2025 January - Elite Resort at Citrus Valley

    Elite Resort at Citrus Valley, Clermont, FL

January, 2025

Happy New Year and welcome back. It's a new year, a new itinerary and an eagerness to enjoy attractions, dining experiences and adventures with my RV friends. Best of all, it's my NINTH year staying at this resort. For anyone interested in reading about how it was back then, links will take you there. I may have missed a year in between due to a cross-country trip but my first stay here was in 2015. Here are the three blogs I posted at that time: Day ONE, (Thursday and Friday), Day TWO (Saturday) and Day THREE. (Sunday) It's worth the chuckle to see why it's good to look back in time and reminisce about what was. (Ray/Kathy, Mike/Chrissy, Vicki/George, Tony/Doreen, you were there.)

I'm here until April 1st, so I thought a blog per month should cover the activities I enjoy.

This year, I'm on site 217. This site accommodates two sites and right behind me, on site 216, are Tony & Doreen. We're right across the pool and clubhouse.

Other from my RV group, the Hudson Islanders include:

Roberta - Site 112
Jack - Site 199
Walter and Fran - (residents)
Tony and Doreen - Site 216
Dan and Melanie - Site 193

Johnny camping 20 miles north

Pat and Jim at nearby Thousand Trails

Site 217 is spacious and landscaped with sewer, 30/50 amp service and water. Owner purchased site 216 behind me as well. Tony/Doreen's big Class A is seen in background.

Our gathering place for welcomed campfires. In the early weeks of January temperatures -15º below average daily highs have canceled our get-togethers. Hard to believe but temps were just too cold to enjoy the event. Morning coffees have been few and far between because of the cold. 

On January 8, a frost advisory was issued for our region.

A chilly sunset.

And so, this blog is devoted to the January highlights: Dining out, cold weather, my lingering cold, and campfires. Most dining experiences were returns to familiar places from our past.

At The Friar Tucks, a British Pub, I enjoyed their Cottage Pie. Its cousin, Shepherds Pie more often seen in Irish Pubs, consists of lamb instead of beef.

Minced beef, peas, carrots, sweet corn, sauteed onions in a rich brown gravy, simmered to perfection and topped with golden brown peaks of garlic mashed potatoes.

For one of our "Boys Night Out," we visited the Crooked Spoon, a restaurant/pub born of a food wagon in 2011.

Filet mignon, garlic mashed with vegetables.

L. to R. Smilin' Walt, Dan, Charlie, Johnny, Jim, Smilin' Jack, Tony

Longhorn Steakhouse

I opted for the stuffed mushrooms and a crock of onion soup

Fresh, roasted mushrooms hand-stuffed with garlic herb cheese, topped with their signature Parmesan and garlic cheese crust and served over a creamy four cheese sauce.

Amore Ristorante

L. to R. Jack, Doreen, Tony, Dan, Melanie, Jim, Pat, Walter, Fran, Johnny and Charlie

Baked Rigatoni; al dente pasta enveloped in homemade meat sauce, layered with creamy ricotta, and crowned with melted mozzarella cheese.

For dessert: Ricotta Pistachio Cake

Pistachio and ricotta creams separated by sponge cake, decorated with crushed pistachios and dusted with powdered sugar.

Robata Japanese Steakhouse

L. to R. Dan, Melanie, Jim, Pat, Tony, Doreen

With Roberta and Liz

Liz, Jack and Charlie

I opted for the Lobster Fantasy Roll

Flippers Pizza

Indoors at the Clubhouse on Saturdays, for $8.00, we had breakfasts. Depending on the week, they served: pancakes, French Toast, scrambled eggs, potato patties, sausage, bacon, oatmeal, grits, orange juice and coffee. Someone would sponsor the event, purchase the ingredients and volunteers then prepare and cleanup with all proceeds going toward Toys for Tots.

Some Saturdays hot dog/hamburger lunches were served...

...and eaten outside on the patio.

For our morning coffee, on cold days, we'd visit Jack's RV...

...or gather at Charlie's site.

And then there's the campfires. Temperatures permitting, we eventually got around to enjoying the warmth and the company that go with the "campfire." Our get-togethers, with as many as 12, enjoyed choices of drinks such as: gin and tonics, beer, IPA beers, wine, Irish whisky, bourbon and Ole Smokey Tennessee Moonshine (white chocolate and butter pecan flavored). Jack Daniels honey sipping whiskey, by the way, served medicinally to help suppress the coughing from a lingering head/chest cold I had mid January.  

We each took turns buying bundles of wood from either Publix or Lowe's.

Even after the the wood and flames disappeared, the warmth of the coals continued.

And before we knew it, January was gone. Next blog in February. Till next time, with winter advisories pending back home, stay safe, warm and happy.

"Friendship is a priceless gift that cannot be bought nor sold, but its value is far greater than a mountain made of gold." - Muhammad Ali