Story and photos by Stormy Hill H-D Staff

Stormy Hill Harley-Davidson encourages all riders to join us on our sponsored monthly dealer rides! Stormy Hill Harley-Davidson Service Manager Alyshia Sargent was inspired to organize these rides by working with her community through the South Lake Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Club. At these meetings she met more young professionals like herself and wondered how she could not only get Stormy Hill Harley-Davidsons name out in the community more, but also give back while doing so. The plan developed to organize a monthly ride during which any and all motorcycle riders meet at the dealership, enjoy a scenic ride through Lake County, ending at a different local restaurant each month, sit down and get to know one another and support the community!

These monthly rides have grown and evolved over the past two years, beginning as simple dinner rides but when summertime hit, changed to breakfast rides to avoid the heat. Our rides have taken us throughout South Lake County and to awesome restaurants such as Texas Roadhouse, Devenney’s Irish Pub, Hurricane Grill & Bar, Graffiti Junktion, Lake Harris Hideaway and more. The monthly rides are a great way to meet phenomenal people and enjoy the motorcycling lifestyle. In addition to monthly rides, Stormy Hill Harley-Davidson holds regular Bike Night events and other special events to support great organizations such as the American Legion, New Beginnings, Toys For Tots, Aaron Strong Foundation, Homes For Heroes, Disabled American Veterans (DAV). These rides and events are always winners for everyone involved! Come out and join the next ride, all bikes and riders are welcome, and they’re always a good time on the last Saturday of the month, with breakfast rides beginning in June and dinnertime the rest of the year. Check out dates and times for these and all other Stormy Hill Harley-Davidson events at https://www.stormyhillharley.com/events, on Facebook @StormyHillHarleyDavidson, Twitter, and Instagram.

By Lulu

Looking for a perfect place for a weekend getaway? Pack your gear and head to Crescent City! If you are lucky enough to own an RV, there isn’t a more impressive RV resort anywhere. Beautifully maintained complete with a swimming pool, laundry, full restaurant, clubhouse with pool tables and flat screen TV, full liquor tiki bar, store and boat spots…this place has it all!! No RV in your future…don’t worry, they have cabins to nestle into! Throw a change of clothes and a toothbrush on your bike and you are all set. They even have a house that sleeps multiple families. This outdoor utopia, located at a beautiful spot on the St. John’s River, is also accessible by boat. But be warned, the cabins and RV spots fill up quickly so book your dates way in advance by calling 386-524-4179.

In the tiki bar you can find some of the best live music around on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings, Mr. Natural brings karaoke to the tiki on Tuesday from 7-10pm and Sunday from 1-5pm. Biker Sunday includes incredible prices with domestic drafts at only $1.75, $2.25 for domestic bottles and $2.75 for wells. Bucket prices are event better with 6 bottle buckets of domestics being $11 and imports $15!!! The owners Donnie and Lisa have a Harley, although running a busy place like Renegade’s they don’t get much time on two wheels!
If all that isn’t enough to get you out to Renegade’s, the food should! T. J., a pizza junkie, had to try their FRESH Tuscan Style pizza and declared it “the best pizza I’ve ever had”. Their gator tail was very tender and awesome too. The restaurant is closed on Monday, but the tiki bar has a limited menu on Mondays to satisfy your hunger.

Stacey, John, all the management and staff couldn’t be more welcoming. This is a great day ride, overnight getaway or a stop for a poker run. Visit their website at renegadesontheriver.com and keep reading Thunder Roads Florida for their upcoming events and entertainment.

A special thanks to Jonnie and Candace for providing the pizza photo. T. J. got a pizza craving just from seeing it!

By Deborah Speicher

After last year’s Women’s Conference, I was wondering what Gator Harley would do to surpass that event – but this year’s Moulin Rouge theme was fabulous! Once again, the decorations and entertainment were over-the-top.
Really informative speakers from the past were brought back – head mechanic, Mike Williams, and leathersmith, Marge Williams. Gene Toole from US Law Shield gave us great information about how to protect yourself “legally” when trying to protect yourself. If you shoot an attacker, they can in turn sue you and/or attempt to have you criminally charged.

We all enjoyed Brea and her “sexy bingo.” Lots of fun and great prizes. Brea and several others were our vendors for the day. There was a unique selection of vendor products and services.
Once again, the fashion show exhibited how H-D offers clothing that is stylish for all ages and sizes. Getting a 20% discount on all motorclothes was also a bonus for attendees!

The highlight of the day was the Kissimmee Queens with their rendition of various songs with the Moulin Rouge theme. We all sang, danced and laughed along with these queens (drag that is!).

Kudos to Jan Wilde Wideman and the Gator Harley staff, Gourmet Today for breakfast and lunch, and all the vendors and speakers.
See you next year!

By Lulu

You know a bar is biker friendly when a brother goes down on their ride and an event is hosted to help him out! The R Bar in Lake City on East Duval St. is just that kind of place. Scott and Stacy Parsons pride their bar on being happy to have two and three wheeled vehicles in their parking lot! Scott rides and is a veteran. In March, we took a ride over to Lake City for an event they hosted to help a young man Gary Davis, Jr. out in need of a bit of help. They had live music, raffles and a live auction to raise a bit of funds. A special thanks to North Florida Sales, Budweiser, Sonny’s BBQ and others for their contributions. And, of course, to everyone who gave up their day and dollars from their pocket to help a brother out! Another event was held in March for Hunter and it also was a huge success.

The bar has a great pizza, is full liquor, ice cold beer and is THE place to party in Lake City. They open at 1pm so sleep in, get on your bike and head over to visit the R Bar!

By Lulu

A trip to southwest Florida included attending a party celebrating that business is good at Biker Life! And in celebrating a business devoted to motorcycling…we celebrated bikers in general. Free beer, food, prizes and great music by Toledo Blade made the day a fun party. William is friendly and the shop is filled with boots, helmets, apparel, jewelry and motorcycle gear. No wonder he filled the lot up with motorcycle enthusiasts! Vendors and a bikini bike wash added to the day’s festivities. The business is located at 3265 Tamiami Trail in Port Charlotte, but he also has a complete shop online check them out at BikerLife1.com.

By Lulu

David and Kitty Barakat are natural entertainers, loving to host your evening out whether it is for a pint of their award-winning beer that is brewed onsite in their 15 BBL (barrel) system, a delectable meal or a party for 60 in their banquet room; Tomoka Brewing Company is eager to make your evening perfect. Kitty was born in Westchester, PA, but moved to South Daytona in the second grade, she has spent most of her life in the service industry working at the Marina Bar & Grill, Stock Exchange, Froggy’s, White Eagle and the last 18 years at One Eyed Jacks. Kitty was ready to tackle ownership of an establishment. So, with her husband by her side they dove into ownership of the Tomoka Brewing Company in Port Orange. David was born in Portville, NY and has also spent most of his life in service…in The United States Army!!! He did 2 tours in Bosnia and 5 3 tours in the Middle East. Upon retiring from 24+ years in the Army, Kitty and David made their home in Florida.

Kitty enrolled in the Culinary Management program and just received her degree; it was important to her to better understand the inner workings of her “gastro pub” kitchen. She plans on continuing her education with a Bachelors in Supervision & Management focused on Hospitality.

Their “Pub” isn’t your parents pub. The food is hand crafted, flavorful and beautiful with large portions. The pizza is made with fresh homemade dough infused with their beer, and on Wednesdays, a two topping 8-inch pizza is only $4.99. Their draft brew list is extensive with over 30 beers brewed yearly, with 20 of them on tap daily. Tomoka Brewing Company is the most award-winning brewery in the county with 9 award winning beers. Their beer is distributed through SR Perrott to many local bars including Boot Hill or can be purchased at ABC Liquor stores, Total Wine, or Publix or directly to include kegs. Their top beer Oceanside a White IPA is loved by their patrons, other favorites are Hazy Sunrise, Lunar Eclipse, Mutha Fuggle…even a Hops of Thunder, Thunder Roads Florida Magazine must love that one!!! Peter the Great is one of their high-end brews with 12% alcohol. The bar became full liquor in March and on Friday-Sunday they do themed cocktail flights for $12.95. Kitty just started having a Bloody Mary bar on Sunday’s during Brunch with 35+ treats to add to your vodka creation.

Tomoka Brewing Company offers a host of interesting evenings for their patrons, First Wednesdays they do specials for First Responders, third Wednesday the same for the military and there is even an evening for deaf patrons as David is studying to be a deaf interpreter. They are deeply involved in the community, particularly veteran causes such as the Purple Heart Society to help fund a memorial being built at Veteran’s Park by the Orange Ave. bridge and Kitty had a basket auction at their anniversary party which raised $800 for the Daytona Shores Benevolent Fund. Once a year Elvis invades Tomoka with Elvis karaoke, impersonators and a special Elvis inspired Imperial Stout, the “King” a peanut butter and banana flavored just like Elvis’ favorite sandwich!

The brewing business is ever changing and has changed in the last six years, just in Florida, the number of breweries has grown from 60 to 300! Craft beer isn’t going anywhere! Make sure to check out Tomoka Brewing Company; Kitty and David are working hard to make your time there all you could hope for. So, ride in for a cold one, come hungry and let them tell you all about the perks of becoming a Tomoka Tribe Member and leave your prints on the wall!

By Ron Cox

About 140 riders and passengers queued up at Everglades Motorcycles in Naples on March 30th to register for the Third Annual Southwest Florida Wounded Veteran Poker Run. Card stops included Alamo Gun Range, Buffalo Chips Restaurant, Rockstar Harley Davidson before ending at the very biker friendly Chicago Boys Bar and Grill in Ft. Myers.

Southwest Florida Wounded Vet is a non-profit organization created in honor of CPL Vincent Mannion-Brodeur. The Corporal was wounded on March 11, 2007 in Tikrit, Iraq. He is currently at Tampa VA Polytrauma Center and has undergone 47 surgeries including the complete removal of his cranium.

The Poker Run offered a rather unique prize, a box of Glocks!!! Three 9MM pistols (G-17, G-19 and G-43) Rockie Lynne was the lucky winner. Lindzy Frost won the poker run with 4 eights and donated half the prize money back. There was also a live and silent auction. After the proceedings Siren Says Rock band set up and played into the night.

The proceeds of the run $3.300 will be equally divided between SWFL Wounded Vet Run, Rolling Thunder FL-5 and the Naples Chapter of LAMA.

By T.J.

Talk about HOT…Troy at Fastlane Campground at Volusia County Fairgrounds in Deland has the hottest show in town. The last Friday of Bike Week he burns down a monstrous wooden bike complete with rider, reminds you of the movie Ghost Rider with Nicholas Cage as Johnny Blaze. I cannot even make you understand with words how big this thing is! Along with the HOT burning of the bike, Hot Tasha puts on a bikini contest with smoking hot girls! All this happens the last Friday night. During the week camping is available, vendors, live music and bike shows. So, if you are looking for a nice place to camp with unique entertainment call Troy at Fastlane!

By Phoenix and Metric-HD

Twice a year the sleepy little town of Arcadia erupts with a “BIG” bike fest. The streets of Historical Downtown are filled with the roar of Harleys, Indians and even “METRIC” motorcycles. Leather and Lace clad strangers stroll the streets and are warmly welcome by the local merchants. “Big” city vendors fill the town with their array of delicious food and a variety of biker gear. The bike show rival some of the larger venues with some of the most radical bikes on the streets. Historical downtown Arcadia is like taking a step back in time. The architecture, the antiques and collectables take you back to a time that has been long forgotten. This is only the second event that the city of Arcadia has hosted but is not going to be the last. Phoenix and I have attended both events and they keep getting bigger and better. The Little “Big” town has all the makings of being a premier event in SW Florida. So, if you have never made it out to the little “Big” town bike event put it on your bucket list. The next Arcadia Bike fest will be Nov 2nd. So, mark your calendar and we will see you there. GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!

By Lulu

Ocalahan’s started their monthly bike night with a big bang! The place was packed!! Of course, having Bobby Friss being the first act of the 2019 season is certain to pull the crowds to Nefty’s event. This year Ocala Car Audio had a bike to present to an injured veteran, and a huge smile was on Robert’s face as he straddled the 2003 Fatboy. A special thanks goes out to all who helped make this bike possible: Parish Tanner with Ocala Car Audio, Ben Counts with Grade Worx, Philip DelZotto with DelZotto Concrete Products, Claudio Gianetto with Paint Worx, Dan Parry with Greazy Hawgs Garage, Tom Leece with Affordable Moving, Ivan Puig with National Property Inspectors, Dale Birch with First and Last Tab, Mitchell Brown with Shop 42, and Joe Decosta with Suzuki Race Team. They each played a part in saying thank you for your service to one lucky vet!

Next event June 1st will feature September Dogs and then July 6th Raging Woody. Nice ride from any direction so put your seat in the saddle and head to Ocalahan’s for their first Saturday night of the month through November!