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.