The Florida Air Museum

  Most of the planes in this small museum are one of a kind or built from kits. They’ve all been beautifully restored.

  Parking is in a grassy lot with room for RVs. The entrance door is a bit heavy but the museum is all accessible. There’s also an annex,located about 1000’ away,with more planes including a homebuilt boat /plane. The road to the annex slopes slightly downhill and there’s a small lip into the building.  Air Museum
27.98219, -82.02984

Harry P. Leu Gardens

   These gardens feature huge live oaks draped with Spanish moss and a large variety of tropical plants. The main flowering plants are roses, camellias and azaleas. The house and garden property surrounding it were deeded to the city in 1961 by the last owners  Mr and Mrs Leu.

  Almost all of it is accessible. The doors to the welcome center have push buttons , the ticket desk is low,  and the paths are smooth concrete. The bottom floor of the house is accessible but motorized chairs aren’t permitted. There are some slight hills on the paths and also some edges of the concrete slabs have pushed up.

  RVs can be parked in the lot sideways across the spaces.   Lue Gardens
28.56722, -81.35721

Titanic The Experience

   Free ebook from Gutenberg - Sinking of the Titanic

  The museum has a full scale model of one level of the Titanic staircase, part of a stateroom and the dining room, many artifacts from the Titanic’s sister ship, the Olympic, and small pieces of the Titanic itself. A tour guide dressed in period clothing takes visitors through most of the exhibits and gives short historical talks in each room,which include the engine room, the bridge, cargo hold and hallways.

  Everything is accessible. There’s a large parking lot for RVs behind the building.

  Neither of us thought that this museum was worth the full price ($23.00) so use your Entertainment coupon. I liked it more than Tony did but we both agree that we’ve seen better Titanic exhibits at other museums.
Titanic Experience
28.45514, -81.47155

Orange County Regional History Center

  This museum is completely accessible from  push button entrance doors  to easy viewing of all of the exhibit signs. It presents the history of the Orlando area starting with the early Indian tribes and finishing with Disney World and the changes that came about because of the park’s popularity.

  We always try to visit museums that are located in cities on the weekend so that we have an easier time finding a parking space. Parking on the street is metered, 2 hours only. We parked in a lot on the corner of West Central Blvd. and South Garland Ave., about four blocks west of the museum. Parking fees are $1.00 an hour. It’s large enough for RVs but you’ll have to pay for two spaces.The sidewalk is in good condition however some of the curb cuts are a little steep and there’s a railroad track, flush with the sidewalk, to cross.  Orange County Museum
28.54249, -81.37796

Orlando’s Arts District

  Four museums and two theaters are clustered around Loch Haven Park. There are several parking lots large enough for RVs. Do not try to park at the Mennello Museum. The lot is very small with only one entrance/exit and no room to turn around.

We visited the Mennello and the Orlando Museum of Art. Neither are very large so it takes just an hour or two to see both.

  The Mennello has a permanent exhibit of paintings by Florida folk artist Earl Cunningham and special exhibits of artwork by other American artists.  Mennello Museum

  The Orlando Museum of Art has a good ,very diverse collection of contemporary American and African art. Most artwork is gathered in the galleries under themes  rather than specific artist , medium or style so a gallery may have paintings ,sculptures and photographs. There are some minor accessibility problems. The front desk where you buy tickets is very high.It’s actually too high for short people so people in wheelchairs are invisible. The lighting on a few of the paintings causes so much glare that it’s hard to view them. The description labels in Ancient Americas Collection and the Caballo Volador Project have been positioned flat on the display cases, at eye level, making them very hard to see and read.   Orlando Museum of Art

  The other museums are a fire museum and a science museum which we didn’t visit. They are all accessible by sidewalks from any of the parking lots in the park.
28.57272, -81.36513

     
     

More Maps

Moss Park Campground ( Moss Park ) is so nice that we decided to come back and hang out for a few days. I’ve been working on more maps for the states that we’ll be visiting after we leave Florida. Check them out here -  Alabama  Louisiana Mississippi Texas  or at the Google map link on the right.

The maps have all of the attractions that are free or discounted with a pass just like the Florida map plus some other attractions that we might want to see. I still have to add campgrounds

You can download the maps and personalize them to suit your interests and travel route. Just sign up for a Google account then when you click on any of the map links you'll  also be able to click on "Save to My Maps". Once the map is in your maps you can personalize them by editing,deleting ,commenting or adding other attractions.

Brevard Zoo

   This is a nice small zoo but most of the exhibits have some type of obstruction at eye height. It’s still possible to see the animals –you just have to peek through or over the fences.
        
    It’s much easier to see the birds in the aviary.
       
   Parking for RVs is along the edges of the service road-follow the signs. The zoo wasn’t busy when we visited so we parked in the sandy lot on the left. The sand is soft so it’s hard to roll through and the curb cut up to the sidewalk is a little high. If you have a van, park in the paved lot on the right. The ticket window is low and  zoo’s  boardwalk paths are in good condition.  Brevard Zoo
28.22559, -80.71539

McKee Botanical Garden

   During the 1940s, the garden was a very popular tourist attraction but most of the land was sold in the 1970s. Only 18 acres are left so it doesn't take long to walk all of the paths. The paths are mostly hard packed sand and shell so rolling is fairly easy.

  Parking for RVs is to the right after you turn off of Route 1. Follow the paved path to the ticket booth. McKee Botanical Garden
27.60711, -80.38198
 

Donald MacDonald Park Campground

  This is a county park with a small campground. None of the sites are handicapped accessible. The bathroom (which we didn’t check out) is supposed to be ADA compliant but there aren’t any paved paths to it. The tables are concrete with a concrete base raised a bit above the ground surface. Using them would be difficult. The ground is pretty soft sand so rolling around is hard.

  Most of the sites are small but there are a few large enough for big class As.  Campground
27.82488, -80.50468

Gilbert’s Bar House of Refuge

  Refuge houses were built along the east coast of Florida in the late 1800s to shelter shipwreck victims until they could continue their journey. The shelters were important because there were no roads and few towns.

The house is handicapped accessible but there is little parking, just a few spaces long enough for cars. We managed to park sideways in the handicap spot but a larger RV will not fit. The admissions building has a set of steps but there’s also a gate and a ramp to the back door. The gate was locked. Tony had to go inside and get someone to unlock it for us.  House of Refuge
27.1996, -80.16577