Winter Garden Adventure

Winter Garden is just one town over from where I live but what a town it is. My daughter and I decided to head to the Farmers Market and New Plant St. Market.

The Farmers Market runs on Saturdays from 9-2 and it is worth checking out. There are some fantastic vendors out there as well as lots of fresh fruits and veggies. I love getting pickles from Mr. and Mrs. Pickle. So delicious but next time I'm going for the cream cheese stuffed olives. 

 My daughter is a big fan of Holy Cow beef jerky and loves their teriyaki and finer flavored. We also picked up our fresh veggies for dinner - squash, zucchini, red potatoes and more. I'm always fascinated by the colorful carrots at The Farmacy but have yet to try them. 

For the young ones there is a fantastic splash pad fountain that is free for all to enjoy. There was face painting offered and all the kids love the snowballs and soft serve ice cream that The Whip food truck provided. 

What else can you find? Lots!!! Smoothies, Cuban sandwiches, dried fruits and nuts, powdered dip bags, crepes, empanadas, essential oils, pet products and more. 

After the Farmers Market we headed over to the new Plant St. Market. 

It sits just on the other side of city hall from the Farmers Market. What a great concept for an indoor space. Different vendors share their wares and there are lots of food related items, even a small restaurant and The Crooked Can brewery on the back end. The Wandering Wanton was our choice for a snack and we tried the buffalo chicken wanton and the sweet potato and coconut ones. Yummy! 

There were pastries being sold, tea, coffee, pet products, olive oils, jewelry, essential oils and more. 

I was on the hunt to get to The Crooked Can and try the Axum Chocolate Stout. I made it! All the way on the back end is the brewery but what a great set up. They had several beers on tap and flights available to try! Next time!!! They are open until 2am so you can even have a night out and hit the brewery. 

There is a lot of seating offered but my daughter and I made our way to the front steps to enjoy our food. We had a great day in Winter Garden. 

There are a ton of great places in Downtown Winter Garden. There are some superb restaurants and shops as well. Go! Explore! Have your own adventure and let me know what you find! 

Gainesville Fun

So, I've realized that I am really, really bad at keeping up with this blog. But, I'm pretty good at adventures. With that said, we had a pretty good adventure yesterday up in Gainesville.

We started off going to find Hogs Creek where I read that you can find shark teeth in the shallow creek water. Yep. You sure can. We made our way to the creek through the Loblolly Park which is one of the parks run by the City Of Gainesville. It's a short, easy walk and there are a few places to access the water. It was beautiful here and I'll be back. Oh, and if you Geocache there are a few to do out here as well.

After all that hunting around for shark teeth you may get a little hungry. Understandable. We were on the search for something different. One of my AbJ rules is no chain food on adventures. Nope, what's the point in that?

We wanted to go to Satchel's but no luck. They are closed on Sunday and Monday. Don't let that deter you. Delicious pizza to be had there and great sights to see. Don't forget they are cash only as well.

So we aimed for The Swamp. Nope. Closed for some unknown reason. Not sure why. Maybe something to do with the Memorial Day Weekend.

And then we ended up at The Crafty Bastard for dinner.  Yummy and a GREAT selection of beer both on draft and in bottles. The food was very good as well. The menu is a little limited but there are a lot of burger choices and yes, they do have a kid menu. All good there.

We needed a bit of dessert after that and the kids were screaming for ice cream. Mochi had a great selection of toppings and fro yo! The cherry amaretto was delicious!!!

Time for the bats... and gators. Well, first a stop to see The Baughman House and it is beautiful. It is next to Lake Alice where you are sure to see some turtles and gators up close and personal. Enjoy the view while you wait for dusk to see the bats emerge from the bat house. There are over 400,000 bats that fly out at dusk and sometimes you even get to see the hawks go after the bats.

All in all, it's a fun afternoon and a great way to spend it outside!!! Let me know what fun you find in Gainesville when you visit.

Foodie Map for Florida

Okay foodie friends, did you know there was a map with the links to all those restaurants you see on Food Network and food TV programs? Me neither. But here it is. If you scroll to the bottom you can sort by the show it was featured on and you can zoom into just Orlando as well. Have fun and let me know if you try anything good! AbJ days always involve FOOD!! LOL

Cady's favorite is from Swede Dish food truck!

Zoominations at Lowry Park Zoo

I've heard that the Zoominations  Chinese Lantern exhibit at Lowry Park Zoo was beautiful but I wanted to see for myself. A group of us headed that way last weekend to find out if it would live up to the hype. We grabbed some 1/2 price Groupon tickets before we went since that is always a plus. Look to spend about $25 a ticket if you don't get the Groupon deal.

The event opened at 6 so we planned dinner ahead of time. With a large party it was hard to find something close that worked for everyone. We ended up at Taco Bus. One of my favorites!!! Yum. Not everyone is a fan though so be forewarned. It is a Guy Fieri pick from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The fish tacos were scrumptious and I always get a Horchata to drink. Perfect.

So off we went to the Zoo! Guess what? It was PACKED!  We were so lucky we didn't have a stroller to try to get through that crowd but it was difficult to keep everyone together. And be prepared to wait a bit for the best view. It was still light out at 6, even into 7 o'clock, so we had to wait for the darkness to see the beautiful glow. We found stuff to keep the kids busy for a while. There were some of the kiddie rides open and there was Kona Ice for a snack. It was definitely hot enough for a cold treat. Be aware that there aren't any animals to see, or hardly any at all. I think we managed to see birds and bats! The bats were very cool though!!!

Once it is dark it is a beautiful sight but did I mention it was crowded? Yes, it was very crowded. If I was going to try it again I'd go later, say 9 or 9:30. You'll still have plenty of time to see everything and maybe the crowd will clear out some.

Here are a few of the beautiful lanterns...

Zoominations runs until May 31st so check it out! Maybe pick a weeknight to avoid the crowds and don't forget to check Groupon! Next time I'll go check out the animals. Lowry Park is a great ZOO aside from their extra events.

Spring Training for Spring Break

Unfortunately I had to have a bit of surgery and I'm using my spring break for recovery. I did manage to get out to a Braves Spring Training game out at ESPN's Wide World of Sports. That was totally worth it.

The Braves were playing the pirates and it was a BEAUTIFUL day for a ball game. The facility is wonderful and has those certain Disney touches you would expect while still feeling completely like a stadium. We had great seats behind first base but the people stretched out on blankets in the lawn section looked like they were happy basking in the sun.

The real reason we ended up at the game was to watch Lexi Northrup perform the National Anthem and she did a rock star job of just that! I hear that she'll sing a few more very soon as well.

Overall it's worth a trip to see something out at ESPN's Wide World of Sports. Go! Enjoy it!

Drive on the beach? Okay, where?

It was the kid's 13th birthday this week and she asked for a beach day. It's hard to accommodate everyone but we settled on New Smyrna Beach since one of the other requests was grilling on the beach. We set out early, well not early enough and you'll see why, and set our sights for the entrance just past Chase's.  Buttttt, so did everyone else. 

We started over the bridge and saw the dreaded warning signs that beach parking was full and to seek off beach parking. Nope, not an option for our caravan with one that couldn't handle that hike. 

Time to put AbJ to the test as I started seeking out the back up plan. Daytona Shores/Ponce Inlet sounded like the best possibility. So a big u-turn and here we go. It was just about 15 miles further north but we got there and drove right on the beach. No problem. Even found three spots together with plenty of sand all to ourselves. 

And a great day was had by all. The fog rolled in which was a bit strange. The ice cream truck rolled by and the kids and adults were all happy as can be. We grilled and munched from the back of the cars and played in the surf. 

Sadly I wasn't feeling 100% so dinner on the way back was cancelled and the group was a bit disappointed. Otherwise we would have easily made the stop at Aunt Catfish. I guess I owe everyone another trip out there for yummy seafood and some cinnamon rolls. Next time for sure. 

Yelp Elite 2015

Well, what a nice little surprise to get an email today asking me to be a part of the Yelp Elite 2015. Yes, I think I will and thank you so much.

Looking for some ideas on where to eat in these parts? Well, look no further. You can take a look on my Yelp and see if something strikes your fancy. Don't forget to friend me on there, too!  Booya!