A Post-Holiday Hike and Delicous, Delicious Recovery
The day after a holiday, there are two ways people often go. Either they keep the party going and figure they’ll get back on track once the cookies are gone, or they decide to start fresh and be all healthy all the time!
This Christmas, I didn’t go too terribly overboard (but let’s be clear: I consider a few extra cookies during my favorite time of year to be totally within the realm of “moderation”), which made it a little easier than normal to get back to healthier habits. What also helped was the fact that Jared and I had made plans for a nice little December 26 hike, which really started our post-holiday routine off on the right — forgive the pun, I had to — foot.
Had a leisurely wake up because, hooray, no work! Then we got our stuff together to explore a new-to-us state park about 45 minutes north of our house. I was surprisingly eager to get back to my morning smoothie after a few days away from home.
Don’t judge the non-greenness of my smoothie! I’d only gotten home the night before and was out of greens, so I went with Greek yogurt, protein powder, chia seeds, frozen fruit and coconut water.
We hit the road, and I discovered that the last time I’d used my hiking hydration pack was clearly back in Hawaii based on the brochure for Diamond Head on Oahu I found in there. That was a bit of a punch to the gut, let me tell you. I mean, Florida in December is nice and all, but I would be more than happy to head back to Hawaii, like, now. Yesterday, even.
We had a gorgeous, sunny day to explore the park and all the various landscapes. We did not find any alligators, if you wondered.
But, okay, fine. O’Leno State Park was pretty neat, too. No peaks or mountains to climb, but there was a cool river (that went underground!) and lots of well-maintained trails to explore. (Next time, I’m bringing my running shoes for sure.)
Hard to see in the picture, but this end of the river is basically a sink and the water swirls around slowly before heading underground. Cool, right?
I think we must’ve walked a solid six miles or so on various trails, stopping occasionally to look into lakes for alligators or, you know, have a snack. I brought along an 18 Rabbits Fig, Cranberry & Hazelnut granola bar (seemed festive), and it was a good choice — naturally sweet and surprisingly filling.
We finished up our adventure around 1 p.m. and decided to hit up Great Outdoors Restaurant for a late lunch on the way home. This restaurant is a bit of a local gem in High Springs, which is far enough from our house that we really never go, but after spending an hour or two out on their back patio with good food, crisp wine and, of course, some fantastic company, I’m thinking it might be worth making the trip over there a little more often. I had a homemade veggie burger made of mixed nuts, veggies and oats, and one of the best salads I’ve had in ages, while Jared went with a traditional cheeseburger (and a few bites of my awesome salad).
Lunch at Great Outdoors Restaurant — definitely a highlight!
We headed home and did a bit of cleaning before having a friend over to watch a movie and join us for a snacky dinner. Are you a fan of the snacky dinner? We love it in our house. The dishes vary, but we generally have a cheese or two, some crackers or crusty bread, veggies and hummus, fruit, maybe a hard meat and some nuts. And usually there’s shrimp, but we’d had quite a bit leading up to Christmas and thought we’d mix it up a bit. This time, we actually had some roasted chestnuts that my friend Sarah (remember her?) brought over. They were … interesting.
Snacky dinner FTW! Clearly, Rudi agrees.
Not pictured: A brownie that Sarah also brought over. And maybe another glass of wine.
All in all, a great day with delicious eats. I wouldn’t change a thing.
If you do snacky dinner, what are your staples? And if you don’t do snacky dinner, why not? It’s seriously one of my favorites. It feels casual and a little fancy all at the same time! —Kristen