Exploring Central Florida: Historical Tours with Steve Rajtar and the Florida Trail Assn.

In July Mary had seen a mention somewhere of a guided canoe tour of the Winter Park chain of lakes with a historical emphasis. We decided to check it out, and were thoroughly pleased that we did. In fact, during the past 2 weeks we have been on walking tours of the Greenwood Cemetary (night tour), the Lake Eola area in downtown Orlando, and a canoe tour of Lake Ivanhoe.

The tours are sanctioned by the Florida Trail Association, and are conducted by local attorney Steve Rajtar. Steve had done extensive research on many areas and towns in Central Florida, and he (often with his wife) has published many books and articles on the history of the area. When conducting tours in person, he blends history with a perspective of modern day, and does so in an entertaining manner. If you have any interest in the history of various places in Central Florida, it would be well worth your time to check out Steve's schedule and plan to attend one of his tours. The Florida Trail group also sponsors many other hikes, canoe trips, bicycle rides, etc. led by a variety of volunteers. We hope to attend some in the near future, and will write about how those go!

The historical tours with Steve are completely free. While he typically has available a variety of books for sale, as well as a patch for each tour available for $4.00, there is absolutely no pressure to purchase anything. You can find the upcoming schedule on the local Florida Trail website at http://www.central.floridatrail.org/. The is also a website that lists all of Steve's tours and links to the self-guided tours and directions that you can download, but that website will be going away in the near future - here is the link: http://www.geocities.com/yosemite/rapids/8428/historicalseries.html.