Road Trip to Gainesville in Alachua County
Located just over an hour from the First Coast, Alachua County is a hidden gem nestled in farmland: antique markets in the historic town of Micanopy, wild horses and meandering trails in Paynes Prairie Preserve and myriad parks and springs that bubble up from the Floridan Aquifer. The county’s biggest destination is Gainesville, a quaint college town with a whole lot of culture. Best known as the center of Gator Nation, Gainesville is home to thriving local farms and markets, breweries, museums, galleries and a burgeoning restaurant scene. At just 62 square miles, most everything is easily accessible in this bike and pedestrian friendly city.
Curious to explore, Team Edible Northeast Florida made an Alachua road trip playlist and piled into the car to get a taste of what greater Gainesville has to offer. Here’s an account of our day visiting with farmers, playing outdoors and of course, eating great food.
8:30am | ALACHUA COUNTY FARMERS MARKET
Alachua County supports seasonal farmers’ markets, farm stands and CSAs (community supported agriculture shares) nearly every day of the week. If you visit on a Saturday, the Alachua County Farmers’ Market is a must. Located on busy Route 441, this robust producer-only market has been in operation since 1972 and features dozens of vendors offering seasonal produce, plant starts, meats, dairy products, baked goods and more. Faithful shoppers gather along the fenceline 30 to 40 minutes early, and the market opens promptly at 8:30 a.m. with the clanging of the market bell. Arrive punctually for the best variety and don’t forget to bring cash and your cooler with plenty of ice packs to keep produce crisp and your cheeses from sweating.
9:15am | BREAKFAST AT AFTERNOON RESTAURANT
Situated in the up-and-coming Grove Street neighborhood, Afternoon Restaurant features a small but mighty menu of bright and beautiful food. “Everything we can do, we make in house,” says Chef Rick Welsh, including sourdough breads and biscuits, cultured dairy products and their special coffee blends that are roasted in house. They also source produce from local farmers, including Siembra Farm, Brave Harvest, Frog Song Organics and 4R Farms; even the delicate edible flowers that top many of their signature dishes are grown in staff member Michaela Fellerman’s garden. Order several dishes to share including the velvety shakshuka with a side of crispy potatoes; the Dutch baby with seasonal citrus, thyme and maple syrup; and the house-cultured yogurt bowl with seasonal jam, honey and house-made granola with puffed amaranth, quinoa and rice.
10:30am | MORNING SKETCHING AT KANAPAHA BOTANICAL GARDEN
If you do nothing else in Gainesville, you must visit Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. Pronounced Kuh-NAP-uh-hah, the name derives from the native Timucua words for “palmetto leaves” and “house” which is an apt description, as it's home to the native Sabal palmetto and many other leaves and blossoms. Tucked away off suburban Archer Road, the 68-acre gardens sit on Lake Kanapaha. The property features trails winding through native woodlands and palm hammocks, gardens and several waterfalls. Its many distinct gardens include Florida’s largest public bamboo collection and the largest herb garden in the Southeast, as well as plots dedicated to butterflies, bromeliads and hummingbirds. It’s an ideal place to spread out on a blanket with a sketchbook and watercolors. The azalea and camelia garden are particularly beautiful in spring, and you can catch the giant Victoria water lilies in the summer months, but there’s something in bloom every season.
1pm | LUNCH AT 4TH AVENUE FOOD PARK
The 4th Avenue Food Park is a relatively new venture by brothers Brett and Tim Larson, co-owners of small-batch roaster Opus Coffee, who wanted to create a walkable open air gathering and event space. Located in Gaineville’s Innovation District, the park comprises a cluster of preserved mid-century buildings surrounding an outdoor eating space, hammocks and a stage. In addition to hosting the Opus Coffee Airstream, the brothers invited other independent businesses including Sublime Tacos, Humble Wood Fire, Fehrenbacher's Artisan Sausage and Satch Squared, an offshoot of the famous and deliciously quirky Satchel’s Pizza. With selections to suit all tastes, 4th Avenue is an ideal spot to gather with friends who have different dietary preferences. Our team chowed down on Sublime’s shrimp tacos, the Satch Squared’s Big Bradford Combo pizza (chicken, bacon, ranch, sautéed onions and jalapeño, OMG), sourdough bagels with lox from Humble Wood Fire and decadent baked goods from BakerBaker. We washed this deliciousness down with refreshing drinks from Opus, including Matcha sodas with lavender, mint and vanilla and iced La Horchatas with Opus’ triple espresso, rice milk horchata, coconut cream and cinnamon.
2pm | VEGAN ICE CREAM AT KARMA CREAM
In the heart of downtown Gainesville you’ll find Karma Cream, a bright little cafe on West University with an entirely vegan menu. The quaint space is always bustling with folks looking for their local latte fix with homemade syrups like vanilla masala, almond rose and curried ginger. Don’t sleep on the cardamom lemon macarons or the guava-strawberry croissants, but we’re here for the ice cream -- rich s’mores and ginger cookie caramel scoops packed into a waffle cone, coated in pastel sprinkles and topped with coconut whip. Rotating flavors include pistachio, cherry amaretto, sea salt caramel and peanut butter brownie. Another popular option is the ice cream sandwich: the same delicious ice cream smushed between two chewy chocolate chip cookies.
2:15pm | VISIT DEPOT PARK AND THE MUSEUM
Depot Park is a perfect spot for kids of all ages to burn off that ice cream energy. Comprising 32 acres just south of downtown, the park includes several ponds, a one-acre children's play area with splash pad, open green spaces and covered pavilions, a nature preserve and access to the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail. This trail stretches 16 miles from the city’s Boulware Springs Park through Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park. Also situated in Depot Park is the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention, which features interactive science and technology exhibits.
4pm | BEER STOP AT CYPRESS & GROVE BREWING CO.
Built in an early 20th century ice plant, Cypress & Grove is one of the coolest spaces in a city full of cool spaces. The brewery uses the ice plant’s original 400-foot well to draw up water from the Floridan Aquifer to make their beers and seltzers. Located across from Afternoon and adjacent to the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail, Cypress & Grove features a 15 barrel brewhouse, a gorgeous outdoor seating area and a large lawn that serves as home to the Grove Street Farmers Market. If that isn’t hyperlocal enough, the site also serves as a CSA drop off for Frog Song Organics. The brewery makes a variety of beers and non-alcoholic seltzers with seasonal flavors including homegrown muscadines, local blueberries and strawberries. Co-owner Anna Heineman says, “local always tastes best.” We agree.
6pm | DINNER AT PUBLIC & GENERAL
A little off the beaten path is Public & General, a true neighborhood restaurant with a dark and cozy tavern atmosphere inside and a large outdoor patio area studded with umbrellas and string lights. Located in the heart of the Northeast neighborhood further from the bustle of the city center, Public & General is an intimate and inviting space with tasty cocktails - the Gin Basil Smash is light and refreshing in the summer heat - charcuterie boards and a rotating seasonal menu supported by local growers. In addition to serving up one of the best burgers in town, Head Chef Glenn Pangelinan, a Navy veteran, also incorporates menu items like Chermoula, a roasted Japanese eggplant and ras el hanout dish inspired by his travels in Northern Africa, Asia, Afghanistan and Iraq.
MAKE IT AN OVERNIGHT STAY
If you can’t fit everything into one day, plan an overnight stay at a Victorian B&B in Gainesville's Southeast Historic District. Start fresh the next morning with an iced lavender matcha latte and a plump strawberry crunch donut from Halo Potato Donut on South Main. Follow that up with a trip to the Butterfly Rainforest at the Florida Museum of Natural History, a 6400 square foot living exhibit featuring hundreds of species of butterflies and birds in a lushly landscaped tropical setting.
For lunch, head south on Route 301 to the Yearling Restaurant in Hawthorne for an old Florida meal inspired by the writings of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. While there, visit her home, Cross Creek. As you head back north, make a stop in Historic Micanopy to wander through its antique shops and pick up a decadent brownie from Mosswood Farm Store and Bakehouse -- delicious! Walk off the butter and sugar along Paynes Prairie’s boardwalks and take a small detour in Starke to visit Kings Kountry Produce Stand for Jane’s jams, pickled okra and U-Pick strawberries in season (January-May). Make sure to grab a batch of their legendary boiled peanuts, because you should always leave room for boiled peanuts.
