Last year I crossed this off my ‘bucket lust’ but doing a repeat in 2025 was nice. This year the weather was not quite as cold. Adrienne said it was perfect weather for running. FYI – I was walking, she was running. 🙂
Southern Hill Farms was the locale of choice, less than 15 minutes’ drive. We had a little fog as we were driving up, but it quickly burnt off.
Had a little time to kill after picking up our bibs and walked around their market. Cute use for empty propane tanks,
Quick photo before getting lined up, all neat and pretty.
It’s time to get queued up. Needless to say, Adrienne was up near the front with the ‘runners’ while I was somewhere in the middle with the ‘walkers/joggers’.
Horns sounded and we headed out.
This was a working farm and the route was only partially on a paved area. Last year my shoes got quite dirty along the route.
And finally the third mile.
I can see the finish line……………..yep, most of us are walking and the crowds thinned out quite a bit. Ha!
Made it! Kind of proud of my time, since I didn’t ‘train’ for it. Run time was 49:01.9, and placed 21 out of 38 for my age group. I’m happy.
A bit sweaty, but found Adrienne easily enough. Had to have the cider donut before leaving.
All said and done – a good morning. Now to eat some real food after waking Eric up.
I was able to tick off another thing on my bucket list………..5K Turkey Trot. Why was it on my list? Most ‘turkey’ runs are on the morning of Thanksgiving and I’m working. This 5K was scheduled the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving. Where?
Southern Hill Farms
This is a 120-acre family-owned and operated farm in Lake County. They offer u-pick and commercially harvested blueberries, strawberries, peaches and seasonal veggies. They first planted blueberries in 2010. In the Spring and Fall, sunflowers and zinnia fields are ready for cutting.
But on sunday, they were offering a 5K race and kids fun run! Florida was having a short cold spell and these were the temps as we drove to the location.
Brrrrrr – that’s cold for us. We checked in to get our running bibs, just as the sun was coming up.
One of their structures was a rooftop deck and great for a few photos.
I was able to capture a photo with the blueberry bushes and a bit of fog that had not burned off yet.
The race kicked off at 8am. The ‘Fasties’ were stationed under the start/finish line. Those of us walking & jogging were ‘MIddle of the Pack’ group, followed by the ‘Those Strolling’.
Starting right on time, the first part of the route was paved and went through the center of their u-pick fields.
I got to pass by the western side of a sunflower field.
But then, we ran into this substance………………sand. Ugh! It was NOT fun to run/jog/walk. A few of us were sticking to the edge to find vegetation. Or at least something that was more compact. There were a few runners with their baby strollers. They were having a VERY hard time in the sand.
I mentioned they started as a blueberry farm. Yep, we were going past the perimeter of blueberry fields!
Until we went through the middle of the field.
Got to take a shot on the eastern side of the sunflower field. Can’t wait until they get a bit taller, and we can stop by for fresh produce and cut sunflowers.
Part of the course was doubling-back from where we started. Yeah! on a solid surface again. I can see the finish line!
Finally made it. Now I need to find Adrienne. I was not going to let that little kid behind me reach the finish line first.
But wait……..one of the tastiest parts of this event………warm, fresh apple-cider donuts at the finish line. They were delicious!!!!
Before heading back to the house and a shower, one last photo. Adrienne placed 3rd in her age bracket and was awarded a wooden cutting board. Another ‘goodie’ we got for participating was the small, planted succulents.
How do you refuel after that? Go for sushi.
Hot tea and assorted plates for sharing was just the thing. Feeling full and tired…..a Nap was next on the agenda.
We had one more activity planned for Thanksgiving week. Dinner thursday night at Columbia’s Restaurant in Celebraton.
It’s become our tradition to eat dinner at this Cuban restaurant after getting off work for this holiday.
The first thing we always order………Sangria, concocted table side. Two glasses please, one for me and one for Adrienne. Sorry Eric.
Bring on the Spanish bean soup, Cuban bread and the 1905 salad. These were the precursor to our meal.
One of my top favorite entres is their La Completa Cubana. A feast of lechon asado, boliche criollo, empanada de Picadillo, platonos, yuca, black beans & yellow rice. Yum, Yum. Waaaaay too much for one meal but I always plan on the leftovers to take for lunches the remainder of the week.
Eric’s selection was the Red Snapper ‘Alicante’. Boneless fillet of red snapper baked in a casserole with sweet Spanish onions, green peppers, a rich gravy, olive oil, garlic, white wine topped with sliced roasted almonds. He was happy.
Adrienne selected their traditional 1905 salad, with a nod towards Thanksgiving. Their ‘legendary’ salad is tossed table-side with crisp iceberg lettuce as the base. But instead of the baked ham, turkey is the protein. Add in swiss cheese, tomato, olives, greated Romano cheese, worcestershire sauce and their ‘famous’ garlic dressing. It is indeed a meal.
One last thing is needed to finish the night – dessert.
Pumpkin pieCrema Catalana
That pretty much wrapped up our Thanksgiving week for 2024.
Located between Orlando and Clermont, this was a great weekend(s) visit. Not too hot – just yet, but bordering on it. We have driven past this when it was a dirt road with citrus groves and cattle ranching on both sides. Now the road was paved – sweet!
S.H.F. became widely known as the Blueberry Farm but they are so much more. First a bit of their history.
It is family owned & operated with the 3rd and 4th generation’s families the current operators. The family originated from the eastern shores of Viginia at the turn of the twentieth century. Mid-century the youngest son made the bold move to bring his family to central Florida near Lake Apopka. After some time, that area was shut down for farming and they landed in their present location near Clermont, growing landscape trees for Florida.
In 2010 they planted 40 acres of commercially harvested blueberries and in 2014 opened the 120-acre farm for the community. You check-in at the blueberry tent, get your bucket, peruse the map to find the blueberry rows that can be picked and start working, I mean start having fun.
We didn’t choose to pick the blueberries but plenty of families did.
They also rent these wagons.
S.H.F. includes u-pick and harvested blueberries, strawberries, peaches and seasonal vegetables. Fields of sunflowers & zinnias are planted for the Spring and Fall. But again, it is so much more. They have a food market store filled with their branded products.
Blueberry donuts – BTW, we ate one of their hot, fresh ones on our first visit but you could bring some home if you so choose.
A covered pavilion housed a number of eating establishments and plenty of seating underneath.
Here were a few of their offerings:
Also have a small train for the kiddos, and the young at heart.
We visited twice and on our last visit, there was live music playing. Sorry no video or sound-bites. 😦
But where are the veggies?
Here you go………
Along with a few more details concerning what is available one of the days we visited, pricing and informational row signs near the bottom of the photo.
squashjalapeno pepperszucchini
kale
And here’s the gang in action. Our first visit green beans were available to pick. We had them later that night – now that is fresh!
Second visit was the squash and zucchini as seen below.
THIS was what I was the most excited about.
Fields of sunflowers and zinnias are planted for the Spring and Fall.
One day there was no fee to enter this fenced area (due to the prevalent cloud cover) however our second visit was a beautiful sunny day. Sunny days meant $6 dollars was needed whether you were going to cut some or not. Part of the fee went towards a ‘free’ sunflower. After that each sunflower was $2 and the zinnias were $1 each. Still quite a good deal – just saying.
I’m good with paying. Quite a few people were creating video rolls or posting on social media and not actually getting any flowers. It definitely made sense to charge a fee.
Florida is not really known for growing peaches but there is some small pockets of peaches planted commercially using varieties developed for the Florida climate. They were just starting to harvest the fruit on our visit. We purchased a few – man, they were juicy………but still needed to develop their flavor.
There was one last shot that I couldn’t resist. We need more of these signs. 🙂
Going to have some exciting posts coming soon! At least exciting in my book – V.E.R.Y exciting. Stay tuned.
Darden Travels 