The Not-so-Golden Triangle

My home is in Tavares, Florida, a part of the Golden Triangle. So named for the once flourishing citrus industry, which has been mostly wiped out by blight and overdevelopment. Tavares is pretty cool, we are America’s Seaplane City and have a seaplane basin on the Tavares shore of Lake Dora. My particular lair is close to Little Lake Harris but you can get there by Lake Dora, which is also very cool. (More on Harris  Chain of Lakes in future posts!) The Tavares waterfront hosts the most spectacular July 4 fireworks show in the Triangle and an annual antique boat show as well as dragon boat races. The waterfront is an entertainment district so you can walk freely and enjoy libations from place to place. The down side is there is no retail to speak of in Tavares and being the county seat, the jail is always looming in the background. The waterfront was spanked badly by the recent Hurricane Irma; docks washed away and boats tumbled on top of each other like toys. It will be rebuilt soon, the Tavares government is superior to the other two cities.  

Eustis is also in the Golden Triangle, a little city that’s not sure what it wants to be when it grows up. It has all the makings of a quaint downtown, but like Tavares is also severely lacking in retail. (Except for one place that you are mandated to visit if you ever find yourself in Eustis – The Peddler’s Wagon. Love!) The River Walk is a nice place to watch a spectacular Lake Eustis sunset or throw in a line to catch your supper (if you happen to catch a mermaid throw her back, please). Eustis boasts a couple of fair-to middling restaurants and a cozy little wine bar, and rumor has it a brewery is coming soon. Hopefully the cute little downtown can get itself together and become a destination city like Mount Dora. 

Mount Dora is the crown jewel in the Golden Triangle. If you haven’t visited, you must! Make plans now! Mount Dora sits on the shores of Lake Dora and from the brick streets, towering oaks dripping moss, nighttime cries of heron and osprey, you will visit once and never want to leave. The construction of the Wekiva Parkway is underway and will provide unprecedented access both to and from the Orlando metro area where three and a half million people reside. The completion date is 2019, so if you want to live in Mount Dora buy now before all the real estate is snatched up.

Mount Dora boasts a dozen B&Bs within walking distance as well as the historic Lakeside Inn, Florida’s oldest continuously running hotel. Presidents and Mob guys have stayed there and the spacious lobby was featured in the horrible film “Honky Tonk Highway.” Please don’t watch it, you’ll never get those two hours of your life back. Mount Dora has the cohesiveness the other two cities lack, even though Tavares is right on track. Mount Dora has charm, a diversity of retail, and any kind of dining that suits your mood. Cuban? German? Peruvian? Norm Van Aken’s 1921 and the Goblin Market have mastered the art of fine dining and romantic atmosphere. Mount Dora’s only downside is their completely F’d up government and the old-time retailers who close their doors the busiest days of the year and then complain they don’t have enough business. Stay out of Mount Dora politics or your hair will fall out and you’ll start day drinking. 

If you’d like to know more about the Golden Triangle please keep reading my blog and look for "My Favorite Places” posts coming soon. Thank you so much for reading my blog.

Just keep swimming!

 

Lake Eustis