Thursday, October 11, 2012

DAY 14: Tampa and Morriston, FL

Saturday, October 6th, 2012: Tampa and Morriston, FL

We woke up early this morning in Bonita Beach to finish packing and to pick up Kingsley from the kennel in Naples.  As we were leaving the kennel, we discovered a farmers market going on down the street.  Of course, the first thing Kingsley did was take a huge dump right in the center of the market.... I think he was excited to be back with us after his week at the kennel....


Bakery stand at the farmers market.  The guy working was so nice - he gave me a free bagel and cheese bread biscuit :)

Produce stand at the farmers market.


What we got:
(2) loaves of rosemary bread
Basket of bananas

Total: $8.50



After the farmers market, we were off to Tampa to search for some food trucks.  Since it was Saturday, we weren't to sure how successful we'd be.  My friend, Sam, who has lived in Tampa, suggested trying 'Taco Bus' which was easy to locate in downtown Tampa.  Thanks for the suggestion, Samantha!


Bridge to no-where in Tampa.


It wasn't exactly a real truck, but the building was in the shape of a bus, plus they have other food trucks throughout the city, so we compromised.  I'm glad we did, because it was so good!  They even had vegan options!


Checking out the Taco Bus menu.

Taco Bus - Tampa, FL


What we got:
Shrimp taco
Tempeh taco
Carnitas torta
Butternut Squash Salsa Fresca
Pineapple Agua Fresca
Horchata

Total (with tip): $23


Shrimp taco and tempeh taco.

Horchata and Pineapple Agua Fresca.

Carnitas torta.

Everything was so good and fresh!  And cheap!  My favorite was the Pineapple Agua Fresca.  They also had homemade hot sauces, so Mitch bought some to take with us.

Hot and Mild hot sauce from Taco Bus.



Next stop was Mitch's childhood house in Tampa where he was born and raised until age 5.  We even got to surprise some of his old neighbors that are still close family friends!


Mitch's childhood home in Tampa.

The Whalen's - Kelon, Tera, Teri and Mick.

The Zappone's - Annette and Fred




After leaving Tampa, our final stop was at my cousin, Marianne's, house in Morriston, FL, about 2 hours north of Tampa.  She lives on a horse farm with her daughters and boyfriend, so we were excited to see a different side to Florida than either of us had ever seen.  There were literally miles and miles of horse farms and horse training facilities!

The Belafonte in Morriston, FL.

Rachel, me, Lyric, Taylor, and Marianne.



Their land was beautiful and they had so many different kinds of animals in addition to horses on their farm.

Piglets!

Wallace.





Rachel, my cousin's 13 year old middle daughter, was our chef for the evening.  She made us one of the best meals we've had so far!  We were super impressed with her cooking skills.  Marianne's other daugters, Taylor and Lyric, are such amazing girls too and treated us like royalty while we were there.

Ritz cracker-encrusted chicken with sweet potatoes.

Rachel made us cake pops :)  She is so cute.


What we ate:
Baked Chicken Tenders with Ritz cracker breading
Sweet potatoes
Broccoli salad
Potato Salad
Cake Pops!





Food truck/farm market spending: $31.50 (under budget)

Total Spending:

Kennel and Vet fees for Kingsley (5 night stay plus all vet needs up-to-date): $243 (about $49/day)
Starbucks (I know, I know....): $9
Extras from Taco Bus (2 kinds of hot sauce): $6
Gas: $76
Food truck/farm market food: $31.50

Total Spending for Day 14: $365.50 (over budget)


Real life Mario Cart driving through northern Florida...



Thanks again to everyone for all the support!

XOXO
Mitch and Laurel




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