The Central Florida Lady Bloggers came to Sanford, FL on Thursday, October 16, 2014 (#sanford365, #limocycle, #hollerbachs, #toomuchfun). I happily organized our meetup in form of a little Limocycle pub crawl tour of Downtown Sanford and am thrilled to report that all the ladies had a blast and many of them a really great first impression of Sanford.
Below is the first featured guest blog here on Sanford365, written by Karissa Barber. I am always so excited to read other people’s views of Sanford! I think you will really enjoy reading her article and please be sure to also stop by her blog to say hi 🙂
What an amazing night of fun!
I’ve never been to Sanford before, so I jumped at the chance to be apart of Sanford365’s tour of the city with LimoCycle and Hollerbach’s Willow Tree Café.
As I drove into Sanford, it looked like every other Florida town, but I did not allow my first impression to be the permanent one. When we got the LimoCycle moving and I started to see the charming downtown area, I was immediately smitten from the unique architecture to fun shops to many local restaurants and bars. Why had I not visited Sanford before? The charm and beauty was not missed as the sun set on our pedaling vehicle.
And what a way to tour the city: by LimoCycle. I’ve been on bike tours before, but none like this one. Pedaling together with a group of ladies was a bonding experience as we sang along to the great music playing, all while sipping our sangria and taking in the sights. Once we got the LimoCycle going, it was easy to pedal and keep the vehicle moving without much notice. Our great tour guide/driver and bar tender were engaging, informative and very personable. Since it was a cool evening we didn’t need them, but I appreciated the individual fans stationed around the Limocycle ready to cool the peddler. The two hours flew by as we made several stops to local Sanford favorites.
Our first stop was Hollerbach’s Willow Tree Café and I knew it was going to be amazing when I saw the packed patio area. When we stepped inside we were greeted with live German music, a bustling restaurant and the owner, Theo Hollerback, himself. We were ushered to a table and immediately given a boot of beer, complete with a German drinking song led by the musicians. Since this was my first experience I had no idea we were required to finish all the beer before we could sit! Next we dined on pretzels, sauerkraut, sweet red cabbage many different types of sausage, Nuernberger being my favorite. I lived in Germany for three year, so this was a real treat and a restaurant I will definitely visit again. The ambience was lively, joyful and intoxicating. The regulars spoke of their love of the place through their cheer and their sheer quantity. You can tell that Sanford loves Willow Tree Café!
We climbed back on the LimoCycle and completed the evening with stops to Nemo’s Bar and Grill and The Imperial, with of course more peddling fun and sangria.
Now that I’ve toured the town in the evening and experienced the nightlife, I’ll have to return during the day and see what else this gem of a town has to offer.
Sanford, I’ll be back and thanks for a great first visit!
Karissa Barber is an actress turned mother of 4 navigating life’s adventures of adoption, intentional living and the stage. Lakeland, Florida has been home for the last 10+ years after marrying her college sweet heart and starting a family. Her passion is helping other moms find who they are outside of motherhood, enabling them to be the best women, wives, and mothers they can be. She writes about how to do that, adoption and central Florida fun at The Acting Mom.
