Titanic the Experience - Orlando, FL

 

 

Recently I haven't had as much time to blog or travel as I would like so when someone told me that they had recently visited the Titanic experience on International drive and thought it was wonderful I figured I had to go.

Before you start the exhibit you receive a boarding pass with the name of a person that was aboard the ship.  At the end you get to see if your person was saved or died at sea. (PS I lived but my husband didnt make it)

The exhibit was redesigned in January 2012 by the RMS Titanic inc.  They have guided tours and prerecorded tours available.  I suggest the guided tour as the guides are in character as one of the individuals who were upon the ship that fateful day.

Upon entering you become a passenger and travel back in time to 100 years ago, where authentic artifacts and interactive storytellers in period costume allow you to visit the unforgettable sights, sounds, and emotions aboard the ship that night. The tour includes full scale room re-creations where you visit Titanic's Grand Staircase, First Class Parlor Suite, Boilers, Captain's Bridge and Promenade Deck and the infamous glacier that caused the wreck.

the middle - steering - propeller for the ship the other 2 are twice as big

only 3 of the 4 steam pipes are real - the 4th is fake and is a storage closet

firt class accomodations - everything was Tiffany glass and first rate

the captains wheel- and the conditions that were out that night -no moon = really dark

the glacier represents the size that the crew saw above the water - however it is 4 times larger underneath - it is also 28 degrees and very chilly to the touch

You can view more than 400 unique pieces of memorabilia and 100 artifacts recovered from the wreck site of Titanic- some of which have recently completed conservation and are on display for the  very first time. Some of the pieces include a portion of the Ship's hull, the Captain's wheel and personal belongings from Titanic's passengers and crew.

Trained actors in period costume portray famous Titanic notables, sharing stories of her passengers and crew during an hour-long guided journey. Upon the end of the exhibit there is an extensive Underwater Room, displaying an 8-foot replica of Titanic as she appears on the bottom of the Atlantic today, including the second largest piece of Titanic ever recovered a 3 ton portion of the ship's hull.

Between 1987 and 2004 the RMS Titanic Inc has recovered over 5,500 artifacts. 

We received the Florida resident special and our adventure for the day came to a little less than $40 - you can check online for coupons -

I was completely impressed with the exhibit.  I wasn't sure what to expect and I learned so much and it was so interesting to see the items made then and how they survived the wreck, and the ocean floor for so long.  It is a truly heart-wrenching story to find out all of the errors that occurred that prevented those poor people from being rescued that night.  Thank goodness the issues that arose have been since changed so that it won't happen again.  For instance freighters and passenger shipped used different types of distress signals so no one knew they had an issue even though 2 ships were less than 2 miles away and could have easily made it to help.  Or that flares used to be silver and white and the freight ships thought they were fireworks and not flares for help. 

If you have ever watched the movie or are interested in the Titanic I would suggest visiting the exhibit.  The tour takes about an hour and then you are allowed to go back the beginning and take your time going back through.

I didn't want to take tooo many pictures of the exhibit as I wanted to leave something to the imagination and let you explore the place for yourself. 

Love pictures - you can have your picture as the King or Queen of the world with the green screen of the ocean and bow as well as on the grand staircase.

Want to do something more? They also have dinner experiences where you can have either a 3 or 4 course meal and celebrate the way the passengers would have on the Titanic. 

Check it out today - http://www.titanictheexperience.com/orlando/special-events.html

Orange Blossom Cannonball - Tavares, FL

I have always been fascinated with trains since I was very little.  The idea of something that large screaming down the tracks, blowing the horn and steam rolling out the top was always very exciting.  I always wished I would have the opportunity to ride one someday.  However, as I got older, trains went away and were not something that was easily accessible anymore.  I thought that I would never get a chance to mark that off of my "bucket list".  Luckily one day in December,  I came across an advertisement for the America's number one movie train - the Orange Blossom Cannonball - and I knew this was the opportunity I had been waiting for.  I could mark off another item from my "list" and I could do something cool to promote on the blog.

Upon checking out their site, I noticed they had several different ride options - from one to two hour normal train rides, to the "Pizza Express" where you get unlimited pizza and drinks while you ride, want to do something way out of the normal - try the Wild West Train Ride and Hoedown or the Rails and Ales tour.

We decided to go to the first one that was available so we decided on the Saturday one hour excursion - this ride takes you a half hour out and then you turn around and come back to the station.  The two hour ride goes to Lake Jem -

Upon entering the train you are allowed to sit anywhere - they have several carts to sit in and every seat has a table - there is a cafe on the train where you can purchase beer, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages.  You can even bring your own dinner to enjoy on the train.

Closer to the rear of the train is the Copla section - it was a birds eye view of the train - these seats were a few dollars extra - but the area was really neat to get a new perspective of the train from -

Few Facts about the Locomotive

• Only standard gauge wood burner currently in year round active service in the US
• Was built in 1907
• Top speed of 50 mph
• Engine will use over 100 gallons of water per mile for steam
• Uses over 3500 pounds of hardwood for every 16 mile trip

The Orange Blossom Cannonball has been in over 100 movies - such as Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Slayer (2012) ; True Grit (2010), 3:10 to Yuma (2007), Oh Brother Where Art Thou (1999); Long Riders (1979);  Box Car Bertha (1972) - to name just a few

 Go online and check out their events and order your tickets today -

Don't know what to do before or after your train ride?  Well why not check out Wooten Park that is right next to the train station - They have an entire fenced in play area that has many items for your kids to run around and play on.

Is it really hot out and you need to cool off? check out the Splash Park right next door - they are open from April to September -

Want to check out some of the other items that are offered in Tavares?

• Guided Nature Tour Boat Ride - Daily tours at 11am, 2pm, and sunset - stroll through the Dora Canal

• Sea Plane ride excursions - from a 10 minute flight around Mt Dora to a build your own 2 hour package - 

Lakeridge Winery - Clermont, FL

Recently my fiancee and I decided we needed to do something for the blog, but with gas prices and our schedules we couldn't commit to something to far away or an all day event.  I thought long and hard and came up with the "Tour of Clermont".  Not only is it not far from our house but 2 of the three and half things we did were free!  So we jumped in the car and headed out to our first destination, Lakeridge Winery.  They are open Mon - Sat 10am - 5pm and Sun 11pm - 5pm.  The tours and tastings are always free and happen every 15 minutes and last about 45 minutes in length.  We had done this before a long time ago, but I thought it was definitely interesting enough to go back for the blog. 

You begin the tour with a 15 minute video about the history of Lakeridge Winery and the Cox family who were responsible for opening the winery.  It goes through how they choose the site for the winery to how the 127 acres of land is divided for all phases of the operation. 

Next you are ushered out onto a walkway that overlooks the bottling floor.  In this room are huge tanks that hold the wine as it is fermenting.  They are stainless steel jugs, so any oak flavor you get from the red wines are do to oak chips being added to the grapes.    If you are interested in the step by step process, there is a tab on their website which is included and you can check it out for yourself.

one of the smaller tanks inside

They also explain the only different between white and red wine is that the red wine is marinated with their skins still on while the others are removed before the squishing process. This machine goes through and gets rid of the skins (for the white), leaves and stems, before squishing into into a mushy substance.

Next you proceed outside where you get to see the machine that they use to pick the grapes.  This machine straddles the vine and shakes all the grapes of the vines and out the tube into a large collection bag that rolls along side it.  No manual picking at this winery.  You also get to see some of the larger tanks holding the wine.  They said last year they made over 500,000 gallons of wine.

the big outdoor holding tanks

This winery uses only two types of grapes in their wines.  The first is called Muscadine and it is a sweet grape that is natural to Florida.  This makes the majority of the wines that Lakeridge serves to be on the sweeter side.  For those of you that like yours a little drier, they do also grow Hybrid grapes.  Are you a bubbly person?  They have sparkling wine that is brewed the same way as Champagne, but since it must come from Champagne, France it must be called sparkling wine.

to the left are the hybrid grapes and to the right are the Muscadine grapes

At this point, you circle around to another walkway over looking the bottling machine area, where each bottle gets filled, corked, labeled, vibrated, and packaged.

the bottle starts on the left side and works its way around to the right

Finally you end up back in the gift shop and it is now time to taste the wines you just learned so much about.  Belly up to the bar and get ready to taste the 10 varieties that they offer.  They pour just enough to taste and teach you the proper way to taste wine.  Don't worry the samples are the equivelent to one glass of wine.

your supplies for the tasting

Don't want to run home right after the tasting?  Get something from the gift shop - snacks, perhaps a bottle and have yourself a picnic overlooking the vineyard.

The other thing this winery is known for are their monthly events.  They have a calendar page on their website that gives the entertainment for the year.  They just ask for a small donation of $2.00 that goes to a local charity.  Typically they are filled with musicians, wine and good food!!

So the next time you need something to do that doesn't require a lot of cash or time.  Come check out the winery.

http://www.lakeridgewinery.com/index.php
19239 Us Highway 27, Clermont, FL 34715-9025

LOCATION:
U.S. Hwy. 27, 3 miles south of Florida's Turnpike Exit 285 and 6 miles north of Clermont. Approximately 25 miles west of Orlando via Hwy. 50, and 30 miles north of Walt Disney World ® via U.S. 27.