Day 7: Friday, July 24th
Part 5
One area that has really interested me for a long time now is Celebration. I had been there on a couple of the 2013 trips and fell in love with this cute little area. If you’ve been there, then you know what I mean. They have several apartments around there, so I drove through each of them, took pictures and even stopped at a couple of them for tours and more information. I was really happy with what I saw and the area is beautiful. It’s pretty pricey though. I think I might be able to make it work in that area, but I’m just not sure. I’m going to have to think about it a lot more and check out more places over the next year! It would be amazing to be SO CLOSE to WDW though.
While there I had to stop in the Woof Gang Bakery. I visited this little shop (which carries tons of products for dogs…treats, food, collars, supplies…you name it) once before and got my dog, Izzy, some fun toys and treats that she loved. I had also gotten her a Minnie collar. (She didn’t care one bit about the collar, but I liked it…haha.) So I wanted to go back to this cute store again. This time I loved that they had a little doggie treat bar! Kind of like the yogurt shops that are everywhere now, you could get a bag and get what you wanted and pay by the ounce! Such a cute idea. And luckily for Izzy, they were all allergy friendly. (Poor dog has food allergies…and I just recently found treats that work for her…but I was excited to be able to give her some fun options.) So after I got some treats and a fun new toy for her, I decided it was time for an afternoon treat for myself. Kilwin’s is also in downtown Celebration. So very YUM! Ice cream, chocolates, fudge…you name it, they have it. I got an apple covered in caramel AND dark chocolate AND sea salt. So. Good.
Pretty sure this is what Dog Heaven looks like...
By now it was past time for me to go! So I said goodbye to Orlando and hit the road towards Tampa. I should have watched my time a little more closely, because unfortunately I was getting on I-4 right when traffic was starting to get bad. I was not surprised by this, but it was still a little annoying. So the trip to Bradenton was very long and slow. But I eventually got there and was SO EXCITED to see my friend! I hadn’t seen her in a few months. She and I are from the same hometown and went to school together from K-12. Her mom even taught me in 2nd grade! We went to different colleges, but we have only gotten closer as we have gotten older, especially in recent years. I even knew her husband before they met (and they started dating in high school.) They have 2 kids, who are completely precious. One was on a trip with grandparents while I was there, but their adorable 1.5 year old little girl was there for me to be entertained by.
For dinner we went to Pinchers Crab Shack in Lakewood Ranch. Very cool place. Great décor, old country music playing. Loved it. And my food was amazing.
This was SO GOOD! Crab claws in a parmesan garlic butter deal. Crazy good.
For dessert we headed to Olaf’s Creamery for an ice cream cone. Yum!
That was it for this fun day! It was time for bed.
Day 8 would bring relaxation, the beach, alligators, weird birds and babysitting!
I knew they hadn’t had one since they moved down there, and since I AM Mary Poppins after all, I insisted they go spend some time together. I was just going to shower and pack up and get ready to head home early the next morning anyway, so why not! I had fun getting the little one ready for bed and they put her to bed and left. They had a great time and enjoyed their movie. 
