$2009 Gainesville Challenge Support

SVreX wrote: How about family (and wife) friendly ideas??

The butterfly museum listed previously by Mitchell is fantastic for family/wife time. As is Devil's Millhopper, which I listed. My 2 kids love both.

My hobbies mostly revolve around cooking and eating, so my experiences in town are pretty one-sided.

Uppercrust Bakery: A very good French style bakery that specializes in breads and pastries. After a cheddar/chive scone from them, I'm pretty much in heaven.

We also have a growers only farmers market every Saturday morning. The new crop of oranges should be coming in, so you can find out what a real orange tastes like.

Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings State Park offers tours through the author's 1930s house and grounds.

dyintorace wrote:

Absolutely! This is a very cool spot.

http://www.floridastateparks.org/devilsmillhopper/

That was a loaded question as I have been there before. Amazing place, as is Paynes Prairie. I did a road rallye many years ago that had a check point at the Millhopper. The answer to a question was screwed onto a plaque affixed to the underside of the railing at the bottom platform in the sinkhole. LOADS of fun running through the park to get there and back to the parking lot.

Also a +1 for Cedar Key. Not much of a beach but an interesting historical site and wharf area. With a little more time you could also drive East and hit St Augustine for great beaches and a very cool old town area.

Is there still a huge dog park somewhere in/near gainesville?

http://www.dogwoodpark.com/ I cant vouch for its quality since I'm not into dogs but its the most well known one.

Micanopy is pretty nice for antique shopping if your peeps are into that, and the Blue Highway Pizza on the other side of 441 from the town is excellent.