A Driving Trip for Some Goodies–Tuesday–January 15, 2013

Today we took a little driving trip to pick up some sunscreen material to make grass mats and wheel covers for Baby.  Several RVer’s have recommended Beasley Manufacturing as a great place to buy this material.
01 - Center Hills - Beasley's Manufacturing
They are only open from 9 to 3 on Tues, Wed and Thursday from November through April.
 
Here’s the catch—Beasley’s is located in a very remote little town called Center Hill. 
 
Center Hill is a one light town and that light is flashing;o)) 
 01 - Center Hills - downtown
 
 
01 - Center Hills - FabricWe arrived about 10am and were surprised how many people were there!!  We had to take a number and wait our turn.  It was worth the wait.  They have a large selection, but it does change regularly.  So be sure to buy all you need because they may not have it when you return!! They were very helpful and made suggestions about which fabric would meet our needs and be most cost effective;o))
 
 
We ended up buying an 8x25 foot piece of light gray for a grass mat, a 5x18 foot piece of black and suction cups to make tire covers, as well as two 6x12 pieces of black/gray mix to fit in our screen room.  They only accept cash or check (no debit/credit cards), so I wrote my first check since becoming a Florida resident three months ago.
 
 
We loaded all our fabric and headed south on Rt. 471 through the Green Swamp area.  We were heading to Plant City to visit Parkesdale Market.  About lunch time, we saw the sign for Colt Creek State Park.02 - Colt Creek State Park - Sign
 
We had packed our lunch and now have a Florida State Park Pass, so we decided to check it out and enjoy our lunch there. It looks like a great park to ride bikes, do a little fishing, take a nice hike or do a little paddling. They only have a group campground right now, but that could change:o) However, it is only 15-20 minutes from Hillsborough River State Park. 
 
02a - Colt Creek State Park - Driving In02c - Colt Creek State Park - Reflections02e - Colt Creek State Park - lone palm02c2 - Colt Creek State Park - Reflections 
Beautiful peaceful place to enjoy our lunch:o))
 
 
Our final stop for the day was in Plant City at Parkesdale Market. Plant City is famous for its Strawberry Festival at the end of February.  But from what we saw, their Strawberry Shortcake and Strawberry Milkshake were hot sellers the day we were there.
 
03 - Plant City - Parkesdale's Produce
 
We were good and passed them by this time.  However, we loaded up on vegetables and fruits.  We ended up with three huge bags of beautiful fresh produce—total spent—$12.00!!!  We know we will be back for their Festival and I won’t be quite so disciplined then;o))

9 comments:

  1. Looks like you'll be using your sewing machine in the near future. We thought about going there as well but I don't have a machine so I'm not sure what we could do with the materials. Looking forward to the blog on your creations.

    You were right up the road from us at the market. It's a great one. Sounds like you'll be in the area for a while. The strawberry festival is sweet. See the parade for small town fun.

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    1. No machine necessary:o)) This material does not fray...just cut and go!!!

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  2. I've heard excellent things about Beasley's and they are on our list when we make it to Florida next year. I'll also be watching for pictures of your creations :)

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  3. Good buy on the produce. Yum, a strawberry festival sounds great!

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  4. We'll be hitting Parkesdale one day soon so if you need a restock on anything, give me a yell! Enjoy Lake Louisa and Showcase of Fruit!!

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  5. Fresh strawberry milkshakes? I'm on the way!!!

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  6. NO- never pass on the strawberry milkshake. Actually the best milkshake is Burr's Berry farm in Ft.Lauderdale. I always insisted on it for lunch when working down there.

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  7. Hmmm . . . we've been looking for a sunshade for our awning, and tire covers . . . I just might end up getting talked into making them myself. Can't wait to see yours, to see if I am up to it!

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  8. Love your description of Center Hill being a one "flashing" light town. What a hoot!

    Good for you resisting temptation. I'm afraid I'd have to give in and try one of those strawberry milkshakes.

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