Lunch in Wauchula, FL

SBCC club members ready for lunch at Giovanni’s Main Street Kitchen in Wauchula, Florida

On January 21, the club once again set out on a scenic drive with the objective of a tasty lunch at mid-point. On this Saturday, intrepid path finder Jim Wilson set his sights on Giovanni’s Main Street Kitchen, an Italian eatery in Wauchula to the east. We had 10 cars and 16 members participate. By my odometer, we covered about 120 miles out and back. The weather was beautiful, not too hot, with low humidity and plenty of sunshine. As we motored through the Myakka area, there were still unfortunate reminders that Hurricane Ian had been there just a couple of months before – plenty of large downed trees and the familiar blue tarps still protecting the roofs of houses and even a rural post office.

Jim led a comfortable drive out over country roads and pastoral lanes. As the caravan got closer to Wauchula, the agricultural scene transitioned from cattle ranches to orange groves. 

Fun fact: Until the late 1800’s, Florida was the No.1 cattle producing state in the US, even more than Texas. Cattle were first introduced to North America in Florida in 1521 by Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon. Legend has it that he was blown off course while searching for what was to become the Lone Star state. Senora Ponce de Leon suggested her husband stop and ask for directions, but Juan stubbornly sailed on, landing some 1000 miles off course at St. Petersburg. 

Back to the present, the food at Giovanni’s was as good as advertised with, according to Tomato sauce-smeared reports, the pizza being excellent. On the trip home, Jim let the horses loose and his little green TR6 kept disappearing over the horizon. All had a good time.

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