Another nice place for lunch is El Mezcal, a Mexican restaurant right beside the courthouse. They have a great $4.99 lunch special, and depending on what you order, you can get a large portion of food for that price. The chicken or steak fajitas, served with sautéed vegetables rice and refried beans is one example. Another is the pollo fundido, which is slices of chicken served with rice, sautéed vegetables, mushrooms and topped with melted cheese. El Mezcal also serves margarita specials, though I have yet to try any of those.
The Dixie Grill is probably the oldest restaurant in Live Oak, established in 1959. My colleagues and I often eat lunch here as well. The food at this restaurant is good southern or country cooking. Their pies, in particular the coconut pie and the chocolate pie, are made from scratch.
The Gathering is a restaurant worthy of our office lunch rotation as well. They have a fairly large menu serving burgers, sandwiches, chicken, fish and shrimp in a variety of ways. Their soups are also very good, though they do not have the selection of soup that the Downtown Café does. Both the Dixie Grill and The Gathering have a great breakfast. I usually do not eat breakfast in general, as I will almost always trade food for sleep in the mornings. A couple of times, though, I have gone to The Gathering after early Saturday morning court duty. The omelets that I had there were delicious.
The Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park is a great place to hang out on the weekends. Most Friday and Saturday nights, they have live music, and many people utilize the campground for the weekends or for vacations. The park is set along the eastern bank of the Suwannee River, just north of town.
The music on the weekends is typically country or Southern rock. But the park is known for the festivals it hosts at numerous times throughout the year. These festivals usually last from Thursday through Sunday and attract thousands of people from all over the country.
I admit that I am not the biggest fan of music and huge concerts, but I recognize some of the names that came to play this year, including The Allman Brothers’ Band and Willie Nelson. The concerts are outdoors, rain or shine, often with multiple stages featuring different bands playing at the same time at different points in the park…
Thunder Alley is the place to go bowling in town. Across the tops of the lanes, painted on the walls, are scenes and buildings from Live Oak. The artist is John Rice, who has a frame and portrait shop right beside my office. Some of his paintings of Live Oak hang on the walls in our office. I see him outside at various spots in town, working with his easel, canvas and paints. He has a neat sign on his front door that reads: “We do three types of jobs here: Good, Fast, and Cheap. You may choose any two.”
The bowling alley does not have black light bowling, as I was used to in college. They do have a good sound system for music, though, a pool table, and a full service bar. It is an enjoyable experience to go there with friends, have a few drinks, and bowl or shoot pool. I have ordered food there once- a chicken cheese steak sandwich with a Pepsi, which was very good. My conversation with the older lady who owns the place amused me.
I ordered water, at first, and she opened a cooler and gave me a small bottle of brand name water.
“Do you guys have cups of free ice water?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes at me and laughed. “No the water isn’t free here,” she said.
When I learned that the Pepsi was actually less expensive and came in a larger cup, I ordered that.
She had to fire up the grill just for me, as I was the only one eating anything at that point. When she brought out my order, I handed her a credit card.
She rolled her eyes at me again. “You’re going to pay with that?” she asked.
“You guys take credit cards, right?” I responded.
“We do,” she said begrudgingly. “But do you realize the amount of money I lose because of what I have to pay those companies?”…
The Suwannee River Library is a small but neat little public library that is across the street from the bowling alley. They often have programs such as “The History of Suwannee County” or a movie for children. I went to one program on migrating birds, taught by some local experts, and found it very informative. From the program, I learned of a great bird guide book, which I bought and have used to identify some birds in this area…
As I type this blog, I get a text message on my phone that we are having our first softball practice of the year tomorrow.
When I first moved to Live Oak last June, joining a softball team was a highlight of my summer. I am glad that I have been invited back for a second season. I am also looking forward to a vacation with my parents and my brother this year, but I have made the point that I would like the vacation to be in September, when kids are back in school and, most importantly, softball season is over. The games are only played in June, July and August, and I do not want to miss any of them. First Federal Sports Complex will be the place for me to be on weeknights during those months.
No comments:
Post a Comment