Local Places, Local Faces

Wing, Grill & Beer Masters, The quest for the best wings in Citrus County continues!

July 3, 2013 by KTgreen

Jes and Andrew, the “newlyweds”, were here for a very quick visit last weekend. They came for a wedding in Lake City and didn’t even spend a night in Perfect! But they did go to “Wing, Grill & Beer Masters” with us for lunch. Located in the Nottingham Plaza on US 19 between Homosassa Springs and Crystal River, you might not notice it from the road. But it’s yummy and worth a stop. Terry and I had been there one other time at the recommendation of friends.

On the way in Andrew pointed out that the back section of the plaza was empty and would make a good place for zombies to hide out. Fortunately it was a sunny afternoon and not a foggy night because I know that’s when the dead are most active. But I still sat by the window so I could keep a wary eye out for the stray walker.

Terry ordered wings, of course!

Wing, Grill & Beer Masters — Dry Rub Wings. This is the cajun version.

I had one of the specials — cheese quesadillas, Jes had wings and Andrew had something that was in a wrap and I don’t remember what it was because I was also drinking some really strong beer on tap. That place is crazy with wing flavors and beers–both on draft and in the bottle. One of the beers cost $26!!!!

Anyhow, we all loved our lunches and Andrew went home and took a nap after drinking two of the beers on draft. Oh, some of that stuff had a lot of alcohol content. Lucky for us, Terry doesn’t really like beer so he makes a good designated driver!

There were two pages of wing flavors in the menu. (I took a menu home so I’ll be better prepared for our next visit) And there’s a book full of the different varieties of beer available–including alcohol content. So smart!

If you haven’t been to Wing, Grill & Beer Masters, you gotta try it! Yum!

Withlacoochee State Trail, Wallace Brooks Park, Inverness to Floral City

July 2, 2013 by KTgreen

We’ve had crazy amounts of rain since Friday here in Old Homosassa. It has certainly curtailed any of our outdoor plans! Last week, before the rains came in Terry, Maggie and I made it back out onto the Withlacoochee State Trail and covered another 6 ½ miles–our longest ride yet. It helped that this was also the easiest part of the trail that we’ve covered so far. Flat. Shady. Picturesque. We were happy bikers!

Withlacoochee State Trail, Inverness to Floral City — This section of the Withlacoochee State Trail is almost entirely shaded by large trees.

On this ride we started at Wallace Brooks Park, one of Inverness’s many lovely parks. Wallace Brooks is on the shoreline of the Lake Tsala Apopka chain. It’s a small park but when we returned it was busy with all ages taking advantage of the green space and beautiful large trees. A plus to parking at Wallace Brooks is that the lot is shaded.

Withlacoochee State Trail, Wallace Brooks Parky — Withlacoochee State Trail, Wallace Brooks Park

We always ride as early as possible, but it was already in the upper 80s when we started out. I’ve run and biked on this part of the trail many times there is little elevation change and is shaded with beautiful large live oaks. We spotted 3 sandhill cranes—2 adults and a chick– –within our first mile. For the first time in my many visits to the trail, I saw a horse and rider on the unpaved equestrian side. In addition we came across many dogs with their people, a few walkers and runners, but mainly bicyclists—and most them were couples on bikes. But Terry was the only bicyclist with a dog in his basket.

This portion of the trail goes by Fort Cooper State Park which we plan to visit another day. According to the state park website, there are miles of hiking, bird watching, and– a bonus for us–dogs are allowed!

Rest Area in Front of Fort Cooper State Park

We took a break in Floral City, enjoyed the pretty gazebo that’s right on the trail, tried to figure out exactly where the original train depot might have been, then turned back for Inverness.