Monday, May 23, 2011

Margarita Grill


We celebrated getting my new used car by going to the Margarita Grill in Homosassa Saturday afternoon. The restaurant is right on Halls River which leads to King's Bay. Boats can dock up outside and come in for drinks or a meal. We chose to sit on the patio to see all the action on the water. The place was packed with boaters, bikers, tourists, locals and who knows who else.

UPDATE: The Margarita Grill burned down later this year and there are no plans to rebuild.

That margarita Gary has is the small one. They have a medium one and a large one. I wish I had gotten a photo of the other sizes; you wouldn't believe how big the big one is. Gary never smiles big; and he said he never has. I'm going to look through his childhood photos to see if that's true.


Gary and I both had the char grilled octopus. Hope this shot of the tentacles doesn't gross you out too much, but it was so tender and delicious in a lemon sauce. I don't know much about my Greek or Native American heritage, but somehow octopus seemed a fitting meal. Gary ordered a salad and garlic smashed taters, as he calls them, as sides. His salad had a avocado colored dressing which was real tasty. I had coleslaw (not runny) and sweet potato fries. Normally I never get fried anything, but I do love sweet potato fries occasionally if I go to a restaurant.


I took home the place mat from the grill. Now that may seem like a hokey touristy thing to do, but there was a method to my madness. There was a list of eleven best beaches in Florida on the place mat. Gary and I want to try to get to them all some way or another. We didn't get desert as we were too full, but later that evening I made some desert for us, the recipe will be coming up soon.


Here's my new car, a 2003 2wd Ford Escape, a compact SUV, which supposedly it gets 20 mpg in the city and 25 on the highway, we shall see. I have never driven a front wheel drive car in my life till now. It's a 3.0 liter, but has 201 hp, quite a bit for the size of car. So Gary said I have to be careful not flip it over. It's a whole new way of driving for me that's for sure. In my youth I used to have a lead foot, but any more I try like heck to save as much fuel as I can.

I was glad to purchase an American made car, although the Hyundai Santa Fe was a contender. Prices are up for used cars with better fuel economy. The price for this Escape was more reasonable than any used Hyundai we could find. Also the seats were more comfortable in the Escape for me. An SUV was better for both of us due to bad backs and not having to lift groceries out of the back seat or low trunks of a car. Otherwise we might have gotten a Toyota Camry. Gary said this Escape was built in Missouri. He knows so much about cars. He's outside washing my car now; he actually likes hand washing and waxing cars. I'm so lucky.

More about fuel economy, flex fuel, and money savings tips in the future. Also coming up pastel flowers, a childhood story, and more, so stay tuned. Oh, and that desert recipe too.

12 comments:

  1. Congratulations, it is pretty.

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  2. sweet new ride! and dinner looks good too :-)

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  3. OMG Linda...we are so alike in so many ways. I love your new car...hubby had a Ford Escape a number of years ago, and is thinking of getting another, as his Chevy is on it's last legs! I just bought a 2008 Hyundai Santa Fe last month. My little Saturn was 15 years old, so it was time.

    I would have brought home that placemat too..it's beautiful. I'd have torn it up for collage or even made an envelope out of it.

    Now, your din din is another thing. It did gross me out. I do like Octopus in artwork and jewelry, but not on my plate.

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  4. CUTE car!! good for you :) I was expecting to see Mexican food because of the name of the restaurant! Thought the squid shot was some wild Florida tamale!

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  5. Now that's one dish that I've never tried or cooked! Congrats on finding the SUV! Looks nice!

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  6. I love your car and am amazed at the size of that Margarita. That is pretty amazing and it would put me to sleep for the afternoon. The large versions must have been mind boggling :-). I hope you have a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  7. Hi Lori, thanks, Gary wants it for his because it has a sun roof too.

    Hi Michele, thanks, the dinner was good.

    Hi Cindy, thanks, yeah I think the place might have been Mexican before but changed owners for the better.

    Hi Barbara, thanks, this Escape is a 2003 which is two years newer than my last one but the price was right, I wanted to get newer but just can't afford it. The placemat was really great, actually I sometimes hate to think of the waste of them; you'd be such a good person to do something creative with them.

    Hi Marguerite, thanks, you should try it, it was really delicious, I looked it up and apparently it can be very rubbery and tough if done incorrectly cooked too much or too little, there is a whole genera of folks who talk about how to cook octopus.

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  8. Hi Mary, thanks, actually that large wasn't that large, I think it was the angle of the camera, you wouldn't have fallen asleep because they barely passed the liquor bottle over the drink, it was mostly lime juice; the mixed drink was the least best part of the restaurant.

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  9. Congratulations! Iknow several who have the Ford Escape and looove it! Happy Driving!

    Sunisa makes the Clay Flowers. She's in Manassas, VA and the phone on her card (which was in the store for all to take) is 703-393-7727. I took some photos but I doubt mine will come out as good as what she has on her site: www.sunisaclayflowers.com; she also lists sunisa@verizon.net on her card.

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  10. Hi Kittie, thanks, I have been on Sunisa's website before when I was developing the idea of making flowers and wondering if anyone else had done what I was envisioning before. I concluded her work was completely different than mine and wasn't worried, thanks so much for getting the info for me. that black orchid still intrigues me. I may try my own rendition of some black flowers as I think black often holds that mysterious card for so many. Thanks again.

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  11. char grilled octopus! you're brave---- does it taste like chicken? never tasted it; seems like the texture of it would be interesting. congrats on the new car purchase! oh, and to answer your comment on my post, the black trinity symbol is mason stain painted on top of glaze---

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  12. Hi Amy, thanks, it didn't really have that much flavor except the lemon sauce and the charred smoky flavor from grilling, it was very good, and not chewy at all. Well the car is new to me, but not new by any means as it is a 2003 car. So you painted stain on top of glaze interesting, I noticed it was a matt surface and the glaze was shiny and wondered how you did that, very clever and effective.

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