Florida
April 23-30

One of those senior moments. This time including a full slab of ribs from a roadside guy just outside of Monticello, FL. Plus a yam. And some red potatoes. And of course a few slices of wonderbread. $15. You see the BBQ cooker was hung from two trees with a chain like a hammock. Guy said he was just borrowing the trees and would give them back. The senior moment: not getting a picture, of course.

• Gainesville, FL has more brewpubs than Orlando. Yike. Market Street Pub is one of the least expensive brewpubs I've ever seen, even in a state of inexpensive beer thanks to $1 longneck specials. An in-town roadhouse just of the Gator campus, $2 is the normal price for their "homebrews". 32 taps but only one of theirs right now but often 4 from a list of BullGator IPA, Hogtown Brown, Blackpool Porter, Terminator Doppelbock, Blokland's Best Bitter, and Der Honigweiss Berliner Weiss.
  • Gainesville Gold - Bright dark copper. A really worthy English bitter slightly on the malty side. Well appreciated.
• Around the corner is the Hoggetowne Ale Works, a homebrew store that is adding a small brewpub. Well, really a bar area.
• Next door to that is Stubbie Shirt Pub, the best import bar in Gainesville. Open evenings only.
• And yeah, there's a Hops. $3.50/beer, $2 after 9pm. Go figure.
  • Porter - Light bodied and effervescent. Black, headless. Pleasant malty taste.
  • Hammerhead Red - Good color. Less fizz. Better beer. Balanced and unsweet.
  • APA
  • Lightning Bold Gold
  • Clearwater Light
• Spanish Springs in Lady Lake, FL is a laid back Italian restaurant smack dab in the middle of The Villages retirement community. What a captive audience. Beach Boys clones on the town square every night bring golf carts from miles around. All their beer was served too cold but the brewer makes good brew.
  • Pale Ale - American style. Medium copper. Light to style of course.
  • Spanish Springs Light - Their flagship of course.
  • Father Rolando's Righteous Ale - An American Blonde.
  • Wilhelm Sebald's Octoberfest - Proper dark copper. Excellent. Right to style. Yes.
  • Billy Bowlegs Buffalo Beer - A creamy opaque black porter with a tan head. Robust.
  • Seymour's Southern Stout
  • Hefeweizen
  • Sebald's Select Golden Lager
  • Honey Wheat
• Miami has a couple of brewpubs if you want to fight the traffic. We did.
  Gordon Biersch occupies the ground floor front of a downtown hi-rise. Valet parking available. Large outdoor sunny seating fronting US 1. Tries to be hip but no classier than any other brewpub chain (ie Ram, Rock Bottom).
  • Maibock - Light color. Bright. Crisp. Malty. Refreshing beer in sunny 86º weather.
  • Dunkles - Dark. Unfiltered. Almost creamy. Immediate sweet malt hit that calms later but never goes away. Not refreshing but thirst quenching.
  • Premium Light Lager
  • Marzen
  • Blonde Bock
• Titanic Brewery is a U of M party hangout. Separate bar and restaurant. Homey. Brewery behind glass behind the bar. Cajun/creole food. Homebrew club meets on Wednesdays. Slow bar in the afternoon with even slower service. Interesting to note that beer list hasn't changed since our last visit in 2002. except 2 of the 3 seasonals have changed.
  • Tripe Screw Light Ale - Water.
  • Boiler Room Nut Brown - Light body Northern brown. Some toffee aftertaste now that they mention it.
  • Britannic Best Bitter - Hoppy, Fugglish. Still light bodied
  • Captain Smith's Rye - Dark copper "German Amber" with Pilsner malt and malted rye. Hoppy. Pilsner malt in an ale? No noticable rye taste or dryness. Bitter finish.
  • Stowaway Wit - Clear yellow with hint of green. Authentic aroma and lots of it. Lightish taste but all the proper notes are there.
  • Gale Force Honey Ale - Honey comes through big and bold but without being sweet. A winner and a recipe worth copying.
  • White Star IPA - 60+ IBU of Cascades grapefruit in a 7% drink. Could be a massive bitter alcopop since no malt or beer notes can be found.
  • Double IPA - A squinch darker so there is more malts in the grain bill. Somewhat hoppier but not twice as.
  • Shipbuilders Oatmeal Stout - Rolled oats and NW hops. Long lasting light tan head. Creamy. Unsweet long finish.
• Big Bear Brewing - Coral Springs, FL - Large, loud, "would you like to sit in the bar" bar in high-end area of northwest Lauderdale. Dark brick interior. Rectangular bar seats 30. Plain brewpub sits just inside the front door. Expensive food befitting the area. $13 chicken pot pie. Try the $9 salad bar place next door.
  • Hibernation Pale - American pale with restrained yet dominating Cascades. Good malt background.
  • Kodiak Belgian Dubbel - Clear brown. Served in a 10oz goblet. My records say 7% ABV but, if so, deceptive. A bit sweet of malt, almost sticky. Plenty of subtle candy sugar aroma when swirled. The bartender says the brewer uses bananas and cloves and that's why it's sweet. There went most of his tip.
  • Polar Light
  • Grizzly Beer Red Ale
  • Brown Bear Brown Ale
  • Raspberry Ale
  • Spring Honey Ale

Market Street Pub

Also saw a 120ft deep, 500ft diameter sink hole in Gainesville. The Devil's Millhopper developed about 10,000 years ago so there were too many trees and underbrush to get any kind of picture, even from the bottom.

We stopped for a couple of days at The Villages - a huge retirement community north of Orlando and Terry visited Cathy Fuller and her new ride. I spent an afternoon with Steve Perlman but he's not as photogenic.

The hot sport at The Villages (besides Cathy) is pickleball. Tennis on a small court (badminton sized) with oversized ping-pong paddles and a plastic ball. Quick reflexes needed but no more running than doubles garage-pong. Fast volley action. This is cool but just a little big to set up for Tuesday nights.

Even '58 Studebaker Scotsman aficionados drive golf carts in Florida.

Yes, the '58 Studebakers had 4 headlights and were way uglier,
but the Scotsman used up the previous year's sheet metal.
A close look reveals the doors and roof became the '59 Lark.
 

Did you know there were mound-building Indians in Florida? There's a substantial mound on the gulf shore in the panhandle and a large complex in the Palm Beach area. We saw an "Indian Mound →" sign southwest of lake Okeechobee and had to follow it. Terry's at the right of this picture on top of the 4ft high Ortona mound in an abandoned-for-the-summer county park now seemingly used only for a cane grinding festival and geocaching.

Clewiston is at the southern end of Lake Okeechobee. Sugar cane and big mouth bass. Half of the motel parking lot was set aside for pickup trucks with boat trailers. Even big mouth bass with leis have Christmas lights all year round.

Ft. Lauderdale traffic. Bah. Miami traffic. Double bah. Sold the car successfully though and had the last Popeye's chicken strips for a while (sniffle). Oops, the boat's in the driveway honking its horn. Gotta go.

Things in Florida we saw on previous trips and bypassed this time:

Hopkins Boarding House Family-style dining. Closed for renovation.  Pensacola
Wakulla Springs State Park Glass bottom boat and swamp tour Tallahassee
Don Garlits Museum Ocala
Kennedy Space Center Cape Canaveral
This chow wagon was used by Edison, Ford, Firestone, and Burroughs on backwoods trips. It is the world's first RV.	One of the biggest Banyan trees in the world. It covers almost an acre of land. This pictures shows less than half of the root/support system.
Edison & Ford Winter Estates Fort Myers
Tarpon Springs. 'Nuff said.	Ochopee, FL Post Office
Kellys Caribbean Bar & Grill & Brewery Harry Truman's poker table at The Little White House	Awwww.
Key West

We'll post scenic pictures of water in a couple of weeks. Incommunicado until then.