Experience Orlando Like a Florida Local

When you visit a new area, do you run to the most popular tourist attraction or do you look for the local favorites? When my husband and I travel, we are the first to geek out visiting the favorite tourist attractions, but we also love when we stumble across a local favorite. Central Florida is a popular place for RVers to visit during the winter season and as a home base year-round. The popularity of Central Florida and the Orlando area makes sense. We have beautiful weather all year long and enough activities to keep everyone busy no matter your interests. We are “the locals” in Central Florida, so here are some of our favorites you will be glad you checked out!

RESTAURANTS
We love great food and atmosphere. I cannot emphasize this love of food enough! My husband works in the food industry and I love to eat food. It is always disappointing to us when our food is just “okay”, so let me save you some trouble. If you need an amazing meal at a reasonable price, check out these favorites:

• Yellow Dog Eats –The restaurant is located in a large house right in the middle of local neighborhoods. They sell sandwiches, BBQ, and salads … all with a twist. Two of our favorites are the Black Forest Hambone and the Johnny Rocket Sandwiches. They have counter service ordering with indoor and outdoor seating, and a bar out in the back courtyard. If you go at the right time, you might be lucky enough to enjoy live music.

• RusTeak Restaurant & Wine Bar – We love to sit in the bar area when we visit and enjoy the amazingly delicious menu. This restaurant has a great food and drink selection and you really cannot make a bad decision. I suggest the Chicken Maguire and the 55^th Street Sandwiches, after you enjoy an appetizer.

• ZaZa New Cuban Diner – Check them out for strong Cuban coffee and Amazing Cuban food.

• Artisan’s Table Creative Kitchen & Bar – They use flavor as their guide and it certainly shows in the food. We recommend the Jalapeno Bacon Mac & Cheese or a Steak Bowl.

• Cariera’s Fresh Italian – This restaurant is a new take on an old Orlando favorite. The new location is less formal than its white table-cloth predecessor, with all the knowledge of the original recipes. The food is mouth-watering Italian classics that will draw you in again and again. Our favorites include the parmesan chicken, chicken piccata, and I never forget the side of meatballs.

• Abbott’s Frozen Custard Hamlin – The best part of this local favorite, is it pairs perfectly with whatever you choose for dinner. It literally does not matter because it is dessert. The custard is amazing and they switch up the flavors daily. My husband would tell you to try the mocha, but I love the Butter Finger Delight.

DOWNTOWN WINTER GARDEN
A favorite Saturday morning activity is going to Historic Downtown Winter Garden. This is how our morning goes, with small variations. We usually plan on getting to our parking spot right around 10am, when the Farmers Market opens. We park over near Plant Street Market and walk over to the Farmers Market. We arrive early to ensure we can find parking near Plant Street Market instead of the parking lot near the Farmers Market because we want to end up back over here for lunch and a beer, but more about that in just a minute. We start by walking a loop through the Farmers Market to check out all the vendors and solidify in our minds what we want to buy for the day. Then we take a turn by the splash park as we walk towards Plant Street. We love seeing all the children playing and the families standing around enjoying the break from the warm day, which in Florida is ninety percent of the time. We enjoy a stroll down the street past all the shops and restaurants. We wander in and out as we go past the shops. We check out all the menus of the restaurants, as we think about lunch or a meal sometime in the future. As we wind back around, we stop back through the Farmers Market and pick up all the items that we need or just cannot live without for the upcoming week. As we head back to our car it is now lunch time and our crafty planning of parking right next to the Plant Street Market has worked out perfectly. We drop our purchases at the car, where we strategically have a cooler ready. Plant Street Market is a food hall and market type setting where everyone can enjoy the different food options, while still dining together. The anchor is Crooked Can Brewing Company, with award winning beer and a microbrewery onsite. It is also home to Ceviche Mix, This Little Piggy, Sir Benji’s Donuts, Mac’d Out, Jodo sushi, Butcher and Market, and my favorite Michael’s Ali Coal Fired Pizza. We can grab a bite to eat, a nice cold beer, and a spot outside to enjoy the beautiful weather.

The best part of heading over to downtown Winter Garden is the variety. The day I described was with my husband, but we jump at the chance to take friends and family for some variation of this adventure. When our six-year-old niece came with us, we spent a little more time at the splash pad.

SOUTHERN HILLS FARM
Every year we look forward to April because that means it is time for blueberries in Florida. Our favorite place to self-pick buckets of blueberries is Southern Hills Farm. This local family owned farm is located on the southern side of Clermont, not far from Winter Garden and Disney World. As close as it is to the city, when you drive up you feel like you are in the middle of the country ready to pick your blueberries. Once you park your car, you pick up a bucket to collect the blueberries and then purchase them by the pound after you finish picking. In addition to the fields, there are two pavilions providing seating and shade, a huge playground for the kiddos, a store, clean bathrooms, and food vendors selling a huge variety of food including blueberry donuts, blueberry lemonade, and a couple of adult beverage options. Matt loves to cook and makes a scrumptious blueberry cobbler with our blueberries, but if you do not want to bake your own they will sell you one already prepared! If you choose to check this out, be prepared to fall in love with the farm. If you find yourself disappointed that this only comes around once a year, they do have a Fall Pumpkin Festival in October.

CENTRAL FLORIDA STATE PARKS
Florida State Parks are AMAZING and we are lucky to have some great ones here in Central Florida. We love taking the RV to these parks, but sometimes just head over for the day when we need to get out and explore. Two of our favorites that make for an easy day trip are Wekiwa Springs State Park and Lake Louisa State Park. Wekiwa Springs State Park is north of Orlando and is perfect for a day of kayaking, paddle boarding, or swimming in the springs. The springs are beautiful and incredibly popular in the summer. We prefer kayaking over other activities because I have a healthy awareness of alligators and snakes (yes, read that as I am afraid), but I have never heard of a gator attack in the swimming areas. When we feel like a long hike, we head over to Lake Louisa State Park. Lake Louisa is located west of Orlando. The park has miles and miles of well-maintained wide hiking trails. And an extra bonus to heading over to Lake Louisa, if we hike enough miles, we feel no guilt in heading over to Plant Street Market for a pizza and a beer when we finish.

EAT AT A DISNEY RESTAURANT
We are HUGE Disney fans and Disney has some of the best food and entertainment around, although usually at a slightly higher price tag. As locals, we have the opportunity to head over to Disney whenever we want, but we can enjoy it in small increments for short periods at a time. One of our favorite things to do is to head over to Disney Springs for dinner and a show at House of Blues. The variety of restaurants at The Springs can satisfy any of our cravings. Sometimes we head over for a full sit-down meal, occasionally we sit at one of the bars and share a quick bite and a drink, and often we take advantage of the quick service venues. After dinner, we head over to House of Blues. One of the fun things about the House of Blues is they host cover bands throughout the year. We have seen tributes to Elton John, Dave Matthews, Fleetwood Mac, and others. The best part, the shows are fun, entertaining, and usually the tickets are super inexpensive.

I hope our insight on some of our favorite things to do will help you when you are planning your next adventure, whether you are here permanently or just swinging by as you explore the world!