"olde worlde Florida"

Roseka

Earning My Ears
Joined
Jul 24, 2004
Messages
3
Has anyone any suggestions for a day off from theme parks? I would like to visit an old colonial style town if there's one within an hour or so of WDW, to give us a break from all the artificial disney madness!

suggestions welcome, we're off next Monday, and have 2 DS's age 6 and 9

thanks
Kate
 
I know that as I was looking for beaches to vista within 2 hours of Disney, I came across Bradenton, Sarasota and also some beaches around the Tampa area and everything I read in descriptions said it was "old Florida" if that means anything. I would do a web search and see what you come up with, that is how I found the beaches I wanted to visit.
 
"Old Colonial Town" in Florida.............the only thought that comes to mind is St. Augustine. A really cool place, but it is @ 120 miles away. NE on the Atlantic coast.

You could try Ibor City in Tampa, the old Cuban part of town. Tarpon Springs is an older Greek town on west coast, but to me OLD FLORIDA means more like 40-50's. Real colonial is not going to be easy to find.
 
If it's old you want, St. Augustine is your best bet, but it's more than an hour from Orlando; it's about 125 miles north from WDW. St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied city in the United States.
http://www.ci.st-augustine.fl.us/visitors/specialplace.html

Most of the other colonial-era sites are down in the Keys, but most things that date back to before Flagler are counted as old in Florida. There are some interesting places that date to the early 20th century that are worth a visit.

Closer in, if beach isn't necessary, you could try Mt. Dora, which is ~1 hr. north of Orlando; these days it's kind of considered an outer suburb. Mt. Dora has a very nice old central business district, and there is a thriving antiques trade there. http://ci.mount-dora.fl.us/services/general.htm

Even closer, as in *in* Orlando proper, there is Winter Park; the original good neighborhood in Orlando, a couple of miles north of downtown. There are a lot of nice homes to look at, a little river cruise in summertime, some toney shops and galleries, Rollins College, and a few museums, among them the Morse Museum, which has the largest collection of American stained glass in the US. If you like Tiffany, this is the place.
http://www.wpfl.org/

Closest of all, the Osceola Pioneer center is a tiny little museum off of 192, on Bass Rd., that focuses on the cattle-ranching heritage that is important in Osceola County (ranching was the primary employer there pre-Mouse and still happens in the parts of the county farthest away from WDW.)
http://www.evilla-rentals.com/pioneer-center.htm

BTW, a spelling note if you are looking it up; the Cuban area in Tampa is Ybor City.
 



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