Beyond the Theme Parks: Six Cool Things to do in Orlando

Orlando is a great city for family trips to Disney, Universal and other theme parks. But underneath that is the heart of a very cool city, with fun and lively bars, great food and enjoyable, walkable neighborhoods. Here’s a special Travel Pulse Canada look at 10 things to check out in Orlando that go beyond the Mouse and Harry Potter.

Ethnic Orlando

Mills 50 is a colourful shopping and dining area north of downtown with a large number of Vietnamese immigrants and other South Asians. A good number of Vietnamese folks relocated here from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and you’ll find fantastic shops selling fragrant herbs, Asian sweets, fresh fish and spiky pink and green dragon fruit. The District at Mills 50 calls itself a “co-op marketplace and eatery” that features work by local artists and food producers. When I was there they were offering a luscious-looking carrot cake made with Canadian flour (I was told it’s considered more pure than American varieties).

Cool Coffee and Cocktails

Credo Downtown is a fabulous coffee shop located on the ground floor of an historic building just west of the city centre, with beautiful light and solid, old-time architecture. It looks like something you’d expect in New York, Chicago or Toronto. Lineage is a sleek coffee spot located at the East End Market, a wonderful collection of local food and fun shopping spots. A bit south of downtown, Foxtail Coffee look right at home in Vancouver’s Gastown or Toronto’s Leslieville. Herman’s Loan Office is a fantastic, Victorian-style cocktail spot with a fireplace in downtown Orlando. Nearby is The Courtesy Bar, an old-style joint with tons of character that calls itself the city’s original craft cocktail spot.

Fabulous Food

SOCO is a marvellous restaurant in the Thornton Park district, a few short blocks from the growing downtown district’s condos and office buildings. The emphasis is on southern foods with a twist. In the trendy Milk District, Market on South is a vegetarian restaurant that makes everything from Nanaimo bars to a crazy-good Caesar salad with kale, garlic red onion, pickled watermelon bits and blackened corn. Closer to Mills 50, Black Rooster Taqueria makes wonderful tacos (try the achiote pork, which is slow-roasted in a banana leaf) and bowls filled with tender meat, veggies and plantains. In downtown Orlando, Dove Cote is a lovely French brasserie in the Bank of America Building that does a fine steak frites and great Brussels Sprouts.

Winter Park

For something different, try the Winter Park Scenic Boat Tours. Old-time guides will take you on a series of pretty lakes past glorious homes and gardens. Best of all are the shady canals that link some of the lakes; shady, narrow affairs lined with towering trees drenched in Spanish Moss. The Morse Museum of American Art has the largest collection of Tiffany glass on the planet. The downtown area feature fun, independent shops mixed with chain stores on a very walkable main street. There’s also a beautiful park with a railway station that connects to downtown Orlando. Boca restaurant makes a luscious gazpacho with smoked tomatoes and crazy-good mussels with Sambuca.

Back to Nature

Boggy Creek has enjoyable, educational air boat rides that zip you through marvellous marshes and lakes. It's a great way to see alligators up close and learn about the vital role that Florida's wetlands play in the natural environment. North of downtown, Leu Gardens has fabulous rose gardens, tropical flowers and an historic home on the shores of a large, quiet lake. Downtown Orlando features Lake Eola, where you can jog or bike or rent a swan boat. There's also plenty of space for the kids to run around and burn off some energy.