swans and other
birds inhabiting the park, being paddled around the lake on a
romantic gondola cruise (www.gondola.com), seeing a concert or a
play in the Walt Disney Amphitheater, watching the children play
in the playground, grabbing a bite to eat at The Terrace on Lake
Eola or relaxing amid beautiful flower beds and a spectacular
view of Orlando’s skyline.
Orlando Loch Haven Park covers 45 acres and serves as the
region’s premier cultural park. Nestled between three lakes,
Lake Estelle on the north, Lake Rowena on the east, and Lake
Formosa on the south, the park is located on North Mills Avenue
and Princeton Street. The park was renovated in February 2001.
With the many museums or theatre groups located in the park,
there is always something new to see or do. The lawn areas in
the center portion of the park are wonderful places to sit and
enjoy the lake views shaded by majestic oak trees. One of
Central Florida’s oldest and largest oak trees, “The Mayor”,
grows in the park near Orlando’s Mennello Museum of American
Folk Art.
Located just minutes from downtown Orlando, Dubsdread Golf
Course features the oldest public layout in the area, originally
designed in 1923. This classic course has plenty of history
attached to it as the former site of the Orlando Open, when it
hosted such golf legends as Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, and Claude
Harmon. Today, golfers are treated to the same beautiful scenery
and challenges of the original course, including narrow fairways
and heavily bunkered greens. A full restaurant and bar complete
the ultimate golfing experience. Dubsdread is also the home of
the Dubsdread Golf Learning Center, a full service teaching
facility. Visit “www.historicaldubsdread.com” for more
information.
The Mayor Carl T. Langford Neighborhood Center provides a
natural oasis in downtown Orlando. The center is located in a
shady oasis of mature oaks, wide sidewalks, green lawns, birds,
butterflies and plenty of room for the kids to play. Young
children will love the swinging bridge over the creek and the
playground . There are a great deal of educational and fun
nature programs offered in this beautiful neighorbood center.It
offers a yearly summer nature and art camp, as well as family
and corporate picnics at a reasonable rate. The Mayor Carl T.
Langford Park is a beautiful place to have a quaint wedding
ceremony at an affordable rate. The Central Florida Folk, Inc.
performs the second Sunday of each month through fall and
spring.
The “Rocket Thrower” sculpture in Loch Haven Park
The Wetlands Park is a great place to come out, relax and enjoy
nature. The most popular activities are bird-watching, nature
photography, jogging and bicycling. Nature enthusiasts will be
greeted by 1,650 acres of hardwood hammocks, marshes and lakes.
There are over 20 miles of roads and woodland trails
crisscrossing the Park.
Experience a walk through time as you meander along Fern Creek
in historic Dickson Azalea Park located across the street from
the City of Orlando’s Mayor Carl T. Langford Park. The
Washington Street Bridge was constructed in 1926 and is
reflective of many bridges found in South Florida. The lush
landscaping, singing birds and flowing water are a treat to many
visitors. This park is an oasis for those needing a quiet place
to eat lunch or to reflect when this area was a watering hole
years ago for cattle ranchers to quench the thirst of their
cattle in Ferncreek. The dragonflies, shady trees and quietness
of Dickson Azalea Park are a must see for people of all ages to
experience.
Enjoy a day of family fun and play in the City of Orlando’s
beautiful 300-acre Bill Frederick Park at Turkey Lake. Open
year-round, seven days a week this park has something for
everyone. A swimming pool is open for those hot summer days,
large pavilions for huge group picnics are available for rent
and small sun shelters for family gatherings are available on a
first come first serve basis. The well stocked lake for fishing
is tempting to all anglers from novice to experienced. A
children’s farm is on-site as a remnant of the farm era of the
property. The Ecology Center has an air conditioned meeting
room. The camping area is a reasonably priced destination for
people from all over the U.S. and the world who visit Orlando
and area attractions. Another area has bunk houses and grills
for those nature based group retreats or chaperoned youth
groups. Park visitors are offered a wide variety of
nature-oriented activities including: hiking, baseball /
softball, volleyball, biking, and large playground for the kids.
Feel free to take advantage of our Youth Group rates, Family
Pass and Individual Pass.
As you can see, in addition to theme parks, Orlando offers a
surprising variety of inexpensive family fun and recreational
opportunities off the beaten path that offer interesting things
to explore for the whole family.
