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Can a Motor Company Motif Add Value to Burger and Fries?

Ford’s Garage | Brandon

In my infinite hunt for the best local burger, Ford’s Garage has earned a chance at the title and had been on my short list. As we would be just up the road grocery shopping, now was the time to judge their offerings.

On our way to Aldi, we decided to try Ford’s Garage for burgers. Yes, Ford’s Garage has more on the menu than burgers, but for this local chain I only had interest in their hamburgers. Why? A look at the menu found it to be pretty uninspired; they do essentially what every other American bar-and-grub chain is doing, so…meh. And that “chain” part turns me off but they do get good reviews for their burgers. Continue reading “Can a Motor Company Motif Add Value to Burger and Fries?”

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Photolog – Circle B Bar Reserve

Circle B Bar Reserve | Lakeland

I had been seeing some improved photo results with my previously-owned T3i and was anxious to capture better pictures than I had on our first trip to this fantastic repository of birds and plants. Circle B Bar Reserve and a damaged iPhone lens equal sad.

It was blue skies and white fluffy clouds as I left Hillsborough County and motored away to Polk County. Continue reading “Photolog – Circle B Bar Reserve”

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Will Round Two Prove Great Brandon BBQ?

Reprise Review – Down To The Bone BBQ, Brandon

It couldn’t be helped. I had tried to fit in a few other Brandon bbq joints before returning to Down To the Bone, I really did.  I was jonesing for the smoked swine and sauce divine and I needed it bad.

But I was a little scared, to be honest. What if this visit to the Brandon bbq spot wasn’t as good as the first. Would this return prove the first visit a fluke?

Continue reading “Will Round Two Prove Great Brandon BBQ?”

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Photolog – A Late Spring Trek Through Fish Hawk

Fish Hawk Creek Nature Preserve North, Lithia

Now that half of the summer has passed us by I finally found time to sort through pictures from a walk through one of our closest hiking trails. Accesssed through the Lithia Springs Park, Fish Hawk Creek Preserve North offers many scenic variations in the ecology from hardwood hammock, to cypress,  to pine flats and scrubs. Our first visit in winter gave me a taste to return and I was pleasantly rewarded with some great eye candy. Continue reading “Photolog – A Late Spring Trek Through Fish Hawk”

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Escape the Bustle of Brandon and Dine Under Shady Oaks

Keith’s Oaks Bar and Grill, Brandon

We pass Keith’s Oaks often when traveling through Brandon, usually when on the way home from shopping with ice cream melting in the back of the sporty little runabout. The tin-roofed cracker bungalow set back under mossy oak trees appeals to us, beckons us into its bucolic embrace from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding commercial gridlock. Whether sheltered in the shade from the beating sun, or at nights, tucked into the shadowy cave of branches, the glow of interior lights and neon beer signs are a beacon of cool camaraderie, the twinkling of its string of porch lights a soothing call to run our ship aground upon its rocks with a splash of bourbon and a burger.

I don’t know why I used a boating metaphor, we’re miles from navigable waters. This is a stream of consciousness, folks. Continue reading “Escape the Bustle of Brandon and Dine Under Shady Oaks”

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Experience an Old School Sponge Dive on Excursion into History

St. Nicholas Boat Line, Tarpon Springs

My research into activities to do in Tarpon Springs other than shopping and dining produced little results. The most attractive options were the short boating excursions. Every coastal town has these tours and the reviews for the ones in Tarpon Springs were mixed. However, one tour stood out from the others: St. Nicholas Boat Line.

St. Nicholas Boat Line Sponge Diving Exhibition wasn’t like the Odyssey or Spongeorama Cruises which offered dolphin sighting opportunities and trips to Anclote Key for shell hunting. The focus of the St. Nicholas tour was on the sponge fishing history of the town. The reviews made the reader well informed that the boat would never leave Anclote River, but that wasn’t the point. St. Nicholas wasn’t a pleasure cruise for tourists on a three-hour tour, it was an hour(ish)-long educational demonstration on a boat, which we found pleasurable.  Continue reading “Experience an Old School Sponge Dive on Excursion into History”

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Soak Up Greek Culture in Historic Sponge Diving Village – Part 2

Spong Docks – Historic District, Tarpon Springs

(Continued from Part 1)

The next morning we rose and readied ourselves for breakfast. The sunburn had progressed from uncomfortable nuisance to prickling pain when touched by cloth. I eased on a shirt and we agreed it would be best to forgo a second trip to the beach. Fool me once, sunscreen… Instead we’d refuel (yeah right, I could still feel that ice cream scuffling with that cannoli cake) at Toula’s Trailside Cafe then catch the morning St. Nicholas sponge boat tour. Then we’d do some more historic sightseeing, maybe give the sponge docks one more chance at mid-day and then head for The German Restaurant to cap the trip before returning home. Continue reading “Soak Up Greek Culture in Historic Sponge Diving Village – Part 2”

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A Fond Farewell to Favored German Fare

The German Restaurant, Holiday

We had been living in Florida for only six months and already one of our favorite restaurants was closing. Nineteen years they had been in operation and our first year here is the year they close? My calamity cup runneth over.

At least we had been able to enjoy Chef Ewe’s cooking. I have been thrilled to find more than ten German restaurants in the Tampa region—over ten more than back home. Still, we really liked this place and were sad to see it go. We planned a final trip to say farewell, making it an overnighter with a visit to Tarpon Springs. Continue reading “A Fond Farewell to Favored German Fare”

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Soak Up Greek Culture in Historic Sponge Diving Village – Part 1

Fred Howard Beach and The Sponge Docks, Tarpon Springs

There we were, blithely letting our days waste away and ignorant to the fact that something we only recently became aware of—and subsequently came to adore—was being wiped from the face of the earth. The German Restaurant in Holiday would be closing for good in only several weeks.  A final pilgrimage must be made. We decided to incorporate the visit into an overnight stay in Tarpon Springs with a stop for beach fun at Fred Howard Park. Continue reading “Soak Up Greek Culture in Historic Sponge Diving Village – Part 1”

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Camp Out in the Old Blue Bus

Camping, Kayaking, and Tram Tour – Myakka River State Park, Sarasota

I had a long list of things I wanted to do this spring. One of them was to take the tram tour at Myakka River State Park. I know—A tram Tour? Here’s the thing: The tour was $15 per person and the reviews were very positive. So I thought it might be a rewarding and relaxing way to learn about the Myakka River State Park history and ecology. Then I learned that the tram tours only run from December 16 through May 31. It was now May 23. Schnikes. I’d have to make something happen. Continue reading “Camp Out in the Old Blue Bus”