Exploring Ocala

This afternoon Doug and I toured the sites of Ocala with Cameron.  Several of them were new to Doug as well.  Our first stop was the World Equestrian Center with its impressive outdoor arena.  This time we were able to walk through the inside shops and practice area as well.  Doug had only seen it from afar and he and Cameron were both in awe of the size of it as was I the first time I saw it.  I kept hoping that there would be an equestrian event at the WEC while we were there, so we could have seen it in action.  

Next, we drove south to Sholom Park where we enjoyed a leisurely walk through both the wooded area of the park as well as the path by the fountain.  We found turtles, lizards and koi fish on our adventure.  We also met several friendly people along the trails.  The park was beautiful.  It was the perfect day for our walk as it was sunny and in the 60s.  After our walk, we introduced Cameron to Doug's favorite "Big Pop" stop in Ocala, The Wawa.  He definitely enjoyed it.

We drove across Ocala to our next adventure, Silver Springs State Park.  I had checked it out months ago and couldn't wait to take a trip on the glass bottom boats.  Thankfully, we arrived well before the last ride of the day and even had time to walk along the boardwalk and learn about the history of the park before boarding our boat.  The trip along the river was absolutely wonderful.  The water was completely clear due to the moving springs.  We were able to see fish, turtles, shale rock blowing, reeds, a Seminole canoe, a Spanish row boat, several statues and the area where the Creature of the Black Lagoon was filmed.  Our tour guide was fantastic.  He had been a captain since 1969 and knew the best areas to stop.  My parents had taken me on to the state park when I was younger.  I kept wondering if Charlie was our captain then as well now.

Dinner was next on our agenda.  Everyone in Ocala has been telling us to go to Harry's Seafood Bar & Grill on the downtown square.  We thought since we were going early that we'd be able to get in this time, but stuck out instead.  Just like the past three times that we tried, we decided to pass on the 45 minute wait and eat at Brick City Southern Kitchen & Whiskey Bar as they had tables open.  None of us were disappointed and Cameron enjoyed his beef brisket sandwich quite a bit.  It was a great way to end our tour of Ocala.