Blueberries and Gators

Today we were debating what to do. Should we head to the beach? The closest beach was about an hour away. The unanimous decision was no. The girls had done their nails in the morning and by the time I woke up out of my morning coma, I realized they were wearing heels and feeling primped and pretty. Since they were feeling fancy, they thought it would be nice to go to a fancy restaurant.

Sorry girls, don’t feel like spending a ton of money on a fancy restaurant. So I googled some things to do in Clermont and came up with something kinda neat. How about we go blueberry picking girls?! April and May is blueberry season in Florida. None of us had ever been and it wasn’t too far away. It required sneakers in place of heels but hey, wasn’t it worth it? So we got our directions and in the car we went.

We drove for a little bit but my Mapquest directions were taking me down a strange road called ‘Oil Well Road’. It seemed to end at someone’s property. It didn’t look much like a farm so we hightailed it out of there. Sorry Mapquest, today you were wrong, you were so wrong! Luckily we had spotted some yellow signs along our way directing us to our route.

So we headed back down Highway 33 for a bit and soon we saw another yellow sign leading us to our destination. We bumpily bumped on down a dirt path with signs that read, “you’re almost here” and “can you taste the blueberries yet?”. Finally, we came to an opening in the woods and it was so beautiful. It was like this hidden gem hanging out in the shadows.

We saw two beautiful lakes, a nice entrance with a “welcome” sign above it. There was an old tractor and even a farm dog to greet us. The owners were so nice. They asked us if we’d like to pick organic or conventional blueberries. We chose organic and were given buckets and a ride out to the fields.

Even though we arrived around noon, it was a beautiful day with a cool breeze blowing from time to time. There was a pretty big storm last night and it cooled things off nicely. It was still warm in the sun but it was a gorgeous day for berry picking. And the blueberries were HUGE!

Nadia kept coming over to me showing me all her prize possessions, “Mom, look at this blueberry, it’s soooooo big”, and “Mom, look at this blueberry, do you think this is big enough for blueberry pancakes?” and “I can’t wait to have some blueberry pancakes tomorrow”. On and on she chatted, running from bush to bush and having fun with her sisters. On occasion she came back to show me more of her big gems. While picking we could hear the cows mooing in the background, fun.

I kept thinking to myself, this is exactly what I wanted for my kids, this is it. I want to be able to take them to a farm in Florida on a nice April day and let them pick and eat all the blueberries their little hearts desire. I want them to run free in the fresh air, the warmth of the sun, the cool breeze, to have a childhood free of constant tests, comparison and desk sitting. It made all our trials getting to this point worth it, a perfect day. I feel so very grateful to be able to bring them this life.

After we were done, we hitched a ride back to the stand. We weighed our blueberries in and paid for our pounds of berries. The girls talked with one of the owners as she asked them questions about their trip today, “Did you girls enjoy yourselves”, “where are you from”? They chatted for a while. Then we chased down some dragonflies for photo ops. Before long, it was time to say farewell to our time at the farm.

On our way home, we enjoyed the scenery and talked about what we were going to make with all our blueberries. Ooooh, blueberry pie, blueberry muffins, cheesecake, we have to make blueberry cheesecake. Numerous other suggestions came flying from the back seat. “How do you make jam?”, one of the girls asked. “I don’t know, we can google it”, Uncle Thom said. We passed a horse grazing in the field with two cute little birds beside it.

We turned onto Route 474 while still dreaming of our blueberry delights. We saw a Wildlife Management Park to our right. And just a little further up the road, I spotted something crossing in front of us. No way, could it be? It looked like an alligator. I was ecstatic. I’ve always wanted to see an alligator on the ‘outside’, haha! I’ve been to Florida numerous times and I’ve never had the pleasure. We slowed down for a photo. Here it is folks, more a juvenile than a baby but an alligator none the less.

As soon as it realized it had become an object of interest, it quickly scurried back into the grass and vanished. Next time, we’re hitting up the Everglades, I’m bringing the big camera. Can you see it now? My new gig, working for the National Geographic shooting nature pictures from all over the world. Okay, okay, so my brother took the picture, not me. But hey, I spotted it.

Tomorrow is our last day here and it’s been dubbed ‘blueberry day’. The morning will start with blueberry pancakes. Then we will proceed to make blueberry muffins, scones and cheesecake. We made a grocery run tonight so all the ingredients are ready to go. Any remaining berries we don’t use or eat will hit the freezer. The girls are very excited.

So guys, do me a favor, will you? The next time you’re visiting Disney in April or May, hit up Blueberry Hill Farm for lots of yummy, big, juicy blueberries. They really do taste much better right off the bush. Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy it on the lawn. And please share this blog post with anyone you think might be interested. No, I’m not getting a kickback but they were such nice folks. They started the ‘pick your own’ in order to help the farm survive. And it’s a great outing removed from the hustle and bustle of all the Disney stuff.  Trust me, it’s a beautiful farm and you won’t be disappointed.

Oh, and if you need five pounds of sour cream, I have the hook up! Do you believe the size of that container? It’s about the size of half her body. Don’t get me wrong, I love sour cream but who in the world needs that much? Stay tuned for our plans heading North. I have something special in store for the twins on Friday ;-). I hope you’ll come along with us.

{HUGS} from the crew!

Current Location = Thousand Trails Orlando, 2110 Thousand Trails Blvd, Clermont, FL 34714.  352-394-7575.

Cost = $33 for 11 nights w/Thousand Trails Southeast Zone Purchase. It’s only costing me $33 because I couldn’t find any 50 amp spots in the regular sites so I paid for a ‘premium’ spot.

My Observations = This is a VERY big, mainly RV based resort. The sites are not all that desirable but who can beat the price? We gave up concrete for dirt but we have big outdoor mats, so no worries. This keeps a barrier between us and the red ants. And yes, we’ve seen numerous red ant holes. The electricity works fine and we have full hook-ups.

*Please Note: If you do not like being handed a map and told to go forage for your spot, THIS PARK IS NOT FOR YOU! And to top it off, there are yellow stars placed randomly throughout the park to let you know where the 50 amp spots are, really?! Once we got settled, we were fine but what a pain in the *$%# that was.

Some of the amenities include:

• 2 pools
• numerous laundry facility
• planned activities
• shuffleboard
• miniature golf
• tennis
• exercise room
• numerous bath houses
• 2 fishing lakes