Crabby Bill's, St. Cloud - October 30, 2010

We were six for breakfast in Plant City, Florida this morning, although only three were prepared to ride.  Bill, Boyd and Robert had other plans for the day.  J.T., Lloyd and I set out about 9:00 a.m. with the general goal of lunch at Crabby Bill's in St. Cloud.

The first leg of the ride found us meandering over to Fun Bike Center where we knew Boyd had an appointment to test ride a motorcycle.  Finding that we had arrived ahead of Boyd, we convinced the salesman to put a sold tag on the bike in question and awaited his arrival. Unfortunately, the ever vigilant Boyd had seen our Wings in the parking lot and had no reaction to the sold tag. Nuts. Maybe next time.

As Boyd left on his test ride, J.T., Lloyd and I continued our twisted route towards St. Cloud.

Our second stop was at the Big "Toho" Marina on the north shore of Lake Tohopekaliga (Sleeping Tiger) in Kissimmee.

Lake Toho sits on the northern end of the Kissimmee Chain of Lakes and is the beginning of the Great Kissimmee River System which flows south to Lake Okeechobee and on into the Everglades.

A nice little municipal park sits next to the marina and includes a covered play area for children, an ice cream shop made from an old caboose and air boat rides ($30 per hour per person).

Leaving the marina, we headed over to Crabby Bill's on East Lake Tohopekaliga in St. Cloud.

The dining room has a view of the marina and the lake. Lloyd and J.T. enjoyed the scenery while we waited for lunch.

At least I think he is enjoying the view.

Hey, is that Crabby Eddie?

We all selected the hamburger for lunch - a good choice!

After lunch, we headed back to Old Kissimmee for a quick stop at a cigar bar where all three of us picked up some great wooden cigar boxes - buy one, get one free and the most expensive one was $3.00.

We decided to head home from there via the quickest route in order to catch the late afternoon football games.

It was another great ride (145 miles), good food and great friends.

Gunny

Dunnellon & Stumpknockers - October 23, 2010

What a wonderful day for a ride!  The temperature was about 68 degrees as we assembled in Plant City under a clear, blue Florida sky. We were a small group again this week as several of our regular riders were travelling back from their annual trek to the Blue Ridge Mountains (I am confident that Bill & Boyd will have a lot of great photos and footage to share in the near future).

Although Robert joined us for breakfast, he was unable to ride today.  So it was that Lloyd, J.T. and I headed out on our planned ride to Dunnellon. While there are interesting roads and sights to see in whatever direction you head from Plant City, for me, north offers the best collection of roads, hills and scenery.  Happily, today's route took us that direction.

After skirting Zephyrhills and Dade City and riding some nice roads north of San Antonio, we made a stop at Spring Lake Road and US-98,

No, Lloyd, yours is the one on your left.

And, we met a bunch of riders from the annual "Florida Coast-to-Coast" ride.

The next leg of the trip took us to Istachatta and Pineola (in honor of our friends returning from Pineola, NC) then up to the Tsala Apopka Chain of Lakes, near the Flying Eagle Ranch.  We continued on to Dunnellon and the Rainbow Springs State Park so Lloyd could explore future camping sites.

As it was then time for lunch, we headed southeast to Stumpknockers Restaurant. For those who may not have grown up in the south, a stumpknocker is a spotted sunfish.

The restaurant is nestled in a cypress grove on the banks of the Withlacoochee River at Hwy. 200.

They have both inside and covered outside seating.  The atmosphere is rustic with nautical theme. The food was very good and priced on the high side of reasonable.

J.T. poses with his alter-ego.

The river's edge provided an idyllic setting for a couple of shots of my riding companions.

With the afternoon temperature nearing 90 degrees, we finished the ride with a nearly straight 84 mile run back to Plant City.

It was another great ride (208 mile total) with good friends and good roads.  Come join us next time.  Meanwhile,

RIDE WITH PRIDE

Gunny

Solomon's Castle - October 9, 2010

Attendance was a little light today with only Bill, J.T., Robert, Bob K. and I gathering for breakfast at Snellgroves in Plant City. Boyd was travelling and Lloyd was attending a sick family member. I have no idea where the rest of you were.

Even though he was not there, Lloyd won the weekly wager. After last week's visit to Champions Powersports, he predicted that Bob K. would soon show up on a Bergman,

It is a previously owned, baby Bergman (400 cc) that Bob found loitering at a Harley dealership.

Bill prepares to ride his ST 1300 (or is he lecturing Robert?)

As Robert was on call, he had to stay behind as the remaining four riders turned south en route to Solomon's Castle via a somewhat circuitous, 103 mile path. Along the way, we enjoyed the views of old Florida along Walter Hunt, Jameson and Bethlehem Roads, a quick rest stop at the small store in Bradley Junction, and the skills test of Agricola Mine Road.

As we approached Wauchula on US-17, J.T. decided that he needed to turn back in order to keep his afternoon appointment with the Faith Riders. Consequently, only three of us made it to the gate at Solomon's Castle.

A short walk from the parking lot brings you to you first view of Howard Solomon's printing plate covered artistic wonder.

As impressive as the castle is, our destination was the Boat in the Moat restaurant. Another of Mr. Solomon's creations.

The interior of the restaurant is dimly lit which intensified the effect of sunlight streaming through the many stained glass windows.

The food was good, including Bob's Lilly Lime Pie.

Even though the food was very good, Bill's smile

may have resulted from another source...

A mermaid in the rafters.

After a good lunch we returned to the parking lot where we met my neighbor, Stan Billicky, and his wife who were just arriving.

Being a Saturday afternoon with many important college football games on television, we opted to the quickest route home. Although the morning ride was 103 miles, the ride home was a mere 57 miles.

Unfortunately, next Saturday will find me in meetings all day in Sebring. Bill, Robert, Boyd and Eddie will be on the annual Leaf Ride to North Carolina. Those of you remaining will be on your own to decide on riding. I will be back with you on October 23.  Meanwhile,

Ride With Pride

Gunny

October 2, 2010 - The Dam Diner

Seven good friends met in Plant City, FL this morning, intent on renewed fellowship over breakfast followed by a great motorcycle ride.

Unfortunately, Bill and Robert were unable to ride today, so they were able only to stand and watch with  tears in their eyes as Lloyd, Boyd, Eddie, Bob K. and I headed out for the day's adventure.

Today's ride took us through the Green Swap on Green Pond Road then up CR-561. After a quick rest stop at US-27, we continued north to Eustace to visit with the folks at Champions Powersports.

As we were preparing to leave Champions, Eddie suggested we change plans and have lunch at The Mason Jar in Dona Vista.As it was still a little early for lunch, the group decided to continue on to Moss Bluff and the Dam Diner.  I can only say that I should know better than to question Eddie's dining instincts.

Continuing on our route, we worked our way north and east until we reached the eastern edge of the Ocala National Forest.  The ride north on Forest Road (SE 182nd Avenue) presented some very nice sweepers through the woods.

This was my fourth trip to the Dam Diner.  While the atmosphere and clientèle remain unchanged, the quality of the food seems to have slipped significantly.  Like I said before, I should not have questioned Eddie's suggestion.

Leaving the restaurant, we turned our bikes towards home.  The return route took us to Ocklawaha, Lake Weir and Lady Lake.  At CR-466 we turned west to pick up US-301.  That took us through the heart of The Villages.  We have all seen the TV spots about this place, but I was unprepared for the sheer size of the place.  Huge doesn't cover it.  Of the 7.2 miles we spent on CR-466, at least 3/4 of it was within The Villages.

The remained of the ride home was fairly uneventful.  Boyd ans I split off from the group outside of Dade City and headed south on US-98 to pickup Old Dade City Road for the last piece of "good" road on our way home.

We cover about 208 miles today under clear skies and relatively cool Florida temperatures.

Come and join us next week for our further adventures.  Meanwhile,

RIDE WITH PRIDE

Gunny