Real Estate

boat ride

Some friends and I had a wonderful day out today. We went to nearby Winter Park, a chi-chi destination in the Orlando area. We took the iconic Winter Park Boat Ride—an attraction (for want of a better word) that has been around for decades.

An open boat powered by an outboard motor cruises through three of the Winter Park-Maitland chain of lakes. It’s a pleasant ride featuring views of beautiful homes, scenery, and parts of Rollins College.

The tour guide was a man who probably helped launch the business 40+ years ago. He pointed out all of the historic sights, and commented on the beautiful homes that ringed the lakes. I don’t need to tell you that the homes were enormous—some as large as 20,000 square feet! He also entertained us by telling us that purchasing a lot on the lake would cost at least a million dollars.

When I lived in Western New York, my husband and his brother co-owned an outboard motor boat. We loved to go out on Lake Erie and ogle the mansions that lined the lake shore.

We’ve also been to Ft. Lauderdale where there is a boat ride that travels through the canals that crisscross that city. And, needless to say, part of the cruise takes you past big, expensive mansions, and yachts that have their own swimming pools and helicopter pads!

It occurred to me at one time that these cruises had one odd thing in common—taking middle class folks past homes they could never afford to own. It’s almost like a tease—“See what rich folks have—that you will NEVER have!”  It reminds me of a song from Camelot, “What Do the Simple Folk Do?,” only in reverse.

There I was again today, ogling the unattainable real estate—and loving every minute of it!

 

Picture courtesy of Pixabay

 

 

About Kathy

I grew up in Buffalo,New York the second eldest child in a family that eventually included eight children. The neighborhood was an Irish-American enclave. These two facts explain a great deal about me. I spent many years as a teacher who really thought of herself as a writer.

3 Responses to      Real Estate

  1. Nancy Licato says:

    I enjoyed the day too and I still think if we put together our pennies and all our loose change- we still won’t have enough to put down on a postage stamp piece of property up there.

  2. I know what you mean. We would go out on Great East Lake in NH and I loved to see the vintage cottages with their boathouses. Much more grand than my humble cottage in the woods.

  3. Ooh, I’d love to do that, too. I’ll have to remember to schedule it when I visit Florida.

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