Café Firenze on 25

A wonderful location and great facilities! If you own a motorcycle, you owe it to yourself to visit this place regularly. You should also ride up Mt. Cheaha, both on the highway and on the back roads, but do not eat at the Cheaha "restaurant" - that place may be the worst restaurant I have ever been to. But back to 29 Dreams, er, Café Firenze on 25.

Yes, it does seem that the place has a new owner/operator every 6 months, but the reason is that even though it's a great facility in a great location it's a popular destination only in the summer. It is primarily a motorcycle campground, and who rides motorcycles in the winter? Well, I do, but I'm crazy. Most bikers aren't that dedicated ... or possibly they just don't need to get out of the house that much. Apparently, the difficulty is making enough money during the 9 or 10 months people can ride comfortably to last the 2-3 months of little or no income. The new owners have cleverly paved the parking lot and allow cars to visit. Last weekend, there were almost as many cars as bikes out there!

The guy who started the place had a great dream, and called the place 29 Dreams, but couldn't make it work. A couple of restaurant/bars have owned it since. The current owner/operator is Café Firenze, which seems like a well-run place. Plus, the manager's name is Clint, so that's always a good sign. There's usually live music of a decent variety. They serve good bar food, including raw oysters. There's even a grilled chicken salad for those on a cavemen/south beach type diet. But come on, people don't come here for the food. They come here for the other people, the bikes, a resting place while taking a great ride!

The road out there is a terrific ride, but people, be careful! When 29 Dreams was going strong, some idiot would get killed almost every month. Take a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course, or better yet, take your bike to the track and really learn to ride hard and fast where it's safe to do so. Then maybe you can catch me. But I doubt it. ;-)