Follow our Sanford365 Date Night Ambassadors as they take on Date Night #4 in Sanford, FL. Thank you for sharing your experience, Tracy and Mike! Be sure to follow Tracy & Mike on their many adventures @tracytakesiton Thank you also to the Historic Fire Station AirBnB, The Old Jailhouse, Celery City Craft for donating the perfect date night for our ambassadors May Date Night! 

We took to the streets again for another date night except this one was a little different…. We brought the boy along since we didn’t have a sitter. Sanford is known for being kid-friendly so we figured there wouldn’t be a better time to morph date night into family night!

We got to do some things we’ve never experienced and we even squeezed in a few things that are what we call our “Sanford-staples”.  New on the list was getting to check in to the Historic Fire Station AirBnB located on Park Ave, in the heart of all the downtown action! 

Oh man, the Fire Station did not disappoint! We climbed the old wooden staircase from the first floor up to enter a huge living space! There were old hardwood floors, brick walls and exposed wood ceiling beams. Impressive to say the least. Our son decided to start the tour of the station and quickly found a set of bunk beds tucked away in a quirky corer in the guest sleeping area. The top bunk had a very cool little window that he used to spy on us in the living room. There were touches of firetrucks and fireman memorabilia throughout giving the place the perfect amount of whimsy. Next on our “tour” was our mission to locate the window that lead to the rooftop deck and crawl out! We found it (it’s next to the fireplace in case you are wondering). We checked out the rooftop deck and the view then popped back inside to get situated for the evening,

Once we got all our bags loaded in, so we decided to head out to Maya’s Books and Music on 1st street, but to get there you first have to pass by Jeanine Taylor Folk Art’s storefront. If you haven’t been, it’s a must-see!!!!! We always stop by and love seeing what treasures we can spot along the walls. This time around little man found an old calculator and a flip phone!

So, onto Maya’s we go and I must say, this place is my son’s favorite place to “shop” in Sanford!  He’s able to walk away with a good haul but the cost isn’t a huge hit on my wallet! IWe sat and skimmed through a few books and magazines. He couldn’t make his final decision without thoroughly looking through each magazine. His final choices were  three World War II magazines a children’s book titled “Snakes!”. Being 6 years old has something to do with his fascination with airplanes and battleships.

Next we took a stroll over to Park Ave to hit up Sanford’s Food Truck Fiesta. With over 15 food trucks, craft/retail vendors and a kid zone, which happened to be located directly infant of the Fire Station front doors, how con you go wrong on family-date night?!?!?!? We strolled the streets, checked out the vendors and enjoyed the beverages while we waited for our dinner reservations to roll around.

In order to stay “in theme” with our  Fire Station Date Night, we made reservations at The Old Jailhouse, which is located right next door! How convenient! The decor and design of the restaurant was amazing!  If you get a chance to have dinner or grab a few drinks at the bar, be sure to walk around and take it all in. You’ll definitely feel transported back in time! Once you get a look around, you’re going to want to get a taste! They call it “Sunbelt Cuisine”, but we called it delicious! The chef specializes in dished inspired by the “Sun Belt” region which includes California, Tex-Mex, New Orleans, the Low Country and the Carolinas. We feasted on the roasted cauliflower and pork belly for our appetizers and OH. MY. GOD. That porkbelly was on a completely different level. After stuffing out faces with pork belly goodness, we ordered our main plates. I chose the Low Country Shrimp and Sausage, hubby ordered the Creole Lamb and don’t forget that we had a little one in tow; he selected pasta with butter… and let’s just say that they did not disappoint! My son scarfed his pasta down – and he’s quite a picky eater like most 6 year olds! My low country shrimp and sausage dish transported me to Louisiana while hubby got to enjoy fall-off-the-shank lamb meat! Everyone in the family enjoyed this date-night meal!

With our bellies full, we headed over to Escape Artist to try our luck at an escape room again. Our last attempt was unsuccessful (see our April Date Night). Since we have done this before, we decided to try a new room so this time around we selected the Secret Society room. I won’t give away any secrets, but let’s just say we did NOT escape! I guess we get to try again! I’m thinking we need more people to help us get out. Me and the hubs stand no chance! LOL!

After giving us a few extra minutes, we stepped out of the room with our heads held high even though we were unsuccessful. Around 9:15pm or so, we strolled on over to Celery City for a nightcap. I had my usual Mango White Claw, while the hubby picked one of the sour beers on tap. Our son noticed the corn hole board wasn’t being used so he challenged his dad to a fierce game. I’m not sure who won because I was too busy chatting it up with Will from Historic Downtown Sanford and Robert Rose, the host of Raw Travel TV. He happened to be in town for his special on Downtown Sanford that happened to debut earlier that day on WESH TV.

After our night caps and the friendly game of cornhole, our family did our last “Sanford-Stroll” for the night and walked across the street to the Fire Station and went to bed. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to continue #sanfording for Sunday morning brunch but there’s always next weekend.

If there’s one take away from this date night, it’s how quick Sanford can go from a date-night to a family-night in the blink of an eye thanks to all the kid friendly establishments in Downtown.

To see where Mike and Tracy went last month for their April Date Night, check out their last blog post HERE!