Tag: ocalaflorida

Ocala, FL Travel Guide

It has been such a blast getting to know our new home town Ocala, FL and finding all of the fun activities and best places to eat around the area. I wanted to share with you all why you shouldn’t miss Ocala, FL when visiting FL and also share with my local audience some fun things to do in the local area. If you live in Orlando, Tampa or Gainesville visiting Ocala would be a great day trip as we have a lot of things to do and see here.

Things to do:

Kayaking at Silver Springs or Rainbow Springs

We love both of these springs and they each have something different to offer, if you do go kayaking I recommend booking through Get Up and Go Kayaking as they have clear kayaks that you can see through.

W.E.C (World Equestrian Center)

This is such a neat experience and one you don’t want to miss! They have several free shows throughout the year, restaurants, a five star hotel, pool, and don’t miss their Christmas Spectacular at Christmas time.

Ocala Civic Theatre and Appleton Museum

These are right next to each other and are both great experiences. The Civic Theatre has theatre shows year round to see. The Appleton Museum is a neat place to view art.

Downtown Art Walk

This is such a neat experience. There is music in the town square and tons of different artists there each time and the shops downtown are open at night. It happens the last Friday of every month.

Sholom Park

This is our favorite park to visit and there is so much to see here. It’s great for a nice walk outside or a picnic.

Biking on Greenway Baseline Trailhead and Santos Trailhead

You don’t want to miss biking or walking on either of these trails. The Greenway includes part of the FL National Forest and Santos is beautifully covered with tons of trees as well. They are both unique trails and we love biking on them.

Light up Ocala

This event is a must see in our area! Several people travel from places in FL to see this event. Our whole downtown is lit up in Christmas lights and we have several vendors at this event.

Zip the Canyons

This is a really fun experience right in Ocala, FL. There are several zip lines on this course and the views are amazing.

Restaurants

There are so many different restaurants here in Ocala. I wanted to share my top favorites along with places that are great with Gluten and Dairy Free options.

Brunch

The Gathering Cafe (this is my absolute favorite! It’s a local coffee shop that has amazing coffee and breakfast)

First Watch (this is a chain, but has such great food!)

Symmetry Coffee (they have great coffee and some good brunch too! I love their lunch options too)

Lunch

Pie O’ Mine and Greens (they have great build your own salads and wraps)

Latinos Y Mas (they have great salads as well)

Brick and Iron Cafe (great smoothie bowls)

Ivy House (they have a great lunch menu with salads, sandwhiches, burgers and such a cool atmosphere)

Salyulitas (they have great tacos and guac)

Dinner

Braised Onion (this is by far one of my favs here and so good with allergies)

Latinos Y Mas (has great mexican food and you can sit outside)

Mojos (they have a great menu and you can eat here at lunch or dinner)

Mesa de Note (this is a great Italian restaurant and they were great with my allergies)

Harry’s Seafood Bar and Grille (this has great seafood and New Orleans style food)

Pie O Mine (great stone fired pizza, they have Gluten and Dairy free pizza options)

Blue Highway Pizza (great casual place and great pizza, they have Gluten and Dairy free pizza options )

Dessert

Sarafey’s Gluten Free Bakery (I love this place and they have great gluten and dairy free baked goods)

Happy Pineapple (amazing dole whip)

La Dolce Vita Gelato and Pastry (don’t think they have non dairy options)

Hope you all enjoy exploring Ocala and all of the many things to do and see in our local area. Check back for more travel guides coming this month!

Top Things to do in Ocala, FL

We are so excited to call Ocala, FL home now. We love all of the beautiful moss covered trees and historic downtown area. We wanted to share some of our favorite local highlights. Be on the lookout for a part two as we get to know our area better.

World Equestrian center

This is a must see in Ocala, FL and you can’t visit Ocala without seeing WEC. It looks like a building you would see in Europe. This is one of our favorite places to visit, take pictures, and walk around. They have five different restaurants on site, tons of shops, a lot of horse shows going on throughout the year, a five star hotel with a pool, special events throughout the year including the Christmas Winter Wonderland event in December, and a beautiful chapel. All of the decor in their hotel is regal animal themed and absolutely gorgeous. You can visit WEC anytime of the year for free besides special ticketed events. Here are some pictures of WEC below.

Trails for Biking

One of our favorite things to do in Ocala is go biking or hiking and they have so many beautiful trails that are a part of the FL National Forest. Our favorite trail is the Greenway Trailhead at Baseline. It’s surrounded by beautiful pine trees and moss covered trees. We love biking through this trail and it’s a great trail for many activities. We also have enjoyed Santos Trail as well for biking.

Downtown Ocala

Downtown Ocala has so much to offer between their Market days, to art walks, to lots of shops and restaurants. We absolutely loved the light up Ocala event this year where we got to see the whole town square light up in Christmas lights and they had several local businesses and vendors there as well. Symmetry Coffee is a little coffee shop downtown that is a really cute place for coffee and pictures. We also love Harry’s Seafood, Salyulita’s, Ivy House, and Merevino downtown. The square has a really cute gazebo and lots of moss covered trees. It’s the perfect spot for strolling downtown or taking pictures. We haven’t checked out Market day but are planning on doing that soon.

Kayaking at Rainbow Springs or Silver Springs

There are a couple of local springs around Ocala including Rainbow and Silver Springs. If you want to go on a glass bottom boat tour then Silver Springs is your go to. That is on our list of things to try soon. Rainbow Springs is perfect for Kayaking and Tubing. We just went kayaking and what an amazing experience it was. The views are gorgeous and don’t forget to check out kayak tours with Get up and go kayak at Rainbow Springs. Plus you get to see a lot of FL wildlife while on the water. It’s also such a peaceful experience! Be prepared to get wet!

Ocala Civic Theatre

If you enjoy entertainment and seeing shows then this is the place for you. I got to see It’s a Wonderful Life with my husband recently and it was such a great experience. It was a very professional show. They have a lot of shows happening throughout the year.

These are just some of our top favorite things right now to enjoy. We can’t wait to explore more of Ocala and share more spots with you all in part two of our blog post. More FL travel guides and places to visit in FL coming soon!