Month: May 2018

The weather forecaster  said Sunday was supposed to be raining all day.   It was not going to be a day spent on the boat – bummer.  We proposed a day checking out some of the central Florida breweries and a good friend, Adrienne was game.

Before drinking we wanted to fuel up and Eric found The Elixir.  He googled best brew pub in downtown Orlando and this was our destination since (1) was open (2) close to the downtown area and (3) shouldn’t be full since it was Mother’s Day .

Soda (mine) and brews started our day while burgers & fries, fish tacos and pretzel bread fueled our day.

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First brewery on tap was Orlando Brewing.  We were their first patrons arriving 15 minutes after opening.

Their ‘hook’ is that all of their ingredients are organic and their beers became the first to be declared “Fresh from Florida”.  In 2006 they were certified as an organic brewery, making them the only U.S.D.A. certified organic brewery east of Colorado.

Their story interested me since Orlando Brewing first opened their doors on Gore street shortly after 2000, changed ownership in 2004 and less than 3 months in their new location…….FL Dept of Trans. was going to use their land for the new I-4 interchange, meaning they had to move again.

They used this opportunity to re-think the direction of their brewery and this meant they decided to (1)brew in accordance with the Germany Purity Law of 1516 and (2) only use organic ingredients.

Okay, so maybe most beer drinkers know about this law, but I did not.  Apparently this law decreed that only 4 ingredients should be used: water, hops, yeast and malted barley.

Part of that  day’s quest was to obtain growlers from said brew stops, as seen in the photo.

 

Alas, they were out of (all) brown bottles.  I guess  this means we will have to stop back by the brewery –  darn .  🙂

Next on the quest was Orange County Brewers in downtown Orlando.  Love  their slogan ‘Orange County Brewers, where everyone can drink like a local’.  By the way, it is number 11 on the map and 12 was our first stop.

The idea for this brewery came from some rogue entrepreneurs looking to find a craft beer in downtown, that also quenched their thirst for unique beers.  Their brewmaster (Amanda) has already garnered quite a following after only 2 years of brewing.

We had a flight which comes in a very interesting holder:

The cutouts were places in the vicinity of 5 Florida cities, starting top to bottom:  Tallahassee, Daytona Beach, Orlando, Kissimmee and Miami.  I can see it – kind of.

While not really hungry, the smell from the nearby pizza ovens beckoned.  Orlando Pizza & Wing Co. shares the space and  the pizza counter is run as a separate operation and we couldn’t resist the cheesy bacon bread – now really, who could.

Before leaving Adrienne was able to add to her growler collection.

The beer was good (I liked the amber beers best) and our next visit to this brewery needs to include a meal with our brews (pizza!).

Last planned brewery was the Ten 10 Brewing Co. on Virginia drive.

Eric and I shared a flight and I probably need to visit again  I was starting to reach my upper limits of beer.  Not from consumption mind you, just the number of brews I had tasted in 1 day.

Including the 4 beers above I’ve tasted more than 13 today – yikes!  The key word being ‘tasted’.  I was able to get a decent shot of their tap list.

However, their pretzel alone would make me come back!

Warm, crusty, salty, doughy and just downright delicious.  It’s accompanied with beer mustard and their homemade beer cheese, yum.   The next time I have a craving for a pretzel, this is where I’m headed – just saying.

They have a good menu selection with several sandwiches but they also offer house-made hot dogs.  Like I said, we need to come back again when (really) hungry to fully appreciate this place.

This brewery opened summer 2015 after 19 months of planning. It’s part of the Mills50  –  an area that has a fairly new (named) identity even though  it’s been around for years.

With all of the rain covering the state we were in no hurry to head home. One last (unplanned) brewery was on tap…….Crooked Can Brewing Company in downtown Winter Garden.

It’s located in the Plant Street Market – a local community, artisan market that has become a social gathering place for family and friends (yes, found most of that sentence on their website).  There are a variety of food vendors in this building as Crooked Can focuses on brewing beers, not cooking food.  I respect that focus.  🙂

I am so glad this BBQ restaurant has joined their line-up of options in Plant Street Market.  Our ribs and pulled pork from This little Piggy was an instant hit and I can see this as a stop on our way home when no one wants to cook……….

………and Morthan Cheese (Raclette cheese from France & Switzerland melted then scraped onto your chosen base).  A salad made Adrienne’s meal seem healthy.

It was a fun day all around and while this won’t be a weekly occurance, it’s a nice way to spend a rainy day.

 

 

 

 

Wow!  Clermont has a new grocery that has landed and is taking the town by storm.

I don’t remember hearing much about it beforehand, only that another grocery store was going into an area formerly held by Sweet Bay markets.

Eric heard about the “Store that sold beer while you’re shopping”.  Man!  What a concept.  There may be other stores that have that option, but none close to here – just saying.

He stopped by the first week they were open and gave up because the lack of nearby parking.  We eventually was able to stop by within the first 2 weeks, and I still wasn’t won over because of the crowded aisles and what I thought was too much hype.  Since that time, I’ve changed my mind, found several very interesting things and yes, I’ve enjoyed the beer while shopping.  🙂

As mentioned above, the beer for some are a major attraction.  On one of our weekend visits here, the line waiting for their drink of choice kept growing and growing and growing.  Count them – 7 men in line (and a few women).  Four more gentleman got in the line before any left.

Their shopping carts have drink holders – how ingenious.

The first thing seen  upon entering are local touches they incorporated inside their stores.  There are local references in several places.  This makes it feel less like a corporate store and more like Clermont’s grocery store – with really cool things to buy, eat and drink.

We’ve tried several things thus far one. One Sunday we needed something small to tide us over until dinner and we thought ……….pizza slices and beer at Lucky’s.  Two pizza slices gives you a free beer.  While we only tried the cheese pizza slices, it was good (especially for a grocery store), we would go back and order it again.

On different trips, we perused their cheese selection and who can resist a display like this.

With micro-breweries being the ‘Uber’ popular thing now, Lucky’s did not disappoint.

Another day Eric felt like ‘ramen’ and who doesn’t (me for example).   Discovering that Lucky’s had a ramen bar was a hit for Eric. I loved the red carrier for the ramen containers – just saying.

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Eric super enjoyed his ramen meal.  Me?  Wandering around in the store, I came across these cookies.  They have both ‘crispy’ cookies and ‘homemade – soft’ cookies, but these were our first purchase.

OMG x 3!!!  We’ve only tasted the ‘almond crispy’ variety, but we’ve gotten our second bag of cookies already.  Eric – who doesn’t like sweets – was found snacking on them late at night.  He’s not very good at hiding the evidence of snacking.

Okay, we actually had a ‘purpose’ one day when it was my turn for our Sunday meal.  My decision for dinner was skillet lasagna.  With our list in hand we got these groceries in the photo below.  Now I’ve made his recipe before – definitely ‘Loosey goosey’  (The story is under the Eats! Page – no specific measured ingredients) but this was the best ever yet!

These were all purchased at Lucky’s.  I don’t use any exact recipe just assembled the ingredients and started layering.  In past renditions I didn’t add  any spices – silly me.  It makes a difference.

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As I mentioned above…….best ever.  🙂  A little bread, a little butter, a little garlic salt and the meal was finished.

We’ve checked out their fresh produce and made several purchases.  Their veggies are interesting and finding blood oranges are pretty unique, even though citrus is grown in the state.

One recent trip we found this display of herbs and yes, we put one in our shopping cart, along with our other purchases.  They looked super healthy and I could tell they were a  recent delivery to the store.  I’m starting a mint garden at home and my herb purchase is already in the ground.  With Eric making mint julips, mint is a prime commidity.

I’m sure there will be additional posts about Lucky’s.  As I said earlier, I was not going to become a fan, went grudgingly several times but once the crowds thinned out and I could really shop and look around, I’m converted.  I’m ending with a bit of their history.  If this doesn’t interest you, thanks for reading so far.

Lucky’s Market was started in 2003 by two chefs from Boulder, CO.  They wanted really good food.  Being chefs they knew where to get it and shopped farmer’s markets and gourmet food stores in addition to conventional grocery stores for their purchases.  They made a decision to do something about all that running around for good food and they wanted to do it right.  They created an entirely different kind of grocery store, Lucky’s Market.

 

Whew!!! Four states within a few hours.  Good thing for us that we’re at the bottom of the states and heading east.  After our breakfast in New Orleans, we were ready to hit the road and get some miles behind us, only stopping when needed for fuel.  Mississippi and Alabama were easy to drive through.

There’s one place along the route that I detest – the tunnel (George C. Wallace tunnel-Alabama governor at the time) near Mobile, AL.  The Mobile River is above and all I can think of is the river of water that I’m driving beneath.  Built in the early 1970s at the nearby Mobile shipyard, it was built in sections, floated to its final spot then sunk.  It was connected underwater, pumped dry then finished out.  I thought researching about the tunnel would make me more comfortable – nope.  Hope the next time I go through there I forget everything I just wrote.

Soon enough we were in the last state – Florida.

There’s no easy route to Apalachicola, just keep going south and east, south then east, then south and east again. Do that enough times and you finally get to where you want.

We were going to need something for lunch and a google search found Nicks Seafood in Freeport, FL.

It’s near the Eglin Air Force Base and several fly boys were leaving when we arrived. There were numerous photos and dollar bills tacked to he walls, with everyone writing down their home town on the bill.  Yep, I’m back in the south.  Also, we are on the gulf!  Water everywhere.  🙂  After we ordered our lunch we wandered outside to soak up the  sea breezes, sun and humidity – love the humidity, just saying.

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Our meal was great. I got fried mullet with fries and cole slaw. I’m just about done drinking beer and opted for a coke for lunch.

Late afternoon we reached our night’s destination.  I got a little worried the previous night because all the places I normally stay had no availability.  I kept pulling up places on the internet.  Yikes!  l finally found one room (their last) at Coombs Inn with two beds.

Wow-Eric and I may need to stay here on a future visit .  When we arrived they were serving cookies in the afternoon and then wine & cheese after 6pm. We definitely indulged.

As the welcome sign states………

……….this is the Florida oyster capital and we walked to find oysters at Hole in the Wall, a local restaurant that literally is a hole in the wall, inside the space is long and skinny.

We snagged a seat at the bar and got that night’s dinner, an oyster combo platter (cheese & bacon, parmasan cheese & butter, and the last were oyster Rockefeller).

While it wasn’t the beer being brewed in town, at least it was Florida local, being brewed at Fort Walton Beach, FL.

Next door was the Oyster City Brewing Company and we tasted a few of their beers that evening.

The previous night we discovered one of the reasons the town had more travelers than normal.  LOVED the guitar in their communication notices.

Saturday night there was a brew-fest happening on St. George Island (10 miles away), which unfortunately we missed.  Maybe next year we can plan to be there for the entire weekend.

I got a kick out of all the golf carts that had been driven to the event.  There was a band set up in the street and tents servicing OCBC beer, along with inside the brewery.

Since we were so close to the Apalachicola River (1 block away) we got a few shots as the sun was setting.

Alas, we could only spend one night as both of us needed to get home.  We drove by our city lot in town (since we are one of the town’s most recent landowners), then began our last leg of the journey.  The lot doesn’t look like much now, but it is ours.  🙂

Our last stop was for a late lunch in Ocala.   Googled top restaurants in town and Hardwood Smokehouse was listed first.

It did not disappoint.  In fact, my pulled pork sandwich was more than half gone when I realized I forgot the photo – oops.  😦  As a consolation shot, I’m adding this shot seen when exiting the restaurant.

Final thoughts:

•drive/ride with a friend

•both parties need to be ‘fluid’ and open to last-minute changes

•have some general goals for daily destinations

•google dining options as you go along

•travel light

Maybe most importantly, talk/text your loved ones that are home and bring them along the journey virtually (and bring them gifts)  🙂  These are lined up according to the order of states we drove through.

I totally loved the drive through the desert states and my friend totally loved the drive through areas that had plentiful water and green plants.   It comes down to one thing……It all depends upon your personal perspective.