Herlong Mansion from Key Largo

Herlong Mansion in Micanopy has become our home base for the University of Florida. We stayed the night before we moved our daughter Mira into Tolbert Hall in August, and we came back for Family Weekend in September. It’s 15 minutes from campus, and we chose it for the utter love of the place, the fantastic staff, the peace and quiet, and to stay out of downtown prices.

August: the night before move-in

We left Key Largo with the mix of anticipation and quiet weight that comes with every final “first.” Mira was headed to Tolbert Hall, UF Class of 2030, and Laila came with us. We stayed August 15-16.

White columns, Spanish moss, deep porches. Frank Sinatra was playing on a record player in the drawing room near the entrance. The music floated up to the third floor, through the old wood and the high-ceilinged rooms. Breakfast was warm muffins and quiche on blue-and-white china. They asked for our breakfast preferences and served something very close to what we requested. Everyone sat up straighter and ate properly with knife and fork. For a little while the good old days felt present again.

September: Family Weekend

Family Weekend was our first time back since we dropped Mira off. On Saturday morning, Sept. 26, the sun came up over a sea of fog, and I sent the drone up to meet it.

Breakfast was chef Y Dang’s keto fusion, and it was worth every penny. On Sunday morning it came with a delight: keto daikon au gratin. The idea was so good it was eaten before I got a chance to pull out my camera. The chef came out to the dining room to take our praise and got a cheer.

We love this place. They always ask a serious question we don’t usually get: Does anyone have dietary restrictions?

At our shared table was the Murphy family from Stuart, a family of Gators. “We haven’t all been together since 2016, when I was a freshman,” Shannon Murphy said.

I wrote about the whole weekend for The Gainesville Sun.

If you go

Herlong Mansion Bed & Breakfast, 402 NE Cholokka Blvd, Micanopy, FL 32667. (352) 466-3322. herlong.com. About 15 minutes from UF. Two rooms cost us roughly $500 in August.

The rest of our August trip

We left Key Largo with the mix of anticipation and quiet weight that comes with every final “first.” We spent the night at Herlong Mansion. Mira was headed to Tolbert Hall at the University of Florida, Class of 2030. Laila came with us. She had just started her first week of online classes at the College of the Florida Keys, Introduction to Hospitality and Tourism, and worked on her assignments from cafés along the way.

The overnight stop was deliberate: Herlong Mansion Bed & Breakfast in Micanopy, August 15-16. Two rooms cost roughly $500. White columns, Spanish moss, deep porches. Breakfast was warm muffins and quiche on blue-and-white china. They asked for our breakfast preferences and served something very close to what we requested.

Frank Sinatra was playing on a record player in the drawing room near the entrance. The music floated upwards to the 3rd floor, where the carpet was fresh, then through the old wood and the high-ceilinged rooms. The mood shifted. Everyone sat up straighter and ate properly with knife and fork. For a little while the good old days felt present again.

Antique push-button light switch and iron coat hook on a cream wall

Blue and white teacup and brochures on a wooden desk

We stayed at the Residence Inn Gainesville from August 16-19, out near Barnes & Noble, the Tesla Supercharger, and Ford’s Restaurant. Roughly $200 a night. The laundry-room view was unexpectedly beautiful. The oatmeal in the morning (walnuts, almonds, raisins, sunflower seeds, flax) was excellent.

We found Tea Moment among a cluster of shops. Meals at Cava ran $12-$18. Hand rolls and boba at Tea Moment ran $6-$12.

While in Gainesville we walked Paynes Prairie and visited Kanapaha Botanical Gardens. I shot a long-exposure waterfall and a Great Egret with its perfect reflection. We spent quiet hours in a favorite café opposite campus, where I worked through Module 3 of the Professional Photographers of America coursework on composition and perspective. Laila studied beside me.

I left the main campus and walked across the road to the Albert and Alberta statues, right by the UF Foundation building. A couple of blocks further I found the pale-blue Volkswagen Beetle in a garage, the flowers and greenery, and the small streams running along Fourth Avenue. On those quieter back streets the place was surprisingly busy, a healthy kind of busy. People were running, studying, working out, moving with focus. It felt like one reason UF has become a top public university.

When it was time, Mira walked away from us toward Tolbert Hall. She didn’t look back. Ben Hill Griffin Stadium sits only a block from her dorm. The NROTC building is directly across the street. Everything she needs is close. The whole campus is built for bicycles, which is how she plans to move through her days. I stood there a moment longer and watched her go. The streets around her were full of quiet purpose. It felt like the right kind of busy, the kind that makes you believe a place can hold someone well. I didn’t feel bad leaving her there.

We also walked the nature trail behind the UF Entomology Department. The boardwalk sat under ankle-deep water. A blue heron stood in the quiet. I opened Pokémon and made a new route right there.

On August 19 we left Gainesville and drove to Epic Universe with Laila to celebrate her 21st birthday a little early (her actual birthday is September 6). Day passes ran about $150 a person. Nothing is cheap in Epic. We bought the refillable Epic Universe cups, a godsend for fizzy water all day. Laila used her pass and we rode several attractions ahead of the line.

Our favorite was Curse of the Werewolf in Dark Universe. Bar Adobo made old-fashioneds. LooLoo had a lemonade. At Atlantic Restaurant the oysters stood out. Near Island of Berk, a Korean-themed food truck sold bao buns. We stayed until closing.

That night we continued to the Courtyard by Marriott in Sebring, around $180. In the morning, at the small Bistro (a Starbucks collaboration kitchen), Kiki from Bolivia handed Laila her coffee with a wide, genuine smile. In a trip full of big landscapes and college milestones, that small kindness stayed with us.

Before heading home we walked Highland Hammock State Park. Alligators moved through the dark water. One showed only its eyes and the ridge of its head. Another glided through sun-dappled shallows.

We took Service Route 997 from Sebring to Homestead. Slower than the interstate. Prettier. It showed landscape the interstate hides.

When we reached the Keys the house was quieter, but the cameras were full. Keys to Micanopy, Gainesville, a birthday at Epic Universe, Sebring, and Highland Hammock. One of the more complete stories this state still offers.

Travel Tips

Walking Kanapaha Botanical Gardens, Paynes Prairie, the UF Entomology Natural Area, and the UF campus is free. Those walks were some of the best scenery we got, and they save parking fees.