Visiting Lake County, Florida soon. Any tips from locals?

Everything here is a weird attraction, but you gotta hit the Wawa.

I'm from South Jersey, the town with the second-ever Wawa :)

Wawa was way better when it was just a corner deli/dairy and they used the Amoroso rolls.

Yes, it is nice there, good swimming. We can get there by boat from my mothers house. There are wild monkeys there that can be somewhat aggressive so be careful.

I saw the monkeys. Some sources say they are leftover from a Tarzan movie and others say they were put there by a glass-bottom boat tour operator.

We'll have a kid with us, so we'll probably opt for the family level experience and get a glass bottomed boat and a guide and life vests. No swimming with the gators. Look at the manatees but don't touch :)

Used to work in the county, its decent. If youre up in Lady Lake and want some good bar food check out ramshackles in Leesburg!

Lake Sumter Square at the villages night time is awesome

I will definitely check that out, thank you!

That's good to know ... the aunt we are visiting lives in the Villages. We're planning on borrowing her golf cart one night for date night.

My parents favorite, went to high school in Leesburg btw…

That will be fun, enjoy!

Hi darlin!.. coming to , well almost my neck of the woods, 3 hrs north of me,, we chatted about your username while you were in your yard..lol.

My suggestion.. take a long drive in the forest, stop and look around, enjoy the peace and quiet, the fresh air and nature.

The ocklawaha flows into the forest and is fed by the silver river.

Steer clear of those monkeys, they carry simian herpes, deadly to humans.

If you want to see springs, go to the lesser used ones, ask around. Silver springs is a tourist trap.

I recommend the juniper creek Kayak run if you feel adventurous ..

There is a lot to see off the beaten path.

Let me know if you want a guide

Hey you! Hope all is good.



I'm going to look into the juniper creek kayak run for me and the old man. We love kayaking. Thank you for the suggestion.

We will also have a teenage girl and two 80+ year old ladies there, so big adventure might not be in the cards, but we should be able to sneak away for the day while kiddo hangs and shops with grandma.

I really want to bring back crates of grapefruit. Years ago, my uncle used to bring us up crates of citrus as if they were for sale everywhere in Florida, but every time we go I only see the touristy stores where grapefruit are like 2 bucks each, which is what we pay in NJ.

Go right to the Orcharc? Whatever they call fields of orange / grapefruit trees. We used to go pick and pay by the pound

Stop by Gainesville and check out a Gators baseball game

I didn't even think about U-pick! Good idea! I have been googling the wrong thing .. "wholesale citrus".

Thank you!

Is Gainesville Ganja still available? I have not been there for 30 years, it was pretty rural back then

[link to upickfarmlocator.com (secure)]

That's a really good idea, too. I'm pretty sure we come in that way, near Gainesville.

(We've driven to FL from NJ so many times it's all a blur. All I know is < 13 hours to Jacksonville is the goal.)

We are Phillies fans and have gone to spring training games in Clearwater a few times. We are planning on coordinating the trip to retrieve my mother in law in March with some Phillies Spring training.

Thank you!

Last Edited by SugarSand on 02/02/2024 08:55 AM

awesome! Thank you!

Oh we're totally doing U-pick citrus I'm so excited :)

We'll leave NJ across the Delaware Memorial Bridge around dinner time and be in Florida the next morning, but then on the way back we'll drive all day in the daylight.

I always try to get him to go to Daytona Beach on the way home but he never wants to go.

I've never been to Daytona Beach, but I've down Rout 301 like a thousand times.

This will be my first time staying over in the Villages. He usually takes his mom on his own and just zooms there and back. We drove through there to check it out once and it was overwhelming to me. The roundabouts were making me nauseous, and they went on forever.

Florida is friggin' huge.

We drive there and back at least once a year usually twice and once we get there everything is still hours away :)

Showcase of Citrus in Clermont, FL?

Not interested in the monster truck tour, more interested int the pick your own citrus and mimosas, and the possibility of live music to go with aforementioned mimosas.

AC buddy from chat ... Juniper Run kayaking looks great ...

4-5 hours medium difficulty is right up our alley that's about what we do here when we go out in the kayaks.

I'm going to plan that for the retrieval trip in March when there's no teenager and we've yet to pick up the old lady :)

You do a really good job proving how fucking stupid natural blonde women and bitches with all sisters and no brothers are!

Plenty of bug spray, beware the black mold everywhere

Ive been to silver springs a few times. Its worth at least one visit. Might as well visit Disney but come with lots of money if you do that.

Blue springs is fun too. Swim all day but the gators come in at night.

If you are close enough on the road St Augustine is definitely worth the trip. We spend alot of time there.

Avoid Jacksonville at all cost

Last Edited by Grognak the Ballbareian on 02/04/2024 02:31 AM

Got it - thank you :)

I have to google the black mold

Got it - thank you :)

I have to google the black mold

Great tips. We've spent a few nights in Jacksonville by the airport because it seems like we always get there right at bedtime.

Never been to St. Augustine, but that's one place I'd definitely like to go. Maybe on the trip in MArch when we have more alone time and aren't worried about getting kiddo back home for school...

We've been to Disney once, with three kids for 5 days. We're gonna skip that this time :)

Bue Springs sounds cool AF but as a gator novice, I want a kayak for my first florida freshwater experience.

Thank you!

not a local but go every year, learn to speak spanish and arabian languages, reinforce your car as you will prob be in an accident and keep your windows up and doors locked as when the beggars catch you at a stop sign sometimes they try get in your car, wasnt this bad 10 yrs ago but now...