Sebring and Surroundings
A search for spices in Florida brought me to Lake Placid, Avon Park and Sebring, home of Everglades Seasoning and the better-known Sebring International Raceway.
It was a flawless spring day, perfect driving weather. The only clouds were smoke from the burning sugarcane fields along US 27. In less than three hours, I was in Palmdale, where I popped into the Fisheating Creek Outpost to check out the water levels for kayaking. But they were too low, so I drove to Lake Placid for breakfast at the Good News Juice and Smoothie Cafe, on Journal Plaza on Main Ave., where there’s a Saturday Farmers Market and monthly outdoor movie nights. Known as the Town of Murals, Lake Placid showcases its history and attractions in 47 larger-than-life paintings. Thrift shops and arts and craft stores line downtown streets, along with the American Clown Museum and School, a small building with everything clownish – admission is only a smile!
New Rum Distillery
Hoping to see some bald eagles, I drove to Lake June-in-Winter Scrub State Park, a rustic sand pine scrub preserve, but my lone wildlife sighting was a slow-moving gopher tortoise. A few minutes away is the Henscratch Farms Vineyard & Winery, where summer is the season for u-pick muscadine and scuppernong grapes – they even have a summer grape stomp. Down the road is the farm-to-bottle Sugar Sand Distillery, a 10-acre sugarcane farm where Jessica Giffin and Don Davies decided to plant sugarcane after their citrus crops were devastated by citrus greening. They plan to offer tours where you can watch them cut, peel, wash and squeeze sugarcane before it’s distilled into rum, vodka and whiskey.
Heading north on Henscratch Road takes me to SR66 and the Everglades Seasoning warehouse, where I got to see the original spice grinder that US mess sergeant Bill Gerstman used to blend his unique spice blend in his hometown of Labelle. Today the company is owned by another family, and packaged and distributed in Sebring, but the piquant flavor – a combination of mustard, onion, garlic and other spices – remains the same. They do spice rubs, fish breading and low-salt versions, too. The warehouse was just around the corner from Highland Hammock State Park. I was just in time for the afternoon tram tour, an hour ride through the lush canopy of palms, cypress and oaks, past sunbathing alligators and snakes accompanied an excellent ranger commentary. After a quick stop in the Civilian Conservation Corps Museum, I drove to downtown Sebring and stopped in the Faded Bistro and Beer Garden, with craft beers on tap and salads and sandwiches in a garden setting.
Soda Pop and Sugarcane
Nearby is the Sebring Soda & Ice Cream Works. Although they carry the delicious St. Pete’s Working Cow Homemade Ice Cream, I was craving an orange juice soft-serve cone from Maxwell Groves in Avon Park, a 10-minute drive through citrus groves. They do sell oranges and grapefruit, but according to a notice in the shop, most are now outsourced because of citrus greening. In Avon Park’s small historic district, the 1920s Hotel Jacaranda and its lovely veranda is inviting, but I decided to save that for a future visit and take advantage of the longer spring day and drive back to Miami. This time I drove on the east side of Lake Okeechobee through the cowboy town of Okeechobee and the eerily beautiful Pahokee, where towering royal palms line the road, past faded mansions and abandoned buildings straight out of a movie set. From 27 southbound, the evening sky was spectacular as the trucks hauled off the burnt sugarcane stalks into the night.
CRAFT SODA IN SEBRING
Right on the circle in historic downtown Sebring is the Sebring Soda & Ice Cream Works, dedicated to craft soda – there are over 350 varieties, from old favorites to wacky new ones: Ramblin’ Butterscotch, Cicero Peach Cobbler, Mr. Q Cucumber and Mo’s Mint Julep. The new Sebring Soda Festival celebrates these nostalgic beverages, with classic car shows, pop-ups, and kids’ activities. It’s too late to attend this year’s Sebring Soda Festival (April 6-7), but mark your calendars for April 5-6, 2019.
