Kappys

On my drive home from the Orlando International Airport Monday, I swung by a few old haunts and was delighted to see them still hanging in there. While Maitland – especially along US 17/92 – has undergone some radical changes since I used to live there, a few old standards keep hanging in there, among them, Kappy’s.

It’s an old-fashioned drive-in, the kind my parents would frequent, with burgers, dogs, and the thick, rich milkshakes that it’s so hard to find these days without dropping a bundle. Open for lunch and dinner, it’s still a fave of locals in the know – and worth trying out on your next trip.

Black Hammock Fish Camp

One of the first genuine Florida adventures I was introduced to upon arriving back as a resident after a long absence was the crazy quilt of outdoors and dining that is Black Hammock Fish Camp, not far from Orlando along Lake Jesup in Oviedo.

The restaurant is down-home and tasty, featuring farm grown alligator and seafood. At the time I visited, you had to slip and slide down a sand road, much like driving in snow, to get there. The road’s since been paved but rambles through old orange groves in a blissfully agricultural district of Seminole County.

Beyond the restaurant, it’s a complex of entertainment and outdoors: a marina and boat ramp, waterfront tiki bar and shop full of trinkets and Ts, an alligator pit, and airboat rides on Lake Jesup. Now I’ve experienced for a fact that Lake Jesup is full of alligators. So if you’re hankering to see some, either hatchlings in a tank, gator tail on your plate, or the big guys in the lake, this is the place to be.

Black Hammock Fish Camp
2356 Black Hammock Fish Camp Road
Oviedo, FL 32765
407-365-1244

Egret in mating plumage at Gatorland

It’s amazing how many years it took me to get to Gatorland for the first time – my first visit was less than a decade ago – given my family’s love of natural attractions. I took the occasion of my mother’s birthday to take my parents their for their first time, and boy, were they sorry we didn’t go there back in the 60s.  Founded in 1949, it’s not an enormous park, but it’s so packed with wildlife that if you’re an avid photographer like me, you’ll easily spend most of the day there. It’s a birders delight, too. We arrived at the peak of breeding season, with the birds in bright and showy plumage, and spotted some species that we rarely see, like roseate spoonbills winging their way overhead.

No doubt about it – if you’re headed for Orlando, make sure you get to Gatorland. Set in a natural cypress swamp – in a spot where most of the natural habitats are now erased from the landscape by development – it’s an immersion into what this part of Central Florida used to be. Walk the boardwalks, marvel at the ancient reptiles, savor the birds, and bring the young ones, who can play in the splash playground, ride the train, go “oooh” at snakes, and hold a baby gator.

Learn more about Gatorland

PS. Just saw my first graffiti on the walls yesterday. FDOT, you want Orlando to be perceived as another faceless drive through a major city like NYC or Atlanta, you are succeeding! This is a terrible, terrible project.