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Take a Sporting Chance
on Orlando for Your Next Vacation
Orlando, Florida is more and more becoming a
mecca for vacationers. There are many reasons for this, and
one I want to explore now is the sporting or active side of
the Orlando holiday.
Now, talking to a friend recently about
sporting holidays I almost didn’t bring up Orlando’s
numerous sporting attractions. He was talking about going
hiking in the Rockies for a week or two. And he also
mentioned distance bicycling holidays as a great way to
spend the summer (and he meant the whole summer, not just a
short holiday!). Marathon running? Sure, why not. (Although
even he agreed that running a marathon is not exactly a
holiday. But he did insist that when you travel to a city to
run a marathon you get to visit great cities that you may
have never otherwise seen.)
Orlando’s active side can include such
intense activities, but for the family, or for anyone who
wants activity but doesn’t want to feel they’re in training
for the Olympics, it can be ideal.
One famous active attraction is Boggy Creek
Airboat Rides. Started by a couple in 1994, it’s blossomed
into one of Orlando’s top 10 attractions, according to the
Orlando Business Journal.
They offer high speed airboat rides on Lake
Tohopekaliga (or “Sleeping Tiger Lake”) a 12,000 acre lake
where you can board a 6-passenger or 18-passenger boat and
really take off on that lake. Like up to 65 mph. That may
not seem so fast on the highway, but in an airboat it can
thrill you or chill you (both, actually, if you go out early
in the morning).Speeding
along on the lake you can glimpse a wide variety of its
wetland birds, such as bald eagles, cranes, egrets and
ospreys. Which brings up an important point: the airboats
virtually float on the water so they are less invasive to
the lakes plant and wildlife inhabitants than regular
propeller driven boats.
For
something a bit more mundane, how about a round of golf? Or
if you are really a golf enthusiast, you can play a round
each day at a different course for, oh, say about 5 straight
months, since Orlando has about 150 golf courses with all of
them reputed to be essentially world class facilities.
Some
resorts are just for golf. ChampionsGate Golf Club, for
example, provides two 18-hole championship golf courses,
said to be among the best in the US. The resort hosts
several tournaments including the popular World Points
Father/Son Challenge.
But if
you’re not up to championship play yet, most courses have
professional coaches to help you improve your game. The city
even has six golf instruction academies that use
personalized teaching methods and state of the art
equipment. And if you want a change of pace from big time
(and big course) golf, many resorts here also feature
miniature golf courses.
For example, one new adventure style
miniature golf course is designed as a Hawaiian oasis. Fire
and lava pour from a fifty-foot volcano. Hawaiian Rumble
Adventure Golf attracts people with their rhythmic music and
sophisticated design. Holes range from beginner to advanced,
and are thematically designed.
There’s also the Congo River Adventure Golf
course where you can take the whole family high atop giant
waterfalls and rocky summits or deep down to mysterious
caves. You mean you’ve never golfed your way through
tropical rainforests, jumping over river rapids, and
thoroughly enjoying yourself regardless of how high your
score is?
Well, maybe then Orlando is the place to golf
(or mini-golf) like you’ve never dreamt of.
There’s much more to the sporty side of
Orlando than this, but for golf enthusiasts, maybe I’ve said
enough and I should just let you make your reservations for
this grand, beautiful city.
Mark and Susan Whichard are Orlando tourism experts and write frequently about attractions in and around Orlando.
Mark and his wife Susan are the proprietors of
Quality Villa Rentals Orlando. You can get great deals on
Orlando vacation homes and villa rentals at this website
http://www.qualityvillarentals.com
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