This day trip will take us a bit west, then south then east, then back north…a lollipop (as they call hikes that go out, then loop back to the ‘stick’). We were up early as Danny took Sara & her family to the airport. They would be taking off at 7am EST & landing in Hawaii about 15 hours later. We had been looking forward to a no-school couple of weeks with the girls, but for them to get to travel to such an amazing place beats the heck out of spending it with us. I get it! And, so we moved up our day tripping opportunities to go as much as we wanted while they’re gone. In all our trips, we try to bike, hike, & check out the food & drink scene in the areas.
We started in Polk City at the Van Fleet trailhead. A 29 mile paved & wide trail that is super flat & goes through the Green Swamp & lots of cattle land. It felt like you were in the middle of nowhere. We grabbed our big heavy mountain bikes out of the truck & took off. We saw cows, tons of squirrels & some horses…but that was about it for wildlife.
My fave pic of the ride…bird on horse!
We had a few people walking & running on the trail within the first mile or so, but then it thinned out to just random bikers once in awhile (some zooming by on e-bikes & others working hard on road bikes but none the less zooming faster than us). We got sprinkled on a couple of times, but mostly it was just a nice gentle ride. Danny is such a better biker than I am. He’s stronger & faster, but patient as I try to get my biking skills & muscles up to his level. We rode a new distance for us…a total of 16 miles.
We had an early lunch at Fords Garage in Lakeland, south of where we’d biked.
Fords is a chain, but one we’d never heard of. It’s pretty cute with lots of truck, tire, & car stuff for decor. They pay Ford to be able to use their name & logo. They’re known for their burgers so we split their most popular one; it was good. I’d also noticed on their website, they had a bourbon espresso martini on the menu. I’ve had quite a few espresso martini’s, but they’ve all used vodka as their spirit. Since I’m a bourbon drinker, I was anxious to try this one. It’s was good, but I think I can do better & make it prettier. I have goals now.
Our next stop was downtown Lakeland to the Revival Cocktail Lounge. It had great atmosphere & the drinks were good.
Danny liked his better than I liked mine. I had a Gingerbread Old Fashioned & he had something called the Canadian Tuxedo.
We had a bit of a drive to get to our next stop, under drizzling skies. We wanted to get to Bok Tower in Lake Wales by 2:30. This well known in Florida attraction, is mostly known for their Singing Carillon Tower & their beautiful gardens. The tower was supposed to start singing at 3 & we wanted to make sure we heard it. The tower is filled with bells, but they don’t move, just the clappers. That’s what I got from the brochure anyway.
There were lots of families out today & we paid our admission then found a nearby bench & waited for the music. They played christmas songs & it’s sound was really nice.
The details in the tower were fabulous.
The rain held off long enough for us to spend a couple of hours exploring all the nooks, crannies & flowers of the place.
Loved the variegated poinsettias.
We chose not to pay to tour the mansion, but enjoyed walking around the outside of it. My favorite part was the Children’s Garden…it was great. What a fun place to bring your kids. All those there were having a really fun time, so the garden was filled with laughter & lots of happy moving littles. I loved the fairy garden (the girls & I have built a small one in front of our house).
Just as we finished our touring, the rain started. We’d already figured our next stop…a hike on the Panther Point trail was going to get nixed. We didn’t have enough daylight & now it was raining. We popped back in the truck & backtracked a bit then headed up to Winter Haven (I find the ‘winter’ towns confusing here, especially when they don’t have any typical winter-anything. There’s Winter Park, Winter Garden, & Winter Haven. I do know that Winter Park is only about 5 miles from my house…but the other two I’ve yet to retain information on where they are).
Once in the Winter town, we went to The Social Cocktail Lounge. Definitely the Speakeasy vibe.
We stayed in the holiday spirits (pun intended). Danny had a coconut cranberry margarita & I had an egg nog espresso martini. These were definitely my fave drinks of the day. Super nice bartenders, great atmosphere & yummy cocktails. It’s a winner!
We grabbed some coffee on the way out of town & started our long trek back north. We were only kind of going slightly out of our way to eat dinner at my new favorite place…Yellow Dog Eats in Windermere. I’m so grateful this is not close to my house. This is my third time here & I’m making myself try something different from the menu each time. Great fun atmosphere with a super cool outdoor space. The rain had stopped & the temps went up without the chill from the rain. The food was excellent! Note: the parks my book club meets at are all near here. Danny has accused me of liking the book club just so I can have lunch here after every meeting. I’m sure he’s wrong…just sure.
Then we drove the 20 minutes back home. We’d driven about 150 miles today. What a fun day it had been! And the kids made it to Hawaii…they didn’t look too bedraggled but ready for some sunny beach fun!