My husband & I were visiting my mother in Palm Coast last weekend. The very last moment we decided to head over to Epcot for their Food & Wine Festival on Monday with my mother and sister. I have been to this twice before over the years and just have the best time every time.
If you haven’t been I think it is a must for all South Floridians. Just jump on the Turnpike and it’s 3-4 hours depending on traffic and of course how heavy your foot is. It runs through November 11th. We stayed at the Yacht Club Resort and I highly recommend it. It’s located on Crescent Lake with a Boardwalk on the other side of the lake. It has wonderful restaurants, the best being the Yachtsman Steakhouse (ooooh yummy). This resort is very beautiful but the best part was how you step outside the resort and walk 5 minutes to a back entrance into Epcot Park. No buses, no parking, no parking fees, and the best is that there is usually no line to get in. Here is a picture of the resort:
So, once you walk into Epcot from your “private/secret” back entrance you will find yourself between England and France (you will know by the miniature Eiffel Tower). You have to backtrack a little to start at the proper place, Canada. Here you will start to see Food & Wine Booths to walk right up and try small portions from a lot of countries. Canada has a wonderful new 360 degree movie narrated by Martin Short and they also have a delicious cheddar cheese soup to try. The next stop is England where you have to go to the Rose & Crown Pub. Get a Guiness or a Bodingtons (our choice) and enjoy the charming little pub. Here we are waiting for our beers.
Some of the highlights of the food and wine:
- Tomato & goat cheese quiche in France with a pomegranate champagne
- Sushi & plum wine in Japan
- Sam Adams beers & Crabcakes in America & here you will find live performances by different bands. When we were there the Four Tops were playing.
- Flight of Italian wine & caprese salad in Italy
- Spaetzle & Riesling in Germany
- Pork pot stickers & Tsingtao Beer in China (Be sure to watch the China movie & the acrobats)
- School Bread & Viking Coffee in Norway (You have to stop at Maelstrom but skip the movie after the boat ride, boring)
- Quesadilla & Margaritas in Mexico
By this time the nightly fireworks show should start. If it doesn’t, keep on walking to Canada and start again!
Here are some of the things you will find at the Festival.
- Food Booths around the world with food, beer and wine from each of the countries.
- Wine & Beer seminars
- Cooking Demonstrations
- Eat to the Beat Concerts
- Culinary Exhibits
- Wine, cheese & food pairings
- elegant multi-course dinners with wine pairings and other special dining events
Before we began overindulging in everything the festival had to offer we had lunch in Future World at a great restaurant, Garden Grill. There is a greenhouse connected to it and you can take a boat ride to see all that is growing and the new techniques they are using to grow plants, vegetables and even fish. Here are pumpkins growing on a metal trellis and the pumpkin on the right is “Growing his ears” to look like Mickey.
The restaurant is great and it uses food growing in the greenhouse for their dishes: Butternut squash risotto, fresh vegetables, fried catfish. Also, they have cute characters dressed like farmers walking around the restaurant. Here is Dale (or Chip, I’m not sure) scaring my sister, Cindy and my mother.
You can always find great information at www.disneyworld.com.
I would recommend www.allears.net. It is a great website and has a ton of information about Disney.
Laura Laws
Cell: 786-546-8668