A Visit to Winter Park

Today I visited the city of Winter Park near Orlando. The city was founded as a resort destination by wealthy New England Industrialists before the turn of the 20th century. It is recognized as the first centrally planned community in Florida; its main street includes not only public civic buildings and retail, but also art galleries, a private liberal arts college, museums (the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art houses the largest collection of Tiffany glass in the world), a park, a train station, a golf course country club, a historic cemetery, and a beach and boat launch.

Winter Park is celebrated for a sense of place and history, uncommon to many parts of Central Florida. Many structures are more than 100 years old. The scenic “olde Winter Park” area is punctuated by small, winding brick streets, and a canopy of old Southern Live Oak and Camphor trees, draped with Spanish Moss. The city draws thousands of visitors to annual festivals including the Bach Festival, the nationally ranked Sidewalk Art Festival, and the Winter Park Concours d'Elegance.

If you are from a land of ice and snow in the winter, as I am, you are sure to enjoy these pictures of the green grass and flowers!