So we absolutely love our dog, Leia, to pieces. We wish we could take her everywhere with us, but unfortunately that is not possible so we try to make it up to her by making time to take her out to places she can go to, as often as we can.
We searched for “dog friendly activities near me” and did not find as many things as we liked but did find some close to us so we grabbed Leia’s trusty water bottle and some water for ourselves and took off!
James had read that in Lake Panasoffkee, there was a small dog park with a convenience store right across the street that made an amazing Cuban sandwich. Kal’s Food Grocery looks like a fairly unassuming place to find a delicious sandwich but hey, YOLO right? We bought the sandwiches and headed across the street to the dog park so that Leia could play while we ate. We kind of overestimated her wanting to play vs wanting to eat what we were having so that didn’t quite work out but the sandwich itself was amazing. It really was. I, unfortunately, didn’t get any photos of the sandwich or the dog park there because it started raining, but we will definitely be back. Maybe even today actually because just writing about it is making me hungry.
The rain didn’t last long, so we decided to check out some nearby trails to burn off some energy. First we drove to Fenney Nature Trail which was in The Villages but when we got there discovered they did not allow dogs. Seemed kind of odd for a nature trail but rules are rules and there are alot of older people in The Villages for sure so it is a rule for their safety and that’s perfectly cool with us.
Next on the list then was Lake Okahumpka Trail and it is an absolute gem of a trail. Dog friendly, sand volleyball courts, restrooms, a lake, enclosed dog park, and different lengths of trails you can walk! Another cool thing was along the way of the trail (we chose the longest route) there are different fitness challenges with different obstacles to do which was definitely fun.
There are lots of really pretty views on this trail too. You can even walk out over the lake and there are a few gazebos along route if you get caught in a rain storm which we did. But hey…it’s Florida!
We will definitely take advantage of this trail again and hopefully be better at some of the fitness challenges next time!
We are always looking for something new to do in Florida so make sure to let me know if you know of any great place to eat or fun activities with or without dogs! For my next post I haven’t decided if I will cover our lunch at Gator’s Dockside in Ocala or our little getaway in Cocoa Beach *spoiler alert Cocoa Beach had some amazing food* but they both will be covered in future blogs regardless!