Florida Weird - But in a Good Way!

I knew Florida was a bit weird and unconventional before we moved down here, but man, … there are some seriously weird things that go on in this state every day! And I’m not even talking about politics!! Still, it’s an awesome place to live and some of the weird stuff is actually a good kind of weird – like a local farm that produces wine, beer, AND hard cider. Let’s talk Florida weird!

Every place I’ve lived throughout my life had its own quirks and weirdness, but Florida is probably the most unique of them all! A lot of the weird and crazy in Florida actually makes it a fun and exciting place to live, while some of it is just plain, well, crazy! Here are a few examples of real headlines from local newspapers from across the state:

• Florida man arrested for trying to get alligator drunk

• Florida man insists syringes pulled from rectum aren’t his

• Florida man on lawnmower hits cop car, gets arrested for DUI

• Florida man dies in meth-lab explosion after lighting farts on fire

• Florida man breaks into jail to hang out with his friends

• Florida man trapped in unlocked closet for two days

• Florida shooting range to serve alcohol in restaurant

And my favorite:

The food and wine scene down here can get a bit weird as well! Things like fried gator bites, turtle chowder, and crispy pork ears are just a few examples. And as I’ve already discussed in previous posts, the wine scene in Florida isn’t exactly “happening” with strange concoctions made from almost every fruit (and vegetable!) imaginable. But thankfully, the food scene down here (and especially in Sarasota) is one of the best in the country and certainly one of if not the best in any city I’ve lived in, including Washington DC!

Recently, Laurie and I visited another unique and somewhat weird place for an afternoon outing – a farm in Plant City about an hour north of us that has a winery, brewery, and cidery all on site! Now where else can you find that in the good Ol’ US of A?! I had tasted their hard ciders already and loved them all, so we went to explore those as well as the other offerings from the farm. It turned out to be a great experience that we plan to revisit in the future!

Keel Farms was started in 1981 as a plant nursery. In 2003, the owner made his first batch of blueberry wine from blueberries grown at the nursery and established Keel and Curly Winery. Ten years later, they established Keel Farms Agrarian Ale and Cider that produces a wide range of craft beers and hard ciders. Many of the wines and ciders are made with fruit grown on-site at the farm. And they also have a (very, very small) vineyard planted with the Muscadet grape.

Keel Farms Bar and Restaurant

Our visit included a tour; a tasting of wine, ale, and cider; and lunch as well since they have an on-site restaurant. Oh, also, there was a small petting zoo with goats, pigs, and chickens, all of whom were strangely friendly (especially the chickens – there were a brood of about 100 of them and when we passed by, they started running after us – it was kind of like Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds but a lot less scary, because they couldn’t fly and all, and also because they were in an enclosed fence)!

The ciders are the star of the show here – they have a long list of both regular and special edition ciders. Their regular ciders that are always available include offerings like strawberry-lime, elderberry, pineapple, and mango. Special editions include pirate punch (kind of like a tropical fruit cider), golden berry, strawberry shortcake, pecan pie, mimosa, and pumpkin. To be honest, I absolutely love all of them! They are fresh and clean ciders, with bright fruit, light effervescence, and semi-sweet. I am constantly on the lookout for them in our local wine and liquor stores, where they are sold in limited quantities.

A portion of the crazy chickens at Keel Farms, preparing to chase us

The fruit wines were also quite good, for fruit wines. Our flight of wines for tasting included blueberry sangria, blueberry rose, black raspberry merlot, wild berry pinot noir, and peach chardonnay. All were semi-sweet, but each smelled and tasted of the fruit they were made from and were nicely balanced with a bit of acidity as well. While we wouldn’t drink them on their own, each of them would make a nice base for a unique and interesting homemade sangria (especially the blueberry and peach wines).

Finally, the ales we tasted were underwhelming – they weren’t bad, but they weren’t great either. If you visit, our recommendation is to definitely focus on the hard ciders first, and the wines second and pass on the ale. The food was also very good, with a nice selection of flatbreads, burgers, and handhelds on the menu. It really is the perfect place to spend a lazy afternoon if you want to visit a working farm that produces some great ciders and good fruit wines (and some tasty food as well)!

Margarita flatbread with a cider tasting at Keel Farms Restaurant

So, I hope I have convinced you that while Florida can be weird at times, some of the weirdness is actually a good kind of weird that’s worth embracing, which is what we plan to continue doing!