Last week, I came to the sad realization that I have lived in Florida for over 30 years and I have never tasted America’s Best Milkshake or what the Food Network refers to as America’s Best Drinkable Dessert.

I simply could not go to grave without tasting this prize winning strawberry milkshake.  Thankfully, our friends at Parkesdale Farm Market helped me satisfy my foodie bucket list when they invited me, my family and a few of my Tampa Bay Blogger friends (including Chrissy and her boys, Jared and Dylan) to sample their award winning desserts.

Here in Florida, we are in thick of strawberry season.  Strawberries are at their prime and ready for the picking.  As the strawberry lovers in my house will tell you, Plant City strawberries are truly the sweetest tasting berries and for that, Parkesdale Farm Market produces the BEST milkshakes and strawberry shortcakes.

My own Strawberry Shortcake Gang gives it all smiling thumbs up.

Though the Parkesdale family grew its first strawberry crop in 1956, the market opened and began serving its famous shortcake in 1969.

Since then, people have traveled from all over the country and the world to taste Parkesdale Farm Market’s amazing milkshakes.  The proof is in the pins on the maps that hang within the Parkesdale garden cafe.

After discovering the maps with thousands of pins, we played in the strawberry throne photo spot where we pretended to reign supreme as the Royal Strawberry Court complete with Strawberry Queen and Princesses (and Princes) for the Plant City Strawberry Festival.

Besides strawberries and a quaint garden for a picnic, Parkesdale Farm Market also offers a fabulous farmer’s market with a wonderful variety of seasonal fruits and vegetables as well as a nursery.  Our kids loved exploring the nursery and the aisles of the produce stand. The colorful sights and gorgeous smells tantalized everyone’s senses.

Thanks to good folks of Parkesdale Farm Market, we were able to take some of those wonderful sights and smells home as souvenirs when they offered each blogger a $20 gift certificate just for visiting their farmer’s market.

Make Parkesdale Farm and its world-famous award winning milkshake a must on your foodie list.  If you live in the Tampa Bay area, Parkesdale Farm Market is a terrific one-tank trip.  For those of you outside the state of Florida, if ever find yourself in the greater Orlando area, Parkesdale Farm Market is a short drive just outside of Disney World and truly worth the strawberry splurge.

Obviously, the fans waiting in the queue that wrapped around the building would agree that Parkesdale Farm Market’s world famous milkshakes and strawberry milkshakes are worth the drive and the wait to taste Florida’s finest strawberry gem.