Florida 2020: Congo River Golf

We love mini-golf and decided to try to play at every course in Orlando. Probably the best course was Congo River Golf. They have many locations, and we played the East Orlando course. We arrived late at night on a weekday in September and practically had the place to ourselves.

Congo River Golf is split into two courses: Stanley and Livingstone, each giving us the story of the famous explorers. I’ve probably never been to a better themed mini-golf course. It has waterfalls, rivers, caves, a crashed airplane, boats, et…every aspect is highly themed.

In addition to playing mini-golf, we were also given a list of items to spot as we walked through the course. For example, we needed to look for a mask and for spears, when we found them, we were to note the hole on our score cards. Since we were playing through so quickly, we didn’t keep up with the game, but I think it would add an additional fun factor when the course is crowded and the waits are long.

The holes had spinner games to add additional challenges to the golf. Due to covid, we thought it best not to touch the spinners, but I like the thoughtful touches to add additional elements to the mini-golf experience.

My favorite hole was waterfall themed, where you had to hit the ball over the edge of a very steep hill. There was no way to control the ball or utilize any sort of skill, but it was fun to send the ball over the edge.

After playing mini-golf, we got to feed the baby alligators, which was the best part of the evening. I could spend all day feeding the gators. They are adorable and so gentle.

Congo River Golf is one of the best, if not the best, mini-golf course in Orlando. The theming is top-notch and the course is a challenge. I look forward to exploring their other locations.

Florida 2020: Kissimmee Airbnb

We returned from my August birthday trip to Florida and got the crazy idea to look for a second home in Orlando. The idea quickly picked up steam, and within a few weeks, we returned to Orlando for a two-week trip. This time our focus was not on vacationing. We kept our regular work schedules and during the weekends/evenings, we looked at homes with our realtor.

The Tampa International Airport has become a new favorite, so we opted to fly into Tampa, rather than Orlando. The airport experience was still great with low crowds and stringent covid precautions. A hiccup came from our timing. We screwed up and had to drive during rush hour, which took about three hours, especially due to a heavy summer rainstorm.

The traffic was so terrible, that we stopped off at a Burger King for dinner. I thought this covid sign was hilarious. I know marketing is playing with the whole idea of “Kings,” but thrones are usually a bathroom reference, not for tables.

As we were trying to simulate “real life” in Florida, we decided to rent a house on Airbnb. I’m not a fan of house rentals. Generally, I find them to be a bit creepy. Being in a stranger’s home feels to personal, even if the home is strictly a rental property. I also worry that the cleanliness standards might not be to my liking. Dan was really keen to have a private pool, which I can’t deny, was awesome. A rental home also seemed like the safer bet during Covid and it gave us room to spread out while we had to work. I used the desk in the master bedroom, while Dan worked from the dining table.

Our rental was a bit off-the-beaten path in the suburbs of Kissimmee. We were surrounded by actual people living in the neighborhood, rather than other renters. At our last home in Big Bear Lake, California, we were the only full-timers in a neighborhood full of rentals! It was a quiet neighborhood that was about 15-20 minutes from restaurants and grocery stores, maybe 25-30 min from Disney. It suited our needs, but I wouldn’t want to stay here for a theme park vacation. It’s a little too far from the action.

We were in a subdivision called Orchid Edge on a street called Violet Lane. Lovely.

We only had written communication with our host, but she was quick to respond. We were given a code to enter the property and the house had everything we needed to make our stay comfortable. The house was clean, well-appointed, and fun. Also, it had speedy internet, which was very important for us!

A few of the special touches included a mini pool table/air hockey combo, two slot machines, and a bubble swing. The swing had a crack in the plastic, so I very gingerly sat on it for a quick picture. I think it’s a bit of a liability issue, but a cute touch nevertheless. I imagine kids loving it.

I got a kick out of the eclectic book collection, including a Swedish offering!

The kitchen had all of the gear that we needed and we cooked a majority of our meals at “home.” Dan even made a full-english breakfast! We learned that Florida has quite a huge British community and it is easy to find British import products in the stores. We might need to start making regular trips to Orlando for our Cadbury and Heinz fixes.

I love doing laundry.

Seriously. Zero sarcasm.

I get a huge amount of satisfaction from clean clothes and folded laundry. A two-week trip means we need the ability to do the wash and having a laundry room was a big bonus.

In addition to our master, the home had two additional bedrooms with a shared bathroom. One room had a queen bed, and the other was set up for kids with a twin over full bunk. The house would be perfect for two small families traveling together, with privacy for two sets of parents and a room for three kids.

Our master had a slider for direct pool access, a walk-in closet, and en suite bathroom. It was tastefully decorated in shades of purple.

The pool was definitely the best part of the house. It had beautiful lake views and we even saw neighbors fishing in the lake. A family of birds ( cranes?) visited daily and the patio was filled with adorable lizards. We used the pool nearly every day of our trip, sometimes more than once a day.

Our rental on Violet Lane was perfect for these two weeks, but I’m still a hotel girl. I like the escape from reality and spoiling that happens at hotels. I don’t want to cook or clean on vacation!

We nearly purchased our own rental property, but the deal fell through after the inspection. Honestly, I’m relieved that we set the idea aside, but I hope that we have many Florida vacations in our near future.

Florida 2020: North Redington Beach, Clearwater Beach, and Tampa

In contrast with many of our vacations, we didn’t plan our getaway to North Redington Beach. It was a somewhat spur of the moment, surprise trip for my birthday. Mostly, we thought that we would just park ourselves on the beach and enjoy umbrella drinks.

However, I could have predicted that we would get bored and feel the need to explore. In fact, the lure of Orlando was too tempting, and we left our beach hotel after two nights: less that forty-eight hours!

In this post, I’m going to share where we dined and what we explored during our brief time on the gulf coast.

The first meal of the vacation was at “The Conch Republic Grill and Raw Bar.”

We arrived late on a Thursday night and Conch Republic was pretty much the only non-fast food option that was still open. It came highly recommended from the front desk staff at our hotel and was just a short drive down the street. If it had been daylight, we could have walked.

The theming at Conch Republic is fabulous, with giant sharks suspended overhead and heavy theming throughout. A really fun atmosphere to kick off our vacation. The staff was friendly too. I ordered my favorite umbrella drink: Mai Tai.

We started with a delicious crispy walnut shrimp appetizer to share.

Although I normally wouldn’t miss an opportunity to order fish, especially in a fish restaurant, I wasn’t feeling very hungry, and went with a tropical chicken salad. It was good, but if we visited again, I’d order fish.

Dan ordered crab legs, which although not shown, came with a large helping of mashed potatoes. He was disappointed. It wasn't that his food wasn’t tasty, but that over the summer, he has become a master of grilling crab legs. Now that we can make them at home, it just seems unnecessarily expensive and less of a treat to order them while dining out. This has been a covid-related revelation!

We shared a Florida classic dessert: Key Lime pie. I’m a huge fan of key lime pie. This particular slice was the perfect blend of sweet, tart, and tangy. Don’t skimp on the dessert at Conch Republic.

Dan felt that Conch Republic was over-priced and would not likely return, but I would happily give it a second chance. I think we ordered wrong, and would likely have a better experience on the next visit. On the way out a member of the waitstaff offered to take our picture with the parrot.

The following day, after spending about six hours baking on the beach, we took our rental car out for a bit of an adventure. We had no idea of where to go, which actually ended up being a bad thing, as we drove around and got stuck in traffic, plus we hit a bunch of toll roads. Florida, with its many toll roads, is not made for exploring.

Our first little stop was St. Pete’s Beach. Our friend Jaime used to live here and raved about it, so we wanted to check it out for future vacations. I definitely think that we will be returning to the gulf beaches when my step-kids visit in 2021. This entire area is a gorgeous vacation spot. I believe their claim of having the top rated beaches in the United States.

We drove through downtown Tampa, which was jammed with traffic, but otherwise had little going on

We also drove through the historic Ybor City. I would have loved to stop here to eat, especially to try a Cuban sandwich, but it also had a funny vibe, I suspect mostly due to Covid, so we just drove down the Main Street.

We headed back to the beach in search of a dinner spot with sunset views. It was crowded on a Friday night, but we manage to snag a table at “Seabreeze Island Grill and Raw Bar.”

We were seated on the enormous back patio with a perfect view of the sun setting over the water.

Seabreeze wins for excellent service, great views, and reasonable prices. They had drink specials that included three dollar margaritas. If you want to get hammered in a tropical paradise, this is your place. However, although cheap and strong, the drinks were not particularly good. On a future visit, I’d skip the specials and pay for something a bit better.

Dinner was also hit and miss. The clam chowder starter was excellent, probably best enjoyed on a cooler night, but it was still a treat. We both ordered the same entree: coconut shrimp served with roasted potatoes and green beans. The shrimp was great, but the sides were uninspired. I absolutely love vegetables, but these were hard to eat, soggy and over-seasoned. On a future visit, we’d probably order the coconut shrimp appetizer ( skipping the sides) and have a burger for a main. We would definitely return for the atmosphere.

After dinner, it was time for mini golf at Smugglers Cove. Smugglers Cove with its outrageous theming caught our eye, but they are also famous for being home to baby alligators…which you can feed! Mini golf is fun, but feeding gators was my primary objective.

I was given five pellets that looked similar to Milk Bone dog biscuits. Outside of the heavily fortified gator pen, was a long pole with a soft clip on the end, where you attach the biscuit. As soon as I dropped the pole over the side, the baby gators came for the treat. They clearly love the biscuits. I think due to their long snouts and position of their eyes, it was a bit hard for them to grab the treat, so there was a lot of attempts before a gator managed to grab it. They were quite gentle as they tried to get the treat, although they definitely all wanted the opportunity.

I could have fed gators all day, but we had some golf to play. The course was fun and well-themed. I liked all of the “pirate” touches, like the parrot skeleton.

And the pirate name chart. Pegleg Stinkbreath Stinkalot here, which seems excessive, but I did have garlic potatoes for dinner!

It was miserably hot and humid. We were getting bit by mosquitos and dripping in sweat, so we bailed at the half-way point. I would have liked to finish the course, but it just wasn’t in the cards that night.

I do love this nod to covid. The golf course, as well as the other restaurants and activities, all had plenty of covid precautions that made us feel somewhat safe, while we vacationed.