This well-landscaped city, with a high-rise skyline that has emerged in recent years and vintage buildings made of fancy brickwork and wrought iron, is only seventy feet above sea level in the lake country of Florida. Eighty-two lakes and 4,000 acres of public parks provide plentiful recreation facilities. In the center of downtown Orlando is a lovely park surrounding Lake Eola. Here are large swan-shaped paddle boats, an amphitheater for plays and musical events, changing floral displays, a jogging path, and much more.

South of the city is the site of what once was the U.S. Army Fort Gatlin, built in 1838 to protect settlers from Seminole Indian attacks. Two brothers established a trading post in the small community that grew around the fort. The community eventually took the family name of these two men-Jernigan.

In 1857 the name was officially changed to Orlando. Several stories explain this new name. One tale relates that a soldier named Orlando Reeves or a wealthy landowner named Orlando Rees died in an Indian attack in this area. These men were buried in the land surrounding Lake Eola, which became known as Orlando's Grave and eventually Orlando. Along the Lake Eola walking path there is a memorial to Orlando. Another tale says influential local Judge J.G. Speer, a Shakespeare lover, renamed the community after a character in As You Like It.

Orlando went through several major economic changes before becoming the world-famous tourist mecca it is today. At first it was part of a cotton plantation; next it became a brawling, lawless frontier cattle town, and then a citrus-growing center. When Walt Disney opened his theme park in 1971 near Orlando the world took notice, and Orlando became a tourist center attracting people from all over the world.

The Orlando Science Center has a variety of hands-on exhibits that include Florida habitats (some with live animals), physical science, and technology displays where visitors can create a tornado and learn about optical illusions and see regularly scheduled planetarium shows. Harry P. Leu Gardens, covering 50 acres, has an extensive camellia collection and formal rose garden. For a guided tour of the gardens, hop aboard the narrow-gauge railroad. A restored museum house in the gardens reflects the lifestyle of farmers of the area from 1910 to 1930.

Sea World of Florida promotes a greater understanding of the marine world while entertaining the public. See sharks, eels, venomous fish, and manatees. Travel from the tropics at the Tropical Reef and the Caribbean Tide Pool to the Wild Arctic complete with polar bears, beluga whales, walruses, and harbor seals.

The back lots of the motion picture industry are not all in California. Universal Studios Florida, a theme park, is a working studio for television and motion picture productions. Visitors can see sets for productions like Murder She Wrote! and Alfred Hitchcock's 3-D Theater, as well as back-stage areas that show special effects such as an earthquake and a flood.

The Valiant Air Command Warbird Air Museum, in nearby Kissimmee, allows the public to watch the restoration process of American warplanes and provides hands-on aeronautics experiences. A tour of the half-acre indoor conservatory, The World of Orchids, reveals one of the world's largest displays of rare and exotic orchids with over 2,000 blooming orchids from around the world.

Twenty-eight thousand acres comprise the Walt Disney World complex in nearby Lake Buena Vista. Each of the many sites has a separate theme; several have some science interest.

Future World of Epcot (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) presents many recent advances in science and technology. The exhibits explore the possibilities that we might expect in the 21st century in such areas as consumer products, medicine, and food production. At Disney-MGM Studios, explore the special effects used in the motion picture and television industries. Guided tours take visitors through the backstage of television, motion picture, special effects, and animation studios. Discover Island is a zoological park and wildlife preserve on an 11-acre island in Bay Lake where almost 250 species of plants (some rare and endangered) make up 20 habitats for about 120 animal species.

Other places to visit in the area include Florida Audubon Society's Center for Birds of Prey, which has as many as 22 unique species of threatened or endangered birds of prey. This facility has a rehabilitation center for injured birds. The 21-acre Central Florida Zoological Park contains native and exotic mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians.

About 30 minutes southwest of Orlando, on the way to Tampa, is Cypress Gardens, Florida's first theme park, which opened in 1936. Over 8,000 varieties of plants from more than 75 countries landscape its 200 acres. Butterfly Conservatory contains 1000 free-flying butterflies, exotic waterfowl, and iguanas. The park has water-ski performances and a Pontoon Lake Cruise for watching water fowl, otters, and alligators.

Tampa, about an hour and a half west of Orlando, has many places to visit that stimulate the imagination and entertain. The Busch Gardens theme park offers thrill rides, live entertainment, games, shops, restaurants, and a zoo collection with over 3,000 animals representing 334 species. The eight-area theme park is set in Africa at the turn of the 20th century. A highlight of the park is the Serengeti Plain, where almost 500 African plains animals roam in herds on 60 acres of natural habitat. You can view these animals from an air-conditioned monorail, a steam locomotive, or a skyride. Stop at the Anheuser-Busch brewery to watch the beer making process, learn its history and have a "complimentary" sample (for adults only).

About one mile from Busch Gardens is the very extensive Museum of Science and Industry-MOSI. The exhibits (some hands-on) and demonstrations explore a variety of subjects including health, the human body, and space; Gulf Coast Hurricanes recreates hurricane winds. Three miles of trails on the 40-acre wilderness tract give visitors the opportunity to see Florida in its natural state. The museum also has planetarium shows and an IMAX theater.

About 45 miles east of Orlando is the Kennedy Space Center-Spaceport USA, the home base for the space shuttle program and visitor center. Spaceport USA has a great array of indoor and outdoor exhibits, demonstrations, movies, and interactive displays that explain the past, present, and future of America's space program. See a full-scale replica of NASA's proposed Space Station Freedom, a replica of space shuttle orbiter, the outdoor Rocket Garden, and much more. To see some secured sections of the space center take one of the two bus tours. Sharing Merritt Island with the Space Center is the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge and Canaveral National Seashore, with abundant local flora and fauna representative of this interface of temperate and tropical ecozones.

For More Information

• Orange County Historical Museum, 812 E. Rollins St., Orlando, 32803; (407) 897-6350.
• The Orlando Science Center, 810 E. Rollins St., Orlando, 32803; (407) 896-7151.
• Harry P. Leu Gardens, 1730 N. Forest Ave., Orlando, 32803; (407) 246-2620.
• Sea World of Florida, 7007 Sea World Dr., Orlando, 32821-9978; (800) 327-2424.
• Universal Studios Florida, 1000 Universal Studios Plaza, Orlando, 32819; (407)363-8000
• Valiant Air Command Warbird Air Museum, 231 N. Hoagland Blvd., Kissimmee, 34746; (407) 933-1942.
• The World of Orchids, N. Old Lake Wilson Rd., Kissimmee, 34747; (407) 396-1887.
• Walt Disney World, P.O. Box 10,000, Lake Buena Vista, 32830-1000; (407) 824-4321.
• Florida Audubon Society's Center For Birds of Prey, 1102 Audubon Way, Maitland, (407) 644-0190.
• Central Florida Zoological Park, 3755 North Highway 17-92, Sanford, 32747; (407) 323-4450.
• Cypress Gardens, P.O. Box 1, Winter Haven, 33884; (800) 237-4826.
• Busch Gardens, 3000 E. Busch Blvd., Tampa, 33674-9158; (813) 987-5082.
• Museum of Science and Industry - MOSI, 4801 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa, 33617-2099; (813) 987-6300.
• Kennedy Space Center-Spaceport USA, State Road 405, Kennedy Space Center, 32899; (407) 452-2121.
• Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, 308 Julia St., Titusville, 32796; (407) 861-0667.
• Orlando's Visitor Information Center, 8445 International Drive, Orlando, 32819; (407) 363-5871.