A recent trip to Florida served up rain and cool temps; kind of like what I left behind in Milwaukee. Returning home, the weather here was about the same as it was down south.
But we didn't let weather ruin our trip to central Florida, even if rain and clouds did dampen our attempts to see a shuttle lift-off.
Despite the grounded space craft, we went to the Kennedy Space Center anyway and had a great time among the rockets and in the robot building.
Thankfully, our hosts treated (and got a two-for-one deal) or I might have spent the day wondering how we'd afford the out of this world admission prices! Adults pay $41 and kids ages 3-11 are $31. But annual passes cost only slightly more, so it's likely an attempt to get people to buy the year-long ticket.
Once inside, however, you can go in a real space shuttle and some older-style space capsules and get up close to booster rockets and all kinds of historical space craft.
Especially popular with our group were the rocket garden with a range of rockets standing like sentries, going inside a space shuttle, taking the Robot Scouts tour and running around the children's play area, natch.
We kept saying what a good time the kids were having, but the adults really enjoyed it, too. Thankfully we flew to Florida or we might have been tempted to buy a really ridiculous 4-foot-tall stuffed space shuttle complete with fuel tank and booster rockets.
While down there we also rode the elevator to the top of the 226-foot Citrus Tower, built in 1956 in Clermont to show off countless acres of citrus groves. Nowadays, you can see a single, small grove and lots of retail and residential development that replaced many central Florida groves after a couple straight years of killing frost.
From the top, you can see for miles. There are lakes everywhere and off to the east you can see downtown Orlando and the hotels surrounding Disney World.
You can also see back down the road to Lakeridge Winery, which we also visited and got a tour. Florida's largest winery makes most of its reds and whites from the native muscadine grape, which has been in Florida for centuries and which, apparently, has well-documented health benefits that no other grape can boast.
The tour -- albeit brief and sans a visit to the vineyards -- was enjoyable thanks to an especially entertaining guide, and we left with a bottle of sparkling wine made using the traditional champenoise method.
We stayed at The Mission Inn in the colorfully named Howey in the Hills -- about an hour northwest of Orlando -- where thanks to the Internet and a follow-up phone call we got a great deal on a room overlooking the golf course.
It's the kind of Spanish-style place one associates with Florida and in the main complex there are little plazas and gardens that offer charming settings around every corner. Alas, it was too cold and/or rainy during our stay to enjoy much of it.
The rate we got serves as a reminder that with the economy still in recovery, there are deals to be had. It just takes a bit of research sometimes.
We twice enjoyed the Yalaha Bakery in adjacent Yalaha. This bakery is the first thing that comes up in Google's suggestions when you search Yalaha and you get the same results when mentioning Yalaha to many Floridians.
The German bakery has all sorts of delicious sweet treats created in its European stone slab ovens and there's an alluring garden out back where you can enjoy those goodies.
Believe it or not, our family trip to central Florida did not include a single Disney-related moment. Nor did I see a gator, though we talked about them a lot.
So there Florida. You can try to ruin our vacation with unpredictable weather but we'll find a way to have a good time anyway!
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
