Ferndale Preserve - Clermont/Ferndale, Fl

One day on a drive Duane and I came across a nice little area park called Ferndale Preserve.  It is off County Road 455 where Clermont and Ferndale intersect.  It had a really nice playground and covered picnic area and then had a really nice area to hike in with trails for both horses and people. 

Lake County has some information on the park and its hours here - http://www.lakecountyfl.gov/departments/public_resources/parks/ferndale_preserve.aspx

Showcase of Citrus - Clermont, FL

Our final stop on the "Clermont tour" lead us to the Showcase of Citrus or U Pick It Citrus on US 27.  They have hundreds of citrus trees growing so you can take the family and for a small fee wander around and pick citrus right off the vines.  The prices for the fruit are very reasonable and they provide bags and carts that you can pull through the fields so you don't have to carry the heavy fruit.  Not only do they sell fruit, but have a small market with all types of products.

It was a very pretty, serene and quite place that you could get lost in even without picking any fruit.  Next time you want to do something outdoors with the kids, give this place a try and introduce your child to some new tasty fruits right off the vine.

While there we saw they offer an eco-safari tour for $20/adults, $10/kids.  We didn't take the ride, but will visit again when our son is with us to check it out.  Check back later for another post on that adventure.

On the other side of the lot away from the trees there is a lake with a nice deck and a few benches.  We stood for a while and watched the wildlife. 

For more information, directions or just to take a look for yourself - take a look at their website at http://www.showcaseofcitrus.com/

Citrus Tower - Clermont, FL

Our second stop on our Tour of Clermont took us to the Citrus Tower.  It is one of the tallest points in Central Florida, allowing you to see the skyline of downtown on a clear day.  The tower itself is 226 and due to it being built on the highest hills in Central Florida, the top of the antennae on top is 500 ft above sea level.

They are open Mon - Sat 9am - 5pm and closed on Sundays.  Admission is $4.00/adults and $2.00/children.  The tower itself isn't anything spectacular, but the views from the top will really take your breath away.

Check out the photos from the top (somewhat of a cloudy day) and if you are ever in the area, stop in and check it out for yourself.

http://www.citrustower.com/

At the top there are posts that wrap around the viewing area.  On each side is a sign letting you know what happens in that direction.  You will see the sign and then the view from that direction.

There was a coin drop at the top that has an ear hole so you can drop your coin in and see how long it takes to get to the bottom of the tower.

Lakeridge Winery - Clermont, FL

Recently my fiancee and I decided we needed to do something for the blog, but with gas prices and our schedules we couldn't commit to something to far away or an all day event.  I thought long and hard and came up with the "Tour of Clermont".  Not only is it not far from our house but 2 of the three and half things we did were free!  So we jumped in the car and headed out to our first destination, Lakeridge Winery.  They are open Mon - Sat 10am - 5pm and Sun 11pm - 5pm.  The tours and tastings are always free and happen every 15 minutes and last about 45 minutes in length.  We had done this before a long time ago, but I thought it was definitely interesting enough to go back for the blog. 

You begin the tour with a 15 minute video about the history of Lakeridge Winery and the Cox family who were responsible for opening the winery.  It goes through how they choose the site for the winery to how the 127 acres of land is divided for all phases of the operation. 

Next you are ushered out onto a walkway that overlooks the bottling floor.  In this room are huge tanks that hold the wine as it is fermenting.  They are stainless steel jugs, so any oak flavor you get from the red wines are do to oak chips being added to the grapes.    If you are interested in the step by step process, there is a tab on their website which is included and you can check it out for yourself.

one of the smaller tanks inside

They also explain the only different between white and red wine is that the red wine is marinated with their skins still on while the others are removed before the squishing process. This machine goes through and gets rid of the skins (for the white), leaves and stems, before squishing into into a mushy substance.

Next you proceed outside where you get to see the machine that they use to pick the grapes.  This machine straddles the vine and shakes all the grapes of the vines and out the tube into a large collection bag that rolls along side it.  No manual picking at this winery.  You also get to see some of the larger tanks holding the wine.  They said last year they made over 500,000 gallons of wine.

the big outdoor holding tanks

This winery uses only two types of grapes in their wines.  The first is called Muscadine and it is a sweet grape that is natural to Florida.  This makes the majority of the wines that Lakeridge serves to be on the sweeter side.  For those of you that like yours a little drier, they do also grow Hybrid grapes.  Are you a bubbly person?  They have sparkling wine that is brewed the same way as Champagne, but since it must come from Champagne, France it must be called sparkling wine.

to the left are the hybrid grapes and to the right are the Muscadine grapes

At this point, you circle around to another walkway over looking the bottling machine area, where each bottle gets filled, corked, labeled, vibrated, and packaged.

the bottle starts on the left side and works its way around to the right

Finally you end up back in the gift shop and it is now time to taste the wines you just learned so much about.  Belly up to the bar and get ready to taste the 10 varieties that they offer.  They pour just enough to taste and teach you the proper way to taste wine.  Don't worry the samples are the equivelent to one glass of wine.

your supplies for the tasting

Don't want to run home right after the tasting?  Get something from the gift shop - snacks, perhaps a bottle and have yourself a picnic overlooking the vineyard.

The other thing this winery is known for are their monthly events.  They have a calendar page on their website that gives the entertainment for the year.  They just ask for a small donation of $2.00 that goes to a local charity.  Typically they are filled with musicians, wine and good food!!

So the next time you need something to do that doesn't require a lot of cash or time.  Come check out the winery.

http://www.lakeridgewinery.com/index.php
19239 Us Highway 27, Clermont, FL 34715-9025

LOCATION:
U.S. Hwy. 27, 3 miles south of Florida's Turnpike Exit 285 and 6 miles north of Clermont. Approximately 25 miles west of Orlando via Hwy. 50, and 30 miles north of Walt Disney World ® via U.S. 27.