| The Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour, founded in 1938 | | | | a snake bird, a great blue heron and a white egret, |
| and located just 15 minutes north of downtown | | | | which used to be the good luck bird of the Seminole |
| Orlando, is one of these lovely side trips that combine | | | | Indians. |
| beautiful scenery, a bit of local history, some close-up | | | | On Lake Maitland we learned that there was an |
| exposure to local wildlife and vegetation with a relaxing | | | | alligator cave from which 150 alligators were removed |
| outing in a slow-moving 18-passenger pontoon boat, all | | | | into the Florida Everglades to prevent a rather |
| complete with expert (and sometimes humorous) | | | | dangerous collision between local wildlife and civilization. |
| narration provided by the boat's captain. | | | | Along the Venetian Canal we also saw variegated |
| The tour takes you through 3 lakes: Lake Osceola, | | | | ginger and banana trees, as we slowly passed under |
| Lage Virginia and Lake Maitland. On this gorgeous day, | | | | the arched Palmer Avenue Bridge. Philodendrons, |
| with brilliantly blue skies, the boat whisked us past | | | | palmgrass, bamboo, a plant called firespikes and an |
| hundreds of beautiful water-front estates, many of | | | | interesting arrangement of "air potatoes", round tubers |
| which were originally built in the 1920s and originally sold | | | | hanging down from a tree branch, adorned our journey |
| for $20,000, while fetching between $500,000 and | | | | through the canal. |
| several million in today's booming Central Florida real | | | | At 450 acres and 30 feet deep, Lake Maitland is the |
| estate market. Even boathouses are worth between | | | | largest of the 3 lakes covered by the boat tour. A |
| $30,000 and $40,000. | | | | dam controls the water level and interestingly, the |
| In Lake Virginia we came up close to the grounds of | | | | lakes all drain northwards into the St. John's River |
| Rollins College, one of the top rated private liberal arts | | | | which flows into the Atlantic near Jacksonville. The |
| colleges in the South Eastern United States, founded in | | | | Kraft Azalea Gardens, located on Lake Maitland on |
| 1885 by New England Congregationalists. Rollins | | | | Alabama Drive off Palmer Avenue, feature thousands |
| College is the oldest recognized college in the state of | | | | of azaleas, tropical shrubs and trees. Azaleas are in full |
| Florida with a small student body of 1,700 students, | | | | bloom January through March. |
| housed on a beautiful 70 acre Mediterraean Revival | | | | Our expert captain also pointed out various mansions |
| Campus. Our expert captain / tour guide mentioned | | | | that have been used as backdrops in various movies |
| that tuition at the college is $38,000 and the ratio of | | | | and commercials. Lake Maitland also features several |
| students to professors is 12:1. | | | | small islands with rather naked looking trees that house |
| Condos are located right next to the college, selling | | | | colonies of cormorants, fishing birds that consume up |
| today for between $450,000 to $1 million. As we | | | | to a pound of fish a day. |
| approached the narrow Venetian Canal that would | | | | We slowly made our way back from Lake Maitland to |
| take us from Lake Virginia to Lake Maitland, our | | | | Lake Osceola where our relaxing and scenic boat tour |
| captain made us aware of all the interesting vegetation | | | | came to an end. On this gorgeous day it was a |
| growing alongside the canal: Egyptian papyrus, Spanish | | | | fabulous outing that provided an appropriate historical |
| moss (an airplant and not a parasite), the Princess | | | | context for a further exploration of the beautiful city of |
| flower, colourful bougainvilleas and resurrection fern. | | | | Winter Park. |
| We saw a variety of birds, including an Osprey eagle, | | | | |