Lisa's Travels

Posts Tagged ‘travel tips’

If you are taking your family to the Orlando vacation resorts, then be prepared for a busy time at the parks, although you can always take a break and visit one of the many other interesting attractions. Orlando city has a wide range of sights, places to eat with many of these available along International Drive where it is possible to park the car and take a stroll. Although it wasn’t always this full of attractions, it has been pulling in visitors for many years and its popularity does not seem to be diminishing.

As one of the most tourist centered cities in the world, Orlando a great deal to offer including large shopping malls, restaurants of every type, night clubs, bars and many specialist shops. An Orlando vacation has far more to offer than this short article can possibly hope to highlight so only a few of the more unusual attractions and places to see are brought to your attention.

If you are an animal lover then you must visit the Central Florida Zoological Park in Sanford which was opened to the public in’75 and houses a collection of over 400 hundred animals. The zoo has a charity status and is dedicated to the preservation of all exotic animals, including those that are only found in Florida.

Then there are the works of Louis Tiffany whose famous collection is housed here in the Morse Museum of American Art. The collection is the most comprehensive anywhere with Tiffany jewelry, art glass, ornaments, pottery, paintings and leaded glass.

Surprisingly, Orlando is not just about fun for the children because adults are very well catered for in this entertainment town full of Orlando vacation resorts. For people that prefer the night, the list of things to do on an Orlando vacation is almost endless with families, teenagers and adults all well looked after.

The Orlando Science Center is another of the major attractions and its four-story center is the biggest of its kind in the Southeast; offering 10 exhibit halls that allow visitors everything from the Florida swamplands to the dry plains of Mars. Then there is the International Trolley and Train Museum where you can see toy trains from the’20s; plus take a ride in a California Victorian-style half open/half closed trolley car.

The Titanic – Ship of Dreams Exhibition can also be found along International Drive; this is a moving, often eerie depiction of the great Ocean Liner with a tour guide depicting a character from the ship with many original items on display. A quieter more relaxing time can be found within the grounds of Lake Eola Park where you can enjoy over forty three acres of wonderful parkland which includes a boating lake for the more energetic.

No trip to Orlando would be complete without a trip to the Walt Disney World Resort which comprises of four main theme parks plus water parks, or Universal Studios resort complex which is equally as popular. Everything you need for your vacation is in Orlando – a place that’s open all year round but if you want to escape huge crowds then avoid the holiday seasons, in particular Easter and Christmas, as the Orlando Vacation resorts are likely to be full, and the theme parks even fuller.

For interesting facts on orlando vacation resorts, keep up to the minute on what to do on vacation in orlando at the online travel guides.

Encinitas is a California beach town locked in the 1960′s. Here you can see tourists and locals alike dining at outdoor restaurants, walking around downtown barefoot or in swim suits, just sitting in their cars at Moonlight Beach watching the waves or carrying their surfboards as they pedal their bikes to the nearest beach. World famous Swami’s Temple and more than 20 yoga studios add to the funky “cool” vibe.

Every one of the four rooms or suites at Ann’s Inn At Moonlight Beach are decorated in the best of taste in the flavor of a French Beach Inn. Every morning will find Ann baking her guests warm-from-the-oven rolls, croissants, breads and pastries for breakfast.

Guests at the Inn might begin their day with a walk on the beach in either direction at the crack of dawn and then return to the Inn for Ann’s home-made breakfast – all included in the cost of the night’s stay. Swami’s Beach was made famous in 1963 by the Beach Boys and is just a ten minute walk along the sandy beach where world class surfers still surf every morning.

Guests who leave their windows cracked open at night can hear the sounds of the surf at night and then awaken in the morning to the melodic sound of the of the meditative waterfall. Now it’s their choice: they can drift back to sleep or get up and take an early morning walk on the beach or through little town as Encinitas awakens.

After their early morning activities, guests return to the Inn and relax with a cup of fresh, hot Starbucks coffee and the morning newspaper in Ann’s breakfast sunroom, or enjoy their breakfast outside in the sunshine next to her soothing waterfall.

In the evenings, guests enjoy romantic moonlit walks on the beach. Others prefer to relax on the front porch of the Inn with a glass of wine while they enjoy the twilight over the ocean. When guests are ready for bed they can snuggle down under fine cotton linens and down-filled pillows and let the soothing songs of the waterfall and distant surf lull them to sleep.

Swami’s Beach, immortalized by the Beach Boy’s in 1963 (let’s go surfing now, everybody’s learning how, come on a safari with me!) is just 6 blocks south of Moonlight Beach on historic Highway 101 and still draws the finest surfers in the world on a daily basis.

Terry Hunefeld retired as CEO of a San Diego corporation to follow his love of exploring the ocean to study seabirds and marine animals. Hunefeld and Ann Dunham own the Inn At Moonlight Beach in Encinitas near Del Mar and San Diego. For more information visit: Encinitas Hotels or Hotels in Encinitas.