Rebbel Finds Some Friends/ Sweet Tomatoes, Orlando, Fla.

"I wish you could find my friends." ,Rebbel said. Once again something had triggered her memory of two people she had known since she was a little girl living in Petersburg, Mi. Joyce and Jack Wittman were people that lived in the same subdivision across the road from Rebbel. Rebbel used to go over to their house and just hang out, play Monopoly with Joyce, and just visit. I picture a Dennis the Menace, Mr. Wilson type relationship.
It must have been pretty bad because the Wittman's moved to Lambertville, but Rebbel still managed to keep in touch. She would continue to stay in touch with them until about 1991. Joyce had told her that they were living in Florida. Soon after, we moved and Rebbel lost the post card with their new address and she lost touch.
For the past few years Rebbel has been trying to find Joyce. I would dutifully search for them on the internet every time she would bring them up. This year, I was able to find a Wittman in Florida and Rebbel called.
"Is this Jack??" , Rebbel asked. "Did you live in Petersburg? Are you married to Joyce and do you wear a size 10 shoe?" You really got to be sure you have the right person after 15 years. "This is Rebbel." Silence while Jack processed which Rebbel it could be. Then a light went off and he remembered. Joyce called back a little later and the two friends went over old times. "Remember how you always wanted to play Monopoly all the time?? I hated that game, but I knew you liked it.", Joyce said. "That's funny." Rebbel said, "I hate that game, but I thought you liked it."
When we visited Florida, they were so nice, I felt I knew them forever. They treated us to a place called Sweet Tomatoes in Orlando. We had heard about Sweet Tomatoes from other friends and all of them that gave it high marks.
Sweet Tomatoes and Souplantations are chain restaurants located in 15 states. The Sweet Tomatoes restaurant we went to was like a large salad bar buffet.
They had a great variety of fresh vegetables for their salads, different variety of soups, muffins, prepared salads, pastas and even desserts. They even had tea and pomegranate juice! The word here is healthy. Don't expect fried chicken, or ribs. It isn't that kind of buffet. If you like soup and salad you will love Sweet Tomatoes. On the other hand, if you love Monopoly, don't ask Rebbel and Joyce to play. They both hate it! You can find out more about Sweet Tomatoes and Souplantation at http://www.sweettomatoes.com/

You Have Reached You Destination, Sort Of - Bubbalou's Bodacious Bar B Que - Orlando, Florida

On our recent trip to Florida over Christmas vacation, my wife and Grand kids were very hungry after our excursion to Universal. Rebbel had planned a few places out in advance that she had seen on t.v. We had discussed going to a barbecue place called Bubbalou's Bodacious Bar b que, but after spending close to $40.00 on four cheeseburgers, fries and drinks at Universal, we decided to just go to Pizza Hut, after all we were tired and hungry and didn't know where exactly this Bubbalou's was located.

Before the trip we bought a Tom Tom One XL, so I plugged in Pizza Hut as a Point Of Interest.

We had already left the Orlando area and were making our way down Florida's Turnpike. The GPS took us back what seemed like for miles. Of course time always go by slow when you have hungry Grand kids in the backseat and a hungrier wife driving.

We finally got to where Tom Tom sent us. There was that English lady saying "you have reached your destination." (We have the English lady because she sounds a lot more pleasant than the other voices and less bossy.) We looked all over the place and there was no Pizza Hut.

We pulled in to this shopping center's parking lot and what did we see??? Bubbalou's Bodacious Bar b que!! We decided that we were supposed to eat there and so we did!

The ribs were delicious. They had a smokey flavor and were tender. The prices were reasonable and service pretty good. I would still put Oakwood first, but these were good ribs too. So if you are ever in the Orlando Area, just put Pizza Hut into your Tom Tom and let it take you to Bubbalou's. They have at least three locations, we still don't know which one we were at, and you can check them out on the web at http://www.bubbalous.com/.