Janene H.'s Profile

This gorgeous park is a hidden secret in south Orlando. Take Orange Avenue south then hang a right on Holden to find this serene place. There are beautiful oaks, pines and cypress trees along with open grassy spaces. The lake is gorgeous and there are several nice places to sit and enjoy the view. I'd been to a wedding here some time back and had forgotten about the place until I recently revisited. There are places to jog, bathrooms and playgrounds. The only interruption to the peace is the occasional train that rumbles by. My son LOVED that, of course!

Thanks to Groupon I shared a three course meal, with wine, at Rusty Spoon, for $40. What a deal! How can one go wrong?? Food was very good. Service had some room for improvement. From the start our server mumbled to the point where we had to keep asking him to repeat himself. This was a Friday night, pre-Magic game, and the restaurant leaves their doors open to the street. In other words, it's LOUD in there! You would have thought he would have gotten the hint and spoken up. He was kind of blah about his job too. Almost like he was being forced to work.

We started off with oysters on the half shell. The oysters were nicely steamed, albeit small, and topped with lemon butter. When we asked for crackers with the oysters we were told they don't have saltines because they make everything from scratch. Awesome! For my entree I had the pork chop topped with apple mustard, creamy grits and collards. It was all delicious and went splendidly together. I really didn't think I'd like the collards but they were perfect with the meal. For dessert we had the s'mores, my only complaint? It wasn't big enough! It was a light mousse atop a graham cracker crust topped with toasted marshmallow. Mmmm... Divine!

Although we were told they validate for 2.5 hours at the Plaza garage by the time we got to our car (in under 2 hours) the lot would not take our validated ticket. Parking ended up costing us $10. I love the local ingredients concept of Rusty Spoon- it just has a few tweaks before it can earn five stars.

This electronics store is located in the Orlando International Airport main terminal. The store is loud, feels cluttered and the employees are only moderately friendly. They have some high end stuff, but it's at high end prices as well. This is a store of last resort. If you MUST have the items before your flight you're going to have to pay for it.

We found The Reptile Discovery Center thanks to Groupon. This place is waaaaay out there in Deland. We ventured out without calling first and just missed the venom extraction, which is apparently the highlight of the day. The Reptile Discovery Center has a large array of venomous snakes and extracts venom daily for anti-venom production.

The facility itself is small, yet clean. There are about 20-30 reptiles displayed in glass enclosures inside the building. They have some impressive specimens including a huge Burmese python, cobras, rattlesnakes and gorgeous mambas. The have other reptiles like turtles, alligators and lizards. Since we'd just missed the "show" a kind gentleman noticed and brought out two of their ball pythons for us to hold. The worker assured us these seasoned snakes were held often and never had any issues with children. At first my son hesitated, but after I held the snake he warmed up. He ended up holding the well behaved snake for 15 minutes. He giggled and giggled as the snake slithered over his arms and neck. My son said after the encounter, "I've never had a snake friend before!"

If you visit, don't miss the outdoor "Discovery Trail". This winding trail takes you through the woods and by several outdoor enclosures for huge snakes, turtles, alligators and lizards. The habitats all appeared well maintained and there was fresh food and water available in each enclosure. There are a few picnic tables along the trail and they thoughtfully offer "bug spray stations". In January we didn't think we'd need it but once deep in the woods the bugs were relentless. They have a small gift shop with toys, trinkets, books, snacks and jewelry.

If I had paid full price ($9.50/adults, $6.50/ kids 4-17) I would have been disappointed as the facility is fairly small. This is a place to kill a few hours, at most. Still, it was enjoyable time. The highlight of course, was being able to hold the snakes. They host birthday parties here too- my son was already talking about bringing his friends back!

This Winn Dixie has just completed a major overhaul. This grocery store won't look like any Winn Dixie you've ever seen! The inside looks more like a Whole Foods- in fact, that is exactly what they were trying to do. When you enter the first thing you notice are the plentiful, vibrant fruits, veggies and flowers. This large section leads you back to a bakery with gorgeous display racks of fresh baked breads and gourmet pastries, cakes and cookies. Yes, that's right, I said gourmet in a Winn Dixie review. I wouldn't believe it either if I hadn't seen it.

The rest of the store, although bright and clean, appeared disheveled but it WAS packed. There were tons of employees around and they were all EXTREMELY friendly and helpful. I was greeted by each one I passed. Wow, I'm impressed! They even had a cafe upfront with a seating area, TV and free coffee. This store has me wishing I lived closer!

What an awesome little coffee shop located right along the West Orange Trail in downtown Winter Garden. I like the look of the place with its high, unfinished ceiling, textured cement floors, bold colors and dark, richly colored furniture. There does not, however, seem to be enough seating. For instance, tables of four were taken by groups of two. The tables had been pushed together to accommodate four, Axum should split them to accommodate two groups of two. I love the kid area in the back with books, toys, games and a small TV. However, lots of people were standing around waiting for someone to leave so they could sit.

My caramel brulee latte was huge and looked lovely (see picture), but wasn't five star worthy. It just didn't have the right balance of bitter and sweet. The employees were friendly enough but appeared overwhelmed by the Saturday morning rush. I love the fact that 100% of their profits are given away to "serve the world". THIS is coffee you can feel good about. Another negative is that the restrooms are located outside and upstairs. Not great when you are wearing cycling shoes or have a toddler- or both!

This is a very respectable farmer's market. What I liked best about it is that it is located right next to the West Orange Trail in downtown Winter Garden. We rode our bikes from mile marker 0, had coffee at Axum then picked up a few items to stash in our backpacks before pedaling back. The location is spacious, with part of the area covered. Streets are closed allowing plenty of space for pedestrians. It is just behind the splash pad which, in the summer, would be a great way to entice kids to behave while you shop.

What I didn't like were the prices. We picked up some imported cheese from a pair of men who were very friendly. They gladly offered us samples of several types. We bought a couple, but at $7+ per item, they were expensive. We got a couple of cake pops from another nice lady. For $1 we got what amounted to A bite of cake covered in icing. Tasty? Yes. Pricey? Definitely. We also grabbed a bag of homemade plantain chips. Also delicious and sold by a friendly man. A small bag (4 servings) cost $3.25. We couldn't help picking up a dozen of Lake Meadow Natural eggs. Most definitely local. Believe it or not the eggs survived the ride back, in part thanks to the employees spacing out our dozen into two separate containers. Our last purchase, two jars of preserves from a gentleman who swore his daughter bought all the ingredients for said preservers in Winter Garden. He also was happy to give out samples.

Because we were on our bikes we didn't risk buying produce so I can't speak on the price. There was a big selection, but I'm not sure how authentically "farmer" the stuff was. There were artist on hand, people selling crafts, pet items and homeopathics. There were a few vendors selling hot food items. Some accept credit cards, some do not. All in all a nice morning at the WG Farmer's Market.

Wekiva Lanes is a basic bowling alley with all the basic stuff. We came early one evening for a couple of games. Before 6pm games are $2.99/pp, after 6pm games are $3.99/pp. The unfriendly lady behind the counter, Hope, tried to overcharge us so make sure to watch them! Shoe rental is $3.99/pp. The lanes themselves were well maintained and in good working order. The computer was easy to work with and my son was able to play with electronic bumpers.

The concession food was decent. They had Yuengling on draft, yay! We also had Parmesan garlic fries which were pretty good (for a bowling alley), chips and salsa and a cheese pizza. I'd skip the chips next time.

Besides the grumpy lady behind the counter all the other employees were friendly. This is a major teenager hangout, so be prepared. The bathroom was pretty disgusting- someone felt the need to put spit balls over the ceiling and walls (and this was in the ladies room, imagine the men's!). At 6pm sharp the alley started playing music videos on all the TV monitors over the lanes. My four year old was captivated by the video "I'm sexy and I know it". If you've ever seen that video you know it is NOT appropriate for little kids. I had to distract him but felt we should have been warned.

Bike and Blades rents bikes and is located right along the West Orange Trail at mile marker zero between Clermont and Winter Garden. They also sell bike related items and a few sundries. It looks like they might do some light maintenance too. We initially wanted to rent a tag along (making a mountain bike a tandem) for my son but, because of the cold, decided instead to rent a pull behind double trailer. Either one would have cost $6/hour. You leave your license behind and pay when you return. The worker hooked it up in seconds. My son LOVED riding in it. My husband didn't love pulling it!

We rode the five miles into winter Garden for coffee at Axum and stopped by the Farmer's Market. This would have been a prefect day if it hadn't been so cold! When the weather is nice I'd definitely recommend this outing as a fun way to get out with the family and burn some calories! We were back in a little over two hours, but Bikes and Blades didn't charge us for the full hour. The guy working in the shop seemed like a bit of a stoner- not entirely with it. But it's a bike shop, what do you expect?

I'm a fan of all Paneras. Their food is consistently good. They bake their own breads and pastries and they make your food while you wait. I usually get the you-pick-two with half a panini and French Onion Soup. The soup is wonderfully salty with the right balance of onions, cheese, broth and croutons. For fast-ish food, you can't go wrong. The dining room is pleasant and usually pretty clean. I also like the fact that they have some organic options for the kids meals.

If you order your food to go make sure to check it before you leave, they have shorted me a few times. This particular location is set back a little from the road making it harder to see. Getting in and out of the parking lot is a little tricky too.