A vacation in Orlando is full of exciting days at theme-parks, long journeys to the beach or frantic visits to shopping malls to bag a bargain. Sometimes there is a need for a couple of hours peace and quiet to enable you to recharge you batteries. We had friends who had visited Orlando before us who told us to seek out Celebration for a quiet walk.
Celebration is a town that Disney Development Company built in the early 1990s. The running of the town has now passed to another firm. This may account for why there are not many signs directing you to the town from the Disney site. However if you get onto World Drive and head south you will soon reach this quiet gem.
The town architects modelled this town on an idealised version of small town America in the 1920s/1930s. It is obviously very artificial as it is a totally manufactured community. However it is a delight to explore on foot.
Parking is not terribly easy to find but we eventually found a lot behind some shops. Along the road you will not see cars parked; you will see electric vehicles parked instead. These nifty white machines are what transport some of the locals about.
The buildings are a mixture of residential of business. Theye are painted in lovely bright colours with shutters and unusual features like porthole windows. There are several shops set around the square closest to the lake. These offer unusual shopping opportunities and also there are some nice restaurants and a fantastic ice-cream parlour where you can sit outside and admire your surroundings.
An ornamental fountain can be found near the lake. Around the lake there are walking and running trails and you will probably see an alligator or two floating lazily around. On the shores of the lake there are plenty of signs warning about not feeding the alligators (are people stupid?). You will also find so amazingly comfortable rocking chairs made from wood which simply invite you to sit and relish the peace and tranquillity. Alongside the lake there is a very impressive looking hotel.
We spent a good couple of hours here; we just walked around enjoying the scenery and then sat watching the lake and enjoying the fact that we hardly saw another person. This is so unusual for Orlando that it is somewhere we will return to. We also visited in October which meant that all the houses were decorated in the best Halloween style I have ever seen!