Santa's Enchanted Forest

It’s January 12th 2013. Christmas festivities are over. The festive lights are unplugged. The Christmas tree is packed up nicely for next year. It is back to the grind. There was however one place in Miami where we could still experience the Christmas and Holiday spirit till Jan 13th 2013. To let the festive feeling linger, we made our way to the world’s largest Christmas theme park - Santa's Enchanted Forest, in my very own warm and sunny Miami city.

We moved to Miami last month and for the past one month, have been lucky to explore Miami with friends who have been visiting us. This weekend, we had no plans and we were wondering what we could do (besides unpacking cartons from the move).  We saw a Living Social deal for Santa's Enchanted Forest with free snacks. We got the deal and set out at 6 PM on 12th Jan to have some Christmas themed carnival fun …….. Long after Christmas had come and gone!!!

After redeeming our Living Social coupons at one of the entrance booths, we entered the park which was lit up in full glory and made one feel we were still in Holiday season. The ornately decorated entrance led to the main street. On this quarter mile path were delightful Christmas displays. Several food joints serving everything from pizzas, burgers, gyros, sandwiches, roasted corn, fajitas to candies, fresh juice, lemonade and ice cream were present throughout the park. It is a Christmas themed fair and I can say for sure that all ages can have fun.

At the end of this street, we came to an area filled with kiddie roller coaster rides that my 3 year old enjoyed to the fullest. He won a frog toy by bursting balloons with a dart and got a loud ovation every time he burst a balloon that made him grin from ear to ear. All the rides were free; however games were about $5.

This place has more than 100 rides, attractions and games. There are about 3 million lights and the place is full of holiday spirit. There were about 7 live shows as well. We saw a sea lion show, a mini circus, a stunt motorbike show and a Tiger show.

We entered the park at 0630 assuming we would be out by 0900 PM, however we had so much fun that we exited only at around 1100 PM.

This place is a custom and tradition for many families living in South Florida as this fair has been here for 30 years. We sure hope to make it our own family tradition and spend some quality family time here.

31^st year of the theme park will open in less than 10 months … See you soon at Santa’s Enchanted Forest!!!

Thanks Living Social. This one goes to you :)

Ocala National Forest

What are the images the mind conjures when you think of Florida? Disneyland, Universal studios, Orlando, Miami, Miles of sun-kissed beaches, Everglades, Key West, Cruise to Bahamas?... But can you envisage 383,000 acres National Forest only about 1.5 hours northwest of Orlando's theme parks? A nature lover's bliss in the heart of Florida! 

This year, the Labor Day weekend came upon us in a flash and we had not made any vacation plans, so we decided to travel locally in Florida. We wanted to avoid the famous attractions where we knew hordes of tourists would descend. I had read about Ocala National Forest in a magazine and we decided to try it out since it was off the beaten track. So with our enthusiastic friends, we set out to Ocala, albeit with modest expectations!

"There are no words that can tell the hidden spirit of the wilderness, that can reveal its mystery, its melancholy, and its charm." - Theodore Roosevelt

As the first rays of the sun heralded the Labor day vacation, we helped ourselves to a hearty breakfast and then hit the road from South Florida. Enroute, we stopped at Woodlands Indian cuisine at Orlando for lunch. After a delicious buffet, we resumed on our drive to our Hotel in Ocala where we reached late afternoon. We freshened up at the Hotel and decided to check out Juniper Springs since they were open till 0800PM. 

Juniper Springs:

It was an impromptu decision to visit Juniper Springs and when we reached, we realized we had not got our swimwear. We got off the car dispirited at our ill-equipped visit, but once we saw the Springs, all those feelings vanished. With immense pleasure, we stood staring and appreciating the beauty of the glistening blue crystal water of Juniper Springs, with a waterwheel house providing a picturesque background. Having set off with low expectations, I think we were pleasantly surprised and awed at the natural beauty of the Springs. Believe me, this was just the opening act of many surprises we were going to explore. 

The three cool musketeers

There was a trail and since we couldn’t jump into the springs (having forgotten our swimwear), we decided we might as well hike the 1 mile round trip trail to the Fern Hammock Springs. It was an easy boardwalk and the kids were having a great time singing and walking and posing for pictures. We had no idea though as to where the trail would lead us to. A few times, we decided to turn and walk back to the springs but carried on in the spirit of the saying "We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time." - T. S. Elliot". With the push of enthusiastic friends, we completed the trail. We saw one of the highlights of our trip - The Fern Hammock Springs

Kids on the easy boardwalk to Fern Hammock Springs

There was a bridge on the left side at the end of the trail. When we looked down into the clear shallow spring pool, we saw sand boils with water constantly oozing out. On the other side, the shallow springs had reflections of the beautiful tree. From my research on Google, I read that "the very light blue color was from small boils that are artesian springs where water emerges from the limestone substrate under pressure". 

Picture below: Hubby trying to pick up a plastic bottle from the Fern Hammock Springs where swimming is not allowed. The intentions were good and we were lucky that nothing happened, however please don’t try to swim here unless you have magical powers to disappear when an Alligator swims by to give you a big kiss... 

After a quick fast food dinner and a good night's sleep, we got up to a scrumptious Sunday breakfast at the hotel and left with the following itinerary that our friend Santhosh had prepared after much research on the hotel's free internet. 

1. Clearwater Lake Recreation Area

2. Alexander Springs

3. Lunch 

4. Silver Glen Springs 

Clearwater Lake Recreation Area: As we entered the park, we saw a few tents with campers camping out. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were all swim suited up and ready to jump into the beautiful lake. The water was warm and just as the name suggests it was clear. The lake was surrounded by pristine wilderness and had none of the tourist trappings or crowds that throng other springs.

After a lot of swimming, fun and some snacks, we drove off for some lunch. There is no cafeteria in Alexander Springs and we were guided off to a close by city for Subway and a Pizza place. We settled for pizza and some Subway as well. 

Alexander Springs:

“The best swimming pools are not the ones with chlorine in it, but the ones that are courtesy of Mother Nature” – Deepa ;)

This spring took our breath away. The spring was huge. As we jumped into the water again, it was really chilly and I froze for a second before I regained consciousness from the super cold water :). It didn’t matter to the kids as long as they were in the water. The underwater landscape here was beautiful and even though this day was a well planned trip, we forgot our snorkel gear in the hotel room. We are now officially the seasoned travelers :). We had a great time here.

Silver Glen Springs:

Our last stop for the day was Glen Springs. This park was crowded and everyone was barbequing. There were a lot of party boats on the left side of the spring when you are facing the spring. The swimming area was again beautiful. There were a lot of shells in the water that we collected for the kids. There was a walking trail that would lead to a lake however it was starting to get late and the kids had had enough for the day.

We headed off to our hotel room. While the mom's and kid’s freshened up, the dads picked up one of the tastiest Indian Biryani and Dal Makhani from Amrit Palace. Highly recommend this place!! Spicy and tasty!

After some soul-searching nirvana discussions among the girls (Mother Nature does that to you!!), we called it a night!

Day 3

As we got ready to head back home and prepare for weekly routine, we just had one stop to make. 

Rainbow Springs:

This spring has amazing waterfalls. Yep! Waterfalls in Florida!! Well, okay... Its man-made falls but in this park, I felt as if I was in a Rainforest!! The natural spring was a most beautiful sight. Alas, we were short on time, so we could not manage a dip. But we did get to feast our eyes on one of the most beautiful springs!! We walked to some waterfalls, clicked some pictures, had some ice-cream and headed off for some tasty lunch at Sarvana Bhavan Orlando and then to home sweet home!!

Thanks Santhosh for this pic :)

Clicked by Santhosh the photographer :)

A splendid break from routine with our fun-loving and adventurous friends and the heart craves for more!!

Grand Canyon National Park

"It's like trying to describe what you feel when you're standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon or remembering your first love or the birth of your child. You have to be there to really know what it's like."
-Jack Schmitt 

You have to be there to really know what's it like. This is what we tell all our friends who have asked us to describe the Grand Canyon. It is difficult if not impossible to express the canyon's sheer pristine beauty with pictures or with words. It is an experience that can only be felt by standing at the canyon's rim.

We set off from Page (Arizona) towards one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World - The Grand Canyon.

This pic is taken from the Desert View Grand Canyon National Park

This was my 3rd visit to the spectacular National Park, but the first for my parents and son Rishi. I had visited the North Rim with friends while working in Phoenix and I had loved it as well.

Personally, I feel nothing can beat the grand overlooks and scenic walks from the South Rim. The first time hubby and I visited in Nov 2004, we took the Bus tour from Las Vegas. Below is what I had written in tripadvisor in 2005 after our vacation in Nov 2004. 

Reviewed May 3, 2005

Bus Tour in Nov 2004. All tourists were given the yellow raincoat :)

"Incurably addicted to Nature? My husband and I are, and so we took a bus tour from Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon and it was totally worth it. The bus tour costed us $75 per head. Tour Bus picked us up from our hotel - Stratosphere (good rooms and attractions but we lost on all slot machines there!!) at 7 AM.. the bus stopped at other hotels and picked up the rest of the visitors. It was a diverse crowd and the bus tour guide being so funny had all of us talking and interacting with each other in minutes.
Our first halt was at the Hoover Dam. After a quick tour of the dam, we left and reached the magnificent Grand Canyon. Its a totally unimaginable place. Grand Canyon is an erosional feature that owes its existence to the Colorado River. If we choose to walk - which all us of did, it was a total of 2.3 miles walk along the south rim.
The view, the walk along the rim, the serenity, the breeze, the colors of the rocks, the vastness, the depth, the look of nature, the sunshine on the Canyon, the old trees and woods, I think I could go on and on about the spectacular Grand Canyon.
How many of you go to Vegas and miss this trip to the Grand Canyon - I just have one thing to say - You will be awed the beauty and feel the serenity when you see the place.
Go Grand Canyon!!"

Little Colorado River Gorge - 
This vacation was different experience since we were driving down and we could stop at all the hidden scenic points. On our way to the Grand Canyon, we stopped at Little Colorado River Gorge. No one had informed us about this and this was a stop worth making. The gorge is so remarkably narrow and steep that when my dad approached the edge, he was astonished at the deep abyss view below and kept asking us to be careful as we held onto the rails to walk down. 

We had our lunch at one of the shelters there. One of the best picnic spots to have our home cooked Indian lunch with yogurt and fresh salad. :). There are numerous Navajo native vendors selling handmade jewelry and my hubby got me some beautiful earrings. This was so worth the stop for the scenic beauty and for the gifts I got ;)

Picnic tables at the Gorge 

Superb lunch with a superb view

Grand Canyon Desert View - Watchtower
We entered the Grand Canyon National Park from the Desert View on the east. We walked to the watchtower. We got the first view of the grandeur of Grand Canyon. We climbed up the tower for more pictures and scenic look outs. This was when we were all awestruck.  

Watch tower 

Inside the beautiful watch tower. Try to spot us in the pic.

Pic from the watchtower

Fish eye lens to capture the beauty  

Our next halt was at Grand Canyon Village. We were searching for our lodge - Yavapai Lodge. We wanted to stay inside the national park itself and we were lucky to get a reservation at Yavapai Lodge. This lodge was less than a mile to the South Rim. We checked in, had some coffee and left for Yavapai Point where we walked around the rim and sat to see the sunset with happiness in our hearts at the beautiful natural wonder of the world.

After a restful night, a hearty breakfast and a walk in the Yavapai store, we went for a walk down the South Rim. After a long walk, pictures, fun and constant admiration for the Grand Canyon, we set out for our longest drive till now - Back to Las Vegas with a stop over at Hoover dam.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas or does it... ?? :)