Fri - 16 Jan/15

Wow! What is that bright light in the sky? (grin) The sunshine has returned.

Today will be a slow paced day with a little bit of everything.

We stopped at the park office on our way out of the park to pay our monthly electric bill. It was a reasonable $36.00. The park does not add a surcharge to the utility company charge, At some parks you have to make arrangements directly with the utility company to pay their bills . For monthly rentals Olde Mill Stream kindly and efficiently processes the billing and sends an invoice to your park mail box. This service is greatly appreciated.

Our next mission was to find a "Bobbin Cover" for Charlotte's Sewing Machine. The bobbin cover springs out if a release button is pushed, On occasion you may be unaware that this has happened. Suddenly, it is missing. Somehow it disappeared. We looked in every logical spot and still couldn't find the bobbin cover. This was all the excuse we needed to check out SEW-MINI Things in Mt. Dora.

All of the "Quilting Ladies" in the RV park are well aware of this great little store. We now know why they are so impressed. When Tim couldn't find the required "Bobbin Cover" in their large parts inventory, the normal response would have been to order the part and call us when it arrived. Instead he removed the part from an in-stock sewing machine and sold it to us with the words; "Now you won't have to wait to get back to sewing." Now that's what I call service!

We returned to the RV to verify we had the correct part. Perfect Fit!

Not to waste the first sunshine in almost a week we then took the top off the Del Sol and headed for Deland, FL. After an enjoyable half hour ride on scenic, almost traffic free roads we arrived in Deland which is similar in many ways to Mt. Dora.

Deland was founded in 1876 and is the county seat of Volusia County. Today, Volusia County usually brings to mind it's most famous city: Daytona Beach,

Deland is "Old Florida". Downtown DeLand's main street, Woodland Boulevard, has a number of notable 19th century buildings. The neighborhood was originally developed between 1900 and 1920.

Just after the beginning of the new millenium many historic houses and businesses were restored with the latest gem being the Athens Theatre.

Cruising down Woodland Boulevard brought us past Stetson University which was founded in 1883 by Henry Addison DeLand as  DeLand Academy and later named for a benefactor of the university John B. Stetson, of "Stetson Hat" fame.

Our lunch destination was Cook's Buffet, Cafe and Bakery (not to be confused with their other property: Cook's Cafe Downtown). This is a unique buffet experience. This is not a "Fast Food" version of a buffet. It is closer to a family feast than a restaurant.

Cook's Buffet, Cafe, Bakery in DeLand is steeped with family heritage and tradition. In 1959, Bob and Willa Cook founded the original Holiday House Restaurant serving prime steaks, tossed salads and gigantic Idaho baked potatoes. Early on, Bob developed a special buffet style serving hand carved aged beef, fresh turkey, lamb and ham. To accompany the meat choices were freshly prepared vegetables, salads and homemade desserts. Soon there were 14 Holiday House Restaurants throughout Central Florida.

Fast Forward to the present. This century house and family home (the original Holiday House), despite having undergone extensive inside, outside and kitchen renovations a few years ago, has an atmosphere and charm all it's own. It is comfortable and cosy like "Grandma's at Thanksgiving."

The Salad Bar had a nice selection of the highest quality fresh, in-season vegetables.

Ditto for the Veggies! How many buffets serve Snow Peas?

The server cut a substantial portion of our choice of four freshest, perfectly cooked meats for our plate. I was drooling all the way back to my table.

...and then there were the homemade desserts. Choosing was so hard.

We finally decided on the Key Lime Pie...mmmm good! Jennifer, our server, was excellent and attended to our every need. To top it off, Michael Jr., the manager, stopped by our table to make sure that they did not disappoint. Needless to say, they did not!

All this and a more than reasonable price. This was our first visit; but it will not be our last.

Another enjoyable ride back to the RV park. Charlotte particularly enjoys the sections where the trees form a canopy over the road.

Back at the park Charlotte rested while I gave the car a bath. Olde Mill Stream provides 3 car wash spots for the use of the residents. Each area is paved and has a hose with nozzle. The storage bin contains a power outlet and a shop vac for cleaning the interior of the car along with a garbage can. Another reason everyone loves this park.

Nice to actually see a sunset after so many overcast days,

We wrapped up the evening playing Bingo in the main clubhouse, We had the pleasure of playing once again with Vickie and Bill from Myrtle Beach, SC who we met at a  previous Bingo. None of us had any luck tonight.

That wraps up today's adventures.