The Ultimate Ocala Staycation

A professional writer, popular blogger, and self-proclaimed “foodie,” the Travelling Foodie ventures from Toronto to visit the Ocala area for a press-sponsored trip that shows the very best that Marion County has to offer. In all, it was a whirlwind couple of days spent zip lining a canyon, visiting cultural diversions, and sampling some awesome local cuisine. So, dear Ocala’s Good Life reader, how many of the things on his list have you done?

By Raymond Cua

Welcome to Ocala, the Horse Capital of the World! Unlike the typical Florida vacation of beaches and theme parks, the Ocala area offers classic Florida adventures with canyons, a national forest, horse farms and stables, and one of Florida’s oldest tourist attractions. I explored the area for two days, enjoying its natural charms and growing food scene, and I’m sharing them all here.

DAY #1: Big Lee’s Serious About Barbecue

I started the day for lunch at Big Lee’s, one of Ocala’s most popular BBQ joints that serves Southern-smoked barbecue. Try to arrive when they open at 11:30am or earlier to avoid line-ups.

Big Lee’s Barbecue was already a local favorite, then it got even more popular when owner and pitmaster Rashad Jones won “Guy’s Big Project” by celebrity chef Guy Fieri on the Food Network in 2017.

Big Lee's

Photo courtesy Big Lee's

The most popular items at Big Lee’s are the brisket, burnt ends, and massive beef ribs. You need to come early or pre-order ahead if you want to try the beef ribs. They were sold out already when I went around 12:15pm. My love for brisket first started after my trip to Austin where I did a barbecue tour. Now I’m always on the lookout for brisket in any barbecue place I visit. The brisket here was spot on—flavorful, fatty, and moist—and smoked using kiln-dried Central Florida oak wood.

If you want to take it to the next level, get the burnt ends. The burnt ends at Big Lee’s are the dry version, which I love. I’ve always felt that the sauce took away from the raw goodness of the meat.

Silver Springs State Park

After lunch, I headed over to Silver Springs State Park, one of the best attractions in Marion County for the past five decades or so.

The glass bottom boat tour here is a must since it is one of Florida’s oldest attractions and also a unique experience. It was definitely my first time doing something like this. When I entered the boat, I saw a long rectangular glass floor at the center that allowed us to see underwater. It became evident why it’s called “Silver Springs” as the tour progressed. When the sun hits the cypress trees under the water, it sparkles like silver. The tour is also a great way to see some wildlife like alligators and birds. The guides are quick to point out animals as they see them.

Glass Bottom Boats at Silver Springs State Park

Photo by Trevor Byrne

I liked how different this tour was. Whereas most boat tours point out things around you, this tour leveraged the glass bottom and mostly talked about things under you, like the rowboat in the depths that was brought by early Spanish settlers. It was interesting to learn that Silver Springs has been used in film productions like “Creature from the Black Lagoon” (the guide will point out the 33-feet deep section where the creature lived), the James Bond movie “Never Say Never Again,” and the TV show “Sea Hunt.”

You can also wander around the park, which has nature trails and doubles as a sculpture park with various art pieces. Legend has it that taking photo with the twisted cypress tree would bring you five years of good luck. This means I need to come back here every five years.

SKY Fine Dining

For dinner, head to SKY Fine Dining, Florida Trend’s Golden Spoon winner 10 years in a row! Located on the top floor of the Holiday Inn & Suites Ocala Conference Center hotel, you can enjoy delicious Asian-inspired food with views of the city. When I exited the elevator, I was surprised that a Holiday Inn had a restaurant like this. I was impressed with the interior of the restaurant, as it’s decked with Asian statues and symbols in a relaxed-yet-intimate setting. There is a variety of spe cialty cocktails made in-house but also a wide selection of spirits, including limited and rare whiskey selections like the discontinued Nikka Coffey malt whiskey, which I love.

Photo courtesy Sky Fine Dining

For appetizers, a safe-yet-delicious choice is the calamari, which had a light breading that didn’t take away from the squid.

SKY Fine Dining has done a great job incorporating Asian elements to the dishes like the impressive tuna bruschetta. They were able to take a traditional Italian dish and make a proper Asian twist by changing the usual olive oil and salt with edamame puree and sweet soy aioli. Similarly, an Asian mango salsa replaced the usual tomato topping. What I tasted was a flavor explosion of sweet, salty, sour, and umami.

Be sure to also check out their Specials Menu, which has things like Bacon Wrapped Scallops with a unique blueberry barbecue sauce.

I enjoyed the Chef’s Cut New York Strip Steak, which was perfectly cooked and came with a nice Asian twist of house specialty soy.

You’ll definitely want to try Pan Seared Citrus Scallops, which I found to be their most creative fusion dish with the use of sweet coconut sauce and the unique blueberry jasmine rice.

The bread pudding here was the best one I’ve had to date. What made it so good is they use croissants instead of regular bread!

DAY #2: Symmetry Coffee & Crepes

For the second day, I headed to downtown Ocala for breakfast at Symmetry Coffee & Crepes, a local cafe specializing in locally roasted coffees and delicious crepes.

Photo courtesy Symmetry Coffee & Crepes

Symmetry has a roaster inside the café where they roast their own beans. They use the Slayer machine for their espresso drinks and have a Slow Bar with six different manual brewing options: Chemex, V-60, Aero press, Kalita Wave, French Press, and Syphon.

I’m glad they specialize in crepes, because I prefer them over pancakes. They do a build-your-own crepe where you choose your batter (sweet, savory, gluten-free), toppings, drizzle, and up to five fillings from a wide variety of vegetable, protein, fruit, egg, cheese, and sweet options. I highly recommend the crepe I built, which I dub the “Travelling Foodie Crepe,” made of sweet crepe batter with avocado, bacon, sausage, fried egg, and smoked gouda.

The Canyons Zip Line & Canopy Tours

Photo courtesy Canyons Zip Line & Canopy Tours

After breakfast, I headed to The Canyons Zip Line & Canopy Tours to take the Taste of History Tour. This 1.5-hour tour gets you on the “Mine-NWine” wagon to explore the The Canyons’ 100-acre park while learning about the park’s history, zip line, and nature facts, all while enjoying a tasting of local wines from Island Grove or chocolates from Peterbrooke Chocolatiers.

I got to sample four different wines: Blueberry Moscato, Kinda Dry Blueberry, Sorta Sweet Blueberry, and the Sunshine State Berry Sangria. I’ve had blueberry wines once before and enjoyed them a lot. The Sunshine State Berry Sangria was my favorite.

The Canyons used to be a limestone quarry back in 1915, so you’ll see remnants of its history during the tour. With how much is unexplored in The Canyons, the staff still uncovers new places by spelunking. One cave is unofficially called “Steven Tyler’s Mouth.”

Being the Horse Capital of the World, you can’t not see horses. I visited a stable as part of the tour where I was able to pet some horses. Similarly, The Canyons offers horseback riding tours as well. But the zip lines are the star attraction because they have the fastest, the highest, and the longest zip lines in Florida. You’ll be flying over the canyons in no time on a memorable adrenaline rush!

Sayulita Taqueria

For lunch, I headed to Sayulita Taqueria (or “Say Taco”), Ocala’s new modern-leaning Mexican restaurant. Since opening, this place has quickly become a local favorite downtown, so be prepared for line-ups. In fact, one local told me she ate here at least twice a week.

Photo by John Jernigan

A staple starter in Mexican restaurants is chips, and it’s usually tough to decide which dip to get, so you’re best bet is to get the Tres Amigos, which comes with all three of their dips!

But you can’t go to a taqueria without ordering tacos! The tacos at Sayulita Taqueria come with your choice of flour or homemade corn tortillas. I enjoyed the taco selection, which is less traditional but still delicious. If you want that instagrammable taco, check out their taco inside a bag of Doritos! The Avocado Taco had crispy avocado and rich crema which made for a delicious bite, the Cowboy Taco was a meaty goodness of marinated steak and apple smoked bacon, and the Mahi Mahi Taco had a fresh tasting crispy mahi that goes well with the chili-lime spice. I recommend removing some of the pickled cabbage to get more out of the mahi.

Tuscawilla Art Park

After lunch, I took a stroll along the 102-year-old Tuscawilla Art Park, home to a variety of artwork and sculptures. When you visit the park, you can’t miss the most eye-catching sculpture of the headless Marie and Jean sitting on a bench. This sculpture became headless after vandals took off the head. But rather than hiding the sculpture, it’s now there to symbolize the need to take care of public art.

Photo by Trevor Byrne

Appleton Museum of Art

I continued to let my creative juices flow by visiting the Appleton Museum of Art, an 81,610 square-foot museum that houses about 18,000 objects in permanent collections including American, Asian, African, Contemporary, European and pre-Columbian art and artifacts.

Photo courtesy The Appleton Museum

La Cuisine French Restaurant

The last stop on my trip was a meal at another Florida Trend’s Golden Spoon winner in historic downtown, La Cuisine, which is run by Patrice and Elodie Perron. It’s clear why they’re a Golden Spoon winner for nine years when you dine here. They serve authentic French food made perfectly in-house with traditional techniques, fresh produce, and ingredients. I started with the seared foie gras, which was mouth-wateringly good. I loved that they put a homemade gingerbread under the foie gras to soak up the fatty goodness.

One of La Cuisine’s signature dishes is the Grouper Meuniere, with its fresh-tasting grouper with a soft, crispy bite. The simple lemon butter sauce helped highlight the grouper even further.

Photo courtesy La Cuisine

WANT MORE OF THE TRAVELLING FOODIE? www.travellingfoodie.net

Big Lee’s Serious About Barbecue www.mybigleesbbq.com 304-1905 Silver Springs State Park www.silversprings.com 261-5840 SKY Fine Dining www.skyfinedining.com 291-0000 Symmetry Coffee & Crepes www.symmetrycoffeecrepes.com 525-0495 The Canyons Zip Line & Canopy Tours www.zipthecanyons.com 351-9477 Sayulita Taqueria www.facebook.com/saytacoFL 629-4700 Tuscawilla Art Park www.maxocala.org/tuscawilla-art-park 629-8414 Appleton Museum of Art www.appletonmuseum.org 291-4455 La Cuisine French Restaurant www.lacuisineocala.com 433-2570