I Wannado What?

There’s one thing about Wannado city and that is... the parents aren’t allowed to be in the kids work space. And no exceptions! For example, I was an excited parent, as most are to see there kids performing a surgical procedure. So the minute I heard…

“Doctor Haley the patient is hemorrhaging!”

I walked up to see my daughter perform the surgery. The staff however, had to stop everything to ask me politely to go back behind the line. Haley looked up embarrassed because her mom was being escorted out of the emergency room by two eleven year old security guards, Haley replied, “nurse please hand me the scalpel” and shook her head finishing up the procedure.

So, there I was in handcuffs behind the line and at that moment I realized Haley will be on her own one day, making a life of her own. This was a difficult time for me as a parent to filter all these mixed emotions, but I was proud of her most of all.

The procedure was over and the security kids took the hand cuffs off of me, Haley ran over to me and said, “Mom you almost killed my patient, so please don’t do that again okay?”

Kids are so wonderful and it is amazing to see them grow into this magnificent little person who slowly becomes independent. Have any of you had any similar situations whether it is with your child or a sister or brother?

I Wannado Something New...

Wannado City is located next to the Saw Grass Mills mall in Fort Lauderdale. I highly recommend this park to parents with kid’s ages 5-12. Wannado City is a career role-playing theme park exclusively for kids. This park is great for teaching kids about various careers and how to manage money.

For each job your child selects, they will get paid at the end of their shift. They can use the play money through out the park for various things like making a bracelet, going to the amusement park with kid sized rides, using at the art academy, the rock climbing wall, or just save them for the next trip.

When entering the park, the kids go to the Bank and open up an account with a $150 voucher. Each time the kids earn money from there job, they can deposit it, or if they need money for various activities, they can withdrawal it.

Just to name a few employment opprotunities…there’s a Publix, an emergency room, newspaper, police station, court house, bakery, pathology lab, beauty salon, dance club, fashion show, circus, movie set, theater, CNN set, and so much more…

For the mom or dad there’s a cozy lounge upstairs where you can get coffee, bakery items, and surf the web. So if your child is running around like a maniac you have no worries because the kids also where a bracelet that has a GPS. If you want to see where your child is, just run your bracelet under one of the scanners through out the park and all that information will display.

I really wish they would’ve had this when I was a kid, maybe I would've had my chosen career path right out of high school.

Cracker Travels to Seven Sisters Inn Ocala, FL

The Seven Sisters Inn is a wonderful, relaxing get away. We had a great experience, seeing all the different rooms. Each room is decorated with themes and pieces from all around the world since the owners are pilots.

We stayed in Egypt because Paris was taken, but next time I’m thinking maybe China…trying to decide which room to stay in next time is going to be tough.

We had tea and appetizers in the afternoon which was a special treat. I had felt as if we were at the Mad Hatter’s very merry unbirthday party with all the neat decorations.

This B&B is a playhouse of it’s own with murder mysteries and resident ghosts. Oh, you may not want to ask about the ghosts if you scare easy because the creaking noises kept me up for parts of the night.

Breakfast in the morning starts with strawberries and cream then out came the delicious homemade waffles with warm blueberries on top and sausage on the side.

The hostess was wonderful and treated us as if we were family. This was a home away from home.

I just found out some interesting news, this B&B was voted at one time the "Inn of the month" by Country Inns Bed & Breakfast Magazine. How cool is that!

I’m interested to find out how many of you have stayed at a B&B before? And what was your experience like?

Lets Go Canoeing in Estero, FL

The Estero River Outfiters is a great place to rent canoes and kayaks for a fun day out in the sun with friends and family. They also carry bait for fishing and all types of books from fishing to the history of Florida.

The trail goes by the Koreshan State Historic Site up to the Estero Bay. You can go as long as you want, but be sure to remember the time you spend going up the trail, is the time you’ll spend coming back.

While you are canoeing you can take pit stops to venture through the turn of the century, religious settlement the Koreshan State Historic Site. The trail makes an interesting and easy one-day trip exploring mangrove coves and islands. The trail leads through subtropical hammocks that give way to mangrove swamps as the water becomes more brackish. This is a great place for lunch if you want to have a relaxing picnic.

Getting back on the rivers trail you can see some wildlife such as… great blue herons, hawks, spoonbills, eagles, manatees, and anhinga's these are a few I’ve seen. You can also look for mangrove cuckoo and black-whiskered vireo.

The trails are full of historical pit stops. After traveling through the Koreshan State Park the river will take you to Mound Key Archaeological State Park, this was said to be the ceremonial center of the Calusa Indians up until 1566, when the Spaniards brought disease. The bay is shallow, and the trail ends at Lovers Key State Park on Black Island.

Have any of you been canoeing before?... And if so when, where, and did you have an enlightening experience?

Extra Extra, Panera Bread's Out of Signature Bagels!

Panera bread is finally here in North East Cape Coral area right next to North Fort Myers. Panera Bread is one of my favorite places to eat because they have the asiago cheese bagel. This bagel is one of Panera’s signature bagels that keep people coming back.

I decided to try this Panera Bread out. So, I walked into the Panera on an early Sunday morning and tried to place an order for their asiago bagel, but they were out of it. I thought how can they be out of this bagel? Don’t they know how this business works? If they don’t have those bagels they won’t make money, especially on an early Sunday morning. They didn’t even have a back up plan. I was very disappointed in the management for not recognizing this huge problem. So, I asked them if they were going to be getting more in and they told me it would “only” take thirty minutes to bake them. “Only thirty minutes,” well why didn’t they think of that thirty minutes ago? I mean who’s the bagel checker?

It was apparent I could go off and have a full breakfast at this point, that is if I were to wait another thirty minutes. I kept thinking, but why? Why don’t they just have that wonderful tasting asiago… damn I really wanted that bagel. So, I ended up leaving with no bagel and an empty stomach. Don't you generally hate when this happens?

Food for thought, please always make sure you are stocked up for days like a Sunday or you may end up loosing people.

Traveling Cracker Escapes to the Gardens with Bush

Busch Gardens is a stop we make at least once a year. This is a great time. Where the beer is cold and the rides are fun. Well, they were fun until I went on the Gwazi. The Gwazi is Busch Gardens wooden coaster. It is told to be the biggest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the Southeast. I thought that it might be fun to have a few beers before riding the roller coasters. This would be a mistake on my part because the Gwazi is a very bumpy ride. The word Gwazi is defined as a lion with a tiger's head, in which should really mean don’t drink and ride. Okay, so the tigers head made me puke i'll admit it, but I don’t puke, EVER or at least I never have before.

Now, when things like this happen husbands or friends are good to have around. Reason being is because my husband held my hair back while people walked by whispering ewe and making faces. This was an embarrassing moment for me. So I realized I was never going to do that again, the drinking and riding thing that is.

So, why do they sell alcohol at theme parks again?

The Traveling Cracker off to Tampa, FL

Off to Tampa just trying to get away for the weekend. We stayed at Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts. Intercontinental has been newly renovated and as you walk in the rooms you automatically skim every inch of the contemporary styled room with delight. From the down feather sheets and pillows to the robe on top of the bed with crisp white slippers waiting to be put on. Oh, I can’t forget along side of the robes are chocolate mints that taste like Godiva.

Now, I did have a few problems, but they were resolved right away. We got stuck next to a dysfunctional ice machine and it made some crazy loud noises, so we had to move rooms. Hey it might have been a little bit of an inconvenience, but they made up for it starting with the second set of chocolate mints and not to mention there shampoo, conditioner, and lotions are from London, so I made sure to keep all those too.

This hotel is in a great location, right across the street is the West Shore Mall. This mall also has a couple of very well known restaurant's such as my favorite Maggiano's. Maggiano's is a little Italian joint with very LARGE portions. This is a great place to split meals and only spend about $30 with desert included.

Brew Babies Cape Coral, FL

I just happened to stumble upon this quant little restaurant while taking a detour because the art festival was going on in downtown Cape Coral. As I drove by the sign Brew Babies attracted my eyes as well as the cafe lights twinkling in between two small buildings, it seemed as if it were a courtyard setting. I stopped to check it out and a courtyard setting is exactly what it was, with vines going up columns and someone was on the microphone singing beautifully. It seemed almost magical with the lights sparkling and the servers greeting us as we walked up. We then went to sit down inside and the place resembled the café in “Friends.” I was amazed when the server said, they only serve fresh fish. So, of course I went ahead and ordered the cod fish. As I waited I couldn’t help but to ease drop on other people’s conversations around us, they were all very interesting characters. The food came out and it was fantastic, not a bad thing to say the fish had so much flavor. The evening came as a surprise and I’ve been back a couple of times for breakfast as well.

I will admit I never new of an enchanting restaurant living right here in Lee County. Places like this usually are in cities like Tampa or St. Augustine. Brew Babies is highly recommended, but please remember it is family owned, so please be patient and check the times they are open.

The Edison Festival of Light

Alright, it’s that time of year for the Edison Festival of Lights. This year will be the Edison Festival of lights 70th anniversary. The festival starts Saturday, February 16th in our very own downtown Ft. Myers, FL at 7 pm. This is a blast if you’re looking for a fun entertaining night with the family. I personally love to set my chairs up a couple of days ahead of time. This is so that my family will have a place to watch the parade because the crowds are very heavy. One of the best things besides the bands playing is the wonderful smell of carnival food, there are elephant ears, kielbasa with sauerkraut, candy covered nuts, and much more. Then at 7:30 pm the lit up floats come slowly down the blocked off streets. This is said to be the largest evening parades in the Southeastern United States. So pack up your chairs and I hope to see you there!