Friday,
December 2, 2005
A Little Picnic Lunch in
Kissimmee
After our exhilarating airboat ride and swamp buggy
tour at Boggy
Creek, we snaked our way north towards Orlando
and decided to have a picnic lunch in the Orlando
suburb of Kissimmee. This town is located at the
doorstep of Walt
Disney World complex and offers a variety of
tourist class accommodations near historic downtown
Kissimmee. The historic downtown districts feature
walking tours, antique shops, shopping, dining,
or sightseeing.
According to the City of Kissimmee's web site"local
historians have offered many variations of the origin
of the city's name. Most agree that Kissimmee is
a modern spelling of a tribal word. The book Florida
Indians and the Invasion from Europe by Jerald
T. Milanich, links "Kissimmee" to a village
of the Jororo, one of Florida's lesser-known tribes.
Historian John Hann researched Spanish documents
about missions estabilshed to convert the Jororo
and other groups to Christianity in the late 1600's.
Spanish records indicate that a mission was built
near the tribe's main village, also called Jororo.
Another mission was called Atissimi. Milanich writes,
"Hann suggests that the name Atissimi, sometimes
given as Jizimi and Tisimi, may be the source of
the modern place name Kissimmee." A 1752 Spanish
map used the name "Cacema" which has evolved
into today's spelling, Kissimmee."
Kissimmee's main strip features a variety of local
merchants and restaurants. The town was festively
decorated and even the police department showed
itself in a festive pre-Christmas mood:
Kissimmee is located at the north end of Lake Tohopekaliga
and one of its squares is appropriately named "Toho
Square":
We noticed several murals throughout town, illustrating
the town's history. My husband tried to check if
he could blend into the mural without being noticed,
I am not so sure that it actually worked:
We decided to have a nice little picnic lunch and
settled in on a bench right in front of the "Big
Toho Pier":
Here is another view of the Big Toho Pier, a serene
place where we enjoyed the warm December sun:
A gaggle of seabirds was congregating just on the
other side of the pier:
On a brief walk along Lakeshore Boulevard we discovered
a war memorial that commemorates the Second World
War:
For more information about Kissimmee contact its
Convention and Visitors Bureau. Call 800.333.KISS
(5477) or visit their
website for more information.
Orlando and Central Florida travel stories:
Orlando
Off the Beaten Path
A
visit to the Orange County Regional History Center
Exploring
Orlando's African American Heritage at the Well's
Built Museum
A lovely evening
walk around downtown Orlando's Lake Eola
Visual
delights served up on the Winter Park Scenic Boat
Tour
A walking tour
through quaint historic Winter Park
Our high-speed
adrenaline adventure at Boggy Creek Airboat Tours
Our picnic lunch
by the Kissimmee waterfront
Exploring picturesque
Mount Dora on the "Herbie Express"
Orlando's
Loch Haven Park: Center of culture and arts
Exploring
downtown Orlando's historic neighbourhoods and parks
Learning
about citrus at Florida's Natural Visitor Center
Architectural
and natural beauty at the Bok Historic Sanctuary
Central
Florida: a haven for naturalists and plant lovers
Central Florida's
wildlife: surprising ecological diversity..
Driving home
through St. Augustine: the oldest city in the US
Articles on Golf in Central Florida:
A
first-hand look at ChampionsGate
A first-hand
look at the Royal St. Cloud Links
A first-hand
look at Timacuan Golf and Country Club
Attending
the Father Son Challenge at ChampionsGate
An overview of golf in
the Orlando area: Orlando- Golf's Ultimate Theme
Park
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