Plant Street Market in Winter Garden, Florida

We went to Ormond Beach, Florida, in September to celebrate my husband’s birthday. An overview of the Ormond Beach area will be coming soon, but today you’ll hear about our trip from here (Tampa Bay) to there (Ormond Beach) because we found some amazing gems on the way. Our favorite was the Plant Street Market in Winter Garden, Florida.

We actually did not have plans to stop anywhere on our way to Ormond Beach but by the time we reached Orlando, we decided we wanted to break up the trip a little bit.  Searching for breweries in the area led us to Crooked Can Brewing in Winter Garden, Florida. While all breweries are unique, we were blown away by Crooked Can because we weren’t expecting for it to be a part of such an amazing community space.

Crooked Can and the Plant Street Market in Winter Garden, Florida

Crooked Can is located in the Plant Street Market in Winter Garden, Florida. Basically, it’s a modern community market with over 20 vendors located in the cutest space!  This means that not only did we stumble upon a brewery, but several food options, too. We thought we were just headed to a brewery and had no idea it would be part of something so cool. Unfortunately for us, we’d eaten a fairly large breakfast so we weren’t too hungry, but we did share a sushi roll from Jodo Sushi and got some chocolates to save for later from David Ramirez Chocolates. And of course, we each got a beer, too. You know, since that was the whole reason we stopped there.

Everything was incredible, and I have to give a special shout out to the employee at David Ramirez Chocolates who took the time to explain how they make their chocolates. He was so friendly, and it gave me a greater appreciation for the chocolates. A lot goes into making them and making sure they are perfect. And trust me, they are perfect! I really wanted to try every single flavor!

We had never been to Winter Garden before, and we were so charmed by Plant Street Market that we definitely want to come back to explore more of what the area has to offer.

Blue Springs Brewing in Orange City, Florida

From Plant Street Market, we hopped back on the road for Blue Springs Brewing. Here, we found more of a restaurant vibe, which was fine with us! I am typically a beer person, but here I tried a pina colada seltzer which was amazing. Since it took us around an hour to get here, we were a little hungry when we arrived so we shared an appetizer.

Lodging in Ormond Beach, Florida

From Blue Springs Brewing, we went to our hotel. We stayed at Home2Suites in Ormond Beach. My understanding is that the hotel is new but I forgot to confirm that when we were there. The front desk staff were extremely welcoming and friendly and our room had a balcony with a partial ocean view. Something I really liked about staying here was that we had a full fridge/freezer, as well as plates and glasses. We almost always buy 6 packs or growlers from the breweries we visit, so it was nice to not have to squeeze them into a mini fridge!

Once we got to our hotel room, we relaxed for the rest of the night. We walked on the beach, taking it all in, then we spent a lot of time in the hot tub. Somehow, we had it completely to ourselves. Usually I get too hot in hot tubs, but the temperature in this one was so perfect. Even after a couple of hours, I didn’t want to leave.

But, you know how the story goes. We were hungry! In fact, I was hungry before we even got to the hot tub but I ignored it because we were having such a good time. When we had checked in, the sweet front desk staff gave us recommendations and both of the employees told us to order Captain Pizza. We decided to get a second (well, technically third) opinion from housekeeping on our way to the room from the hot tub. She immediately recommended Captain Pizza, too, so we knew it had to be the best. My husband’s favorite food is pizza but I’m actually not a huge pizza person. Captain Pizza had non-pizza options (I got a gyro) and this made us both so happy!

We watched the NBA playoffs before falling asleep. This is why my husband loves being spontaneous so much – it leads to the best days. Meanwhile, I’m getting much better at enjoying the spontaneity.