November 8, 2010 by steve.

Well it was Halloween and the CurbCrusher clan continued with the second year of our new tradition, camping at Fort Wilderness at Disney World. Of course this is a destination that we’ve been to before, in October of 2009, November of 2008, and September of 2007, so we’re fairly familiar with the place. This time was a little different, as we ended up in the 1600 loop, in site 1645, which is off the main road. On all our previous trips we’ve been in the 1200 and 1300 loops that are on the main road. As always, the site was clean and big enough for the rig. And at Halloween, the Fort is one of the best places to be. Lots of folks decorate their sites, the candy is great and there are number of activities for all ages.

The only scary thing about Halloween at the Fort is the golf carts, or more particularly the golf cart drivers. It almost appears as though Disney has given golf cart folks instructions that it is fine to ignore stop sign, pedestrian cross walks and the arrows painted on the streets that indicate the proper direction of traffic. On more than one occasion we were on a sidewalk that was clearly marked “No Golf Carts” only to encounter three or four carts trying to navigate around the pedestrians. It’s almost as if when issuing you a golf cart, instead of asking for a drivers license, Disney simply ask that you divorce yourself from your ability to reason and whatever literacy you have.

	Enough of the complaints though, we were in the most magical place on earth. To top it off, we had free tickets from the Disney Give a Day Get a Day promotion to use. We choose to visit Epcot and enjoy the Food and Wine Festival by eating our way around the world. It was the first time that we had ever been to the festival and we enjoyed sampling the food from Chile, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Mexico, Poland, China, Italy, Morocco, Belgium, Ireland,and Canada. In addition we took advantage of some of the rides during the visit, riding the boat ride in Mexico, Test Track and Soaring. As always, Little CurbCrusher likes to visit Club Cool where they have different Coke products from around the world that you can sample.
	Saturday we got up and went over to the Meadows at the Fort. The event was a Mummy Run. Teams had 10 minutes to wrap their selected team member in toilet paper as a mummy. Then all the mummies ran about 30 yards across the field and came back. Leaving a trail of mummy wrappings in their wake. This was followed by a visit to Downtown Disney for lunch. Trying to eat healthy, we visited the Earl of Sandwich and Ghiradellhi. After each having a sandwich at the Earl’s we visited a couple of shops and walked over to the Ghiradellhi soda fountain for desert. The three of us shared two chocolate sundaes (a brownie sundae and a caramel sundae) to top off the visit to Downtown Disney. Back at the Fort, we walked over to the main road and watched the golf cart parade. We ended the day at the Fort Wilderness marina, watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks.
	Halloween day started early for Mr. CurbCrusher. 13.5 miles of running around the Fort and back and forth to the Wilderness Lodge a couple of times. After a good pancake breakfast, the family jumped on the boat to the Contemporary Hotel. Lady CurbCrusher had heard about the Dole Whip, which is basically a serving of pineapple flavored soft serve ice cream. It turned out that the Dole Whip is not available at the Contemporary, but can be found at Captain Cooks in the Polynesian. So it was up to the monorail to ride over to the Polynesian. Lady and Little CurbCrusher got their cups from the cashier and headed over to the Dole Whip machine. Lady CurbCrusher put her bowl under the nozzle and pulled the handle. About three ounces of soft serve ice cream came out, and the machine stopped. After the manager came over and turned the machine off and on a couple of times, it became apparent that there was to be no Dole Whip goodness for anyone on Halloween. We concluded the excursion by taking a boat back to the Magic Kingdom, and then another boat to Fort Wilderness.
	Back at the Fort, we wandered over to the dog park and watched the pet parade. There were some cutely costumed dogs, and only only one non-dog pet, a cat. After for a while, it was time to get into our Halloween costumes and trick-or-treat. Park Ranger CurbCrusher, Eyeball Little CurbCrusher and Marathon Girl Lady CurbCrusher headed out and walked through seven loops. It was a great walk. Lots of people out, kids and adults in awesome costumes, friendly campers and great candy. Not to mention getting to look at all the sites that were lavishly decorated.

Once again, it was a great Halloween. So good that we’ve already booked next year’s trip to the Fort. As always, the only real negative (aside from dodging golf carts) was the check-in process. It took over 25 minutes to get through the line and get checked in at the Fort. It is hard to understand how a company that does so much right with hospitality, can get RV campground check-in so wrong. Pictures from Epcot and Fort Wilderness.

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November 6, 2010 by steve.

I always enjoy a good episode of Guy Fieri on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. Unfortunately I have never visited any of the places featured on the show, but hidden away in Astor, Florida I found a place with a burger that rivals anything seen on the show’s burger lovers special. Located just west of the State Highway 40 St. John’s bridge is a place called Sparky’s. On our Labor Day camping trip to Salt Springs, I was able to convince my Lady CurbCrusher to take a Sunday drive. I’d heard about Sparky’s from a friend that lives in Astor, and had been plotting how to get there on the trip to Salt Springs.
Once at Sparky’s I found the nirvana of burgers, the Sparky Burger. Made with a half-pound of ground beef and an equivalent amount of cheddar, with a some peppers and onion mixed in for good measure, the ultimate burger is on the menu, with fries for only $7.50. The burger is cooked on a griddle, and then when turned, smothered in cheese and then steamed. This creates a tasty crusty skirt of cheese that hangs off the exceptional buttered bun, hiding the lower half when served. Heaped next to this beefy-cheesy goodness is a huge helping of hand-cut fries that are seasoned and so tasty that there is no doubt that your cardiologist will hate this place. Add a glass of sweet tea, and you’ve got a meal that matches anything Guy has ever shown on Food Network.

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