Rock Ridge Campground (NC)

Posted on by July 16, 2008
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The CurbCurshers are on the road for their second week of vacation in 2008. This time we actually took the RV out the State of Florida for a few days and headed to North Carolina. Lady CurbCrusher has always been a fan of lighthouses, and of course I like aviation stuff, so the Outer Banks of North Carolina provide a little of both: Four easy to visit lighthouses, and the birthplace of powered flight.

But, the challenge is to get there. It’s about 800 miles from the CurbCrusher homestead to the campground we’re headed for in Waves, NC. That means we wanted to stop somewhere to break the trip up. Our choice was Rock Ridge Campground in Rock Ridge, NC. I couldn’t find a web site for the campground, so the link just shows you where it is. The campground is located about one and a half miles off I-95 near Wilson, NC.

I’m not sure of the total number of sites, but the place was fairly large. There are a number of pull through sites and 30 and 50 amp service and sewer hook up. We took a electric-water only site as we were just staying the night, and the cost was $20.00 with a AAA discount of $1.00. The site was a pull-thru, so the Saturn didn’t even have to be unhooked. The roads in the campground are dirt, and the sites are grassy and shady.

As far as amenities, they have a pool and playground so Little CurbCrusher took time to enjoy both in the evening after we stopped. The park is large and there is a pasture near the front that has some cows and an ostrich. There is a lake/pond on the site with a number of ducks that were calling it home during our stop over. The camping area was shady and comfortable with a reasonable amount of space between sites. In some ways the park had more of a state park feel than an RV park feel.

We would definitely stay here again as an overnight stop. If we had a reason to spend time in the Wilson, NC area, we would probably use this place as our home base as it was very pleasant. If we lived within a couple of hours, we’d definitely consider this as a place to go for a weekend.

Orlando Triathlon at Baldwin Park

Posted on by July 1, 2008
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Time for Team CurbCrusher to get out for the July triathlon. This month I traveled all of 20 minutes north of the CurbCrusher homestead to Baldwin Park in Orlando to swim 750 meters in a lake, bike 5 laps and 13 miles around Lake Baldwin, and then run once around the lake.

Pre-race

A much nicer drive this month. With a 7:30 start time, and a travel time of 20 minutes, it was almost like a regular morning. Since we are so close, I’d picked up my packet on Saturday so the only thing to worry about Sunday morning was getting body marked and set up in transition. Lady and Little CurbCrusher decided that they wanted to sleep in, so I packed myself up and left home around 6:15am. The only real concern I had was parking in Baldwin Park, but there was no reason to worry, lots of spaces were available at the Publix.

Once parked, it was easy to move through the line for body marking, getting a transponder and into transition. The racks were set up three deep on each side of the center aisle, and numbers were assigned to each of the racks. So I was in the middle rack, with eight other bikes. It wasn’t too crowded, but I like being up against the outside of the transition area, so I wasn’t thrilled to be in the middle. I was pretty much ready to go by 6:45, so I walked around an chatted with other folks. The only bad thing was I realized that I forgot my hat. I’ve gotten attached to running with the hat on but didn’t pack it, so it looks like a hatless day.


The Swim – 19:59

For the first time this year, I was not in the first wave. We watched two waves leave in front of us, the waded into the water. The lake bottom is mucky and it seems like the longer you stand there, the further you sink. Everyone was stretched out along the lake front, and the starter was very hard to hear. As a matter of fact, I’m not sure anyone ever blew the horn or said go, I think the mass of the blue swim cap wave just sort of got underway. The swim was touted as 750M, I think I swam a good bit more than that. You left the beach and sort of went around a dock and then turned right. Right into the sun. It was hard to find the first buoy, as you were looking directly into the sun while swimming toward it, so I just followed the folks in front. The waves weren’t too crowded, because as soon as we got around the dock, it seemed to spread out and you had room to swim without getting beat up. After turning the first buoy, it was easier, as you could see the second one without too much problem.

Turning the final buoy, you head toward land. There was plenty of room to swim by now. Although I breathed to my right and saw a pink cap, then to my left and saw another one. That was sort of bad news, as the that means the people in the wave behind me that started three minutes after I did had caught me. Then I almost ran over a guy in a white cap. Well he started six minutes before me, so I guess it all evens out.

T1 – 3:12

Out of the water you run along the lake walking/biking path to the parking lot the transition area is in. It was fairly close and easy to do. Little CurbCrusher had gotten me a bike jersey for Father’s Day, so I needed to wear it for the bike. I’ve never been a big fan of having different clothes for each leg of a sprint triathlon, but since I have a jersey, I figured I needed to give it a shot. So, its fairly easy, jersey on, helmet on, shades on, sit on the bucket and get the shoes on, grab the bike an go.

Bike – 42:50

You mount up and turn onto Jake Street. It is approximately 2.7 miles around Lake Baldwin, and you need to do it five times on the bike. This makes the race interesting because there are a lot of people on the bike course. I don’t think it would have been physically possible to enforce the no-drafting rule at this race. There were times on the bike that you felt like you were riding in the peleton. People were three wide passing each other, and sometimes four or five deep. It was fun, and I averaged a little over 18.5 MPH on the course, but it made for some tense riding. I’m not used to riding that close to other people. The course if flat, and there wasn’t really any wind to speak of, so it was great to just pedal your heart out.

I counted laps, and after the third lap switched my cycle computer to odometer. I figured if I lost count, I would just quit on the first lap I finished after it read 13 miles. I actually counted correctly and finished after five laps.

T2 – 1:26

Having the bike jersey added to this transition some. I racked the bike, swapped shirts and grabbed my race number belt. Then grabbed some water at the water station at the transition exit, and began running.

Run – 31:22

I probably shouldn’t insult the sport of running by calling what I did Sunday running. I sort of plodded my way around the lake at a very slow pace. It was disappointing as I’ve been running sub 10 minute miles training and the last race kept the pace under 11 minutes. Of course if you’ve read my other race reports you know how much I just love running. The first quarter of the course is in the sun, and I’m constantly thinking about how much I miss my hat. Should have listened to Lady CurbCrusher and written out a check list. Ouch, not only is the running hurting, now I’m admitting my wife is right, see this running makes you delusional. The shade comes and I feel better.

The shade doesn’t last long. Once back out in the sun on the other side of the lake, there is a water station. I’m weak and walk for a minute after sucking down some water and pouring another cup over my head. I’m really not having much fun at this point. After I start running again (ok, more like plodding) I hear some footsteps behind me. A man and a woman are running along and sharing life stories. It takes them a minute or so to catch up with me, and I hear the woman say “I really started running after my divorce. It was better than therapy.” As they pass me, I offered up “I started running after I got married, it was cheaper than a divorce.” It might have been mean, but the third guy in the group thought is was funny and had plenty of energy to laugh.

Post Race

Well, I was hoping for something less than 1:35 and ended up at 1:39 and change. I was really hoping for a run that would have been 27 minutes, a ten-minute mile pace. And I thought the swim would be more along the lines of 15 – 18 minutes. I think I biked about where I expected. I was also completely beat after the race. I’ve been less tired after the first two races of the year, this one just seemed like a struggle. But I’ve been doing these for close to 18 years now, so I know there are races that are like that, they just aren’t a lot of fun. I think the location is great, I liked the 20 minute drive, but the bike course was a bit too crowded and that may the thing that keeps from coming back here next year. However, this is a great race for spectators, as you get the chance to see the triathletes multiple times on the bike as they do the laps.

Jetty Park, Port Canaveral Florida

Posted on by June 23, 2008
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The CurbCrushers took a weekend to go to the beach…. again. Actually Mr. CurbCrusher is beached out, but we’ve got two more beach trips planned this summer. The latest trip was over to Jetty Park at Port Canaveral the weekend of June 14th (Father’s Day weekend). Jetty Park is located about 45 miles from Orlando, where State Road 528 pretty much runs in to the Atlantic. That made this a nice trip, no need to put $4.00 gas into the motorhome.

As noted the campground is located at Port Canaveral. There are about 130 sites with varying degrees of service, but all with grills. Some have concrete pads, some have full hookup, there’s a bunch of water-electric and about 20 that are water only. In addition, there are probably about 50 tent sites located in three concentrations throughout the campground. The 20 water only sites are located just south of the inlet, and overlook the water. The rest of the RV sites are located a little further south. The closest sites to the beach are located about 30 yards from the boardwalk, and the campground stretches back to the west about a half mile or so. There are two dump stations, and a camp store. The sites really vary around the campground. The CurbCrushers had a site near the registration and store with full hookup. We had a concrete pad, and it was fairly level and not too close to our neighbors and no shade. Just across from us though, the sites did not have pads, and they looked to be less level, but offered more shade. One thing to note if you camp here is that the water is more haphazardly placed than the sewer (if you have it) and electricity. We shared our water with the campsite on our right, and the spigot was at the front of the campsite, so it took two hoses to reach the city water inlet on the back left of the rig. Walking around the campground this seemed to be a common theme. One should also note that some sites seem very close together, while others seem of offer large spaces.

While we enjoyed our weekend at the beach, we did comment that this is one of the dirtiest campgrounds that we’ve been to. There was litter everywhere, cigarette butts, juice envelopes, cans, paper, just about anything you can think of. This was very discouraging to Little CurbCrusher, as one of her jobs on departure morning is to pick up trash around the campsite. Her bag was full, and we hadn’t spent hardly any time outside at the rig. Obviously a number of people visit here and don’t follow the “leave only your footprints” mantra.

Not a lot was going on while we were there. The Space Shuttle landed, but came in from the north (it landed on runway 15) so we didn’t get to see it. Some of the people that had driven into the park to watch said that when the shuttle lands from south (landing on runway 33), it passes right over the park. There was only one cruise ship that departed during our stay, a Carnival ship, and it sailed on Saturday afternoon. Little CurbCrusher and I walked over to the inlet and waved at all the people on the ship. The casino cruises come and go, but they don’t fill up the channel like that big cruise ship does. We were asleep Sunday morning, so we missed the arrival of the Disney and Royal Caribbean ships.

Pictures from the trip are here.

Blackwater River State Park, picture updates

Posted on by June 6, 2008
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Just wanted to add a note. Blackwater River State Park is located between Holt and Milton off US98 in Northwest Florida. The park has a campground with about 30 sites, but is currently undergoing renovation. The CurbCrushers drove over to the park the morning of the wedding in order to kill a couple of hours. We wandered around the campground undergoing refurbishment and chatted with some of the crew that is staying on site during the construction. They are paving the campground roads, and putting in new water, electric and adding sewer, along with building a new bathhouse. The pictures show one of the sites under construction and the view of the river. This will be a very nice fall/winter campground once it is complete. The guys there said they thought it would be done in August.

I also got around to updating the pictures from the last month or so. Pictures from Cedar Key, Topsail, and Milton KOA are at the links.

Milton (FL)/Gulf Pines KOA

Posted on by June 4, 2008
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Well the big reason for going to Northwest Florida was the CurbCrusher cousin wedding on the 30th of May. The trip to Topsail was a bonus, so on Friday is was time to move over to the KOA in Milton. There were two reasons for this: First it would put us only about 30 – 45 minutes away from the wedding site; Second the KOA is located at exit 31 on I-10, so it put us right ready to get up and go on Sunday morning.

The Milton KOA is a nice place. The level pull thru sites are all very long (advertised at 100 ft), and you get water, electric, sewer and wi-fi. Well you get one code for wi-fi, a problem since the CurbCrushers have three laptops with them. So we asked for an additional code and were told that we would have to pay for it. Then the nice lady slipped me another wi-fi code as I walked out the office door. There is a heated pool, good sized, and a putt-putt course on the campground also. The putt-putt course has seen better days, as much of the “grass” if worn threadbare and the concrete is showing through.

It was easy to park, easy to set up and easy to leave. The park filled up as the afternoon wore on. Obviously this is a place that gets a lot of overnight visitors.

We went to the wedding on Saturday afternoon, then decided that rather than sitting around the KOA all night, we’d get a head start on driving home. The drive was nice. Headed East on I-10 as the sun is setting is better than headed East on I-10 as the sun is rising. Also there was very little traffic on I-10 or on I-75. We made the trip back to Orlando in about seven and a half hours. That was setting the cruise control around 62 MPH and just riding in the right hand lane for most of the trip. It was the first time we’ve driven the motorhome at night, and it was just as easy as daytime driving.

Topsail Hill Preserver State Park (FL)

Posted on by June 1, 2008
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The CurbCrushers took the first week long vacation of 2008 with a trip to the Panhandle of Florida. A CurbCrusher cousin was getting married the last Saturday of May in Pensacola, and with Memorial Day occurring the Monday before, it seemed like a good time to combine a bit of vacationing with family business. So on Monday morning, we started up the motorhome and headed to Topsail Hill Preserver State Park near Destin, Florida.

The adventure began with starting the motorhome. The night before CurbCrusher had paid a visit to the driver’s seat and turned on the driver’s reading light. This light is controlled by the panel dimmer switch, unlike the passenger light which is controlled by a regular switch. The impact of this is that the driver’s reading lamp runs off the motor battery, while the passenger’s reading lamp runs off the house battery. Well, CurbCrusher forgot to turn off the lamp when he was done. So Monday morning when he went out to start the motorhome, it balked. Fortunately there is a “battery boost” button that will take the house batteries and allow them to “jump start” the motorhome. This worked, but only after pressing the correct button. CurbCrusher spent about three minutes trying to turn the grade brake on and start the motorhome. Then he leaned over and read the labels on the switches carefully. After switching the “Battery Boost” switch to the on position, the motor started right up.

What follows can best be described as eight hours of boredom. Up the Florida Turnpiked to I-75, then take a left at I-10. Travel I-10 until you get to exit 85. There only bit of excitement was the stop at Exit 142 to fill up with gas. Lady CurbCrusher had suggested this exit as there was a Super Walmart, and they sometimes have an affiliated gas station with cheaper gas. Well there is a Super Walmart, but the configuration of the gas islands at the gas station were not RV friendly, neither was the Pilot station. The TA plaza appeared to have their gas pumps circled by chain link fence. So the CurbCrushers ended up at the Chevron ( which has an RV friendly icon on the exit signage), which was full ten cents more expensive than all the other gas stations at this exit. Oh, well.

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park is located near Destin, Florida right on the Gulf of Mexico. It is on State Road 30A, right off of US 98. The park used to be a private RV park, which the State of Florida acquired when the owners sold it. The State has converted it into a State park (The Gregory E. Moore RV Resort at Topsail Hill Preserver State Park), but really the only thing to do there is camp and go to the beach. The park has 168 sites and they are all full hookup. There is a small swimming pool, shuffle board, tennis courts and a club house. There are cabins also available for rent, and they appear to be the old park models that were at the former RV Park. All of the campground roads are paved, and there was plenty of room to back in the motorhome. CurbCrusher is not sure that he would have wanted to back up the old fifth wheel into some of the spaces, but others seem to do so with no problems.

All of the sites are paved and have patios. Most sites have concrete pads and as such are extremely level, although some up near the front are asphalt only. There are no grills or fire rings, this is probably because the sites are located in fairly close proximity. It should be noted that even though the sites are close, the landscaping is extremely good at creating private areas around each rig, this is especially true in the “100’s” loop. The CurbCrushers noted that since you spend most of your morning and mid-day at the beach, it appears that getting a site that puts your rig facing North is best, since the afternoon sun will be blocked by your right creating a nice natural shady area for afternoon and evening lounging. There are a number of rules at this park. They do not want any carpets on the ground, nor any tents or dining flys. However, a number of people had these things set up, and the rangers did not seem to be enforcing the rules.

The sites are about a mile from the beach. In the CurbCrusher’s case it was exactly .93 miles from the beach boardwalk to the site (Those speedometers we put on the bikes are proving beneficial 🙂 At the back of the campground, there is a bike/walking/tram path that runs down to the beach. It is not entirely flat, but the uphills are not enough to complain about. The tram runs on some schedule, which was of no consequence to the CurbCrushers as bicycles were the transportation mode of choice. Once you get from your site to the end of the tram road, there is a boardwalk that is probably about a quarter mile long which takes you over the dunes and to the beach. There are restrooms at the end of the tram road, and a whole bunch of bike racks.

Once you get to the beach you are rewarded with sugar white sand, turquoise water, small gentle waves, and not a whole bunch of people. Most people congregate near the end of the boardwalk. A two minute walk in either direction and one finds themselves pretty much alone on the beach. A five minute walk and you are alone.

For this trip, the CurbCrushers acquired an InStep bike carrier/Stroller. Little CurbCrusher is too big to ride in one of these things, but it makes a great trailer to haul behind a bike. Over the course of the five day stay at Topsail, there were dozens of people hauling their beach gear behind their bikes on these carriers. There was maybe one person using it for what it was intended, hauling a kid. This thing is great for hauling stuff, CurbCrusher is even thinking of using it at home for grocery shopping, which is only a mile from the house.

All in all Topsail was a great place to camp. It’s easy to spend 3 or so hours on the beach. Come back for lunch and then spend an hour of so in the pool. An afternoon nap, and its time for dinner. The town of Destin is close by, and the town of Grayton Beach is even closer. There is a Publix about 2-3 miles west of US 98 & SR 30A, and a Super Walmart about 11 miles west. There are two other state parks nearby on the gulf. Grayton Beach State Park is about 7 mile east of Topsail on SR 30A. It is an older state park with about 30 campsites (water and electric only) that are all gravel or dirt. Henderson Beach State Park is 11 miles west on US 98 (across from the Walmart). It has 60 sites that are all gravel, water and electric only. If one needs to be in the area and doesn’t want to be near the beach, there is Rocky Bayou State Park, located north of Destin. It has some nice sites overlooking the bayou, and would be a great place to stay if visiting the Ft. Walton/Destin area if you didn’t really care about going to the beach. If the CurbCrushers head back up to this area, the first choice would be Topsail, followed by Henderson, then Grayton.

Ormond Beach Tri-Y Triathlon

Posted on by May 25, 2008
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Another month, another triathlon. Team CurbCrusher continued the 2008 triathlon season with a race in Ormond Beach, Florida. This race is put on by the local YMCA, and is held where State Road 40 intersects with A1A. A picturesque swim in the Atlantic Ocean, followed by a ten mile bike ride and a three mile run. Great race setting and a great day for racing.

Pre-Race

Ormond Beach is about an hour and fifteen minutes from the CurbCrusher homestead, so this and a 7:00AM start time meant another early triathalon morning. A little easier this month than last as Lady CurbCrusher and Little CurbCrusher choose to sleep in and go to church instead of watching CurbCrusher race. The drive over was uneventful, and I arrived around 6:00AM. This race was put on by AltaVista sports, the company that put on the very first triathlon that I ever did. Compared to the gang that put on Ft. Desoto, they were not as organized, but I was able to have my USAT card checked, get a number, champion chip timing device, t-shirt and body marking done in pretty short order.

Setting up transition was fairly easy. I like my bike at the back of the rack, and my number fell in the group that racked right up against the edge of transition. I got my coveted next to the netting spot, and set up the bike, towel and five gallon bucket. Putting my number on was easier this month, a I parted with five dollars and purchased a number belt, a stretchy belt that you attach the number to and then just put on in transition. No more crooked number for me. I was finished and ready to go by 6:30AM.

So I wandered across A1A to the beach, and watched the water and the life guards arrival. The wind was out of the North-North East, and the seas were probably 2 – 4 feet. I want to say they were taller, because when the swim started and I was making my way to the first buoy, some of the waves were breaking over my head. About ten till seven, the life guards put the buoys out and we walked down to the start line.

The Swim – 11:18

The swim would have been a breeze in a lake, or even in the Gulf, but this was the Atlantic. The horn blows and you start walking out to water deep enough to swim in. The waves are breaking over you, and you can’t really swim into them. You can dive through them, or hop over them, but it takes a while to get to where they aren’t breaking any more. This puts you just about to the buoy. Now you’ve got to swim parallel to the shore, but the current and the wind are blowing right into the shore, so you need to navigate to the left (seaward) in order to make sure you don’t go inside the other buoys. If you breathe during the trough of the swell, you don’t see anything but water. You have to time your breaths with the top of the swells so that you can see where you are. About half way down I’m thinking, darn I should have seen that middle buoy by now. A couple of breaths later, I turn my head to the right and wham! There’s the blamed thing right in my face.

Turning right at the final buoy is a challenge also. You’d like to swim perpendicular to the shore so that you don’t have to run a extra thirty or so yards on the beach. But the wind and the current want you to run that extra thirty yards. After about 20 seconds of trying to fight the angle on the current, I finally decided that it was a waste of energy, and let the waves carry me in.

T1 – 4:28

Not too far to run, most of it up the beach. Then you cross A1A and into the transition area. I get my shirt on, my sunglasses and helmet. Then sit on the bucket and get my shoes on. Grab the bike and head for the transition exit.

Bike – 32:26

So, I get mounted and headed west on SR 40. Not bad, then you turn right, north, and you get that wind quartering you on the right front. It is broken a bit by the houses that are between you and A1A and the coast, but you can still feel it. I change the cycle computer to cadence mode and concentrate on keeping about a 85 cadence. About two miles into this I start thinking “Hey, maybe I should have ridden my bike more this past month!” The reason I think this is because, except for the mile commute to work, I haven’t been biking since Ft. Desoto. Of course its too late to worry about it now, but it does strike me as something to remember.

Biking gets easier about half way through. That’s because you make another right turn and head over to A1A. Then you get to make the turn South on A1A. Now the wind is quartering on my back left and I get to use some of the high gears. Keeping my cadence around 85, I find myself running 22 – 23 MPH. I’m even passing some people!

T2 – 0:53

This one is quick, it usually is. Rack the bike, and two new things to do. Grab the race belt with the number and snap it on, and grab a hat. I’ve never run with a hat, but last year at the final Moss Park Tri, they gave away these “sweat vacuum” hats, and I’ve been running with it on for my long run each week. I actually sort of like it, so I figured today would be a great race day to try it.

Run – 30:56

The run course starts just like the bike course. But at about a mile and a half you turn right and cut back over to A1A and then back to the start line. At the first mile I look at the watch and find I’ve run a 10:01. That’s great! I’d love to keep this run under 30 minutes, but I also know that I don’t want to blow up on the run and take more than about 35 minutes or I’ll miss the time goal I’ve set for myself in the race. I try and keep the pace, and at mile two I’m at about 21:15. I’ve slowed some, but my time goal is well within reach, and I try an run a little faster.

Post Race

Well, its over. I’ve run a 1:20:04 and I’m a happy man. Two weeks ago, I’d set 1:30 as my goal. Then I’d come across some race results from about ten years ago when I ran a different race on pretty much this same course. My time then had been 1:24. I’ve always thought of myself as being more fit back then. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought I should shoot for beating that old time. So arriving in Ormond Beach this morning I was hoping for something better than 1:24. And I got it, by four minutes (give or take a couple of seconds). Yay!

The next scheduled race for Team CurbCrusher is the Baldwin Park Tri in Orlando the end of June.

Cedar Key (FL)

Posted on by May 19, 2008
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Lady CurbCrusher celebrated the anniversary of her 29th birthday this last weekend, and that called for some sort of celebration. So we packed Little CurbCrusher off to the Grandparent Crushers and we headed to the west coast of Florida, Cedar Key.
Cedar Key sits at the end of State Road 24, in the Gulf of Mexico. Its about 15 miles from Otter Creek off of US 98. Unless you are real familiar with the west coast of Florida, you still have no idea where this is. It’s about 50 miles west of Gainesville, which is the closest large town. Cedar Key was once a large port on the west coast of the state, but is now pretty much a small sleepy fishing village.
We stayed at the Old Fenimore Mill condos located at the end of 2nd street. Our condo was a bit plain, not a lot of decoration but very functional. It did have a great view of the Gulf of Mexico. Each morning and evening we were able to look out and watch dolphins swimming and the tide moving in or out. A very peaceful and relaxing way to spend some time.

The bulk of the shops offer souvenirs and art, and are located in about a six block by two block area. Along the water front is Dock Street, which is mostly populated with restaurants. Just down from the condo was a city park. On the edge of the park, the fellow that runs Kayak Cedar Keys sets up shop each day. The normal minimum rental time is 3 hours, but we just wanted to paddle around for a couple of hours. So we negotiated a two hour rental rate and off we went. We paddled over to Atesna Otie Island, which is about three-quarters of a mile across the channel from Dock Street. We had intended to walk some of the trails on the island, but the mosquitoes were pretty bad once you left the beach. So we wandered the beach and admired the fairly plentiful shells that were present. We then paddled back over to the end of the island where the condo was located, and then around behind the condos into the back bay area. We were at about an hour and twenty minutes, and about had enough of paddling, so we paddled back to the city park and turned in the kayak.

Dining was good. It was especially good if you like sea food. That means the CurbCrusher was happy, and Lady CurbCrusher was looking for the “Landlubber” menu. We had breakfast both mornings at Ann’s Other place located on Dock Street. The meals were good basic breakfast, pancakes, eggs, grits and sausage. Service the first morning was great, the second morning it was a little slow. We guess it was hard for them to get going on Sunday mornings. Dinner Friday and lunch on Saturday were at the Dock Street Depot, and dinner on Saturday at Seabreeze, both on Dock Street. The meals were reasonably priced, and of a good quality and quantity. Except for dinner on Saturday night, I think we saw dolphins from the decks of each of the restaurants as we ate.

Lady CurbCrusher was “complaining” that the place forces you to relax. That is true, if you’re not fishing or boating there is not a lot to do in Cedar Key. I think that’s what makes it a great place to be for a short vacation. It’s a taste of getting completely away that is getting harder and harder to find. If they’d just reduce the cell phone coverage in the town to emergency coverage only, it would be perfect.

Stooges (Orlando, FL)

Posted on by May 18, 2008
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Well, after the last meal at Mama Nems’, it was time for a letdown. Lady CurbCrusher and I usually head out for dinner on Wednesday night when Little CurbCrusher heads to the children’s program at church. We had spotted a new wing place on the northwest corner of Conway and Hoffner on the east side of Orlando, in the old location of Conway Bar-B-Q.

So a wing place, this should be easy. We go in and order 20 wings, mild and some curly fries. Since this is a wing place, you’d expect to be eating in about 10 minutes. Well, 25 minutes later the waitress delivers 20 wings absolutely soaked in sauce. One bite and Lady CurbCrusher is tearing up. She doesn’t care for real spicy food. These are not mild wings, not super hot, but mild wings shouldn’t have a bite to them. In addition, they are very hard, like the spent too long in the fryer. The same is true of the curly fries. The waitress came back over and asked how things were, so we told her. She offered to replace half the wings with ones without sauce for Lady CurbCrusher. Another 25 minutes, and Lady CurbCrusher was delivered ten wings that could be used to pound nails. They aren’t spicy, but they seemed to have spent the entire 25 minutes in the fryer.

All in all we were disappointed. The food didn’t taste good, and service was very slow.

Mama Nems

Posted on by May 18, 2008
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Well, not much going on lately, the CurbCrushers monthly camping trip for May is at the end of the month. But in preparation for the summer season, I took the motorhome over to Golby Motor Corporation for some regular maintenance. They do great work, and I made plans to have lunch with a friend on the West side of Orlando.

Lunch was a great meal. We at at Mama Nems’ , a soul food restaurant. This was a fantastic meal. There are the standard items you would expect to find, fried chicken, pork chops, and meat loaf. You get three sides with the main course, and I almost wish you could just order a meal of sides. The sides include fried corn, collards, cheese grits, red beans and rice, fried sweet potatoes, fried green tomatoes, and more. I enjoyed the fried chicken, cheese grits, collards and red beans & rice. Top it off with sweet tea and you’ve got an almost perfect meal.

If you find yourself on the west side of Orlando (near Universal Studios) this is definitely a place to stop and eat.