april-2012

ON THE TOWN: ORLANDO
ORLANDO’S MAGIC CONT’D
PRESIDENTS
HALL OF FAME
Clermont, FL (34 miles from
Orlando)
Celebrate the Presidential
election year with a tour of this
treasure trove of presidential
paraphernalia. Sitting in the
shadows of The Citrus Tower in
Central Florida’s hill country, the
President’s Hall of Fame aptly
appears to borrow architectural
elements from the White House
and the Lincoln Memorial.
Abraham Lincoln sits atop his
lofty seat outside, welcoming
you to peruse artifacts ranging
from first lady dress replicas and
JFK’s China to the Carter family
dollhouse and Nancy Reagan’s
Christmas Train “Rex.” There’s
even an untouched glass that
still features Ronald Reagan’s
lip print. Founder John Zweifel
prides himself on the miniature
models he’s created of each
and every Oval Office—every
model accurate down to the last
cigarette burn and extension cord.
Most folks can’t leave without
a photo behind a replica of the
Resolute desk, which was made
famous in the 1963 photo of John
F. Kennedy, Jr. crawling through
the desk at his father’s feet.
ROCK SPRINGS LAZY RIVER
Apopka, FL (33 miles from Orlando) orangecountyparks.net
While many of Orlando’s enormous water parks feature a “lazy river”
where languid bathers plop down on inflatable tubes and float their cares
away atop chlorinated H2O, Rock Springs is home to the real thing—a
Mother Nature original that allows bathers to float down a real river, full
of fish, the occasional wading duck and flowering lily pads. Lifeguards
patrol the river each morning to remove “nuisance wildlife”—alligators
in other words. Beware: the crystal-clear water bursts forth from the
Florida aquifer at a rate of 26,000 gallons a minute at a cushy 68F.
A DAY AWAY KAYAK
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (47 miles from Orlando)
adayawaykayaktours.com
Time becomes a distant memory lacking all meaning when you’re on the water,
grasping a paddle. Located near the Kennedy Space Center, A Day Away
Kayak features several excursions that force civilization to take a back seat by
guiding slow-paced, relaxing tours into some of North America’s most diverse
estuaries, home to manatee, wild dolphins and alligators. If you can summon
the courage, some of the most popular tours take place after dark, such as the
full moon tours. You also shouldn’t miss the bioluminescence tours, when the
water is aglow with tiny dinoflagellates giving off a green radiance, each a mini
firework in its own right. Watch out for mullets (the fish, not the hairstyle), as
schools of them are known to land in kayaks.
APRIL 2012 92
ORANGE BLOSSOM CANNONBALL
Tavares, FL (52 miles from Orlando) orangeblossomcannonball.com
All aboard the Hollywood movie train—while the Orange Blossom
Cannonball is far from Tinsel Town, that doesn’t stop some of Hollywood’s
biggest producers from using this 1907 wood burning steam train in their
motion pictures. The engine appeared in over 20 movies and TV shows, such
as True Grit, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? and There Will be Blood. When not
in a starring role, engine no. 2 calls the lake front community of Tavares its
home, where passengers can climb aboard the vintage train to ride the rails
16 miles through natural Florida. Ask nicely and the crew (dressed in period
clothing) is happy to allow riders to tug on the real steam whistle.
GO MAGAZINE