Tag Archives: wine

Of Germany and Sanford

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So I haven’t written anything of substance since Melissa and my Memorial Day camping vacation. I can rectify that situation now.

Sanford, FL City LogoMelissa and I went on a date last Saturday night in downtown Sanford. For those of you who don’t know Sanford, it’s a small town about a half hour north of Orlando, situated at the south end of Lake Monroe. As you might have figured, not very much happens in Sanford on a regular basis. The big news lately: 

On March 24, 2008, the City Commission adopted a temporary noise amnesty ordinance which suspends Section 38-63 (b)(1) of the current ordinance for a period of 90 calendar days from March 24, 2008 in the special commercial zoning district (SC-3). The SC-3 

So Melissa and I went there for a date. We first stopped to make reservations at our restaurant of choice for the evening, Hollerbach’s Willow Tree Cafe. There was a wait, so we passed the time at a local wine bar, The Sanford Wine Company. If we had already eaten dinner, we could have stayed there all night. 

We didn’t however. The Hollerbach has an ingenious way of letting you know your table is ready: they call your cell phone. I can’t believe that nobody has though of this amazing idea before. It doesn’t tie you down to the restaurant, and management saves a ton of money. That’s how Melissa and were able to go to the wine bar while we waited for a table to open up. 

So, they called us and we went in for dinner. 

The Hollerbach (I can hear Gwen Stefani right now), is pretty typical of most German restaurants. Well, it’s pretty typical of most, that are actually IN Germany. The food was awesome, management has the good sense to keep a lot of people working there, and there’s live German music too.

The beer selection is pretty kick-ass there as well. When I went to Germany with some of the team at NFi last October, I was pretty disappointed with the beer there. I’m a stout kinda guy, and most beers I could find at the time were either a lager or a pilsner. Well, in Sanford, FL I found a really good German beer. It’s more of a porter, but it was awesome. Now, if I could just remember the name of it…

We intend on heading back there soon. We have friends in Deland and Deltona (not Daytona), so Sanford is a good meeting place for us. If you get the chance to go up there, I really recommend it. The folks out there were really nice, and we had a really good time.

Food & Wine Festival

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I’ve been outspoken that Orlando is more than Mickey . Today however, I enjoyed the benefits of tourism in Orlando. My wife, Melissa, and I went to the Food & Wine Festival held at Epcot.

We left the house around 3:30pm and made the drive on I-4 down there. I had been working all day on my new side project, so I hadn’t eaten anything before I got there. That probably explains why I pounded empinadas and margaritas for the first half hour when we got there.

After we settled in, we took our time to enjoy the cheap booze and food from ‘Around The World’. Our first more leisurely stop, was appropriate for me: Ireland, and Guinness. Then we headd over to China, so Melissa could pick up a Green Tea Plum Wine Cooler.

After that we skipped over most stuff and headed over to Germany. That seems fitting, given that some coworkers at NFi and I are heading to Germany this Thursday. We took our time there, and I asked a guy (supposedly from Munich), where to go while I was there. He was predictably vague, but he did mention some general areas I had an inkling to go to before.

From there we continued on, sampling food and drink from America (ha ha ha), Morocco, France, England, and Peru. When we had gotten ‘Around the World’, we went around again. I guess we just couldn’t resist the opportunity

To wrap up the night, we stayed for the Illuminations show Epcot shows every night. I should be able to recognize the corporate motivations for the show. However, it was so well done (especially after a better than $150 bar tab), that I couldn’t help but be moved by it. We hauled ass to get out of there afterwards, which is tricky with thousands of clueless tourists.

Overall, I’m glad we went to the Food & Wine Festival. It’s easier to be less picky, given we didn’t pay to get in (which is up to $65 for entry). However, we had a really good time, and I recommend it to anyone, who might spend the money elsewhere.