#wekiwa

Commission Example: Cursed Novelties

Wekiwa Springs, FL

I, of course, wore only my finest carrot swim trunks and Hawaiian shirt.

But first... Vampire Penguin! They’re a small chain that does what they just call “shaved snow”, but is basically the same thing as the Taiwanese dessert xue hua bing. We got the Tuxedo (chocolate, strawberry, almond), VP (green tea, strawberry, adzuki), and Coffee Toffee (coffee, caramel, toffee bits) flavors. All were good, but next time, I would definitely just get a bigger thing of the coffee.

...Coincidentally, when I added this place to the plan, I had no idea that it was in the former location of Rita’s, the ice cream shop CJ and I stopped at when we went camping at Wekiwa last spring.

Speaking of, Wekiwa is always a good time. It’s not the spring I visit the most, being over an hour away, but I’ve been here at least a half dozen times, and it’s my favorite I’ve been to so far. If you’re ever near Apopka, Florida, I 100% recommend checking it out.

We did some other things (shopping, bubble tea), but the other big highlight of the day was Korean barbecue, our shared favorite dining experience. I have no idea what I was doing that my chopsticks are visible in this picture... but more importantly, ain’t CJ just the cutest?

We also ate here while camping last year, because every time I plan a trip I naturally check if there are any Korean barbecue places nearby (I mean, who doesn’t?)... and, uh. I haven’t really told anyone about this, but for the last ten months I’ve been on a bit of self-improvement kick. I’m still a couple months away from my ultimate fitness goal, but to date I’ve lost 130 lbs, as you can see from these pictures taken at Korea House in May 2021 and June 2022.

Open Pine Flatwoods, made possible by frequent fires. 

All species that grow and live here can survive the fires and many would die out or move on if it didn’t burn here.