Discover More About What Florida Can Offer!

Discover the Real Florida!

Orlando is the Number One holiday destination in the world, with many visitors drawn by the theme parks and attractions on offer. However, Florida has so much more to offer than just thrill rides and entertainment (as wonderful as that is)!

The Sunshine State has the Atlantic coastline to the East and the warmer Gulf of Mexico coastline to the West. Each of these is within a 2-hour drive from Orlando and they both offer in excess of 250-miles of coastline.

To the South of Orlando you have the Everglades and the Keys, or the art-deco splendor of Miami's South Beach and upmarket Vero Beach.

We have made a point during out recent visits to try and discover more of the real Florida, and we will keep this page updated with details of the places we have visited.

Dolphins at Play - taken from the Sea Screamer
in Clearwater Bay

Clearwater Bay - located on the Gulf coastline, directly West of Tampa, this superb beach resort offers white sands and warm water. The beaches of Clearwater, Bellair and Indian Rock consist of a narrow strip of land reached by several bridges crossing over from the mainland.

In addition to the many fine seafood restaurants, serving freshly caught lobster and crab, there is a lot of other things to do around Clearwater.

The Sea Screamer is a large powerboat that will take you for a high speed tour of the bay. The crew knows exactly where to find the dolphins and turtles, so you are sure of a close up marine wildlife experience.

You can also try out a 'Pirate Adventures' on one of the galleons that sail out from Clearwater, or just relax the day away on the excellent beach.

Boggy Creek - less than a 30-minute drive from 'Magic Dreams' is Boggy Creek, where you can enjoy the famous airboat ride over the wetlands of Central Florida Everglades and get up close and personal with an alligator or two!

These airboats travel at up to an astonishing 45 miles per hour and you will get to see plenty of wildlife including many of the exotic birds that live here.

This is a truly exhilarating experience, and is as much of a thrill as any of the theme park rides.

You can also try out a Wildlife Safari Tour on a monster truck or enjoy a beautiful Floridian sunset on a night tour. Simply a great day out, so make sure that you include this on your itinerary..

Kennedy Space Center - Traveling East this time to the Atlantic coast and Cape Canaveral being around a 1-hour drive from 'Magic Dreams'. The Space Center is located on a 140,000-acre island that is also a wildlife refuge. High technology and nature all rolled into one.

If you are lucky enough to be in Florida when there is a Space Shuttle launch then this is the place to be for the best view. Each launch attracts around 50,000 visitors, so be sure to get there early!

Drop in at the Astronaut Hall of Fame and you will be able to climb aboard a full size replica of the Space Shuttle, view the cockpit and get a feel for exactly how large that Loading Bay really is.

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Visit the 'Rocket Garden' shown left, which has every rocket that has been used in the NASA space program, including the renowned Redstone, Atlas and Titan rockets.

On one side of the Rocket Garden is the Saturn V, a truly massive piece of engineering!

Visit one of the two IMAX Theaters and experience a 3-D space flight.

There are many worthwhile static museum exhibitions housed in the Early Space Exploration building including actual space capsules such as the Gemini.

On site, you will also see the Space Mirror Memorial, built to honor the 24 U.S. Astronauts who lost their lives to space exploration.

Mount Dora - Looking for a peaceful and tranquil day out! Then experience the delights of small town America by visiting Mount Dora.

From 'Magic Dreams' head up SR-27 to the 19 and then East to Tavares. Just past Tavares, you will find Mount Dora. This quaint town is famous for its many Art, Gift and Antique shops and makes for a great day of 'browsing'.

Add to that the abundance of coffee shops and cafes, together with the cobbled roads and parks and you have all of the ingredients for a relaxing day out.

Mount Dora is also famous as a Festival City, hosting an art festival every Spring and a similar Craft festival in the Fall.

Festival information and dates can be found on the
Chamber of Commerce website.

Being located on the shores of Lake Dora, this town also has the benefit of some wonderful lake views, with pleasant walks and picnic areas. There is an Inland lighthouse and you can take a tour of the lake by boat .

Mount Dora attracts a great number of visitors during the weekend, and so parking can be a problem. Most of the parking is valet parking, so just look out for the signs as you enter the town.

Miniature Golf - Not so much a destination as an occupation. Like real Golf, Orlando has a huge number of miniature golf courses, mainly centred along the 192 and on International Drive.

These courses are a fun way to spend a couple of hours, and the variety of different courses available means that every one is unique in its own way.

Pictured left is the Bonanza at 7761, Irlo Bronson Memorial Highway (the 192), which is only around 10-minutes drive from 'Magic Dreams'. This is located right behind the Magic Mining Company restaurant.

Disney also has two miniature golf courses at Walt Disney World. We played the Fantasia Gardens course during the evening, as it is so beautifully lit that this makes it an experience it its own right. There is also Disney's Winter Summerland at the parks ...we've yet to try that one...so watch this space!

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