Since February and March in
Pittsburgh can be the perpetual rain and gray sky months, I say fly south for
some beauty. From Pittsburgh there are reasonable and sometimes down right cheap
direct flights to Orlando. However I
have not been to Orlando since 2002 when I did the Disney thing with my 5 year
old son. Like most, I associate Orlando with Disney parks and endless exhaustive
walking but my friend introduced me to a
lake community, Winter Park, Florida. It’s 7 miles from Orlando and a small gem offering so much beauty in a quaint
town with lakes, museums, peacocks and more.
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| Boat tour home- beach sand brought in and house painted to match |
Reflection
My day here was full of adventure
and things aesthetic to the eye. The quaint town of Winter Park with bricked streets
has an array of fancy upscale stores. We walked through the beautiful campus of Rollins College that is home to a unique Chapel built in 1931 and an art gallery. Apparently there is always some cultural event here. In the Chapel we listened to
the symphony practice for the Baroque Festival
which we did not have time to see. It’s also the alma mater of Pittsburgh’s beloved Mr. Fred Rogers!
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| Canals on boat tour |
We ventured to the lake. The Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour is a relaxing, fun, and informative pontoon boat tour which winds through 5 lakes. The lakes are connected by canals (used for logging in the
1800’s). It feels like you are on a real “jungle cruise,” a real Disney ride, as you
careen through beautiful foliage. Then it opens to various lakes and you get an entertaining
guided tour about the homes (you all know I love stories). My favorite was the story
about the house that trucked in beach sand and then painted the home to match
the sand. Mr. Roger’s mansion home was built
on the lake by his parents because his piano did not fit in his dorm at Rollins College. What a lucky guy.
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| Polasek Sculpture garden picnic lunch |
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| Polasek home with sculptures |
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| Tiffany Chapel |
Our “cup runneth over” with
beautiful things at the Morse Museum. This place has one of the world’s largest collections of
Louis Comfort Tiffany art pieces. Of course there were plenty of the famous
Tiffany lamps but there were rooms filled with glass wear, pottery and jewelry!
The magnificence of the lead and stain glass windows were spectacular when you
could see them at eye level. The
highlight was the Tiffany Chapel that was reconstructed from his exhibit in the 1893
World Fair in Chicago.
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| Tiffany window at eye level |
The peacock, a beautiful bird in
its own right, roams wild here on Genius Drive. Apparently a wealthy lake home dweller (the Morse family,
founder of that Tiffany museum above) received peacocks for a wedding gift. The birds multiplied as they roamed on their lake property. The town now embraces the peacocks that walk freely on this street. I
enjoyed chasing them for pictures but did not get the male bird to spread his feathers.
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| Peacock run free on Genius Street |
I will keep this little place,
Winter Park, Florida, in my survival tool box and I will hop on a plane from Pittsburgh
again. It’s filled with beauty, relaxation, fun and a nice reprieve from the hustle of the Orlando theme parks.
Spiritual Source
Everything God does will endure forever (Ecclesiastes 3:14)
Other Sources
Morse Museum (Tiffiany) http://www.morsemuseum.org/