By Gerry Barker
Photos/Video by Gerry Barker
Splash Magazines readers know Pam and I are fans of Amtrak, and enjoy taking the Silver Meteor from West Palm Beach to New York every chance we get. And every time we go, the train makes one stop we’ve always wanted to step off and explore: Winter Park, Florida.
From the historic train depot to the wide green spaces of the idyllic Central Park that it fronts, the town looks like something out of a storybook or a Norman Rockwell painting. One of our friends, a former resident of New York, said it reminds her of Willoughby, the fictional 19th century town featured in a classic episode of “The Twilight Zone.” And she’s right.
Recently, looking for a weekend escape with our granddaughter, Cate, before school started, we decided it was high time to get on the Amtrak and visit Winter Park.
Located just north of Orlando, it’s normally about a four-hour train trip. We had reservations for the night at the Park Plaza Hotel, an easy walk from the train station. Built in 1922 during the so-called “golden age of hotels,” entering the lobby really is a step back in time. Touted as “the first hotel in Winter Pak to have its own private bathroom with each guest room,” the current owners have lovingly renovated it, adding modern touches but keeping its historic charm.
Over its 102-year history, the hotel has hosted its share of celebrities and famous people, including Nancy Pelosi, Jimmy Buffet, Al Hirt, Mickey Mantle, Henry Kissinger and many more. To reach our second floor guest room — it has 28 rooms altogether — we crowded into the hotel’s original brass-door elevator, made by the Jacksonville Elevator Company. That was definitely a first for Cate.
You certainly can’t beat its location: It fronts Winter Park’s main thoroughfare, Park Avenue. Like its New York counterpart, there are blocks of upscale stores, restaurants, museums, art galleries and shops.
Similar to other Florida destinations, Winter Park, chartered in 1887, was developed to provide a warm weather haven for Northerners looking to escape harsh, cold winters. Home to some 30,000 people, it has managed to maintain its small-town charm and beauty, and boasts a number of premiere attractions, including one of the country’s top liberal arts schools, Rollins College, Florida’s oldest, founded in 1885.
Since we had less than 24 hours to discover what Winter Park has to offer, we had a list of high points provided by the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce. Knowing how much Cate enjoys boats, we began our visit with the Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour, a few blocks walk from downtown at the end of Morse Blvd. (more about Morse in a minute) on Lake Osceola.
Leaving every hour from 10 am-4 pm, their open-air boats seat 18 passengers for an hour-long, guided tour across three lakes and two canals. We learned a lot about the town, its history and the wildlife that calls these waters home. In one of the canals, we even had a close encounter with a giant blue heron.
Also impressive are the lavish estates that ring the lakes. One can just imagine the weddings, garden parties and summer soirees staged by the well-to-do residents over the decades. We especially enjoyed navigating the canals, with their low bridges, Spanish moss and tropical foliage.
Back to Morse — Charles Hosmer Morse, to be exact. A successful businessman born in Vermont (1833), he became Winter Park’s biggest landowner, and his legacy is evident today. What was once the Morse family estate is now a nature preserve, known for its orange trees and free-roaming peacocks. But the Morse family’s biggest contribution is no doubt the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art, which houses the most extensive collection of works by Louis Tiffany in the world.
Pam is a longtime admirer of all things Tiffany (she loves those little blue boxes, don’t you know — what woman doesn’t?), so naturally, that’s our next stop. The museum’s collection was assembled over a 50-year period by Morse’s granddaughter, Jeannette Genius McKean, and her husband, Hugh, who was the museum’s first director.
Located in an imposing building just off Park Avenue, seeing Tiffany’s unsurpassed glass and jewelry craftsmanship is both magical and awe-inspiring. Yes, there are rooms devoted to his lamps, stained glass and jewelry creations — all stunning — but the high point of our visit was seeing the Tiffany Chapel.
Designed in the Byzantine-Romanesque style, Tiffany created it for the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. In the years since, it was moved, sold and disassembled, and thanks to the efforts of the McKeans, the pieces were tracked down and the chapel restored to its original glory.
There’s so much more to see, including collections of American pottery, paintings, prints, and decorative arts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but we had to keep an eye on the time to catch the train back to West Palm. Fortunately for us, the train was running late, so we had some extra time to spend.
Along Park Avenue, you can find restaurants to suit any taste. Two that we enjoyed:
— Prato. Locally owned, and specializing in classic Italian cuisine, we were told it was extremely popular. So it was a good thing I made reservations in advance — it was packed. Like many restaurants along Park Ave., there is both inside and sidewalk seating. We dined in, and the food was as good as advertised. Pam and I had their signature dish — “Mustard Spaghettini ‘Cacio E Pepe’ (cheese and pepper).” You might think mustard and spaghetti don’t mix. Believe me, they do. It was amazing, and a half-portion was more than enough.
— Briarpatch Restaurant. Recommended by the hotel, this was also packed. But we got a table and service was friendly and efficient. This is a go-to place for both locals and visitors, serving breakfast and lunch. Cate went with an omelet with chorizo sausage, while we had their Southern breakfast. A little noisy, but two thumbs up for the food.
There’s so much more to see, do and experience in this Florida winter oasis, but we were against the clock — and the train doesn’t wait.
If you’re in the Orlando area and have some extra time, put Winter Park on your radar. Unlike Willoughby, you won’t have to enter the Twilight Zone.
Splash Magazines
Be the first to comment