I can't believe we've been wintering here in Winter Garden for the past three years and somehow have never made it inside the Plant Street Market downtown. We've certainly walked and bicycled by hundreds of times, and I always thought it looked interesting -- there's a craft brewery there, for goodness sakes -- but it can be very crowded. We're not fond of crowds so stayed away. We finally decided to give it a try now that so many snowbirds have left the area until next winter, so the crowds would be more local and less touristy. We picked a Wednesday, since this is our usual laundry day and not a day we do our longer road rides. Chores and gym workouts done, we hopped on our cruiser bikes and pedaled over from the RV park -- just under 1.5 miles each way. It's definitely less crowded earlier in the week than towards the weekend, and it was not bad at all when we arrived on this beautiful spring day at lunchtime. Inside, in addition to the brewery, there are various local eateries. It's kinda like an upscale, non-chain food court in a industrial warehouse space. There is an assortment of spots to choose whatever suits your fancy, and you can then eat inside or out. There's pizza, barbeque, sushi, even a butcher shop, high-end chocolate and gelato, and a bakery, which was closed (sigh...). "Mac'd Out", a macaroni-and-cheese spot, caught our eye and sounded good. Haven't had mac-n-cheese for a long time! The food in such a spot is not inexpensive, as you might imagine, but quality is definitely above a typical food court experience. We split a "build your own" mac-n-cheese, which we had made with chicken breast, broccoli, and roasted red peppers. The perfect comfort food, it was creamy and delicious and enough for the two of us. We also enjoyed trying a couple of different beers on tap at Crooked Can. Their Lime Gose was very sour and suited us both very well indeed. It was a perfect day to sit outside and enjoy a meal, and it never got too crowded -- but I would not want to be here on a Friday, Saturday, or Sunday! We thought about dessert, but ended up passing. We had chocolate and yummy gelato back at Pearl. There was a place to buy fancy paletas (popsicles) in exotic flavors, but after living in Mexico where they are ubiquitous and cheap, the thought of paying $4 (and up) for a popsicle was just too much for me. I do appreciate small local businesses and like to support them, but I have my limits.
While we won't be visiting this spot weekly since it's kinda pricey, I hope we'll stop by from time to time. It was a fun change from our normal routine and a nice treat!
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We enjoyed our walk to Newton Park the previous Sunday morning so much, we decided to do the same on Easter Sunday. With so many attending Easter church services, the normally busy roads were almost eerily quiet and peaceful, and the lake was silent with fog shrouding the distant shore, blurring the line between sky and water. We spied this Great Blue Heron hunting ever so stealthily among the lake-edge vegetation. On our return trip, the sky brightened up and sunshine highlighted downtown Winter Garden's spring flowers. Also on the return trip, Barry led me down a road to see a lovely display in a yard -- he knew how much I would appreciate this! (The bike was actually spray painted pale pink but showed up more white in the photo. It is not a ghost bike, just a decoration!) Braces update.
I think he is making more adjustments now as I'm getting closer to the end of my braces "sentence". I've had them on for seven months now and should have no more than five more months to go in the worst case. I'm hoping for a mid-summer "release date", but we shall see. You know I'll keep you posted!
This past Sunday morning we took a longish walk to Newton Park on the shores of Lake Apopka here in Winter Garden. This park is about five miles round trip from our RV park. Barry had already walked here several times this season, but I had usually been busy with laundry and working out in the park's gym when he took his walks here, so this was the first time I had joined him. I couldn't resist going along this time as it was such a gorgeous day and a pleasant walking temperature. The pretty spring flags were flying brightly on this breezy March morning. The seagulls were enjoying a Sunday morning communing...until we spooked them by getting too close. Two types of Gallinules, Common and Purple, are year-round residents along these shores. Here's the Common, with his bright red beak and mid-face. He is also known as the Common Moorhen. The Gallinules, among other shorebirds, enjoy shelter in these grasses and aquatic plants. You can hear them even when you can't see them. As Barry walked on ahead (on the right in the photo above), I dawdled and was rewarded with the sight of this glorious Purple Gallinule searching for his breakfast. His iridescent feathers of blue and green and bright yellow legs glowed in the sunshine. So exotic! He found something good to eat! It was a perfect day and time for a walk and refreshing to get away from the constant humanity surrounding us at the busy RV park. We'll have to do this again!
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Emily & BarryWe're a long-married, early-retired couple who are currently traveling as nomads with no fixed home base. After years of living in North Carolina (Emily's home state), we spent 18 months living oceanfront on Ambergris Caye, Belize, a year road-tripping the US in a Honda CR-V, a year in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, and are now roaming North America in our 32' motorhome, Pearl, following warm weather whenever possible. Archives
July 2019
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