Winter Garden Florida: hashtags, rum runners, and scientology

The annual winter Orlando trip...take 3! Once again, my friend Abby (who also lives in Ohio) and I met up with a good friend, Ashley (aka Schramm) who lives in Orlando. This is the 3rd January in a row that we have done so. It has become part of my routine...so I plan to continue this tradition. Sorry about your luck Schramm...and Tim.

My drive to the airport. Enough motivation to get out of Ohio!

The trip was originally designed as a way to break away from the winter, and relax in Florida. While each trip is a little different than the previous year, it always provides much entertainment, and we continue to tell the random stories from each trip year after year. This year's theme in which we made t-shirts for was: "No worries. Emergency We're Drunk" (Long explanation into the meaning behind the theme)

Beachside Friday afternoon.

This year we decided to venture away from Orlando and visit Clearwater Beach. Why Clearwater Beach you may ask? Well, it is a short drive from Orlando (about 1.5 hours)...and Clearwater had a race that particular weekend that we all decided we should do. (More details in the Random Notes regarding the race day debacle)

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you should know Abby and Ashley. They have been featured in many posts. So it was no surprise to them this trip needed to include a Panera visit. In fact, I don't even think I had to remind them that we needed to go to a Panera. Ashley already had a Panera in mind, located just a few minutes from her house in Winter Garden.

Abby and I arrived in Orlando on a Thursday evening. Stayed at Ashley's and then set out for Clearwater Friday morning. Full disclosure: These trips that we take typically revolve around our "emotional attachment to food...and to drinks". Naturally, we needed to stop somewhere for breakfast before we headed out on the journey to Clearwater.

Ashley's recommendation of the Winter Garden Panera hit the spot! We arrived at the Panera about 8:30ish. The sun was shining and birds were chirping. I thought it would be a good idea to get our picture taken in front of the building. I asked a happy couple walking into Panera to take our pictures. They were confused as to why we were getting our pics taken in front of Panera. Someone blurted out that I have a blog about Panera. I'm pretty sure they thought we were freaks.

THE REVIEW:
Date visited: Friday, January 20
Time of day: 8:30ish in the morning
Items ordered:
Me: Mediterranean Egg White on Whole Grain...unsweet tea
Ashley: Everything Bagel with "Ample" Cream Cheese...hazelnut coffee
Abby: Everything bagel, cream cheese (not sure on the ampleness), fruit smoothy

I got a bit excited about eating...forgot to take a photo pre-indulging. #fatgirl

This Panera is not a free-standing. This area of Winter Garden is a shoppers paradise...from what I could tell. Tons of chain stores and restaurants. After awkwardly getting our photos taken outside of Panera, we walked in and I was greeted with a picture/shrine of Al Covelli. Based out of Ohio, the Covelli's own TONS of Panera Breads...mainly in Ohio and Florida. Keeping things even more creepy and awkward...I got my picture taken in front of the plaque.

The definition of creepy. #weirdpaneraobsession

Overall the crowd was pretty light, with a mixed bag of people. You saw all types there from people on business meetings to retirees, to people like us on vacation.
The Mediterranean egg white sandwich was my first experience with that sandwich. I was happy with my choice. It was filling, yet not too filling. The fact that it said "egg white" also makes you feel healthy.

Standard patio picture...

RANDOM notes:

• I whipped out my iPhone during this visit to share some @Paneraaddict tweets. This sparked a weekend full of "hashtag" references. It has become quite addicting to integrate the word "hashtag" in front of a descriptive phrase.
• Speaking of "#"...Abby received a "random" text during this trip. Some guy sends her a text provoking "sexts". In the spirit of vacation, and boredom on our drive to Clearwater, we decide to provoke this guy a bit more. Well, to make a long story short...we had to cut this guy off when it got graphic and Abby broke the news to him that he had the wrong number. This guy thought he was texting his apparent girlfriend named "Lisa". This promted us to ponder what kind of girl is this "Lisa"....It was our mantra all weekend to jokily refer to any question with #whatwouldlisado.
• "Ample" Cream Cheese....as I am writing this blog this evening, I had to text Abby and Ashley to confirm what they ordered at Panera. Ashley confirmed that she ordered "ample" cream cheese. I believe she is commenting on the fact that Panera provides a normal portion size of cream cheese...whereas, anywhere else you go they skimp you on the cream cheese.
• The race. There was some miscommunication on whether or not we were going to run the race. The memo that Ashley and I got, was to not run. Abby received a different memo and signed up, not knowing that neither Ashley or I signed up. It wasn't until we arrived in Clearwater, that Abby stated "I am not looking forward to this race!" Clearly Abby didn't get the memo. Regardless, I decided to run in her place. They had a 5-mile race and a half marathon...I chose the 5-miler. It was a gorgeous course the took you over the Clearwater Beach bridge and through the downtown. My time? 50 minutes roughly.
• Ashley is newly married to Tim. Every January we invade their house. I think he enjoyed the fact that we decided to venture away from Orlando this year. At least I would have been, if I was in his shoes. You can read about their wedding and my other Orlando visit here.
• Scientolists. Clearwater is home to a big Scientologists community. Like huge. Not judging any religion...but that religion is definitely not my cup of tea. If you are bored at work this week, google "Clearwater and Scientology".
• IHOP....let's sum up our Friday of eating/drinking. Panera. Beachside grill. Dinner at a tiki hut bar poolside. Extra large rum runners. Mini bar crawl down the strip...and several beers later. We end up at the hotel, which happens to have an IHOP attached. #fatandproud.

Thought this was brilliant after several drinks.

Have a nice weekend...and remember #WWLD!

Let the snowbirding begin...1st Florida review of 2012

It's winter in Ohio. Though it may not feel like winter in Ohio, it has been my tradition these last few years to become a wanna be snowbird. Every fall that we get our first frost, I frantically try to plan a few winter getaways. You gotta have something to look forward too, right?

The white sandy beach of Pensacola...

My first Florida getaway of 2012 was to the white sandy beaches of the Gulf Coast. During my visit I came across many worthy Panera's that I could review, but I eventually came across the Panera in Fort Walton Beach. It was here that I enjoyed a nice lunch.

Free-standing, with a drive-thru. Very nice.

Date of visit: Saturday, January 14
Time of day: 1 ish
Those in attendance/items ordered:
Me: Pick 2...Chicken salad sandwich on whole grain, greek salad no olives, french baguette. Unsweet tea.
Bob: Same as me. More details in the Random Notes section.
Deb: Sierra Turkey Pick 2, chili, and a french baguette. Bottle of water to drink.

Not sure on when this was built...but it is a Free-Stander and it has a drive-thru. Those two facts lead me to believe that it was built in the last few years. The 1 pm lunch is about 2 hours past my normal lunch feeding time, so needless to say, I was hungry. I was surprised to see such a large bustling crowd at 1 in the afternoon...who knew!

I enjoyed the overall atmosphere/vibe of this Panera. It was busy, yet the layout didn't make it seem super crowded. The had a very nice patio area. We chose to sit inside, as it was just a bit too chilly to sit outside for the meal.

RANDOM notes.

• Is it just me, or did Panera just recently start integrating some impulse register buys...aka Point of Sale items? I noticed they were selling pre-packaged brownies at this Panera. Clever. Ingenius. I like it. 

Big fat chocolate...brownies. Wrapped and ready to go.

• My dad isn't one to read menus. I ordered my meal and he told the cashier he would like the same. That happens a lot. 
• My mom ordered a bottle of water. I don't understand the logic behind that decision. The water at Panera is pretty good. The only downfall is that you have to use a child size sippy cup if you want a glass of water versus a fountain drink or tea....in which case you are announcing to the world that you are too cheap to buy a drink. Really, I think Panera should consider a special big kid cup for water. 

Did a google image search to illustrate the water. Completely stole this photo from someones blog

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• Random fact: Tourism in 2011 was the highest ever...in the Gulf Coast region. Up over 50% in most areas! Much of this is attributed to BP throwing tons of money into advertising.

Next up: Winter Park, Florida Panera. Spoiler alert: It's a Covelli.