The Disney-fication of Orlando never reached the suburban city of Winter Park a few miles north. A historic, old-money town that was begun as a community of winter homes for wealthy northerners in the second-half of the 19th century, Winter Park is dotted with picturesque lakes whose shores are lined with the mansions of the rich and famous and brick streets with moss-draped oak and camphor trees.
Park Avenue is filled with boutiques, art galleries and restaurants. The city is also a worthwhile arts destination and home to the Morse Museum, which contains the world's largest permanent collection of works by Louis Comfort Tiffany, the American decorative arts master best known for his deep-hued stained-glass lampshades, vases, jewelry and windows.
Morse Museum
In February the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art (www.morsemuseum.org) opened a 12,000-foot expansion wing as a permanent home to showcase 250 art and architectural elements from Tiffany's personal collection from his Long Island estate, Laurelton Hall, which was destroyed by fire in 1957. Many of these surviving pieces, including large components of rooms recovered from the mansion, have been in the museum's care since the fire. After being meticulously restored, they are on display for the first time in more than half a century. A highlight of the new wing is the Daffodil Terrace, featuring such extravagant Tiffany elements as a crown of glass daffodils. Once an outdoor terrace at Tiffany's home, the Daffodil Terrace is now housed in a glass-enclosed gallery and serves as the focal point for the Morse's new wing.
Other Museums
The Cornell Fine Arts Museum (www.rollins.edu/cfam) on the Rollins College campus just south of downtown overlooks Lake Virginia. Its impressive collection ranges from from the early Renaissance to the modern era and includes works from Henri Matisse, Thomas Moran and Pablo Picasso, among many other notable names.
Located a few blocks away from the Cornell museum, on the shore of yet another lake -- Lake Osceola -- the Albin Polasek Museum and Sculpture Garden (www.polasek.org) features more than 200 works by Czech-born American sculptor Albin Polasek. Here you can stroll three acres of bucolic grounds, which include a sculpture garden, and browse the galleries in the mansion where Polasek retired, now containing his works as well as the changing exhibitions of other artists.
An arts festival
To complement your museum browsing, the Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival (www.wpsaf.org/CMS/) takes place in Central Park in the heart of downtown from March 18-20. This is one of the country's older and more esteemed outdoor art festivals, held each March since 1960. It's also a juried arts festival, with more than $65,000 in prize money being handed out this year in a variety of categories. A music stage will feature an array of musical artists from many different genres including jazz, rock and classical.
A boat tour
A scenic boat tour of the city's lakes offers a nice break from all the art museums and sidewalk strolling. The lakes are connected by narrow canals just wide enough for the pontoon boats of the Winter Park Scenic Boat Tours company (www.scenicboattours.com). The narrated trip lasts an hour and costs $12 for adults, $6 for kids. On the tour you'll see the city's opulent mansions from the water and get an up-close view of the area's flora and fauna, which include an abundance of sub-tropical flowers, cypress and palms trees, waterfowl and maybe even an alligator.
If you go
Winter Park is a seven-and-a-half hour drive from Atlanta on I-75 South.
Stay
Thurston House. B&B in a restored 19th-century home on eight acres of lakefront property in nearby Maitland. Rates start at $185. 851 Lake Ave., Maitland. 407-539-1911, www.thurstonhouse.com.
Park Plaza. Boutique hotel right on Park Avenue in the heart of Winter Park and within walking distance to the museums. Rates start at $160. 307 Park Ave. South, Winter Park. 407-647-1072, www.parkplazahotel.com.
Eat
Luma on Park. A good choice for a romantic dinner in the popular Park Avenue district. Dinner entrees start at $21. 290 S. Park Ave., Winter Park. 407-599-4111, www.lumaonpark.com.
The Ravenous Pig. By the name you would think it's a barbecue joint, but it's actually a sophisticated American gastropub. Dinner entrees start at $12. 1234 N. Orange Ave., Winter Park. 407-628-2333, www.theravenouspig.com.
Visitor info
Winter Park Welcome Center & Chamber of Commerce. 151 W. Lyman Ave., Winter Park. 407-644-8281, www.cityofwinterpark.org/Pages/Visitors.aspx.
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