Active After 50 in Orlando: Adventure, Wine, Live Music, Beaches and More

Forget the stereotype of what getting older is supposed to look like. For active adults in their 50s, 60s and beyond, Greater Orlando offers kayaking, cycling, camping, wine tasting, fine dining, live music, beaches, golf, hiking and plenty of reasons to keep exploring.

There is a strange assumption that once someone reaches a certain age, fun is supposed to change.

Suddenly, every list of activities for older adults seems to involve sitting at a table.

Bingo.

Cards.

Dominoes.

Craft rooms.

There is nothing wrong with those activities for people who enjoy them.

But they do not describe a huge number of adults in their 50s, 60s and 70s.

A lot of us still want to go somewhere.

We want to kayak.

Ride a bicycle.

Spend the night camping.

Try a new restaurant.

Have a glass of wine.

Listen to a live band.

Walk around a festival.

Go to the beach.

See a concert.

Travel.

Dance.

Explore.

In many cases, people finally have more freedom to do those things than they did when they were younger.

The kids may be grown.

Careers may be less demanding.

There may be more disposable income.

And weekends no longer have to revolve around soccer practices, school projects and children’s birthday parties.

So instead of asking, “What activities are available for seniors?”

Maybe the better question is:

What interesting things can active adults do around Orlando?

The answer is quite a lot.

Paddle Through Some of Florida’s Most Beautiful Water

You do not have to drive several hours from Orlando to find real outdoor adventure.

Wekiva Springs State Park in Apopka offers kayaking and canoeing along the Wekiva River, along with hiking, bicycling, horseback riding and camping. The park currently requires day-use reservations, so this is one outing worth planning before you leave home.

For something a little more adventurous, King’s Landing on Rock Springs Run offers self-guided kayak and paddleboard trips through the famous Emerald Cut.

Paddlers can choose a relatively relaxed four-hour self-guided trip or tackle an 8.5-mile downstream run that takes roughly four to six hours and includes a shuttle back. The longer route is specifically intended for experienced paddlers.

This is the kind of activity we mean when we talk about being active after 50.

You are exercising.

But it does not feel like spending an hour inside a gym.

You are exploring Florida.

Ride the West Orange Trail

Cycling is another activity that translates extremely well into middle age and beyond.

The West Orange Trail is one of Greater Orlando’s best places to do it.

Orange County’s current trail plan lists the West Orange Trail at approximately 22.3 miles, passing through Oakland, Winter Garden, Ocoee and Apopka.

That does not mean you have to ride 22 miles.

Start in downtown Winter Garden.

Ride several miles.

Stop for coffee.

Have lunch.

Turn around.

Or gradually build yourself up to longer rides.

The trail lets you combine exercise with actually going somewhere, which makes it much more enjoyable than staring at a wall on a stationary bicycle.

For couples, it can also become an active date.

Ride in the morning, clean up afterward, then have lunch on Plant Street.

That is a pretty good Saturday.

Spend a Weekend Camping Instead of Sitting at Home

Florida has an enormous outdoor playground within easy driving distance of Orlando.

Lake Louisa State Park near Clermont is an excellent example.

The park has more than 20 miles of unpaved trails, along with hiking, mountain biking, paddling, horseback riding, camping and glamping. Kayaks and canoes are available for use on Dixie Lake.

You can make this as rugged or comfortable as you want.

Pitch a tent.

Bring the RV.

Rent a cabin.

Try glamping.

Spend the morning hiking and the afternoon paddling.

Then cook dinner outside and sit around a campfire.

Florida residents age 65 and older currently qualify for a 50 percent discount on the base family campsite fee at Lake Louisa, although reservation and utility fees are excluded.

That is the type of senior discount we like.

Not because the activity is passive.

Because it makes an adventure cheaper.

Take a Beach Day Because You Can

One of the greatest advantages of living in Greater Orlando is that the Atlantic Ocean is close enough for a spontaneous day trip.

New Smyrna Beach has 17 miles of beaches and blueways, plus restaurants, bars and a walkable beach-town atmosphere.

Spend the morning walking the beach.

Swim.

Have lunch.

Walk Flagler Avenue.

Stay for sunset.

Then drive home.

Or head toward Cocoa Beach.

Cocoa Beach offers approximately six miles of oceanfront within the city, plus surfing, public beach access, kayaking and boating on the Banana River Lagoon.

And if a rocket launch happens to be scheduled, the beach can double as a launch-viewing location.

Living in Central Florida means a beach day does not have to be a vacation.

It can just be Wednesday.

Go Wine Tasting

Being active does not mean every outing has to involve sweating.

Activity can also mean going somewhere new and experiencing something.

Lakeridge Winery & Vineyards in Clermont makes an easy Central Florida day trip.

The winery offers tours and tastings seven days a week, with tours generally beginning every 30 to 40 minutes. The experience includes the winemaking process, production areas, vineyard views and a guided tasting.

The winery also hosts live music and seasonal events throughout the year, including jazz, blues, harvest events and October’s Corks & Forks celebration.

That creates a different kind of active afternoon.

Walk the grounds.

Tour the winery.

Taste some wine.

Listen to live music.

Have something to eat.

Then explore Clermont.

You do not need a theme park to have an interesting day in Central Florida.

Make Dinner an Experience Again

There is also a stage of life when dinner does not always need to involve feeding children as quickly as possible.

Orlando’s dining scene has changed enormously.

An evening can become an experience rather than simply a meal.

Dress up.

Go somewhere you have never tried.

Order something you have never eaten.

Split a bottle of wine.

Take your time.

Walk afterward.

Winter Park works particularly well for this kind of evening because dinner can be combined with a walk along Park Avenue and Central Park.

Baldwin Park gives you restaurants plus a walk around Lake Baldwin.

Restaurant Row around Sand Lake Road offers another concentration of upscale dining.

And Walt Disney World has restaurants that can function as destinations even when you never set foot inside a theme park.

The point is not that every dinner needs to be expensive.

The point is that date night should not disappear simply because you turned 55.

In fact, this may be the perfect time to rediscover it.

Go to Live Music Again

Here is another activity people sometimes abandon as they get older for no particularly good reason.

Concerts.

Orlando has everything from small jazz performances to touring rock bands, major arena concerts, symphony performances, country artists and intimate acoustic shows.

The Dr. Phillips Center’s music programming spans pop, rock, country, R&B, blues, jazz, classical music and other genres.

And Orlando’s larger concert calendar remains remarkably active.

You do not have to stand three feet from a speaker until 2 a.m.

Unless you want to.

Choose reserved seats.

Have dinner first.

See an artist you grew up listening to.

Or go see someone completely new.

One of the advantages of getting older is that your musical history gets longer.

You may enjoy a band from the 1970s one week and discover a new artist the next.

Age does not remove you from the audience.

Try Pickleball, Tennis or Golf

If you want competition along with exercise, Orlando gives you plenty of choices.

Golf remains one of Central Florida’s biggest recreational activities. Visit Orlando currently lists more than 100 golf courses across the Orlando area.

For tennis and pickleball, the new Orlando Tennis Centre in the Packing District has 17 lighted tennis courts, including clay and hard courts, with four pickleball courts lined on two of the hard courts.

Interestingly, this is another case where getting older can save you money.

The city currently offers discounted memberships beginning at age 55.

But once you step onto the court, nobody cares what year you were born.

They care whether you can return the ball.

That is how it should be.

Go Hiking Without Leaving Central Florida

Florida hiking is different from hiking in Colorado.

That does not mean there is nothing to explore.

Lake Louisa’s trail network passes through sandhills, wetlands, forests and lake environments, with opportunities to see deer, gopher tortoises, osprey and bald eagles.

Wekiwa Springs has miles of trails through Central Florida ecosystems.

Blue Spring State Park in Orange City has a 3.6-mile one-way Pine Island Trail, shorter nature trails, paddling, swimming during the appropriate season and camping.

Blue Spring now requires day-use reservations, so plan ahead.

The objective does not have to be covering 20 miles.

Walk three.

Walk five.

Stop occasionally.

Take pictures.

Look for wildlife.

Then have lunch somewhere interesting afterward.

That is still an active day.

Spend a Night Under the Stars

Camping can also become more enjoyable as you get older because you do not have to camp the way you did when you were 22.

If sleeping on the ground no longer sounds appealing, do not sleep on the ground.

State parks around Central Florida offer everything from traditional campsites to cabins and glamping.

Lake Louisa, for example, offers full-service campsites, cabins and glamping options.

Wekiwa Springs offers regular campsites as well as primitive sites accessible by hiking or paddling. Some primitive campsites along Rock Springs Run are accessible only by water.

That opens the door to a genuinely adventurous overnight trip.

Pack the kayak.

Paddle to camp.

Spend the night.

Paddle out the next morning.

That is probably not what most websites mean when they publish a list of “senior activities.”

Maybe they should.

Take Up Something You Never Had Time to Learn

There is another side to being active later in life.

You may finally have time to become a beginner again.

Learn to kayak.

Take golf lessons.

Learn tennis.

Try pickleball.

Take a dance class.

Learn paddleboarding.

Start cycling.

Try snorkeling.

Go fishing.

Take sailing lessons.

Learn photography and combine it with hiking.

The City of Orlando even offers recreational options that include swimming programs, golf leagues and fencing lessons for adults.

You do not need to already be good at something to start doing it.

Being terrible at something new for a while is allowed.

Build Mini Adventures Into Your Week

One of the mistakes we make is assuming adventure requires a vacation.

It does not.

Try creating smaller experiences.

Drive to Mount Dora for lunch and walk downtown.

Bike through Winter Garden.

Spend the afternoon kayaking.

Drive to New Smyrna Beach for dinner.

Catch a concert downtown.

Go wine tasting in Clermont.

Camp at Lake Louisa for one night.

Walk five miles around a festival.

Try a new restaurant.

Watch a rocket launch from Cocoa Beach.

None of those requires a week off work.

Sometimes you only need an afternoon.

Physical Fitness Becomes the Ticket to More Experiences

There is a practical reason staying active matters as we get older.

Fitness buys freedom.

Strong legs make hiking easier.

Cardiovascular fitness makes a long bike ride possible.

Balance helps when climbing into a kayak.

Mobility makes camping easier.

Endurance lets you spend six hours walking around a festival without desperately searching for a chair.

Fitness is not only about what you see in the mirror.

It determines how many doors remain open to you.

That may be the best reason to keep moving.

You are training for your life.

Stop Acting the Age Other People Expect

Chronological age tells us something.

It does not tell us everything.

Two people can both be 65 and live completely different lives.

One may spend the weekend sitting at home.

The other may paddle seven miles Saturday morning, have dinner and wine with friends Saturday night, and spend Sunday walking the beach.

The number is the same.

The lifestyle is not.

That is the audience we want to serve more often at Lifehappens2us.

People who understand that getting older does not mean becoming old before you have to.

People who still want to explore.

People who want experiences.

People who want to stay physically capable enough to say yes when somebody asks:

Want to go kayaking?

Want to see that band?

Want to spend the weekend at the beach?

Want to try that restaurant?

Want to go camping?

Want to ride the trail?

The goal is to be able to keep answering:

Yes.

Orlando Is a Pretty Good Place to Do It

Central Florida gives active adults an unusually large playground.

Within roughly an hour or two of Orlando, depending on where you start, you can find springs, beaches, trails, lakes, campgrounds, wineries, restaurants, concerts, golf courses, festivals and small towns worth exploring.

And Florida weather gives us opportunities to do many of those things throughout much of the year.

There are certainly times when the summer heat makes an air-conditioned restaurant considerably more attractive than a five-mile hike.

That is fine too.

Being active does not mean you have to be moving every minute.

It means continuing to participate in life.

Go somewhere.

Try something.

See something.

Learn something.

Eat something memorable.

Listen to great music.

Spend time outside.

Travel.

Move.

And keep making plans for next weekend.

Because turning 50, 60 or 70 should not mean the interesting part of life is behind you.

For a lot of people, it may finally be the point when you have enough time to really start enjoying it.