Trip To Florida!

Ok, I owe you all a post! I have not forgotten – rather I have been very busy. I just came back from an amazing trip to Florida with my family and I have been attempting to get my butt back into school mode. I thought I would share a few photos and stories from my trip – and then we will get back to the cooking! (I promise).

This trip was particularly interesting because I was bringing along Mike, who had never been to Florida - let alone been on a plane before! So, a lot of exciting firsts were shared. Our immediate impressions of Florida this time included – the wall of heat and humidity that slammed us as soon as we stepped out of the airport (heaven), the bountiful tropical plants lining the streets (those that we are confined to using as house plants), the fact that u-turns are completely legal and signal lights are practically optional (scary), and the shocking revelation that the entire gulf coast does not recycle (heart breaking sadness). Regardless, I dragged my nerdy self and my entire family to the town recycling plant – I am sure they enjoyed that frequent trip.

We lucked out for the first three days - there were crazy amounts of torrential Tampa Bay rain. The storms are exciting and beautiful to watch at night, but not as pleasing when they happen during the day. Either way, this let us have the opportunity to do many day trips.

We ventured to The Florida Aquarium to explore hundreds of different species of fish and beautiful coral reef displays.

My most favourite and unforgettable visit was to the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens. These grounds boast 20 000 plants – and this includes 6 000 orchids! It was simply gorgeous and surreal. They have conservatories, butterfly gardens, bonsai collections, koi ponds, banyan groves and bamboo gardens – I could have stayed for hours. I highly recommend this spot if you are ever in the area.

Also, I must mention the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary – the largest sanctuary in the United States, with over 8 000 injured birds admitted each year. Almost everyday I take a walk down the beach to visit - it is a beautiful and smelly place of hope. These people continue to truly make a difference and my family has supported them since I was just a few years old.

Right now, they are struggling with the many birds being dropped off from the oil spill. I was asked to volunteer on my last day there, but unfortunately I was leaving and unable to do so. If you have ever sat there helplessly watching the news seeing the damage created by the oil spill and not known how you can make a difference – this non-profit organization could use some help. I never want to sound preachy on this blog, but trust me – I witnessed firsthand the damage and it is very disheartening.

On a lighter note - the rest of the trip was spent enjoying the beach and fishing with my dad – which I have been doing since I was two years old. The pier is my second home and has tons of great memories!

Now onto the food! Before I left for the trip, I decided to look up Guy Fieri’s list of restaurants that have been on his show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. It was my dad’s idea and we all thought it would be neat to test one out. We found Keegan’s Seafood Grille to be the closest location, and you can check out the you-tube video of the episode here. We should have watched it before we left to get an idea of what to try, but we happened to order off the written specials on the blackboard anyways – everyone feasted on multiple servings of the best crab chowder ever. I tested out a vegetarian pasta while I let them explore all the seafood dishes.

Overall it was a great experience, but having fried food every day can get a little sickening. Sometimes you just crave something fresh, and Sweet Tomatoes is the place. It is a reasonably priced buffet style restaurant and it is always packed. They have a wicked salad bar, soups, pastas, pizzas, deserts – mmm! A healthy experience – with many vegetarian options.

Overall, this was a perfect vacation to end the summer and I was sad to leave. Now it is back to the grind, and my school course load hit me full force the very first day. Don’t worry, I still have many neat recipe ideas and cannot wait to get back in the kitchen for the fall season. I heard there were a few people reading this blog that are newly converting to vegetarianism and curious about all the options out there – after I take care of a few sweet ideas, I promise to put some easy dinners up here too!