Hey guys not sure if this is the right place to ask. My dad, brother, and I are heading to Lake Wales, Florida to visit with a friend ( a decorated WWII pilot). I can't wait for the stories to unfold. Anyway I am looking for some ideas on where to visit, museums, restaraunts, manufacturers, even aerobatic training, anything aviation based. We are flying commercial but do have a rental car so I am willing to travel a little ways from Lake Wales. Leaving tonight so any info would be awesome. Thanks in advance!

There is the 'FL Aviation Museum' in Lakeland, gets pretty good reviews. That may be an idea if you want an aviation theme.

About five miles NE of Lake Wales is Lake Pierce and Adventureseaplanes. It's a little resort with Tiki Bar and a pretty cool place.

http://adventureseaplanes.com/

I'm not sure how far it is from your, but the Kermit Weeks (sp?) museum, is pretty good. He picks an airplane to fly from the collection and you can see the various machines in restoration. On the downside, if you stay for the flight demonstration, you get to hear about the kids books Kermit has written before he will fly.

Thanks for all the info guys. I look forward to the warm weather and being off work of course.

wiwarrior wrote:There is the 'FL Aviation Museum' in Lakeland, gets pretty good reviews. That may be an idea if you want an aviation theme.

Been a while since I've been there. Yes, it's very nice and well worth a trip.

The Everglades is pretty cool! If it's sunny out, pretty easy to see gators from the road. You may even get lucky and see one cross the road in front of you.

Another awesome thing to do is rent a boat/pontoon boat from Hontoon Landing on the St Johns River in Deland. Go south from the Marina and you'll see a ton of alligators, manatees, and many other wildlife. Try to plan for a sunny day and most of the day.

Bike Week is happening now till Sunday in Daytona Beach and surrounding area, too. You gotta try to make it to Main St at least one evening. It's a sight to behold.

Just south of Ocala off of I-75, there is the Don Garlets Drag Racing Museum. Worth a visit if you like drag racing history and a nice car collection.

Also, if you make it to Daytona. You might be interested in checking out the Embry Riddle AU library. I think it's three floors of aviation books!

BTW..... I don't even know where Lake Wales is at right now compared to all these places I mentioned above.
Have fun!

Cherry Pocket 863-439-2031 You will not be disappointed.. Don't let the looks deceive you.. Also has a float plane operation out back in the winter months...Folks out of MN.

Hey Guys, just dropping in and wanted to say thanks again. We made it to Kermit Weeks museum. What a great place, I can only imagine that kind of money. I also was able to fly my first seaplane today (172). I had the best time. Brian from AdventureSeaplanes was an awesome guy and even gave a BackcountryPilot discount, and I can't forget the food and atmosphere at Cherry Pocket. If. You guys are ever in this area it is definitely a great time. Not too far from Sun&Fun either.

You picked the winning combination, a great to place to fly floats in the winter. Did Brian give you the fever?

Steve