Scenic Boat Tour

This guide to the Scenic Boat Tour in Winter Park, near Orlando, follows boatbuilder Walt Meloon as he scouts a tangled, snake-thick canal in the 1930s for a new pleasure cruise. You'll hear how those canals were first cut by lumber companies in the late 1800s to float logs to the sawmill, and how the city and private money later rebuilt the crumbling cypress walls to fit a boat through. Listen for the marketing name given to the route on its first run in 1938, still describing what you're gliding past today.