Winter in Florida! Since it was 12 degrees in Salt Lake City when I left, I sure was happy to be going on vacation.
People think Orlando is for theme parks or maybe the beach, but the real reason to fly across to country to visit Orlando is the food. New Year’s Eve found me at at Tako Cheena’s, a Latin/Asian restaurant/food truck that does amazing things with tofu.
Our takos. We each got two “Indian yellow curry dusted on crispy tofu” takos and one “panko-crusted tofu with sweet and sour onion sauce” tako.
For dessert they had either churros or sopaipilla. Since I knew we’d be devouring churros at Disney World the next day, and since I have warm nostalgic memories of the sopaipilla my mom made when I was a child, I voted for sopaipilla. So here we have fried tortilla chips covered in cinnamon and sugar topped with key lime custard and butterscotch sauce. The tortilla chips were not as good as the light dough I expected, but it was still pretty amazing.
Disney World!
At Christmas! (Well, New Year’s Day technically, but close enough.)
Florida pigeon.
The Osborne Family Spectacle of Dancing Lights at Disney World’s Hollywood Studios park.
When I told Nene and Steven that I was going to Disney World, they said that I needed to go to the Swan Resort and get the seaweed salad from Kimonos. It was fantastic. Always listen to your siblings.
In addition to seaweed salad we had edamame, two types of sushi, and miso soup.
Because Nene and Steven had some of these in Utah, I had a craving for them while I was in Florida. The problem was that we couldn’t find them. But Jeff’s family went above and beyond by finding some and having them waiting for us when we got home (thank you!). (They are really good.)
Jeff’s mom also had these vegan delicacies waiting for us when we got home. I always doubted the black bean brownie concept, but now I am a believer. They were scrumptious. I ate way too many as midnight snacks.
Dandelion Communitea Cafe (organic vegetarian tea house).
Pointing the way to other cafes with similar values.
They serve all their drinks in Mason jars.
Our nacho appetizer.
My Thai salad.
For dessert we walked down the block for boba.
The boba place also had macaroons.
My reading buddy, Pepper.
Blue Spring State Park. The Thursby House. “Louis Thursby arrived here in 1856. Louis and his family were the first white settlers to make a permanent home at Blue Spring. During the early years, the steamboat was their only link to the outside world.”
Boardwalk constructed through the forest at Blue Spring.
“Blue Spring is designated an official state natural feature. It is the largest spring on the St. John’s River. Each day, about 100 million gallons flow from the spring to the river between the evergreen banks of Blue Spring Run. In winter manatees move out of the cold St. John’s into the warm 72° F water of the run. The clarity of the spring water allows people to view, without disturbing, this unique gathering of endangered species.” (There were not many manatees out that day, but is it really winter when it’s 80 degrees outside?)
For my last supper in Florida, I had a Tuscany pizza (sans cheese) from Caffe Positano. I drizzled balsamic vinegar over it (a trick I learned at the Silver Mountain Resort in Idaho), and it was quite yummy.
Four views of the Osborne lights at Disney World (the videos/photo don’t do the lights justice–it is jaw-dropping in person), part of the fireworks show at Epcot, Florida animals (Zoe the dog, and a squirrel, hawk, and manatee at Blue Spring State Park), and a Florida wheel boat at Blue Spring State Park.