Downtown Celebration is a wonderful place to experience for fine dining, excellent small shops, or even a simple walk.  Combine this with a great art show, and it is definitely an experience every visitor should take advantage of when it happens.

The lake front experience wraps completely around a beautiful water view.  As you will see in the following small sampling, art work can be of a varying nature:

Take a late afternoon and go out and visit this great location.   You’ll be quite amazed at how nice it really is.   And, watch for the special events that occur often.   They are both unusual and fun!

- Art -

Manny’s Original Chophouse is located on south Hwy #27 just beyond the Southern Dunes Golf & County Club on the right hand side… You can’t miss the large glowing neon sign that invites you in as you pass through Haines City.

There are plenty of Steakhouses in central Florida: Logan’s… Outback… Roadhouse… However, we have found Manny’s puts them all to shame. We were first introduced to Manny’s nearly 4 years ago by a friend of ours who lived in Sebring, Florida.  Although, we had been there once before,  7 years ago or so, when it used to be called Savanna’s Steakhouse. To be perfectly honest,  at that time it was terrible. One visit was enough for us.  Yet after it changed hands, and was transformed into Manny’s around 5 years ago,  it is now one of our favorites places to eat.

First thing you notice as you walk in the door (apart from the mouthwatering smell from the sizzling Fajitas) is the great decor… American memorabilia, wooden beam ceilings, car licence plates, local road signs,  and TV’s throughout  the restaurant showing American sports all evening. Even models of ‘The Blues-Brothers’ sit at each end of the bar watching you through dark sunglasses.

What makes Manny’s so special is that it is a family run  business and all the staff are exceptionally friendly, providing for a nice welcoming environment.  Plus, it’s full of locals… (and if the locals eat there, then it has to be good!) On the occcassional  odd night you may even run into Manny himself, a real character. On the rare occastion you should ever have a problem with your meal, he will be happy to fix it for you with no questions asked…

In addition to steaks, Manny’s also serves ribs, chicken, pasta, fish, burgers and Fajitas (Buy one, get one Free on Wednesdays) and has a great Bar, with ’2 f0r 1′ happy hour between 4-7 PM every evening.  They make a long list of Cocktails and specialize in frozen Margaritas and Rumrunners.

 Manny’s tends to get very busy, so expect a short wait when you arrive. It’s more than worth the short wait though, unless you can hold out till around 9:00 PM (no later as they close around 10:00 PM) when it starts to empty out and you can get seated immedately. Unfortunately, you can’t book a table.  However you can call ahead and add your name to the current waiting list.  Then, you will be given a time to turn up… which does help a little.

The food is excellent value for money. We pay around $15 each for a Rib-eye (my favorite) with fries and a side of Onions, which is accompanied by a big bowl of salad for the table and bread rolls with cinnamon butter… (The salad and bread is worth the money alone… it’s delicious!) As you can see from the snap I took of my dinner, you won’t be asking for seconds!

You have to try it to belive it.

While we were at Manny’s last Sunday, I asked for a copy of their menu to attach to the blog. Click here to download the Manny’s Original Chophouse Menu.

Visit Manny’s online: Manny’s Official Website

Manny’s is located on the edge of the resort area, so it doesn’t get as much traffic from guests on vacation as most of the normal Orlando Steakhouses.  This hidden treasure is a must visit, if you like a good steak!

Something else I found, and wanted to add to my last blog about Florida Alligators is the following photo.  It’s a great picture of what Gators do around the time they want to start laying eggs.  

Last year, this photo was taken.

On first inspection it would appear to be only my car… ’slightly dusty’… but take a closer look under my car below!

Don’t let this you put you off, it is quite a rare occurrence!

 A few more Gator breeding Facts:

• Gators normally start to breed when they have reached around 6 feet in length.
• Gator breeding season is normally around April when Courtship begins.
• Females start to lay eggs around the June/July time period.
• Gators lay around 40 to 45 eggs at a time.
• Incubation period is about 65 days.
• Hatching’s are around 6 to 8 inches at birth.
• Until the next breeding season, the mother will protect her hatchlings against predators.

Over the past 2 years we have seen Otters, families of Deer (up-to 14 early one morning), all sorts of birds…watched a young Hawk sitting on our Oak Tree last week looking for its next meal,  and the most interesting of all, Alligators.

At times we have up to three Gators in the pond at once, and have watched them with their off spring (which they are very protective of….I went a little closer than I should have to the edge of the bank once, and the mama Gator nearly came out of the water at me…). On the whole though, I have found Gators to have a real fear of humans unless people start to feed them; which of course we found out when moving into our new home, that previous guests in the area had been doing just this. A few of our Gators come to close to the bank looking for food now, which isn’t a good thing.  Over time a Gator will lose its fear of humans and may come out of the pond!   Feeding Gators may look like good fun.  However, all guests coming to Florida should please note this is illegal, and people could face serious consequences.

While observing the gators in our pond, it appears that during the early morning they come out of the water and bask on the edge of the land and pond, until the daytime heat becomes to much for them. Then, they retreat back into the water to prevent overheating.  During the later afternoon hours, they will reappear  back out of the water to bask again until night time. At that point they go back into the water for the evening.

A Few Florida Gator Facts:

• Gators do not like salt water and can die from Sodium poisoning.

• Since 1972 there have only been 9 fatal gator attacks in Florida.

• Baby Gators can make very loud chirping noises to get the attention and assistance of there mother.

• Only 1 in 10 Gators live past their first year!

• Alligators living in the wild have an lifespan of approximately 35 - 50 years, and up-to 80 in captivity.

• Gator Tail is eaten in Florida. Restaurants on the outskirts of the attraction area often serve Gator Nuggets… tastes like Chicken!… Don’t try catching your own…

• In 1977, the alligator was reclassified from an endangered to a threatened species.

•  There is a collage Football Team called… The Florida Gators

I was lucky enough this morning to take a couple of snap shots from across the pond of one of our Gators enjoying the Florida sun.  Look closely on the far bank…

As you can imagine, I wasn’t going to get to close to this Gator, so this is as far as my Camera would zoom in for a closeup… Smile… show me ‘them teeth’

Unfortunately as I tried to get closer, the Gator heard me and slid into the water… as you can see, almost fully submerged, you can hardly see the Gator… Let this be a lesson to you to  swim in your Villa’s Pool, or in the Sea… not in ponds or lakes in Florida!

Like to see Gators up close and personal? Then GatorLand is your best bet. This 110 acre theme park is dedicated to every aspect of Florida Alligators. The park features a breeding marsh, observation tower, reptile shows, aviary, petting zoo, swamp walk, Gator Wrestling, and educational programs; plus thousands of alligators and crocodiles.

I am very fortunate to have a home over looking a pond. There are more villas for rent like this available in the resort area.  So, if your really interested in seeing Gators and do not have young Children, then take the opportunity to rent a Florida villa that overlooks a pond or small lake, adn enjoy it!  Your more likely than not to have  Gators nearby… it’s fascinating to watch these creatures in their natural habitat, rather than in a petting zoo.  If you should have trouble finding a home near a pond,  simply drop me an e-mail.  I will do my best to try to find one for you!  If we can’t find a property that has Gators ready and wating, ask your property management company to order a couple for your arrival… joke

 Joking aside…

One of the most important rules is when you see an alligator in the wild… Leave It Alone! Alligators are not to be feared. They are however, to be respected.

Looking for further reading, then try these websites:

http://home.cfl.rr.com/gatorhole/

http://www.ecofloridamag.com/archived/alligators.htm

http://www.everglades.com/

Gator Wrestling Show:

Opening Officially on the 1st March 2008 Seaworlds new theme park “Aquatica” is nearly 60 acres in size about 1 third of the size of the Original Anheuser-Busch theme park and double the size of the 2nd Seaworld Park Discovery Cove!   

The new park features high speed thrill rides and slower moving water rides like the lazy river and has combined features from its Discovery Cove parks like Sandy Beaches along with the old SeaWorld favorites like Shamu and the Dolphin shows.  The main attraction of Aquatica is the 36 water slides and Six rivers and lagoons complete with Tropical Fish.

Two wave lagoons will be fun for all the family and are both very different, one has big waves and 5ft swells and the other a carm surf.

Also are Winding Rivers in which whilst being carried around you see waterfalls, exotic birds, various marine life and rushing rapids.

And if that all wasn’t enough, Eight lane racing slides and tunnels and for the kids a 60ft rain fortress next to a large family swimming pool with its own slides and tunnels!

Sounds like a long day out, make sure you plan a day by your pool at home the next day to recover

We will be posting complete review to our Orlando Guides section very shortly.

Greetings…

I too would like to welcome you to what we hope will be a fun, interesting, and somewhat different view of Central Florida.

From time to time, as one of the contributors to the Villas4All blog, I am going to be bringing you ‘outside the box’ ideas, thoughts, and insights on places to see, things to do, and events that sometimes can be overlooked while on holiday in Central Florida.  Hope you come to enjoy this.  We believe you will…

Stay tuned…

Art

Welcome to the new Villas4all blog, this is my first ever blog so I hope you all enjoy reading it, I am trying to bring fresh new content to the blog each week without going over old ground that you can already find on my site!  This blog will feature both information on Villas4all and new additions and updates but I have a few ideas planned out to post like places of interest I have visited in and around the Orlando area and also further afield that you may like to visit yourself with the family whilst on holiday or even if you live here yourself and have maybe not discovered!  I have lived in Florida for just under two years now and still have a lot of investigating to do……will keep you all posted

 Thank you

 Stuart
Admin - Villas4all.com

Orlando attraction area news: If your in town March 30th then you still have time to  purchase tickets for WWE’s BIGGEST Pay Per View event of the year, live from the Florida Citrus Bowl in Orlando.

Wrestlemania has always been know as a star studded event and this year is no exception, 50Cent will be accompanying Floyd “Money” Mayweather (Current WBC Welterweight Champion) who will go toe to toe against a 7-foot, 400-pound WWE Superstar “The Big Show”, Rapper ‘Snoopdog’ will also be on hand and to sing “America the Beautiful” John Legend.

Even if your a cusual fan and in the area on vacation Wrestlemania is definitely worth stopping by to see and always delivers! If only I had thought about if I could have offered Wrestlemania Villas for the weekend :)   Maybe next time!

For more information on Wrestlemania visit WWE.com or Click here.