Tracking swans around Lakeland
Look for clues for elegant swans in and around the Central Florida city of Lakeland
Admission: Free
The swan motif you see around Lakeland commemorates the city’s long history of swans drifting across its lakes; the original pair lived on Lake Bonny in 1926. In 1954 the queen of England presented two mute swans to Lakeland, descendants of a pair presented from Queen Beatrice to Richard the Lion-Hearted during the Crusades. You’ll see several generations of swans gliding across Lake Morton, as well as elegant swan sculptures that were a part of “Swansation,” a project encompassing 62 unique works of art scattered around the region.
To find the Swansation statues, walk around downtown Lakeland. Several are in front of office buildings in the city center, and others are found near Lake Morton. Don’s miss the swans themselves; you can walk around the lake on a shaded sidewalk.
Halifax Historical Museum
A cheap stop in Daytona Beach with plenty of racing history and memorabilia to keep the family happy
Admission: By donation on Thursday, otherwise $5 adult, $1 under 12. Children 12 and under are free on Saturdays.
One of the finest presentations of regional history in Florida, the very authentic Halifax Historical Museum is housed in the former Merchant’s National Bank building, still resplendent with its marble columns, teller’s cages, Tiffany lamps, and massive murals with Florida scenes from the 1950s. Exhibits in the center of the building change every few months, but the back of the museum hosts a permanent exhibit of the history of racing, with detailed historical models created by Lawson Diggett, a longtime volunteer. One of the more interesting models is that of the Daytona Beach boardwalk circa 1938. An astounding array of artifacts is tucked away in the corners, including an 1860s dress worn at Abraham Lincoln’s inauguration by Mary Todd Lincoln’s sister and left behind at a hotel of the era; handcrafted surfboards from the 1940s; a solid mahogany plantation table from the 1880s, rescued from the steamship Veracruz; and Grandma’s Attic, an upstairs room full of classic toys that the kids (and you) can play with. Researchers will appreciate the extensive library, with volumes of records, plat books, photos, and postcards. And the building is haunted. Curators speak of smelling the scent of barn animals, or flowers, or cigars behind this building in the downtown district, of an elephant that “just wouldn’t stay put” in the gift shop, and of a little girl who occasionally appears atop a desk in the main hall. It’s a fascinating place, full of details.
Halifax Historical Museum
252 S Beach Street
Daytona Beach, FL
Open Tue–Sat 10–4
386-255-6976
www.halifaxhistorical.org
