A 48-Hour Nature, Food & Adventure Escape in Ocala

Start with lattes featuring homemade vanilla or cashew-butter syrups, then try the customizable fruit bowl and croffle. The menu accommodates healthy, vegetarian and vegan eating, as requested by the restaurant's offering.

Explore the historic brick core, known as the Brick City. Look down for horseshoes embedded in the sidewalks and notice how the fireproof construction shaped the downtown streetscape.

Walk the sculpture paths beside the lake and watch for nearby active railroad tracks. The park hosts sculpture and sidewalk-art festivals during the year.

Choose this colorful Mexican restaurant for a highly visual meal: murals include moving 3D elements. Order table-side guacamole and the seafood tower if available.

Frida's is recommended for both atmosphere and food. Try the fresh salsa and guacamole alongside the seafood tower; the octopus may be chewy, while the fish and shrimp were especially well received.

The featured base is about five miles southwest of downtown and was approximately $100 per night. The clean rooms, complimentary breakfast and parking, pool and hot tub make it practical for a compact two-day visit.

Stop here for Belgian-style beers, including the West Florida Christmas Belgian quad. The brewery shares Midtown Station with a soda shop, coffee shop, kitchen and pizza shop; a blackberry-lime mocktail is another option.

Finish downtown with Cajun and seafood dishes in the historic Marion Building. The crawfish étouffée is spicy, rich and generously portioned; the chicken Jolie Blonde comes over a crispy grit cake, with creamy peppered corn on the side.

Use this as the wilderness launch point for the paved loop and the unpaved route toward Marshall Swamp. The trail can connect toward the Cross Florida Greenway and Florida Scenic Trail; watch for fallen branches, large ruts and confusing signs.

Tour the enormous indoor-outdoor equestrian complex, which covers roughly 2,000 acres and can stable nearly 3,000 horses. Check the schedule for competitions and observe the events from the public areas.

Take a coffee and pastry break at the on-site patisserie. The signature Boston-cream-filled croissant was crunchy outside, soft inside and topped with rich chocolate.

Browse the RV event and compare layouts if mobile travel interests you. Notable examples included a $120,000 model, a roughly $300,000 luxury RV and a four-wheel-drive van priced around $160,000 with belted seats, editing-table space, a standing shower and a bed needing little nightly conversion.

Visit the park for clear spring water and wildlife. A previous glass-bottom boat outing was described as fun; the park also has hiking trails for exploring without getting on the water.

Launch a kayak or other paddle craft from the designated area. Paddle toward the big spring, where the waterway felt less busy than the main path during a crowded spring-break visit.

If you prefer a boat outing to paddling, the glass-bottom boats provide an alternative view of the spring. This was a previously enjoyed activity at the park rather than the day's main paddle.

Keep your eyes in the trees as well as on the water: the park is one opportunity to look for the introduced rhesus macaque colony. The outing also produced sightings of an alligator, turtles and a possible manatee.

Book the Big Cliff Canyon Tour for nine ziplines across a 100-acre limestone quarry dating to the 1920s. The course includes a 650-foot zipline over water, a 1,100-foot longest line reaching speeds of about 60 mph and a rope bridge before the final line.