Winter Park Boat Tour Turns 85

The Winter Park Scenic Boat Tour will be turning 85 this year and now is the perfect time to relive the charm and history of the chain. The tour began on Jan. 1, 1938, which gives it a place of honor among Central Florida’s longest-running tourist attractions, marking 84 years and starting on its 85th.

Passing mansions and villas of all shapes and sizes, the tour also allows for great views of nature and wildlife in the area as well as a chance to enjoy some soon-to-arrive spring weather.

W.C. Meloon, the founder of Correct Craft Inc. — then the Pine Castle Boat and Construction Co. — announced the tours in 1937 and probably did some warm-up trips late that year in a 35-passenger boat named the “Scenic,” according to a “Chronological History of Winter Park” by Claire MacDowell. Meloon dubbed the city, the "Venice of America," although the likes of President Chester Arthur visited the lakes long before the first tour boat took to the waves, saying of the town, “This is the prettiest spot I have seen in Florida,” he said, “and I would like to rest under one of these grand old pines for a week.”

A guide will point out the locations of hotels long passed and many of the historic haunts now gone from the town's landscape, only visible from the lakes.

The Scenic Boat Tour offers hourlong guided rides in 18-passenger pontoon boats through three lakes in the Winter Park chain. The dock is on Lake Osceola at 312 E. Morse Blvd., less than five minutes from Park Avenue. Tours depart on the hour from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. every day except Christmas. The fare for adults is $16, children (2 to 11), $8, children younger than 2, free. Call for group and private cruise rates. For more information: 407-644-4056 or visit scenicboattours.com.