Many years ago, more than I care to count, Interstate 95 became my family’s pipeline from New Jersey to our favorite haven. We would pass South of the Border, the legendary South Carolina tourist attraction, but never stopped. What we were waiting for was the sign: Welcome to Florida! The welcome station was always our first stop. Why? To get that cup of delicious freshly squeezed orange juice. More importantly this signified the beginning of our Easter vacation. Hello warm weather.
Ready for one of my digressions? Colonel Sanders Kentucky Fried Chicken was always our second stop. The Colonel was not my great grandfather, as many have asked with this last name, but if he was life may have been a bit different. Stopping at KFC sounds a bit weird when it comes to something to get excited about, but at that time it was really still a Southern thing — we could not get that luscious chicken with its secret spices in New Jersey.
Now that I am a Floridian, I have wanted to stop at a welcome center to bring back this childhood memory, but I always chickened out. I really did not want to be disappointed. I figured why not check Google? Sooo, “Hey Google, do Florida welcome centers still give out orange juice?” I found out they still do give out that delicious freshly squeezed orange juice, which is nice.
What does all of this have to do with our next shoot? Hold on. Where The Food Comes From visited Sunsational Farms in Umatilla, FL on May 4. Sunsational Farms sort of began in the 1970s by Nick and Sharon Faryna. They managed several thousand acres of local citrus and commercially contributed to Florida’s orange juice industry. But all this was about to change. . . .
Get the full story HERE.
