The village features a collection of authentic and replica historic buildings that were moved from…read moretheir original locations to this site for preservation. Today was the pioneer day, but was so hot, although really fun. They had a lot of food trucks offering ice cream, BBQ, popcorn, farmers market, pony ride, a lot of animals as Llama, alpaca, duck, rabbit, horses. Had the opportunity to meet Apple and NY daughter bought one piece of her azmzing job. Really recommend this place, even normal days, we usually come here to do picnic or play at the playground.

For a pleasant walk through Florida history, visit Pioneer Village in Kissimmee. There are a total…read moreof about 15 buildings/structures (many of them original or exact replicas) that tell the story of early settlers and native dwellers. Each building has a sign with a QR code to scan that links to a short You Tube video elaborating on the people who lived in them and their stories. Even if it's a hot sunny day, there are multiple shady spots to sit like the rocking chair on the veranda or the air-conditioned church. You can actually walk in most of the buildings. My 12-year-old son's favorite areas were the Lanier house with it's rooster and hens walking and clucking around, the goat in the back of the house, and the knot-tying area in the exhibit on Florida's cowmen. At $4 for children $6 for adults (if you get a coupon from the Ocala History Center), this is an educational experience in a beautiful setting. You can also bike, walk, paddle, or picnic in nearby Shingle Creek Park when you are done.

William John Howey (January 19, 1876 - June 7, 1938) was an American real-estate developer, citrus…read moregrower, and Republican politician from Florida. He founded and served as mayor for the town of Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida where he developed and sold citrus groves, becoming one of Florida's greatest citrus developers. He was one of the first citrus growers to send fruit from Florida to England. In 1921 he opened Florida's first citrus juice plant. He ran for governor on the Republican ticket in 1928 and 1932. Mr. Howey's prominence led to many distinguished guests visiting the Howey mansion, These included Lord Bathhurst of England, H.B. McNeal, publisher of Golfer's Magazine, golf master Chick Evans, Kansas Governor Alfred Landon, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Phillip's of petroleum fame, and President Calvin Coolidge who was guest of honor at an all-male dinner party in February 1930. Mr. Howey's former home near Lake Wales, Florida became the site of Florida's Bok Tower at the Bok Tower Gardens. In 1925 Mr. Howey commissioned a 20 room mansion in the town he founded. The architect was Katherine Cotheal Budd. During WWI she designed temporary lodgings known as hostess homes for women who were visiting their husbands at military training camps. Budd is credited for creating 72 lodgings with a homelike atmosphere and the Howey House is one of a few existing examples of her work. The Howey Mansion was designed in the popular Mediterranean Revival style. The house is set back on a wide lawn with wrought iron gates and a long horseshoe drive. The entrance to the home features an elaborate, two story bas relief frontispiece .The massive front door and the woodwork on the first floor is made from peaky cypress. Leading to the second floor is a graceful curving stone stairway with a wrought iron banister. Other features of the home include three large fireplaces, a ballroom-size drawing room, enormous beamed ceilings, and a servant call-bell phone system. There is even a hidden passage behind a sliding bookshelf panel in the library. The original 15 acres grounds of the mansion were called The Park and included many botanical plants and shrubs. On March 6, 1927 The Park was the host site for an open air concert performed by the New York Civic Opera Company bringing the top opera singers of the day to the mansion for a concert for the community. The mansion was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Place on January 27, 1983. On April 12, 2017 it was listed for sale at $480,000. The new owners are Brad and Clay Cowherd, Orlando real estate investors who have made period-accurate restoration of the house. I visited the Howey Mansion for the Founders Day Festival. Admission for tours of the home was discounted to $10. The Howey Mansion is available for private rentals like weddings while historical tours are also available Monday through Friday at 11am. The Founder's Day event included a local market, food trucks, live music, and family activities. I enjoyed visiting the tents and touring the mansion including the hidden bar in the basement that was created during prohibition. Behind the mansion, is a trail through the woods that will take you to the Georgian marble mausoleum where the Howey family is interred including William J. Howey (1938), daughter, Lois Valerie Howey (1941), and Mary Hastings Howey (1981). This year Centennial Founder's Day Celebration, marked100 years since the town's founding in 1925.

What an incredible place! We really enjoyed the tour Fran and Mercy gave us. They were extremely…read moreknowledgeable about the property and you can tell they love what they do. The property itself is gorgeous. If you're looking for an event space, you're in luck they rent it out for weddings and other events.

This historical tour was fantastic! We did the last tour of the day with Kayla, the owner. She was…read moreextremely knowledgeable and shared so much information on the home and what's happened over the years. I'm going to have to take this tour again just to try to remember it all! Lovely maintained home with so much history. Who visited, who contributed to the building and maintenance of the home, the restoration efforts. It was fascinating. We happened to be there on a day when they received a gift of an original Edison grammaphone with the beeswax songs in paper wrappers! And it actually worked! Amazing. Also loved the Louis Comfort Tiffany windows - just gorgeous!

If you're planning a visit to nearby Blue Springs State Park, the Stetson Mansion is an absolutely…read moremust-visit stop. Yes - Stetson - as in the hats. I was just as surprised to learn that the famed hat-maker once called the small town of DeLand, FL home. I happened to be visiting during peak manatee season and so had the privilege of being able to still enjoy the mansion during its special holiday tour season. During the holiday tour, each room of the mansion has a unique theme to it that you get to learn all about from your helpful docent. Not only do you get to the enjoy the wonderful story of that room's decorations theme but the history of the home and family is wonderfully blended in. I'm told that obviously during the regular historical tour you dive deeper but I left learning waaaaay more about the Stetson family than I ever expected (or knew). The home is privately owned and you the love and passion the new owners have for the historic property is evident in every room. We even had the pleasure of meeting one of the owners (the super sweet and DeLand native, Kayla) I was surprised to learn she had even created many of the decorations herself that adorned the opulent rooms in the mansion. The Stetson Mansion is a great example of one of the many historical gems tucked away in Florida small towns that you can stumble upon when exploring the state. Whether you're doing the regular history tour or holiday tour, you're sure to have a fabulous visit to the Stetson Mansion.

This historic building appropriately enough houses the Oviedo Historical Society. The house dates…read moreback to somewhere around 1890 when it was built by H.H. Lee, Sr. In 1910, he sold the daughter to his daughter, Charlotte, and her husband, T.W. Lawton and they moved the home on rollers to the present site. T.W. Lawton, his wife. Charlotte Lawton, and their three children made this their home and it looks to be a comfortable place to call a home. All in all, it was a cool place to check out and had me thinking about how different Oviedo, Florida must have been back then. I would definitely recommend a visit here.

The Lawton House seems to be best known for its Farmers Market. It is open the first Saturday of…read moreevery month from 8am to 1pm. The Lawton House was built in 1890 where the Oviedo Police Station is located. It was moved in 1910 to its current location. It is owned by the City of Oviedo. Tours are given of the seven bedroom house during the farmers market.

Absolutely venue! The outside area was the setting for a wedding overlooking the lake. The various…read moregathering areas housed a cocktail area, dinner seating, and a coffee/dessert station. Another covered area served as the cocktail bar and buffet. The venue has beautiful gardens, a cog pond and several seating areas. The staff ensured that everything ran according to the bride and groom's schedule. They even had bug spray on hand as needed.

You'll feel like a time traveler visiting Sydonie Mansion, a historic property situated like a…read moremirage among the green hills of northwest Orange County. Surrounded by old, moss draped oaks, the exterior of house itself has a Mediterranean appeal with barrel tile roofs, an elegant courtyard, and architectural details original to the property. There's an authenticity here. It begins with Amy, the owner and our tour guide, who has orchestrated the property's renovations with painstaking care. Every room opens like a diorama, where somehow she has managed to add new warmth and interest while letting the old patina shine through. It is a fascinating place, and my granddaughter and I loved walking the grounds after the tour. We couldn't have felt more welcome today, and we look forward to coming back to Sydonie Mansion in December when it sparkles for Christmas!

**INITIAL REVIEW**…read more The Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Tour (which I will shorthand simply to the Lighthouse Tour) has been one of those "backyard adventures" I've been wanting to go on for the longest time. Eventually, I was able to partake in said adventure with my friends, Nate and Chops. Afterwards, I have to say that even for a probably "one-and-done" for a tour, it is definitely worth every penny spent. This tour was everything I wanted and loved, and it delivered. First and foremost, the actual business building for the Lighthouse Tour is nothing you have to worry about. According to all the tours, you will meet up at the Sands Space Museum and take a charter van to multiple locales on the tour. Before we get to the actual tour I partook in, it should be noted there are numerous tour options such as the museums alone, the lighthouse alone, or the full experience. Prices range from $35 (lighthouse only) to $65 (full tour). I went with the latter which includes numerous museums, historic launch sites, and the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse. It should also be noted that the more you do, the longer the tour. The full tour is four hours long. Please take note the things you need to check before the tour such as wearing shoes if you plan to walk up the five floors of the lighthouse, small bags allowed with small closed-contained foods and drinks only. Finally, you need to fill out a clearance check as all the stops, with the exception of Sands Space Museum, is on the Cape Canaveral Air Force Military Base. With those in mind, the full tour - known as the Cape Canaveral Lighthouse and Space Flight Tour - is all the stops if possible. I say "if possible" because some stops may be closed for maintenance or upgrades. For us, The Sands Space Museum, where the tour stars, was closed for renovation. However, the museum is free and not on protected property so I can go back and check it out. We visited four different launch sites, three museums, and the Cape Canaveral lighthouse. I personally loved the lighthouse and Hanger "A" which housed some of the larger historic rockets and jets that have helped bring NASA and the U.S. military where it is now. I personally was surprised that the first drone was used as target practice. I can't really detail everything I saw or this would become one my longest reviews, longer than I usually do. Just know that, like I said earlier in the review, for a possible one-and-done, it is worth every penny. However, if you really want to make sure the tour is a one-and-done, pay for the full tour. You'll have enough time to visit everything within the four hours, and if anything is closed, they'll take you to the Canaveral National Seashore, which was amazing because it is literally almost "untouched" by tourism. I will give this tour four out of five stars. I am not going to say consistency will earn the fifth star because only a super fan will take this tour numerous times... or work for the tour company. I will say that the lacking star has to do with the price. It can be high overall especially if stops are closed for some reason.

Great experience an excellent adventure for all in the family. Make sure add to you agenda.read more

I recently had the opportunity to tour the historic 19th century DeBary Hall. The 20 room,…read moreItalianate style hunting lodge was located a mile from the St. John's River. The property was listed on the National Registry of Historic Places on July 24, 1972. DeBary Hall is the oldest intact building in southwest Volusia County. This historic site sits over 10 acres and includes the 8,000 square foot main home, stables, ice house, equipment shed, and tenant house. DeBary Hall was built in 1871 as the winter hunting retreat of Samuel Frederick DeBary (1815-1898), a European-born wine merchant for Mumms Champagne. He chose Florida to help ease his daughters asthma and to indulge in his love of hunting. This was the smallest of his six homes. While this may have been a vacation retreat, he still used it to make money. While in residence he operated a 600 acre citrus grove. He built a packing house beside the lake pier and was one of the first citrus growers to sort oranges by size by rolling them down an inclined trough with variously sized holes. He also developed the DeBary Merchants Line which ran a commercial steamboats for trade up the St. John's River to Jacksonville. German born Samuel Frederick DeBary was one of the wealthiest men of his day. His estate was a center of sport hunting and hospitality. In the late 1800's and early 1900's DeBary entertained Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Grover Cleveland; the Astors, Goulds, and Vanderbilts, General William Tecumseh Sherman, and the Prince of Wales before he became King Edward VII. Popular activities included swimming in the local springs, fishing, and hunting quail, deer, and alligator. The DeBary's used the hall as their family winter retreat until 1941, when the last American ancestor, Leonie DeBary Lyon Brewster, died without an heir at the age of 31 in a plane crash with her husband. Her brother Adolphe met a tragic end at the age of 23 in New York while saving a young lady from being hit by a taxi. After Leonie's death there were plans was to create a grand subdivision in the 1950's and land was parceled out in 1/2 acre plots to begin Debary Village but it went bankrupt a few years into the project. After that DeBary Hall passed through various hands as the house was left to decay and the furnishings lost. The State of Florida purchased DeBary Hall in 1967. After years of abandonment, people came together in the 1990's to restore the home to its former glory. The State of Florida now leases the historic site to the County of Volusia as a historic house museum. The home has few original pieces but there are other period furnishings representative of what would have been accurate for the time. Unique advanced features of the house for the time include an elevator for guests' luggage, running water through a 500-gallon tank in the ceiling, wall fed electricity made onsite by natural gas, a wired call system throughout the entire house, and a lightning protection system that covered the roof. The house had Florida's first spring-fed swimming pool which used a pump to fill and drain the pool each day. Mr. DeBary also had the bathroom moved indoors which was not common for the time. Later on family members added indoor plumbing. The house also has an almost unheard of feature in Florida, a basement! My admission was only $5. I came late in the day and was lucky to receive a private tour from Ed who was so kind and knowledgeable. I learned do much about the DeBary family and the history of this area. A visit starts with a 15 minute movie about the history of the St. John's River during which you take a simulated steamboat ride. After the movie I was given an informative tour of both floors of DeBary Hall. In February they have an annual Living History Day that I would love to come back for next year. I highly recommend a visit DeBary Hall if you are in the area. A big thanks to the community for saving this historical gem for everyone to enjoy. DeBary Hall is a stop on the Lake Monroe-Gemini Springs-DeBary Hall trail. The Spring to Spring Trail is so named because the 6.6 mile trail links a number of state and county parks that contain springs. Be sure and check out some of the beautiful springs if you visit the area.

Excellent tour and walk back in time of Florida history. Well worth the stop. Nice park & picnic…read morearea with restrooms adjacent to the home. Use Google maps for directions, Waze was off.

This is not your typical tourist trap. It's a unique home that attracts the curious. The owner/tour…read moreguide is a perky lady who is renovating the house back to its original splendor and adding her own personal creativity. She talks about the history of the house and her encounters with the spirits of the original owner. Lots of antiques throughout and a few quirky collections. A diamond in the rough with the mystique of an opal. There is an assistant tour guide, Joan of Bark, who is the sweetest, most laid-back pup. Take some time to enjoy this unicorn.

The best house tour I have ever been on! Super cool to hear so many details from the owner of the…read morehouse and hear about her personal experiences in the restoration process.

A house that has…read morechanged The Henry Deland house was actually built back in 1886 by Arthur Hamlin on land purchased from Henry Deland, the founding father of the town of Deland. Hamlin was the first lawyer of the area and was also interested in agriculture and was instrumental in developing new varieties of oranges. Quite a renaissance man. His house was used by his family for a while but then went through several different owners. By World War 2 the upper floor was used as apartments and the house had lost a lot of it's Victorian character and flavor. Fortunately the building was donated to the town and became a museum in 1990. Work was to done to restore it's original appearance and furniture and items were donated by generous patrons to fill the house. In fact 95 percent of the furnishings are not original to the house but have been donated. They have been painstakingly selected to reflect the the earliest occupation. The house is absolutely packed with all kinds of cool things to look at, each one complete with a story. Plan on spending some time here, the docent we had was an incredible source of information and had zillions of facts and figures about the people and items in the house and related one fascinating story after another. He obviously loved his work and was extremely good at it. Not a boring history lesson but an interactive walk through time. The Deland House is a cool way to spend some time and learn lots and lots and lots of stuff about the history of Deland, Florida. So many tours of old houses and historical sites are tedious and difficult. This one is bouncing and lively. I may not remember everything that was said, but it was sure was fun listening to.

We went out for the Easter Brunch. The food was amazing the staff was great! Nice way to spend…read moreEaster or other holidays!

What a great place for all things outdoors ! St.Cloud lakefront has fishing areas, a marina ,…read morecrabby bills restaurant for live music and drinks, tons of grass area for picnics and reading , and the cool toho river cruise ! This is a must if you are looking to get some dinner and great views while on the water !