Starting any fun-filled weekend with tacos, just screams its going to be a fun time.  We found this place several weeks ago and went back for our second visit.  This time we had an expert – Adrienne.  Since leaving CA she’s been looking for some authentic tacos and while not the same, she deemed the meal mighty tasty (my words, not hers).  Oh yeah, this place is located in Orlando, not Sanford………………..it made a good stop along the drive.

Naturally we started with some chips, salsa and guacamole.  We ordered a variety of items:  pork quesadilla, campechano taco, huerrvos with beef and marrow & mushroom Sopes,

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We’ve talked for a while about doing an ‘overnight’ in Sanford and the plans became a reality for several reasons. First,  it will give us stamps on our second Ale Trail map.  Second, we get to eat at ‘griddle in the middle’ (more on that soon) .  Third, it’s a friends 40th birthday and we’re invited to the extravaganza.  Fourth, I get to eat (more) German food at a landmark restaurant in Sanford.

Many years ago, I had a friend who was the horticulturist for Sanford so I’m not a total stranger to downtown Sanford, but WOW!  We’ve visited recently for our first Ale Trail map and saw some major differences and improvements.  The weekend we picked to stay in Sanford………..was totally hopping!  After checking into our hotel near the interstate (non blog-worthy) we ubered to downtown Sanford. First stop was Deviant Wolfe Brewing.  Got to love their earth-friendly coasters – just saying.  (In case you can’t tell, it’s a cardboard circle cutout with a stamped logo – simple and effective).

Oh well, we’re here for the beer, not the coasters (kind of).

Apparently their first anniversary is coming up on March 16 (see photo above).

After getting our stamps, we walked to the waterfront and found this little guy at the bottom of a flagpole – “Sanford Rocks!”.  Sanford has developed their waterfront area, adding gardens, statues and porch swings for all to sit back, relax and breathe.

Next brewery…………Inner Compass.   Got to love a beer that is called ‘Meh?”  AND it tastes good too.

I mentioned that Sanford was ‘hopping’  and this was just one of several events – street party.  AND another stamp on our map – Sanford Brewing Company, their logo is on the right of the photo.

About this time we started thinking about dinner and walked back to the main street for ‘Hollerbach’s Willow Tree Cafe’, the german restaurant I mentioned earlier.  They have lots of seating, both inside and out, but apparently LOTS of others had the same idea.  At 6pm for a party of 3………….the wait was 2 hours.  Nope, didn’t happen.  Ultimately we settled on Buster’s Bistro, a Belgium brewpub.  It was also very full, but had an outside garden with tables so that’s where we ultimately ended up.  We prepared for a long wait, and unfortunately was not disappointed.  They were overwhelmed and under-staffed.  An hour after ordering, our food arrived – good, but this wasn’t their best night.  Naturally we had to order frites (French fries) and a meat/cheese platter to share.

Then it was on to the main event……….Sashmeister 4.0 for Sasha’s 40th birthday.

While I was in Shanghai, Eric became friends with Sasha and his wife when they had a downtown Clermont location.  When the building was sold, they relocated to Sanford.  A number of the Clermont gang stopped in for his birthday at their new place Luisa’s Cellar.

There was a lot going on and the night (ours at least) ended after the special Burlesque show in the upstairs bar.  Wow – who knew you would see a Burlesque show in Sanford.

Early on I mentioned ‘griddle in the middle’.  It is part of the De Leon Springs State Park in Deland, FL and our destination of choice for breakfast.  It’s at least a 30 minute drive from Sanford – but worth it in my opinion.  🙂

No, the restaurant is not called that, but a friend coined the phrase years ago, and it has stuck.  It is the…………..

They specialize in pancakes, but other items are available on the menu.

Two batters are available: American pancake and stoneground flour (5) pancake.

We ordered pecans and blueberries for pancake add-ins.  Eggs, sausage and ham rounded out our meal.  The meat is brought to you cooked, but you’re on your own to cook the eggs.

Through the years we have brought numerous family and friends to this restaurant.  My dad never understood why he had to pay for pancakes AND make them himself.  He went willingly (I think), but we always heard the comment.

We arrived knowing there would be an hour+ wait, but willing to use that wait-time (2 hours)to explore the park’s museum and also go on a nature boat tour.  The actual spring is surrounded by a concrete & tile edge with the water bubbling up in the center.  This is a natural spring with one of the largest water outputs in Florida.  One of the museum’s exhibits talked about the fragile eco-system of Florida’s Springs.

Another exhibit highlights their history before it was turned into a State Park in 1982.  This was a family owned & operated recreation spot before the purchase.  This photo caught my eye.  ‘Google’ it to get the entire history of the unique Florida attraction.

We got on the 10am 50-minute boat tour, pretty much perfect timing for our breakfast wait.  Ten minutes upon our return, we were sitting at our ‘griddle in the middle’ table.  In the background of the photo below, you can see the Spanish Sugarmill Pacake House.

Okay, okay, while not the best photos, Adrienne finally got the chance to see alligators in their natural habitat.  We keep telling her the gator she saw in a retention pond at the airport was audio-animatronic and not real.  I believe we spotted 5 gators on our nature boat trip.

Since we’re near Deland, we sampled beers at Persimmon Hollow Brewing Co to add that stamp to our map.  It has a cool vibe, just wish it was closer to Clermont.

I was supposed to get a half-pour, but the bartender was generous.

Last brewery for our weekend was Central 28 Beer Company.

It’s located at the end of the road in an industrial area.  You got to really want to come here to find it, you don’t stumble upon its location.  I reminded the others that our first visit was before Halloween and they had buckets of candy – Reese cups goes really well with dark beer – just saying.  🙂

Normally, this would be end of the post.  Not this time!  Eric was inspired to create some exciting and interesting tapas at home.  Char-grilled oysters, shrimp etouffee and grilled fish with our (home-grown) greens rounded out our meal.

Now that’s the way to end a fun weekend.

 

Ginny

 

 

 

 

 

We hopped over to Tampa to meet good friends. It was a quick trip, but always a fun time can be had along the Gulf coast.  The only way to make it better is to take our boat and fish, but alas, that will have to wait for another day and time.

This visit we stayed at Floridan Palace Hotel, located In the north end of the downtown Tampa core.  It was designed by a prominent Tampa architect and built in 1926.  In 1996 it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

It has old world charm and I couldn’t resist a few facts:

• At the time it was built, it was the tallest building in Florida, remaining the tallest building in Tampa until 1966.
• The hotel’s bar, the Sapphire Room, was a  popular nightspot during WWII for serviceman who were training nearby.  It’s still open, being recently refurnished but only on the weekends.
• During the 1960s the hotel and clientel  declined and eventually closed its door in 1989.  Current owner purchased it in 2005 and after 7 years, had a grand re-opening.

The Floridan’s original sign was found in a rooftop storage room during cleaning and after being restored was placed back on the hotel’s rooftop one more,

Now on to the primary destination for our time in Tampa…………Bern’s Steakhouse.

We had visited once before with two other couples (affectionately called the Clermont Supper Club) and after some deliberation…….Eric and I decided that first visit was 12+ years ago.

With any fine steak, wine is a good accompaniment.  While not exactly my thing, the adults at the table shared a bottle.  I ordered sangria – yes, that is my thing. 🙂

   

Waiting for our friends, I did a little research about Berns:

• Opened in 1956 by Bern Laxer and his son still owns and operates the restaurant (which during our tour of the kitchens we saw him, apparently an uncommon occurrence).
• 1996 Wine Spectator listed it as a tie for best steakhouse in US.
• 2010  the restaurant was deemed a ‘Top 50 All American Icon’.
• An interesting fact found on the internet…..there is only 1 window in the entire establishment, not accessible by patrons.

Appetizers can be ordered but why!  Every meal comes with French onion soup, salad, meat of choice, accompanied by fried onion strings, a green vegetable and another plated veggie of the day.  Almost forgot the baked potato – topped with your choice of butter, sour cream, bacon and chives – or all of the above!

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I ordered a Pinot noir reduction sauce to accompany my filet mignon while Eric shared a ribeye with Warner.  I had a fabulous dressing on my amazingly, interesting salad: champagne citrus vinaigrette – yummy.  Can you tell I really, really liked my salad.  🙂

An option when making your reservation is a tour of the kitchen and wine cellar.  Our waiter, Victor (bottom right), led us to the kitchen while a wait-staff in training, explained the various stations.

We were able to see the meats as they were cut and weighed before being grilled.

They have a bakery, coffee bean roasting room, salad prep and a service bar and probably much more I am forgetting.  We saw this interesting tray and our guide said they grow their own sprouts daily to top the salad.

Then it was on to the ‘wine cellar’.  With Florida’s high water table, a cellar is a bit of a tease.  You walk down a ramp and then you are greeted with this.

And this.

And more of this.

This is the largest wine collection in the world, having acquired over 600,000 bottles.  The cellar holds 100,000 while a nearby building houses 500,000+ bottles.  They have a catalog system that works for them and yet our guide shared they occasionally come across bottles that were never inventoried.  It is a LOT of wine!

 

Their madeira, some from the 17th century, were on this shelf, ready to be poured.

Interesting wall covering.  The walls are lined with newspapers, then sprayed to keep the wine cellar insulated.  Let me tell you, it was pretty chilly down there.  We were ready to get back upstairs to the warmth.

To finish our meal, we booked time in the dessert room.

Tables are sized for various party sizes, with each table feeling some privacy in their private wine-barrel shaped room.  The desserts are fabled and fabulous.  Here’s a sampling from their menu.  This is only one page of three listing their desserts.

Between the seven of us, there was quite a selection to behold.  First shown was a baked Alaska, you can slightly see the blue flames at the bottom of the dessert.  I ordered the King Midas carrot nut cake while Eric made his way through the Macadamia Nut Sundae.  Dennis was the smart one and ordered brie cheese, accompanied by strawberries.

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We were universally stuffed!  Warner timed our meal which beat our previous long meal with them, occurring in Normandy, France.  This meal start to finish was 3 hours and 42 minutes.

 

Tuesday dawned bright and clear.  Eric and I stopped at a nearby bakery for a morning pick me up.

Dennis plans fun activities and this day was no exception.  While this was not their first visit, it was ours.  Full confession……………..I was not a participant, just an active watcher.

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Eric was a little rusty in the first round but redeemed himself on the second round.  BTW – he admitted later in the week, he was a bit sore from using muscles not commonly being worked.

Notice in the far distance another (square) building?  That’s what I want to do on a future visit………sky diving in a controlled environment.

How could I forget the injectable donuts?  The donuts may have been the draw for some in our crowd, more so than the golf – just saying.  An order (24 holes) came with your choice of your selection of two injectable flavors:  vanilla, raspberry or chocolate.  OR, you could order all 3 flavors for an extra dollar – you can see our choice.  🙂

Before heading home, our last stop was lunch at La Teresita Restaurant.  It is a collection of buildings and first decision to be made was which way to enjoy the restaurant.  We chose option 1.

First to arrive is Cuban bread, slathered with butter.  We quickly demolished this basket.

I ordered the daily lunch special of roast pork and it did not disappoint.  My sides of choice were black beans and French fries.  Needless to say, we brought home leftovers for our work lunches this week.

All too soon it was time to say our goodbyes.  We love their visits to Florida and when plans allow, we get together to catch up.  We need to get up to NYC to see their new place.  Who knows, maybe this Fall!?!

If you made it this far through the post, you know I’ve been absent from the blog for a considerable amount of time – for me.  After the New Year, our weekends and exploits hadn’t seemed blog-worthy and didn’t want to waste the time to write them or your time to read them.  I’m back  🙂  with a few trips coming down the road.  Stay tuned.

Ginny