DISTANCE: 2 miles (3km)
TIME: Half a day
START: Orlando Museum of Art
END: Harry P. Leu Gardens
Points to note: Apart from the Subway at the Science Center, there are no restaurants in or near Loch Haven Park, so make sure you bring some snacks if you plan to spend a long time in the museums or at Leu Gardens.
Orlando Museum of Art
Housed in a handsome circular-looking building (it’s not really), the Orlando Museum of Art 1 [map] (2416 N Mills Avenue; tel: 407-896-4231; www.OMArt.org; Tue–Fri 10am–4pm, Sat–Sun noon–4pm) stages 10 to 12 traveling exhibitions a year in addition to those from its permanent collection of contemporary, American, African, and ancient pre-Columbian art.
A towering glass sculpture by Dale Chihuly stands in the atrium at the entrance to the galleries. To the left is the Lakeview Promenade Gallery, lined with intriguing portraits in a variety of mediums, and a gallery of African Art with themed exhibitions ranging from textiles to vessels. This leads into the Art of the Ancient Americas gallery, with a fascinating collection of ceramic vessels and figures, gold jewelry, copper figurines, masks, and tiny carved beads as well as decorative and ritual objects from Central and South America dating back to 2000 BC.
The galleries to the right of the atrium contain a rotating collection of American art from the 18th century to the present, including landscapes, portraits, and traditional and contemporary sculpture. The museum’s permanent collection includes works by Georgia O’Keeffe, John James Audubon, John Singer Sargent, and several American Impressionist painters.
Gold-framed paintings at the Orlando Museum of Art
Julie Fletcher/Visit Florida
Orlando theaters
Next to the art museum is the Orlando Repertory Theatre 2 [map] (1001 E Princeton Street; tel: 407-896-7365; www.orlandorep.com), a familyoriented professional theater company whose productions are based on classic and contemporary children’s literature. Across the parking lot you’ll find a domed building housing the Orlando Shakespeare Theater 3 [map] (812 E Rollins Street; tel: 407-447-1700; www.orlandoshakes.org), which stages the Bard’s classics as well as contemporary plays in its large and small theaters. It is also one of the main venues for the Orlando Fringe Festival (for more information, click here).
The state-of-the-art Orlando Science Center
Julie Fletcher/Visit Florida
Orlando Science Center
A path beside the theater leads to the Orlando Science Center 4 [map] (777 E Princeton Street; tel: 407-514-2000, school year Sun–Tue, Thu–Sun 10am–5pm, plus the first Wednesday of the month, summer daily 10am–5pm, extended hours Fri–Sat, observatory open seasonally). It contains dozens of hands-on exhibits spread over four levels plus a giant CineDome movie theater, a digital 3-D theater, and an observatory.
The exhibits appeal mainly to children (of varying ages). Among the highlights are KidsTown, an 11,000-sq-ft (1022-sq-meter) early childhood exhibit for children aged seven and under. Its seven zones are packed with interactive activities like water tables, a climbing structure, and a mini-play orange grove. Elsewhere, hands-on science displays involving dinosaur fossils, earthquakes, aerodynamics, and engineering fascinate in halls like DinoDigs, Our Planet, and the Kinetic Zone. The NatureWorks exhibit has a pond with turtles and alligators. The Crosby Observatory features a 10-inch (25.5cm) refractor telescope for sky-watching.
Mennello Museum of American Art gardens
Julie Fletcher/Visit Florida
Where to park
The Orlando Museum of Art has a large parking lot behind the building, which also serves the theaters. You can walk to the Science Center from there. Alternatively, there are a limited number of parking spaces in front of The Mennello Museum of American Art, and a large parking garage opposite the Science Center, which is a short walk away.
The Mennello Museum of American Art
For a safe way across the busy road, take the pedestrian bridge from the Science Center to the parking garage. From here it’s a short walk to The Mennello Museum of American Art 5 [map] (900 E Princeton Street; tel: 407-246-4278; www.mennellomuseum.org; Tue–Sat 10.30am–4.30pm, Sun noon–4.30pm).
This small but important museum features the permanent collection of Earl Cunningham, a self-taught artist who has been called one of the most innovative landscape painters of his generation. His bright palette and energetic scenes of forests and coastlines are full of life and well-observed detail, while his tiny, exquisitely rendered birds and people are reminiscent of L.S. Lowry.
Rotating additional exhibits feature other American artists. In the outdoor sculpture garden by the lake, large-scale sculptures are displayed for a year at a time via a series called Grounds for Exhibitions. Nearby, be sure to see the amazing southern live oak, called ‘The Mayor’, opposite the entrance by the parking area. More than a couple of centuries old, its enormous branches are so heavy they touch the ground.
Inside the Mennello Museum
Julie Fletcher/Visit Florida
Orlando Fringe Festival
The two-week Orlando Fringe Festival (www.orlandofringe.org) takes over Loch Haven Park in late May every year and is the longest running of all the fringe festivals in the US. It aims to provide an accessible, affordable outlet for theater, music, dance, art, and madness of all types. Performances take place in the local theaters, and nightly outdoor concerts.
Performers come in all shapes and sizes from all over the world, and you will never know quite what to expect. You may get amateurs struggling with first-time nerves, or you may see the next big thing. It is all part of the fun. Imagine the Edinburgh Fringe only smaller and with guaranteed sunshine.
Tickets are available per show, and via passes that provide entry to several shows.
The Kids Fringe puts on around 45 child-friendly options.
Leu Gardens
To visit some of Central Florida’s finest gardens, you’ll have to return to your car. The route is well signposted. Depending on where you‘ve parked, drive east on E. Princeton Street to the end of Loch Haven Park and turn right on N. Mills Avenue. (If you’re parked behind the Orlando Art Museum, exit by the museum and turn right directly onto N. Mills.) Then turn left at Virginia Drive and after about half a mile (800 meters), make a slight left at N. Forest Avenue, then turn left to stay on N. Forest.
The entrance to the Harry P. Leu Gardens 6 [map] (1920 N Forest Avenue; tel: 407-246-2620; www.leugardens.org; daily 9am–5pm) is just beyond. Encompassing nearly 50 acres (20 hectares) on the shores of Lake Rowena, it contains a stunning array of features including native wetland, tropical stream, and desert gardens, as well as herb, vegetable, and citrus gardens, and the largest formal rose garden in Florida.
Leu Gardens is most famous for its camellias. With more than 2,000 specimens, it is the largest documented collection in eastern North America. Spread out beneath mature oaks in the North and South Woods, they bloom from October through March. From the boardwalk overlooking the lake, you can see alligators, heron, and a variety of shorebirds.
Strolling through colorful Leu Gardens
Willie J. Allen Jr/Visit Florida
In the center of the grounds is the Leu House Museum (museum tours 10am–3.30pm, closed in July). Dating from 1888, and filled with fine period furniture and household items, it offers an intriguing look at the Central Florida lifestyle through the four families who owned it. Family treasures among the interesting artifacts in the Leu House Museum are a mourning wreath made of human hair, a top hat made of beaver fur, a spool bed, an Oliver typewriter (predecessor to the Olivetti), and a morning glory gramophone that still plays. The property was purchased in 1936 by Harry P. Leu, a rich businessman, and he and his wife developed the gardens, donating it to the city in 1961.
Food and drink
Loch Haven Park lacks any restaurants or cafés, but the nearby Mills 50 District is loaded with pocket-friendly eateries including Black Rooster Taqueria, Hawkers, and Pig Floyd’s, a short drive away. The only on-site option for refreshment is the Subway sandwich shop at the Science Center. A few blocks past Harry P. Leu Gardens, East End Market food hall has several food purveyors and communal seating, plus the table-service ramen shop Domu.