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A guide in 19th-century costume holds a lantern and tries his best to spook his willing participants, while leading this 90-minute walking tour. Groups of up to 25 people hear tales of murder, morbidity, and ghost sightings, and as an added bonus, the guide recounts wonderful anecdotes and information about the architecture and history of Downtown’s most interesting buildings.

The focus of exhibitions in this big, bright museum is American art from the 19th century onward, art from the ancient Americas and Africa, and block-buster traveling shows. On the first Thursday evening of every month, you can also enjoy music, food, and the work of local artists for an inventively themed get-together.

The workings of the natural world, from the infinitesimal to the overwhelming, are on display here. Big interactive fun awaits at the Body Zone, where a huge mouth introduces an exhibit about the digestive system. The vast Cinedome shows movies about topics such as Egyptian treasures and ocean life, and on weekend evenings, stargazers can pick out the planets through a telescope.

The stretch of Park Avenue between Fairbanks and Swoope avenues is a thriving and delectable slice of urban living. This is the kind of manageable, old-style downtown, which is usually erased in the rush to suburbanize the Sunshine State. There’s bucolic Central Park; buildings are rarely over three stories and contain fashionable shops or eateries at ground level; and all around, the sidewalks are full of people enjoying the day.

Some farmers’ markets are serious business, packed with old trucks and farmers selling mountains of vegetables just pulled from the earth. The Winter Park Farmers’ Market is altogether a different affair. More of a social gathering on the village green, Winter Park’s yuppies come here to mingle, buy potted flowers. preserves, and herbs, and indulge in fresh croissants, muffins, and breads. Yes, the required vegetables are here, too, but this is more of a coffee and brunch gathering.

Zora Neale Hurston earned fame as one of the brightest stars of Harlem’s literary heyday in the 1920 and 1930s. Many of her most famous writings (including the 1937 novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God ) reflected life in her hometown of Eatonville, the first incorporated African-American municipality in the USA. The front porches and stores of Eaton-ville, where Zora’s characters lived and spun their tales, have long since disappeared, but she is not forgotten. This museum keeps the writer’s memory alive, with maps for a self-guided walking tour to the remaining literary landmarks of her neighbourhood.