Gainesville, Florida - January 27th to 29th, 2017

This was one of those last minute trips that you never ever wish to have to go on. You grandma just entered hospice and you should probably go and see her. Good news is that grandma is comfortable and doing fine for now. But with every experience, you always try to find the silver lining. For me it was having the chance to get out and explore a new city. My experience with Gainesville was mostly associated with watching the Florida Gators on a Saturday afternoon or that one time I drove through Gainesville about 5 years ago when we moved from Orlando to Kansas City..and all that afforded me was a quick hi and bye as I sped across the west side of the city at 80mph along I-75. Traveling with my parents and little brother, we had about 36 hours to explore the area. Now I will be honest, we picked up a map and a “what to do” pamphlet at the airport, but from the beginning, I knew this was going to be a tough trip. We could only spend a little bit of time with Grandma before she became too tired, so what in the world were we going to do? This is the journey of our 36 hours in Gainesville.

DOUBLETREE HOTEL

Gainesville, Florida

http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hotels/florida/doubletree-by-hilton-gainesville-GNVGLDT/index.html

Being a hotel snob, I sometimes cringe when I am not staying at a four star, full service property…but over the years I have come to accept the product, service and amenities that come when you are staying at secondary and limited service brands. I went in with a negative perception of staying at the Doubletree- honestly I just never liked them – but I was just blown away.

This wasn’t “your fathers brand of Doubletree” this place was super hip and cool. Not something you expect from a Doubletree. This hotel felt more like it should be part of The Graduate Hotels brand which is normally found in the heart of core university cities. But I guess when you are down the street from the University of Florida campus; you had better be a bit different and stand out amongst the sea of sameness that has taken over the hotel industry.

The building was a former hospital, so it had lots of great courtyards and was easy to navigate. From the moment you walk in the door you are greeted with a great lobby that included the check in desk and a grab and go snack area, but what caught my attention right out of the gate was their lobby bar which had a 12-foot TV wall, opened up to the outdoor space featuring string lights, yard games and well organized seating areas…and even made me wonder if we should be renovating the bar area of our house to follow this design. From the Edison teardrop light fixtures to the communal tables, this place was very welcoming and drew you in. This was the heart of the hotel. But what really got my heart pumping was their fantastic selection of local craft beers they had on tap.

The guestrooms are what you would expect at any 3 or 4 start hotel these days. Comfy bed, 50inch tv, workstation with plenty of plugs to charge your devices, a huge chalkboard, great amenities, etc.

The hotel also had a lobby restaurant just off the bar separated via a large barn door and a well-equipped fitness center, but we didn’t have the chance to enjoy either one.

The hotel had a nice mix of customers ranging from families, to couples, to business travelers, and even a dozen or so cheer teams in town for a competition. And I definitely could see myself staying here again. It definitely changed my perception of Doubletree.

Gainesville Ale House

https://millersalehouse.com/

I won’t lie, ever since I starting coming to Florida on business and pleasure, the Ale House restaurants have always called my name. I never realized how large they were but they have 54 restaurants in Florida and a handful of restaurants in either other states.

The Gainesville Ale House was just a short walk from the Doubletree, the Ale House concept is the same in every market and features a center bar, plenty of seating and a great outdoor patio. There are TVs along every wall and found in every corner of the joint, which is great, but what keeps bringing me back time after time are their great local beers and their Zingers. Zingers are their boneless chicken fingers that have a dozen or so sauces and are just heaven in your mouth. They have straight Zingers, the Zinger Mountain Melt (my favorite), Zinger Sandwiches, Zinger Salads. I am sure you could have a meal created however you wanted around this concept.

The Ale House concept typically has over 75 beers on tap or available via bottle. And with their daily, ever changing happy hours, the only hard decision to make is when to come.

BEERS TRIED

• Cigar City Jai-Alai IPA

• https://cigarcitybrewing.com

• IBUs – 70

• Alcohol – 7.5%

• Celebrating a sport that made the state famous, Cigar City pays homage to this “merry game” that allowed players to fling a ball at close to 200 mph at each other. My parents would never take me to a game growing up as balls could leave the arena and strike and kill spectators.

• This India Pale Ale was absolutely delicious and has been one of my favorites for the last several years….but unfortunately you an only find it in the southeast.

• Swamp Head Brewery – Big Nose IPA

• http://swamphead.com/

• IBUs – 56

• Alcohol – 7.3%

• Utilizing locally sourced ingredients, Big Nose IPA is said to be a mystical nectar brewed for hop lovers. I will tell you the smell didn’t hold a candle to the incredible taste.

• Swamp Head Brewery – Stump Knocker Pale Ale

• http://swamphead.com/

• IBUs – 42

• Alcohol – 5.6%

• Now I probably should have just kept drinking my previous beers that were absolutely incredible, but felt I needed to capitalize on this new found selection of beers I had never had. I decided to taste the Stumpknocker Pale Ale and it fell a bit flat. I struggled through it, but if you are IPA and Pale Ale fans…stay with the Big Nose IPA

Maple Street Biscuit Company

https://maplestreetbiscuits.com/

Just a short walk from our hotel (really the other side of a large parking lot) we spotted this little gem. With a handful of locations scattered throughout northern Florida, this was definitely well worth the visit. As the name suggests, this southern comfort food joint has everything biscuit that you could ask for. The maple infused goodness was definitely hard to put down.

Given I had already knocked out two Doubletree Chocolate Chip cookies that morning – don’t judge me – I opted for The Raphie which was simply a biscuit smothered with pure heaven. The gravy had a nice kick and definitely left me leaving the table well satisfied. I also enjoyed plenty of chances to sample their different varieties of coffee roasted from Red Leaf Roasters.

GETTING OUT

As mentioned I was traveling with my parents and little brother. This said, it sometimes is hard to decide what to do. So knowing that Gainesville “what to do” list sounded a bit like this…. From Spaing to Scenic Trips, Gainesville has it all. Gainesville is home to state parks, nature centers, wetlands and conservation areas, and there are plenty of bike trails, golf courses and other activities to make the most of Florida’s beautiful weather. Take the family to the Butterfly Rainforest, or spend a day at Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. Gainesville also has several fascinating art and history museums. Unfortunately that isn’t how my family rolls…so we decided to hop in the car and endure the 73 mile trip to St Augustine – the oldest city in the United States.

This should have been a quick trip, but given there wasn’t a direct highway there; we had to take side roads and two lane roads the entire way. This trip took about an hour and a half to complete. The good thing about being stuck in the car for that long, was that we were able to search Google and Trip Advisor to see what there was to do there. Now we had been here one time before (about 5 years ago), so we had a general understanding of what to expect, but if anything it was just a great place to get out and explore. St Augustine is a great walking town that has something for everyone. I know every destination says that (something for everyone) but this city truly does. They have former forts, Spanish monuments that are 400 years old, a pirate museum, gorgeous church and fantastic shopping and dining.

St Augustine Distillery

Our first stop on the way into town was a visit to the St Augustine Distillery - the #2 thing to do in the city according to Trip Advisor. Who doesn’t love seeing how booze is made and getting free samples….four free samples to be exact. The distillery opened just a couple of years ago with the goal of bringing fine hand crafted, locally made spirits back to the community. Opened within the historic FP&L Ice Plant, this Ice Plant originally produced blocks of ice to help keep cool all the produce going out of Florida back in the 1920s. When refrigeration was introduced the plant went out of business and sat empty for over 40 years. A team of entrepreneurs bought the building, brought their passion for spirits, and soon started distilling super premium, small batch runs of vodka, rum, gin and bourbon.

The craze for the last several years across the restaurant industry has been the concept of farm to table. The St. Augustine Distillery brought that idea to live through its farm to bottle concept where they sourced the bulk of the ingredients right there in North Florida. Using age-old techniques this distillery focuses on high-quality spirits made from products from local North Florida farmers. And it was this element of their story that truly caught my attention. Anyone can make a bourbon in their basement…but this company had a great story to tell, and had the awards to prove how their product using locally sourced ingredients including sugar cane, wheat, corn, water and citrus was pretty awesome. The only thing they had to search for was barley which they had to get from Minnesota. But the fact that this small spirit purveyor could produce a spirit that was now on par with some of the top producers in the world was a great thing to experience.

After learning the history, which you can see I absolutely absorbed, you get to take a 30 min tour/walk through their production facilities where you guide talks to the history of the distillery itself, the process for creating their product and what we always love – free samples. And to answer your question now, you can’t skip the tour and go directly to the tasting room. The tasting room resembled a bar and included one very energetic bartender who walked us through the process to make a Rum Tiki and Vodka tonic.

After leaving the tasting room, you entered the gift shop where there was another bartender making two more drinks featuring their bourbon – an Old Fashion and one other.

Also attached to the Distillery was a cute little restaurant, but it was 10am….and to early to eat lunch..but obviously not too early to drink.