Koreshan State Park

Koreshan State Park located in Estero, Florida is a really unique and historic park. Founded in 1893 by a religious group by the name of the Koreshans and included sawmill, bakery, boat works, store and more. Located along the Estero river the property which is home to eleven restored historical buildings, is a great place to spend a few hours wandering the grounds. Or if you want to stay awhile you can camp here and it's a great jumping off point in South Florida. Just a short drive to Naples, Ft. Lauderdale, the Tamiami trai and Everglades, theres a lot to see in the area of Florida.

Winding through the park is the Estero river, which used to bring guest up to the property but now it's a wonderful way to spend the day. Kayaking and canoeing along the brackish river offer views of wildlife or you can try your hand at fishing. If you want to stay on your feet, the hiking trail along the river, through bamboo is really magical. Or you can stick to the paved path running through the heart of the original compound.

Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy some family time under the shade of old pine trees or grill up some burgers on the provided grills. Let the kids burn off some energy on the playground or just take a quiet walk through the grounds soaking up the nature and history.

The campground has sixty sites that accomodate both tent and RV campers with a length up to forty feet. These are all back in spaces and all have water, electric, picnic table and fire ring. Firewood is available for purchase but bring a hatchet since they are rather large pieces. Keep your camp supplies secure at night as there are raccoons in the park who are eager to see if you have any goodies for them. Bathrooms are a short walk from the campsites and have nice showers that were clean and tidy.

Koreshan State park is also home to a Farmers market every Sunday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m in the historic settlement area. Come for the day or spend a few. Weddings are also hosted here if you are looking for a beautiful location in South Florida. Open 365 days a year from 8 a.m. to sunset. $5 per vehicle and $26 a night to camp plus a reservation fee. For more information or to make a reservation you can click here.

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Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park

Spring is the perfect time to get out and explore Florida and we have a lot of interesting places to see! Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park located in Cross Creek, is one of them! Cross Creek is located between Orange Lake and Lochloosa lake, not too far off the major highways 441 and I-75. The park gets it's name from the famous author who called Cross Creek her home and wrote about it in her book "The Yearling". The subsequent movie was also filmed there. This historic homestead has been wonderfully preserved and really gives you a look at life in Florida back then.

Marjorie moved to Cross Creek to find inspiration for her writing and wrote many books about the area around Cross Creek. When you visit the State Park you can tour the grounds which all look just like it did when the author lived there. For a little extra you can take a guided tour of her house and see a little bit closer how she lived. I had visited the park both with and without touring the house and I would suggest you go ahead and take the time for it.

After you've spent the time exploring the grounds and seeing all the interesting things it has to offer you'll probably be hungry! Head on down the road to the restaurant named after the famous book. The Yearling serves an amazing hamburger, or you can go for something a little more exotic like Alligator tail! Listen to the blues played live while you eat and reflect on your day. You can check out my review on The Yearling restaurant here.

The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Historic State Park is only $3.00 per group or car. You'll need exact change as it's pay by honor box. The guided tour is extra and is $3.00 per adult and $2.00 per child. The park is open year round however tours only run October-July. Check their website for more information and hours here. The park is located at 18700 S. CR 325 in Cross Creek, Florida.

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General Tso's Chicken

One of my favorite dishes when eating out is General Tso's Chicken. I wanted to try my hand at making this dish to see if I liked it just as much at home. My local grocery store only had the Iron Chef brand of General Tso's sauce, so that's what I used. This easy and delicious recipe is something that I have really enjoyed making and eating! Here's the recipe:

3 Chicken boneless skinless chicken breasts cubed

1 Cup Milk

1/2 Tsp. Paprika

1 3/4 Cup Flour

1/2 Tsp. Salt

1/2 Tsp. Paprika

1/4 Tsp. Pepper

1/8 Tsp. Parsley Flakes

1 Tbsp. Butter

1 Bottle Iron Chef's General Tso's Sauce

Add cubbed chicken, milk and paprkia to a medium sized bowl. Soak in fridge for two hours. Drain the liquid after the two hours and set aside. Mix flour and spices in a large bowl. Toss the chicken in the flour to coat. Heat oven to four hundred degrees. Place a 13x9 baking dish in the oven with the tablespoon of butter to melt. Once melted add the flour coated chicken and place in a single layer in baking dish. Bake for twenty five minutes, turning halfway through baking time. Remove from oven and add the bottle of Iron Chef General Tso's sauce. Toss to coat well. Put back in the oven for an additional five minutes. I served with white rice.

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Hornitos Tequila Surprise

This is my take on the Tequila Baybreeze, a drink that has tequila, pineapple and cranberry juice. I saw this Oceanspray Cran-Pineapple juice and I thought it would be a perfect fit with the Hornitos tequila I had. Here's the recipe I used:

2 ounces of Hornitos Tequila

6 ounces of Oceanspray Cran-PinappleJuice

Master of Mixers Margarita Salt for the rim

3 cherries

1 tsp. juice from the cherry jar

Ice Cubes

Fill your measuring cup with two ounces of Hornitos tequila. Wet the rim of the glass with the tequila and then dip in the margarita salt. Add your ice. Pour the Hornitos tequila into the glass, then add the Oceanspray Cran-Pineapple juice. Add the three cherries and the juice. Stir. Enjoy!

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Pantry Tuna Noodle Casserole

This casserole came about because I wanted a tuna casserole but didn't have any cream of mushroom or chicken soup. So I had to improvise with what I had on hand and it came out really good! So here's what I did:

Recipe: Pantry Tuna Noodle Casserole

1 Package of Wide Egg Noodles

2 Cans of tuna fish (I used albacore)

3 Tbsp. Butter

1/2 yellow onion chopped

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/4 tst. Pepper

1 can Peas drained

1 can Queso Blanco Cheese sauce

3 Tbsp. Flour

1 1/2 C. Milk

1/2 C. Sour Cream

1/4 C. Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Topping: 1/2 C. Bread Crumbs

2 Tbsp. Butter

1/4 Tsp. Paprika

Boil the egg noodles in a large pot of salted water for about eight minutes or until done. Drain. In a saucepan combine the butter, onion, salt and pepper and cook about five mintues. Add the flour and stir till combined. Add the milk. Stir until thickened. Once thickened add the can queso, sour cream, peas and tuna fish. Stir till combined. Add egg noodles to a 13x9 baking pan and then combine with saucepan ingredients. Stir in the cheddar cheese.

For the topping toast the breadcrumbs, butter and paprkia in a small skillet for about five minutes. Once it starts getting a little brown sprinkle on top of the casserole. Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for about a half an hour.

If you are not a fan of tuna fish you can add about a cup of shredded chicken. If you don't like peas you can leave them out or add something like chopped broccoli. Hope you enjoy this recipe. Find us on Facebook for more recipes, household tips and tricks, travel and more.

Doctored Up Canned Baked Beans

If you are a fan of easy but delicious then this recipe is for you! This super simple way to doctor up those can baked beans will give you so much flavor for not a lot of added cost and we all know how those grocery store prices are rising! You just need a few added things and those canned baked beans will be the star of your dinner table.

All you need is any old can of baked beans, it doesn't matter which brand. Pour those baked beans into a crockpot or large pot on the stove. To that add one tablespoon of brown sugar, one teaspoon of ground mustard and about a quarter of a pound of bacon. That's it! Mix it all up and cook on low for half a day or so. This gives the regular can beans so much flavor without all the work! Find us on Facebook for more recipes, tips, tricks and travel!

What's The Deal With The Rise In Covid Cases?

I just want to start off by saying I'm not a doctor and I'm not one of those theory conspirists. I've been sitting here thinking about the rapidly rising cases of Covid, especially in my area. If you look back to the Spring things were starting to look up. Cases seemed to be down, things started fully opening where they had been closed and everyone was ready to move on from this Covid virus. Vaccines started rolling out and everyone was feeling pretty confident the worst was behind us.

Now Summer is nearing to an end and the cases are once again out of control. Hospitals are cancelling elective surgeries and numbers are rising. Everyone is blaming the unvaccinated for the rise in cases and hospitalizations. If the vaccines are effective then they alone are not enough. People who have gotten the vaccine are still getting Covid. They are saying that the symptoms would have been much worse if they haven't gotten the vaccine. How do we really know that though? Many people over the last year, previous to the Delta variant, had mostly mild cases. So I don't know how we can really tell if the vaccine is helping with symptoms, but I guess it does offer so hope to people anyway.

I don't know what we should do. Some things like wearing masks people feel very strongly about. They feel like it's a right being taken from them. I don't have any strong feelings either way, although it's not like I enjoy wearing it. If people who have been fully vaccinated are still catching and spreading Covid then maybe we should really be wearing masks in certain indoor situations.

Now there's a new lambda variant and they are saying this one could stick to surfaces longer. So maybe we need to go back to aggressive cleaning of surfaces and high touch areas in common spaces and bathrooms. Also, we don't know how well vaccines work against the Delta and Lamdra variants so we still need to protect ourselves and others, remember children under twelve can't even get vaccinated yet. We need to go back to the hand sanitizing, the cleaning of carts at the grocery store, masks, social distancing. I don't think we need to close business, people need to work, we need to live our lives. We just need to be a little aware of what's going on around us and realize it can start with us and one person can make a difference.

So what can you do? First you can stay home if you are sick. If you have to go out to get medicine or tested or whatever please wear a mask. The next thing you can do is keep some sanitizer in your car for when you can't wash your hands. Use it after the store, bank, pumping gas etc. Washing your hands when you get home is another key thing. Keep some Lysol spray handy to spray knobs and light switches from time to time. Little things can help make the difference of spreading Covid to our family, friends and neighbors. What are your tips for staying safe? If you are already sick check out my tips on feeling better fast here.