Dinner with New Friends

Enjoying Happy Hour with Terri & Kathy

Pizza with Drew & Terri from Texas!

LuLu's

Crazy Sista time at Lulu's!  I can't wait to visit this restaurant with my crazy sista.  No seriously....we have called each other sista before we heard Lulu use this term.  If you do not know who Lulu is then let me tell you.  Her last name is Buffet.  Yes, I do mean as in Jimmy Buffet.  She is Jimmy's sista and a lot of fun!

The food was great here, especially the key lime pie.  It's located on a river near the gulf and has a wonderful gift shop.  LOVE LULU'S!  

Lambert's Cafe

Home of the Throwed Rolls!  http://www.throwedrolls.com/
If you want to go eat tons of never-ending food and have a roll thrown at your face, this is your place!  Seriously though...yes, I did have a roll thrown in my face but it was a lot of fun and good old fashioned home-cooked food.  It is an experience that you need to do at least once. 

Lambert's is family-owned and has been around since 1942.  This is a must stop if you are in the Gulf Shores area.  We enjoyed the atmosphere and food.  With that being said was a little disappointed it wasn't from scratch like Cracker Barrel but still very good.

Gulf State Park Pool

Gulf State Park in Gulf Shores, AL is an amazing park with an amazing pool!  It's nicer than most resorts I have stayed at.  It has a zero entry children's pool that is large with fountains.  Kids & adults love this pool! 

Shrimpfest 2013

Meeting new friends

 

Dr. Zarr's Amazing Funk Monster from Memphis, TN

We had the best time at Shrimpfest and are already booked for 2014.  The band Dr. Zarr's Amazing Funk Monster is awesome!  Dave and I really enjoyed their music.  The arts and crafts booths were great and lots of variety.  I scored 3 beautiful beach dresses, wonderful beach tote and custom embroidered baby items.  The food was outstanding.  What more can I say?  It was a great time!  We even met some new friends when having a drink at the Hang-over next door.  I can hardly wait for next year.  :-)

Evening at Gulf Shores

Octoberfest Flora Bama Bar

All I can say is that we had too much fun! 

Martin's Potato Rolls

When you visit central Florida, you MUST try these rolls for your sandwiches.  Amazing!  I could easily be their spokesperson.  Try these.  You will be so glad you did - Wonderful Martin's Potato Rolls!

Silver Springs Nature Theme Park

Silver Springs Nature Theme Park! http://www.floridasprings.org/visit/map/silver%20springs/

Lucky for us, the State Park just acquired this theme park the week we camped at Silver Springs State Park.  We were invited to their "soft" opening at no charge.  This park has been neglected for several years and volunteers along with the state of Florida have band together to bring it back to its glory days.  There is still much to be done and will really enjoy coming back to see its completion.  

The glass bottom boats are still operating but we missed the scheduled times to ride.  We were fine with that since we had just spent all day on the river in a canoe.  Plus, I was still trying to get over my Meeting of the alligator experience.  LOL!

We really enjoyed visiting the Ocala, Florida area and plan to return again someday soon.

Alligators & Monkeys

Canoeing down the Silver River

 Alligator lurking above......

                                         Monkeying around!

Alligators and Monkeys!  Oh my!  For as many times that I have visited Florida in my life, I have never seen an alligator in the wild.  So...I was a little (or a lot) hesitant when Dave suggested we rent a canoe and take a little ride down the Silver River.

The Silver Springs State Park offers rentals at a reasonable rate on site.  It is a good 30 minute walk down a trail to get to the river and they dock an hour from your time.  It's not a bad walk and very pretty.  We were fortunate to experience a beautiful day out on the water in our canoe.  

I was riding the front of the canoe.  Imagine my surprise and horror :-0 when a huge Alligator, slithering through the top of the water, headed towards our canoe.  All I could do, was to hold my breath and sit still as he came right for me and swam under me at the front of the canoe.  I was scared stiff.  I did not move one inch.  It was also a thrill but one that I would prefer not to complete again.

Also, down this beautiful river were several monkeys.  Monkeys? You say.  What?  Are there Monkeys in Florida?  Yep.  There are.  In the 1940s and beyond they made Tarzan movies here.  It looks just like a jungle so makes perfect sense.  The monkeys, they brought in, multiplied and still live there today.  It was amazing seeing them in their natural habitat instead of in a zoo watching them pick at themselves.  

I highly recommend taking this canoe ride down the Silver Springs River which ends at the Silver Springs Resort. 

Silver Springs State Park

Silver Springs State Park is an older central Florida State Park located in Ocala, Florida.  This beautiful park has been going through an extensive remodel.  It just changed names the week we arrived.  It used to be Silver River State Park.  Many volunteers having been working diligently to get the park in order.  

We thoroughly enjoyed this campground.  September is a great month to visit.  There were only a handful of people staying in the campground.  The sites are nice and wooded and great facilities.  We enjoyed riding all the bike trails and relaxing by the fire pit.  

The Cracker Homestead and Silver River Museum are located in the park.  We enjoyed the exhibits about the wildlife in the park and history of the area.  

We love this park and plan to visit here again!  :-)

Moss Park

Moss Park is a hidden gem in Orange County, Florida.  It's close enough to go to Walt Disney World, about 30 minutes but quiet and serene for a very good price.  Non-County Resident price is $23.00 per night.  

The only drawback is that you cannot camp there with your pets.  It is a county park and wild life refuge.  Since we do not have a pet, it was fine with us.  The Sites are wooded, large and beautiful.  It is so peaceful with abundant wildlife.  Our favorite were the Sandhill Cranes.  As we were backing our rig into our campsite, I was directing Dave.  I had a sense that someone was behind me and turned around to look into the eyes of a Sandhill Crane.  They must be used to people as they hung around the campground with us the rest of our stay.

We will definitely visit this park again.  :-)