Monday, March 2, we drove south to Lake Wales. When we moved from Wauchula last week we passed through this area and saw “Florida Naturals” orange juice packaging plant and a bill board advertising a visitor’s center. So we decided to go back there to the visitor’s center. We had hoped to have a factory tour but that was not the case. There was a 15 or 20 minute movie shown every half hour. Disappointingly, only a very short segment showed the processing and packaging of orange juice. Most of the film dealt with the growing and picking of the oranges. Leaving this visitor’s center we drove to Chalet Suzanne located along the Lake Wales. Presently, this old restaurant/inn is closed and is being sold. We did drive around the town of Lake Wales and then had lunch at Chili’s.
Tuesday (3/3) we did not do much except go to Bahama Breeze in Kissimmee for lunch. It was such a beautiful day that we were able to eat on the outside patio.
Wednesday (3/4) we went to the Sanford Orlando Kennel Club for greyhound dog races. We opted to go to the clubhouse where we were able to have lunch and watch the races. We had a fun day placing bets not really knowing what we were doing. Of course, we did not make any big bets and we lost some and won less but it was a good time.
Thursday (3/5) Tom took the Jeep out to a lube place to have it serviced while I stayed back at the campground. The day was warm in the 80’s here in Florida as we were hearing about a major snow storm hitting Maryland (about 10 inches of snow).
Friday (3/6) the weather had changed during the night as we woke to cooler temperatures and clouds. The temperature did not reach 60 degrees today. We went to the movies to see “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”. A real enjoyable movie with characters of our age group. On the first Friday of the month the town of Clermont has “First Friday Truck Food” that we thought we would check out. A variety of restaurants park their kitchen equipped “trucks” along blocked off streets and sell food. (The variety of food changes each month) Music is also performed in the area along with vendors selling crafts and such. On this evening there were Venezuelan, Portuguese, Hawaiian hot dogs, cupcakes, gelato and other foods offered. We had a Venezuelan dish of rice, black beans, pulled beef topped with cheese and cilantro. We attempted to eat at outside picnic tables but it became windy and began to sprinkle rain so we retreated to the Jeep where it was warmer and dryer. Returning to the campground we stopped at the activities center for the entertainment of “Then and Now”, a couple that performed a variety of music. A full and fun day!
Saturday (3/7) we drove north to Leesburg to go to a “New Home and Remodeling Show” at the armory. It was a small show. Nearby there was a farmer’s market in the downtown that we walked about. Like lots of downtowns there were quite a few vacant stores. Driving back to the campground we ate lunch in Clermont at “Ay Jalisco”, Mexican, of course.
