Gainesville

Today I spent the afternoon exploring Central Florida once again.  I had originally planned on staying close to Ocala as Doug got off work earlier this afternoon.  Last night, however, he mentioned that Tom Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida which was about a 40 minute drive from his office.  I did a little research and saw that his birthplace was still owned by the Petty family and there was a park close by dedicated in his memory.  Since I had also been wanting to visit the University of Florida which was only five miles from the park and Tom Petty was by far one of my all time favorite artists, I decided to make Gainesville my adventure today.

My first stop was Tom Petty park as it was easiest to find on Google maps.  I was excited to see the sign dedicating the park to him when I pulled up, but quickly became hesitant when I saw they crowd hanging out in the parking lot.  I decided to go to his home instead as it was only a block and a half away.  Normally, I would have parked and walked it, but this just didn't seem to be the neighborhood to explore on my own.  I was able to find his home easily thanks to the large cutout of him in the front yard.  It was definitely the nicest one in the area and I was happy to have been able to see it.  As I started to drive away, it began to pour.  I hoped that the weather would scare off those hanging around the park and thankfully, I was correct.  The park was mostly a track and baseball fields, but I was glad to be able to take a picture of the memorial sign.  I got a kick out of the irony of the "proud to be smoke free" reminder posted directly in front of Petty's.  Pretty sure that Tom Petty was never "smoke free."  

My next stop of the day was the Matheson Historical Society Museum.  Last year it housed a Tom Petty exhibit, but now had an interesting one on the persecution of homosexuals at the University of Florida in the 1950s.  I learned quite a bit while there and also got to see the mansion behind the museum.  My last stop in Gainesvilles was the University of Florida.  It reminded me a lot of the University of Michigan.  While there I was able to drive through campus, pick up Cameron a shirt at the bookstore and take a few pictures outside of the football stadium.  I hoped to bring Cameron and Doug back one day to do a more formal tour of the Gators' home.  

I made it to Winco at 5 p.m. and we left for Orlando from there.  I had booked us another Springhill Suites just a mile or so outside Walt Disney World in a new area named Flamingo Crossing.  After we checked in we headed straight to Disney Springs.  Right as we crossed on to Walt Disney property I saw a four foot alligator heading for a pond.  I couldn't believe it.  In all of the years that we had been visiting Disney World, we had never seen an alligator.  Once we survived the "gator scare" we found a parking spot and walked through security at Disney Springs.  We then did a little window shopping before having a beer at City Works.  There was a storm warning that thankfully held off while we were there.  We had a late reservation at Wine Bar George and were happy to be seated on the upstairs deck once again.  Doug ordered the saganaki (flaming cheese).  It was just as delicious as it was three months ago when we first tried it.  We also tried some roasted peppers and meatballs that were very good as well.  Just as we finished dinner my number was called to get in line for Gideon's bakery.  We each picked out a cookie and headed back to the hotel for a wonderful dessert.  It was a nice way to start the weekend.