As we go from place to place we want to be safe and one of the ways we secure the room is with a simple door wedge alarm. It is easy to carry in the suitcase and has served us well.
I have to tell you that one is the door wedge alarm. There are several on the market, but the DSAL-2 door stop alarm is a good solution. This is a small but handy device you can use to know for sure whether someone is attempting entry through your door.
How it Works
It uses a 9-volt transistor radio battery. The door alarm functions in two ways. First, it lets you know when someone is trying to enter the home with a loud alarm. It also prevents the intruder from actually getting in by wedging the door shut and physically preventing the door from opening.
You simply set it on the floor underneath the the door jamb. The sloped edge of the device is actually a metal contact. When the door is pushed up against the metal, it causes the alarm to go off alerting you that someone is actually trying to open it.
There are two switches – a three position sensitivity button on the side and an on/off switch on the back.
These little things are pretty resilient, ours even survived a quick plunge in the bathtub but dried out and works just fine. Prices range from about seven dollars to north of $20 depending upon where you shop.
Peace of Mind
So when it is time to go to bed for the evening, or just decide that you are in the room for the duration, we found that putting this in place does the job. The door wedge alarm is good both as an alarm for you and as a deterrent for those who would try to pry the door open the door. You can watch TV, show or do something else that in comfort and confidence.
The nice thing is, they are inexpensive and effective. What gadgets do you use? Please let us know. Visit our Florida Fun Travel Facebook page or drop us a line at [email protected].
When you say the word Vidalia onions, only one thing comes to mind – sweet onions. They only are available from a small area in southeastern Georgia and only during a certain time of the year.
That time is now. We don’t leave Florida often, but this was one great exception.
A Bumper Crop
While there is no official review, those at Onion Central report this season’s warm winter brought an early crop, We hear they had both excellent quality and yield. Overall, they say it is one of the largest harvests on record with some of the best quality in recent memory. A dry spring and harvest time has made for proper curing and setting of the skins on the onions. That means excellent shelf life and very attractive color.
Vidalias are Special
Not every onion called a Vidalia comes from its namesake. In fact there’s a 13-county area than can brand their produce with that name. So, just as hot dogs taste better at the ballpark, we decided the best Vidalia onions would in fact come directly from Vidalia, Ga.
That’s why we attended the 40th Annual Vidalia Sweet Onion Festival in April. While the actual onion festival has come and gone for this year, there still is plenty to see and do in Vidalia for onion lovers and non-onion lovers alike.
The Sweet Vidalia Inn
To start with, we can heartily recommend The Onion Inn. The two-story facility actually is a refurbished Shoney’s Inn and it is a wonderful accommodation. Our room was spotless, spacious and had all of the comforts. From an ice cold fridge and microwave to the obligatory flatscreen TV (with 60 cable channels) everything was brand new and fully functional.
Additionally, they have a pool and the location is very handy to all of the local attractions.
Onion Research
First, we visited the famous Onion Museum.
It’s a fun little place that also houses the local Convention and Visitors Bureau. There’s a wide array of exhibits showing the sweet onion’s economic, cultural and culinary significance. Visitors have an opportunity to see a range of information. The best story is how Vidalia onions were discovered – quite by accident.
Yes, we got to see Yumonion, the official Vidalia mascot. There also are displays of marketing campaigns, Vidalia onion box art and several examples of how the vegetable has been worked into popular culture.
We really enjoyed a music video of Sammy Kershaw performing his country music hit song “Vidalia.” But also there’s a montage of mentions of the vegetable on national TV. Displays included questions on game shows such as “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” “Cash Cab” and “Jeopardy.” Additionally, there was the use of the local soil as a clue on the CSI Miami television crime drama and a feature on the Today show.
The Iconic Onion Fountain
No trip to Vidalia would be complete without a trip to the Onion Fountain. It’s located in a park behind City Hall, just in front of their City Stage facility.
The six by six foot stainless steel onion was created by local artist Ruth Williams English. It sits in a 20 foot basin pool designed by local landscaper Greg Goff,. The basin includes ten individual pumps which operate both the water feature of the onion and the surrounding pool.
At night visitors can be entertained with multi-colored lights that highlight the water jets that dance to the music played in the park.
Dining in Vidalia
There are many great places to eat in Vidalia. Our favorite hands down was a wonderful place to eat called The Rialto. It is a marvelous Italian restaurant with possibly the best such fare we have ever enjoyed.
I ordered the Arancini Rialto – Arborio rice balls with Romano and mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, breaded and fried to a golden brown. Moreover, it was served on a bed of fresh marinara sauce.
My wife went with the Tomato Basil Bruschetta. The toastpoints were crisp, almost like crackers while the mixture of tomato, basil, onion and garlic pieces were flavorful but not overpowering. She also ordered a salad which was equally delicious.
The best part of the meal easily was the Tiramisu. Stacked high on the plate it was totally flavorful and not overly sweet. It spoiled us for any other of its kind – possibly ever.
For lunch, the Downtown Bistro is a local favorite. The dark and quiet atmosphere plays host to a menu full of salads, sandwiches wraps and deserts. Miss the Mango Coleslaw at your own peril.
Local Tours
For those who want to immerse themselves in Vidalia onions, there are seasonal farm tours where visitors can get a first-hand look at the production end – from growing, to harvesting, to packing and shipping. Those run from the spring to mid summer.
Additionally,there’s the Vidalia Valley Farm Tour.. That excursion shows how the sweet Vidalias are processed and used in condiments. That one ends with a product sampling and everyone goes home with a bottle of Vidalia Onion Product. Purists may be more inclined to take the Toombs-Montgomery County Agri-Tourism Trail. That shows the local rural life and gives participants an opportunity to engage in corn-shucking and hay rides among other things.
The Crop
Did we mention there are plenty of real Vidalia onions this year? In addition to bags of onions there are onion-based products as well as cookbooks and other suggestions on how to enjoy the local favorite.
Next year’s Vidalia Onion Festival is in the planning stages, with the traditional onion eating contest, a cook-off, beauty pageant, fun run, as well as an arts and crafts show, street dance, carnival and air show. But for those who don’t want to wait a year, and want some real Vidalia onions – there’s plenty to see and do for a trip to southeast Georgia.
Local officials predict this year’s season will run through the end of July – then you’ll just have to wait until next year. Those who follow us know we love to have fun – and this was fun!
When it comes to overnighters it does not take much to keep Adventure Wife and me entertained. For instance, a 90 minute trip to Sarasota for their weekly farmer’s market can make for quite a fun time.
In the past, we have just set the alarm and headed out before sunrise in an effort to be at the market as early as possible. For us it is a straight shot out Highway 64. It is a pleasant journey through Zolfo Springs, past Ona, over the unproblematic Troublesome Creek. We then run by Solomon’s Castle then into Manatee County, running by Desoto Speedway to I-75.
It’s a high speed ride down 75 to Fruitville Road and over to Lemon Street where the market springs up each Saturday morning.
Delicious and fun, The Pineapple Man always is stationed at the entrance to the Sarasota Farmers’ Market.
Once you have cleared the car and begin to walk, the Sarasota Farmer’s Market is a rich experience in goods and services as well as a delightful opportunity for people watching.
Both sides of the street are lined with pop-up tents and booths featuring objects d’art including; paintings, sculptures, jewelry and decor. There are plenty of foodstuffs to be had – suck as “The Best Guacamole in the World.” This is made on site in a large bowl with Michael and Assiel of Dynasty Guacamole chatting with the customers as they prepare batches in a huge bowl so all can see the ingredients that go into it.
“He is the King of All Guacamole,” she says, gesturing to Michael as he makes another giant bowl full. With a, “Here, try some,” she begins handing out samples.
There’s also are great offerings from Mazzone Extra Virgin Olive Oil, imported from the family groves in Italy. The lovely Cinzia Testini Forbes is more than happy to show off and talk about their collection of Coratina Monovaretial olive oils, Balsamic vinegars and estate wines.
There is plenty of food – either to consume right there or to take home for preparation . There are always a couple of sea food booths with everything from the catch of the day to shell fish. Grave Ladder Farms has their assortment of free range eggs, Natire’s Partners – who have some of the finest Seagrape Honey ever – and of course Kurtos, the original Hungarian Pastry. From cinnamon to cheese flavor, these hollow tubes of pastry, are just begging to be stuffed with your favorite filling They literally are so good Kurtos should require a permit to sell them.
There are a couple of reconverted busses that do a land office business selling coffee and teas under the name Java Dog. One is a British double-decker bus that provides seating for customers on the upper level. There is also a smaller customized VW microbus parked up the street. They are both painted bright red and spot the Java Dog logo.
JavaDawg has great coffee and a wonderful upstairs venue for shoppers at the Sarasota Farmers’ Market.
For those interested in essential oils and related products, the folks at Ashjoi have a wide selection of handmade soaps and some of the most effective natural mosquito repellent we have ever used. Made with lavender and other oils, it contains no poisons and for us has kept the critters at bay – even under some of the most challenging conditions.
OBVITA Organics is the home to a compendium of natural face, hair, eye and body care cosmetics and treatments for women and men – many of them unscented for the sensitive. There are even selections for infants as well as sun protection products.
“What goes on your skin enters your body,” said owner Angela Harrison.
My wife has become a regular customer.
The Sarasota Farmer’s Market is pet friendly and many people bring their dogs in to be part of the scene. Several vendors market to the canine crowd including those offering dog foods, dog treats, dog accessories and even holistic flea treatments.
For the humans there also are purveyors of eco-frendly clothing, “Hanamade” children bath/beach accessories, original wood souvenirs and design originals made locally from eco-friendly materials by owners.Hana & Stanley Tiskiewic.
Naturally, being a farmer’s market there is a long list of various produce options including – but not limited to – the famous organic Worden Farms, Simply Organix, Just Ginger, Gulf Coast Mushrooms, Honeyside Farms and Brown’s Grove.
Also on site is Kinsey’s Produce with the Pineapple Man. These are Florida grown and some of the best-tasting pineapples ever picked.
There’s plenty of entertainment from the ridiculous to the sublime. Buskers present everything from marionettes that perform and dance, karaoke singers, guitarists and even a player of the Australian Didgeridoo.
Puppeteers are just some of the buskers commonly found at the Sarasota Farmers’ Market
And that’s just the farmer’s market. The streets are lined with interesting storefronts with everything from kitchen supplies to gift cards and stationery – all which are open as well.
In the past, we have turned this trip into an overnighter, leaving Friday and spending the night at a local motel so that we can get to the market when it first opens. Generally, the further from the beach you are, the more reasonable the prices. We have had good experiences both at the downtown La Quinta and the refurbished Baymont motels. Both are within minutes of our destination
We also make a stop at the nearby Morton’s for lunch or dessert. \
Described as a “gourmet market,” it is laid out like a grocery store but is stocked more like a deli. The fare is delightful with a fabulous delicatessen featuring both hot and cold selections, a sumptuous sandwich shop and and an amazing bakery. There also is a meat market, grocery section and a wide array of usual – and unusual – beverage options.
Though they have inviting out door tables and chairs, we bought an assortment of pasta dishes, salads, perhaps a couple of different slices of pizza or sandwiches and maybe a couple of sweet treats, took them back to the room and had a picnic. It was both tasty and quite a bit of fun.
Our suggestion is to wear your comfortable shoes and dress for browsing. We have a collapsible wagon we take to tote our produce and other purchases, as they can get heavy with a shoulder bag or simply toting the bags you are given.
As we tour Florida in search of the fun and unique, we discovered that it did not necessarily involve riding a couple of hours in the car (not that that’s a bad thing). We recently went just across the border to Polk County and visited Bok Tower Gardens for a “pizzatastic” Fresh Bites presentation. It was the second in the series and an introduction to the Gardens’ new outdoor kitchen and edible gardens area. The edible garden is comprised of a number of raised beds featuring such delights as tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, kale, purple basil and onions along with a variety of flowers – both edible and not.
Some pizza ingredients came out of the cutting garden
Those are flanked by edible landscaping borders planted with such crops as sugar cane, rosemary, blackberries, raspberries and grapes along with miniature orchards of fruit trees and bushes that provided some of the ingredients for the pizza which was prepared on site. The outdoor kitchen itself is an impressive structure, fully covered over the main section and finished off with a louvered pergola roof. There also are lights for evening programs, a sound system and even crank down shades to mitigate the afternoon sun. The kitchen itself has a full barbecue grill, ovens, warming trays, hot and cold running water in their sink and preparation area as well as a Italian-style wood-fired pizza oven. For the pizza cooking, they used a selection of aged oak, harvested from trees that were downed in the 2004 hurricanes that ravaged the Gardens as the big storms passed through central Florida. Bok Tower Gardens Education Department staff and representatives of the Lake Wales Academy – including Chef Lauren Chambliss – prepared a series of different pizzas and pestos. The recipes came from the Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) and featured pizzas built on whole wheat, lavash and focaccia doughs.
There were plenty of taste testers
The culinaries also presented both a classic basil pesto and a tomato and almond pesto, offered as a stand-alone dish as well as used as the base for pizzas with eggplant, onions and other garden ingredients. They finished up the menu with a “Peachy Keen Dessert Pizza” – which tasted every bit as good as it sounds. To help keep patrons fully hydrated over the mid-morning presentation there were pitchers of ice water; plain and naturally flavored with peach, cucumber and lemon slices respectively. Following the program, visitors had an opportunity to enjoy the Gardens, which is one of the original “tourist attractions” of the Sunshine State. They could walk up the paved path to the top of Iron Mountain (some 300-feet above sea level) to see the frescoes on the 205-foot tall “Singing Tower” or look at it in the reflecting pool. The 60-bell carillon could be enjoyed up close and personal as a variety of songs were played by the carilloneur as visitors watched the koi swimming lazily in the moat around it.
Guests also had the opportunity to see other features such as the wetland & boardwalk area, the Pinewood Estate section with its more formal Olmstead garden, or head on down to the Window on the Pond for a wildlife show. This was the second in a series of programs at the outdoor kitchen this year. Their inaugural presentation was titled “Salsa Salsa Salsa,” with the product again produced mainly from the edible garden,
The education department now takes its summer hiatus from adults for a kids cooking camp. The adult presentations there are scheduled to begin again in September.
However, entertainment will continue with a summer entertainment series to be held in the sprawling Visitor Center and Museum. Visit our Florida Fun Zone Facebook page or drop us a line at [email protected].
Wewahitchka, Florida. Have you ever heard of this town? Can you even pronounce it? Mrs. Funmeister and I decided to stop waiting for “when.” So we began looking for places and things to enjoy “now.” That, despite a small budget and a limited amount of time.One of our initial forays has been to Florida’s Tupelo Honey Festival.
It’s a Tradition
Since 1941, local beekeepers have gathered there to show their wares and display their collections of this much sought after product. It’s made by literally hundreds of thousands of bees who have worked the local Tupelo trees.
The area southwest of Tallahassee is one of the few places these finicky trees will grow and once a year they put out blossoms the bees can work.
We Decided to Go
From where we sit, it is every bit of an eight hour trip even in the best of circumstances. For this journey we decided to take the back way for at least part of the trip. So we set out with our sights set on another little-known stop. The historic Putnam Lodge in scenic Shamrock, Florida – just north of Cross City.
We jumped off I-75 just south of Gainsville and wound our way around to the old Dixie Highway then on to our destination.
An Historic Stay
Putnam Lodge was built in 1927 by the Putnam Lumber Company. It is part of a bygone era in Florida’s forestry history. The restored and modernized Putnam Lodge offers 25 guest rooms with a choice of kings, queens, suites. We chose a modest room with a queen that was quite comfortable, (although we’d suggest a room at the back of the lodge with a better view and away from the highway.)
Nevertheless, we had a great night’s sleep. We were fortunate as the traffic dies down significantly overnight.
Being that the lodge is a product of the Putnam Lumber Company, the woodwork is stunning. The lobby and the dining room of the 36-room lodge were decorated exclusively with the still preserved, artfully stenciled “pecky cypress.” This is an extremely attractive and now virtually extinct lumber product. There are meeting facilities for groups of 25-30, facilities for weddings and parties of up to 250, and a full service restaurant and bar.
Before leaving we took a tour of the facilities and were quite impressed. So we walked about, crews continued the renovations with work on the ample covered outdoor entertainment area. It comes replete with its own bar. For fishermen on the nearby Suwannee River, the lodge even features facilities so you can “clean and cook your catch.”
Stayed There – Ate There
Mrs Funmeister and I dined at the hotel restaurant. They tout the services of Chef Jeno Koch. My Pasta Primevera was a bit overcooked and the sauce was runny. However, my wife’s Pasta Marinara was made from tomatoes & basil fresh from their own kitchen garden. It was very tasty,
Both came with generous sprigs of fresh cut basil which was a nice touch.
The salads were delicious. We learned that many of the ingredients were taken from their own gardens outside the Lodge.
One of the best parts of the evening was the “Music by Krista.” Krista Carol Campbell performs an extensive playlist of tunes She pulls from a wide variety of rock, country and pop selections – ranging from the present back into the 1940s. Krista sings both from backup tracks and also plays a classic antique Fender flattop guitar with a great deal of acumen.
For our breakfast we backtracked briefly to Momma’s Dixie Kitchen. The place is run by “Tammy and Jody.” Nestled along the US Highway 27 in Old Town, we ffound it to be the quintessential example of southern comfort food. From “Momma’s Traditional Breakfasts” to a wide selection of “sammiches” there’s a lot to choose from. It has drawn rave reviews from both locals and travelers.
On to the Festival
We then jumped back on the Dixie Highway to Tallahassee and after a brief layover, again took the back roads west through Trenton, Bristol and Blountstown – then south to Wewahitchka.
We found the Tueplo Honey Festival already in swing. It was packed with people. There were dozens of booths, exhibits and displays in and around Lake Alice Park – where the festival is held.
The festivities were peppered with a mixture of food, arts & crafts booths and of course, lots and lots of honey. Among the local apiaries represented were Smiley Honey, R&J Apiaries and L.L. Lanier and Sons Tupelo Honey.
The Honey
The folks at Lanier told us that this year’s honey crop had been “a great disappointment.” Apparently everything had been perfect for a record-breaking year. The bees were strong, the weather was almost perfect, and the river had been up most of the year – but there ended up less honey than last spring due to heavy rains that caused the blooms to drop early..
However, we determined the honey that was harvested to be of great quality.
From the consumer side, we didn’t see any of the shortage. There appeared to be plenty of honey at the festival. Although the largest size available was the two-pound bottle with a base price of $18 per pound, there also was no price break on bulk purchases.
To augment their offerings, some of the vendors offered other varieties including; wildflower, orange blossom, buckwheat, bamboo, gallberry, sourwood, goldenrod and cotton among others.
We purchased a lot and a wide variety and all of it has been well worth the price.
The Tupelo Honey Festival was a wonderful little gathering as festivals go and Wewahitchke is a cute little town. Although it is a long trip, the roads are good and the traffic is not bad (except on the interstates.) The festival always is held on the third weekend in May.
We recommend it to travelers looking for something fun and unique. Visit our Florida Fun Travel Facebook page or drop us a line at [email protected].
