Last May I challenged Terry and myself to ride the entire Withlacoochee State Trail before the annual Rails to Trails bike ride in October. Didn’t quite make it–didn’t finish the segment from Ridge Manor to Trilby. Failure.
So now I have a new challenge. To eat at every restaurant in Citrus County that has chicken wings! And maybe a few places in Marion, Sumter and Hernando counties. That should be easier. No time frame involved. We can work on this goal for the rest of our lives!
Terry and I, along with a few friends, already started this quest earlier this year and even reported on our visits to The Cove, Coaches, Lollygaggers, and Island Bar and Grill. But we got sidetracked with all that bicycle riding. We want wings! This month we went to Skeets Smokehouse and Grill in Beverly Hills, Shamrocks in Floral City, and Beef o Bradys in Crystal River.
We stopped by Skeets Smokehouse and Grill on a Friday afternoon, right about lunch time. There was only one other table of customers! What! When I had a job where I actually got a paycheck, Friday was the day I went out for a long lunch. Has that tradition gone away along with all the jobs? Where was everyone? Perhaps it’s more of an evening place since I noticed numerous beer choices on draft. Which made me happy! Along with my mug of beer I had some really delicious tomato basil soup. Yum. And, of course, Terry and I both ordered wings.
My next visit was to Shamrocks. Poor Terry, the real wing lover had to stay home because this was a girl’s afternoon out! But he did get to watch the Bucs on TV and they actually won their game.
And our independent panel of judges were…
I LOVED Shamrocks. Since it’s right by the Withlacoochee State Trail, there were about a dozen bicyclists having lunch. Also bikers at the bar. A couple gave up their table so the six of us could sit together! A very friendly pub!
Next stop was Beef o Brady’s in Crystal River the following day. This is a family friendly chain and we’ve been to several of them over the years. A lot of bars in the area aren’t open on Monday but Beef o Brady’s is. Terry needed wings. And I needed another restaurant to check out.
Terry ordered two flavors of wings, garlic parmesan and honey bbq and said that the garlic parmesan was the better choice. The fries were good and crispy. I had a cup of baked potato soup which was delicious.
And now, let’s wrap this up, the service was good at all three places, wings were good, and we would go back to all three restaurants. But I’m going with the atmosphere and giving the win for this month to Shamrocks.
And the quest continues….