Here’s a few photos from this year’s Running of the Bulls during Hemingway Days.

We wandered down Duval around noon on Saturday and made our way to Sloppy Joe’s to meet up with our friends Moose and Danyle. We procured a couple frosty beers and awaited the start of the festivities. If you’re unfamiliar, this is the main event of Hemingway Days, where the current year’s look-alike contestants hop on wheeled saw horses (or saw-bulls if you will) and they “race” around the block being pushed by their teams. Now most of these dudes are pretty up there in years.. grey hair and all, so there really isn’t much actual racing going on.. it’s more like a parade. But who cares, it’s fun, and not a long event, so there’s more time to wander the booths set up on Duval and perhaps feast on a turkey leg if the mood strikes.

After wandering the streets for a bit we were very hot and sweaty, and decided we needed to go to Ft Zach beach and cool off in the ocean. We hopped on our bikes, rode to the park, and hit the surf. And as these things are wont to go, not eating anything all day and drinking more than my fair share of frosty beer on the streets combined, to the amusement of my friends, with the heat to push me right into the passed out and snoring in the hammock phase of the day.  Unfortunately, however I never made it to the hammock, and just lay on the sand where I landed and took myself a little nap. Live and learn! Yeah, maybe someday..

All in all a very fun day!

Oh yeah. I Should have eaten too….	Last year’s Pappa on a stick.

Lots of art and food booths!	In the bullpen, waiting for the run.

I don’t know what happened, it’s like I hit my one year mark in Key West and blacked out. Now it’s almost September and I don’t know where the last two months went! My son Connor was down visiting from NY for a month in there, so that probably had a lot to do with it. We went camping up in Bahia Honda state park one weekend, that was un-freaking-believably beautiful. I’ll post some shots of that too here in a bit. Most of the rest of our time together we spent on the beach or watching movies or eating. He loves visiting me because he says I’m a better cook than his mother, and he gets to eat better when he’s down here. Hey, I’ll take what I can get!

Christina and Connor both had birthdays in the beginning of August, so we had two separate birthday dinners. Christina’s happened to coincide with Lobester Fest, so of course we had lobster! Well, Connor had crab legs, but Christina and I ate the bug. We went to the Half-Shell Raw Bar over on the marina.. the food was pretty darned good, the atmosphere was steamy, and the beer was cold. Can’t complain one bit! For Connor’s birthday we went to Turtle Kraals, and had MORE lobster and crab legs. Im up in the air about Turtle Kraals’ food still. I’ve been 4 times now, and sometimes it’s really good, sometimes not so much. Maybe it’s just some things on the menu are better than others. It’s definitely no Conch Republic Sea Food though.

Other than that I’ve just been working for the man like the dog I am. This being the off-season, sales are way down, and the mood in the gallery is pretty.. I don’t know.. grim? I’m sure we’ll pull out of it, but man.. as if work isn’t stressful enough, we gotta add money woes on top. I sit at my computer and dream of the day when I can support myself off of my sculpture. Of course, this dream requires me actually SELLING some of it, but hey.. one thing at a time.

Speaking of the sculpture thing, that’s going really well. I was contacted a few months back by a gentleman in the steampunk-art world who puts on a yearly gallery show up in Connecticut. He had run across my coppersteam blog and was interested in placing some of my work in his show next year. COOL! Recently he contacted me again and wants to include photos of my sculpture in a coffee table book he’s putting together consisting of steampunk art. Even cooler! Needless to say, I’m excited about all that. I never expected to just have people come knocking on my door.

Anyways, just thought I’d better let whoever might actually read this thing know that I’m not dead or in jail. I’ll post some photos soon of the recent tropical misadventures!

Cheers!
Mike

… maybe closer to three, Christina and I made a ten-year plan. We decided that come hell or high water, we would be living on a sailboat in the Caribbean somewhere.. preferably the Virgin Islands. The plan was to work for the next 5 years in Orlando, save our pennies, and then move to Key West where we would spend 5 years learning to sail, buy a boat, and then sail off to St. Thomas. Easy!

Then Disaster struck. The economy tanked. Christina got laid off. A few months later I got laid off. Our yearly household income went from a comfortably ridiculous sum to just about nothing in the course of a few months.We both struggled to find work, but the outlook was bleak. Christina picked up some temp work during the week, and worked at Macey’s on the weekend.. she worked 7 days a week. I was lucky enough to get a very cushy severance package so I was pretty much living the high life and looking in vain for jobs I knew weren’t there, and wouldn’t be for many years to come.

One day on a lark, Christina applied for a job in Key West over the internet. Long story short, within a month we were moving. We sold just about everything we had, rented out the house, and hit the road. She at least had a job, and a decent one at that, I was still frantically searching. That was one year ago today. We are now 3 years ahead of our schedule thanks to the economic collapse.

I’ve since found employment. It’s a sweet little job. No stress to speak of. No team meetings, no performance reviews, no managerial duties; no corporate bullshit whatsoever. It takes me 3 minutes to commute to work on my bike. The worst traffic I get on the way is in the form of a family of chickens crossing the road or perhaps a curious, big green lizard. My job pays less than half of what I was making in Orlando but you know what? I wouldn’t go back to that life for all the money in the world.

We spend Saturdays at the beach, which is  less than a mile from our apartment. We relish the lack of the yard work and house work that it took to keep up with a 3-bedroom house in the ‘burbs. I spend my free time building my sculptures, writing in my blogs, and sitting at Dante’s enjoying a corona in the beautiful Key West sun with friends.

It’s a much simpler lifestyle

And I look forward to the continuation of our descent into simplicity. We’ll be starting sailing classes soon, and then it’s on to phase two of the plan. If things continue at this accelerated pace, we should be well on our way to being permanent beach bums well short of our planned timeframe.

I’d like to take a brief second here to say thanks to all the new friends we’ve met in Key West who have made us feel welcome and helped in the transition. Frank, Eric and Kelly, Moose and Danyle, Momma Frank, Aunt Ruth and Wayne, Frank II, Jocomo… you guys are the best, I couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to hang with. I look forward to all the future misadventures we will certainly share!

We left 20-something years worth of friends behind in Orlando, as well as a fair amount of family. It was a rough break, but the internet and frequent visits from folks who have figured out that having friends in Key West with a free futon can be a good thing, have made the transition not quite so bad.

Here’s to the next phase of the plan! I wonder what I’ll be writing about this time next year….

M

Our first Minimal Regatta!

We’d missed it last year as it’d happened just before we moved to Key West from Orlando. That brings me to an off-topic topic.. this weekend marks the anniversary of Christina’s arrival in Key West! Next weekend will by mine. I can’t believe it’s been a year already! I guess there’s no turning back now!

Anyway, the Minimal Regatta is an annual event put on by Schooner Wharf Bar in which contestants are given a sheet of plywood, two 2×4′s, a box of screws, and a roll of duct tape. With these ‘minimal’ materials, they build a boat to race in the regatta. Well to be more accurate, try to race. A lot of them sink.. which is where all the fun is!

I didn’t really know quite what to expect, I’d heard stories and seen some of the wining boats hanging in the rafters at Schooners, but any time you have a bunch of people dressed in costumes drinking you’re bound to have a good time, so sign me up!

My friend Eric (who drove all the way back to Key West from North Carolina for the event) built two boats; one for him and one for his wife Kelly. They were essentially the same but for the paint job. Hers had big pink hearts on it, his was just plain silver.

Event Day!

I had agreed to be on eric’s ‘crew’ for the event. I’m not sure what this really entailed, because they say you can have up to a 6 person crew, but really you only need one person to help you get the boat in and out of the water, and they sho’d people off the docks so fast you’d be hampered by a large crew anyways.

Eric had told me he’d be calling at 8:30 the morning of the event so we could go down and set up our tent in a good spot behind Schooner’s. When the phone rang that morning (after I might add, a long night of entertaining out-of-town guests) it was 7:00. Curse you Eric!

Well, I was up at that point so what the hell. He came by and picked me up and we went down to the marina. It was already hot and we were sweating profusely and it wasn’t even 8:00 yet! (in all honesty this could have been alcohol sweats) We finished setting up the tent and I had Eric drop me home so I could perhaps cop a few more Z’s before we had to meet for breakfast at 11:00. Ug.. never enough time on the day for sleep!

We hit Harpoon Harry’s for brunch at noon and did some carbo-loading for the big day of drinking and frolicking. The food was great, the service.. not so much. Our waitress seemed really put out that we were there taking up her time. I won’t let that keep me from going back though, the food is really good.

After brunch we  made our way to the party tent to begin the day. I’d been told that the two hottest days in Key West are the Minimal Regatta and the Battle of the Bars. I was skeptical.. the weather had been warm lately, but not too terrible, so I didn’t think it’d be all that bad. Well. I was wrong.

Key West had a record high that day, and it was like standing in an oven set to maximum broil on those docks! To make matters worse, the last time I’d seen the docks that crowded was new years eve. I’m surprised they didn’t collapse into the marina with all that weight on them. I found myself  secretly wishing for this because at least I’d be in the water if that happened.

To be honest I missed much of the races because of the oppressive heat and crowd on the docks. I only went out and watched when Eric or Kelly were racing. I’m not much for large crowds of people.. especially when its ridiculously hot. Also we had quite a crowd of folks at our party tent and we were having a grand time of our own back there away from the masses. Surprisingly it actually seemed 10 degrees cooler behind the building. It could have been the effect of the coolers full of ice and sweet-sweet vodka there.

Kelly actually won her first heat, Eric wasn’t so lucky. His boat sank as soon as the start horn sounded. Good times! So since Kelly won a heat it meant she had to race again. She didn’t feel like her arms were up to it, so she found a stand-in to race for her in the second heat. Her stand-in  however was not possessed of the same competitor’s mettle, and failed to even finish the entire course.

On to Dante’s!

When you’ve been out in the heat all day drinking, there’s only one thing to do! Walk down the docks and go to Dante’s for a swim! Well… everyone else at the event had had the same idea and the place was jam-packed. The pool water was a bit dubious as well, so we opted for just a few drinks before departing. Christina and I went home, passed out in the AC for a couple hours, then dragged our weary arses out of bed to meet up with our out-of-town guests for dinner at Jack Flats.

It was a very long day. Hot and long. But it was an absolute blast, and I wouldn’t have missed it!

Here’s a few photos for your perusal:

MinReg2010 (27 photos)
30 May 2010

Albumul poate fi vazut doar online.

Why did I wait so long…

You gotta love a restaurant with it’s own outdoor shower.

I can’t believe we’ve been in Key West almost a year and have just now gotten to Blue Heaven over on Thomas Street. It’s not like it’s outside of the walking distance circle from my apartment, not like I haven’t heard from a hundred people how really good the food is, nor like it’s overly expensive. I really have no excuse. But let me tell you, I’m an instant convert.

A longtime friend and ex-colleague of mine Kelly came to town the other evening for a quick visit and some dinner before she had to re-enter the real world after a week-long vacation in the lower keys. We had originally intended to take her to Mangia Mangia (one of our favorite food hangouts), but she had honeymooned in Key West 11 years before and remembered really enjoying Blue Heaven, so hey.. why not! I love new things!

I immediately loved this place when I walked in. You enter through a large gate into a wonderfully overgrown and eclectically decorated courtyard. To the right is a cool outdoor bar area complete with a huge rattly-looking wooden cistern looming perilously above the bar, and a stage. I don’t think there’s a white light to be found in the entire place, it’s very colorful. The bar, stage, and surrounding courtyard patios are strewn with little bistro tables, cats, chickens, knick-knacks, and antiques. There’s even a ping pong table. Cool!

We gave our name to the hostess and were told there was about a 20 minute wait. That’s OK, I wanted to wander around and see the bar area and courtyard anyways. We ordered a couple beers at the bar and did some exploring.

One of the things that hit me right off was the music. There was a guy on stage playing guitar and singing… and the volume was low! Good god in heaven, I have come to mecca! One of my biggest pet peeves with live music (especially the lone, singing-guitar-artist type) is that they seem to always have the need to blast it so loud your ears want to jump from your head and run away. I’d like to be able to have a conversation and enjoy myself, and I just can’t do that when someone’s acoustic guitar is ear-fucking me. Too many restaurants and bars don’t get this simple concept. And it’s not like most of these people are brilliant musicians to begin with. Anyways.. I digress.. that’s a good topic for a future post.

There’s an outdoor eating area just off the bar area, and also a smaller indoor area. When we got the nod from the hostess she asked if we wanted to continue to wait for an outdoor table or just sit inside.. hey. I’m no snob.. I can sit inside too! She took us around to the side of the building and in through an old french door into a small quiet dining room. Air conditioning.. ahhhhh.

Time to eat!

We ordered a few more drinks and perused the menu. We were having a really hard time deciding because everything looked so GOOD. We delayed decision-making and ordered the Caribbean BBQ Shrimp appetizer. It was pretty darned tasty, the girls loved it, but I thought it was a bit salty. Of course I’m kind of a salt nazi anyways; it’s definitely not one of my favorite flavors, but I know there are folks out there who dig it.. so the vote on this one is 2 thumbs up out of three.

When it was time to finally order, Christina got the pork tenderloin with sweet potato, mango chutney and curry butter sauce. I ordered the beef tenderloin with cabernet demi-glace, and Kelly ordered one of the specials, some sort of grilled snapper dish.

Woah.. talk about tasty! My filet was very good.. not the best I’ve had, but certainly a far stretch from the worst. It was perhaps a bit on the done side of the medium I’d ordered, but not too far off. The Demi was very good, and they served it all up with a big chunk of corn bread. Very, very tasty. Christina’s pork was out of this world, definitely not a combination I’d have thought of, but it really worked well. I didn’t try Kelly’s salmon because I’m not much of a fish person, but she said it was really good.

So let me just say this

YES! I want to go back! I imagine it’s not so colorful during the day, but I hear the breakfast is out of this world, so I’m definitely going back for some of that. I can also see going to Blue Heaven just to hang out at the bar, have a few beers, and listen to some music with friends.

All in all a very pleasant experience!

It’s pretty amusing to read, at least for me, because as I look back over these old posts, I realize that my outlook on life has been significantly altered in the time between the great layoff and now.

This stuff is all pre-Conch Tales, and as such, is kind of a different voice, but you can definitely see the events that lead to this blog being created. It’s probably going to take me a few days at least to get these all posted, so check back to the link below if you’re interested in reading them; they won’t post here on the front page because I’m posting them with their original dates, so that they fall in behind all of the current Conch Tales stuff.

I’ve put them all in their own catagory here: http://www.conchtales.com/category/mnal/ They’re numbered and of course in true blog fashion, you have to read from bottom to top to go in order.

Read on, and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

She lounges on the sidewalk all afternoon and gets more attention that Pope John Paul on easter sunday. I’ve never seen a cat work the crowds like this little beauty does… not a single local nor tourist can resist her wiles. Everyone stops to pet her. EVERYONE.  I’m deathly allergic to cats and I stop every day to show her the love.. I just can’t resist, she is such a sweetheart.

I think this cat just may be a wizard in disguise… Gandalf after falling into the pit.. Yoda after fading away.. Ronny James Dio reincarnated…  I don’t know, but there are supernatural powers at play here, and I for one am not taking any chances! RUB THE BUDDHA!

Key West definitely has it’s share of cultural icons.. the jogging guy in the red hat.. WOO HOO!.. Magic Frank.. Captain Tony.. Mongo.. and this cat. Better get used to it, there’s a new sheriff in town!

Definitely stop by and give her a chin scratch, your day will go much better if you do!

Thirteen years ago this past Saturday, a magical thing happened in Key West. Frank Everhart Jr. had a birthday, and for his birthday he wanted just one thing… a Magic Bar. The universe looked down upon Key West that fateful May the 15th and decided that a little magic was just what Key West needed, so with a little help from the good folks at Schooner Wharf, it came to pass that Frank’s Magic Bar was born.

For me it all started way back when…

I met Frank for the first time in 2009 when I was looking for something to get involved with during Fantasy Fest. I had recently moved to Key West and was unemployed and bored silly. I think it was sometime in July when I was searching the internet for events that I might get involved in to make use of my long history of Halloween decorating and party throwing. I stumbled across the link to the Haunting of Fort Zachary Taylor and though to myself.. HEY, this is IT! Perfect!

I sent an email to the volunteer link saying that I was looking to get in on some Halloween fun, and could they perhaps use some help? I got an email back from this guy Frank Everhart that said: “sure, why don’t you come down to the Magic Bar and we’ll talk about it”.

Magic bar? I must confess.. at this point I was beginning to wonder just what I’d gotten myself into. I’d been to Schooner Wharf many times, and in fact counted it as one of my favorite places in Key West, but I’d never seen any Magic Bar there. On top of that, I was into the gruesome horror-movie type Halloween decorations, not some namby-pamby kids-magic-cupcakes-and-juice-boxes Halloween crap. It’s a testament to how seriously bored and antsy I was at that point in my life, that against all of my better judgement, I put my trepidations behind me, and trekked down to the Magic Bar to see just what I’d stepped in.

And down the rabbit hole I went.

I stepped into Franks world that fateful summer, and I haven’t quite been the same since. I had an absolute blast working on the Haunted Fort (posts about that here), and I made a fantastic friend in the process. Frank is one of the most genuine people you will ever meet. He’s a true entertainer, and basically just a big wide-eyed child trapped in a tall lanky body. Frank is like that proverbial kid in the candy shop, except that his candy shop is Key West. He works hard, plays hard, and is forever looking for ways to raise money for charities and help folks have a good time.

Frank kind of took me under his wing that summer and made sure to drag me out of the house when I was wallowing in the unemployment blues. He showed me around, introduced me to a huge number of people, made me talk on the phone to Gunnar “Leatherface” Hansen, introduced me to the ring toss game, got me drunk a lot (and always offered to pay), and just generally made me feel welcome in my new city. Oh yeah, he also ran my ass ragged working on the haunted fort! Frank, I love you man, I can’t thank you enough for everything!

I’ve waffled back and forth in the past year since meeting Frank about wether I should write about him in this blog or not because I’m always leery of crossing some line of personal exposure on the ‘net with my friends. I signed on for living my foibles and follies through this blog for (hopefully) people’s amusement, but the people around me didn’t, and I don’t really want anyone feeling uncomfortable because I’m writing about them.

But then I just decided.. fuck it. Frank is a pretty public figure, and it’s not like I’m telling everyone he sleeps nude in a coffin or anything, so whatever. Damn, I’m rambling off course again. Anyways..

The birthday/anniversary party was a smashing success

There were roving clowns blowing up balloons and making roses for the ladies, there was a fantastic show on stage by the great Levent, there was cake, there were cupcakes, there was magic, there was drunken mayhem.. there were dogs and cats… living together!.. MASS HYSTERIA!!

What more could you want? What? A famous musician?  Well, just when I thought it couldn’t get any more awesome, I turned around and who was sitting at the Magic Bar? Clarance Clemons! Woah! How cool is that? I tried a couple of times to get a good photo of Frank with Clarence, but so many people were milling around trying to get photos too, that I just decided to not be part of the paparazzi and let the man eat his chicken wings in relative peace.

Around 11:00 Christina and I began wearing down. It had been a long day; we’d met up with Frank for brunch at Dante’s at 10:30, and of course, what’s brunch without bloody mary’s and an icepick or two.. maybe a Jaeger shot.. what the fuck… We left dante’s around noon sometime and went to a going away BBQ in new town for a Navy friend, then went straight down to Schooner’s from there. Phew.. it was time to pack it in. I don’t wanna suggest that I’m getting old, but, you know..

So we left Frank to his party and dragged ass home only to learn the next morning that just as soon as we walked out Clarence took to the stage and finished out the night playing with the band! ARGH! Of all the times to leave the party early! Curses!

Anyhoo..

Frank, here’s to many more Happy Birthdays, and many more Magic Bar anniversaries! I don’t know what Key West would be like without you. Cheers my friend!

Wayne, Aunt Ruth, Mamma Frank, Frank, and Evelina	The most awesome Levent

Ummmm.. lots of people.	Frank talking to Clarence Clemons

UPDATE: Here’s a photo of Frank with Clarence that I HiJacked off of the Schooner Wharf FB Page. I hope they don’t sue me.

From left to right: Clarence Clemons, Unknown HAWT girl, Frank Everhart Jr., Evalina Worthington, and Paul Worthington. Rock on you guys..

Bill cooks up some serious blues, and some serious gumbo… While he plays. Yes, he cooks gumbo right on stage in a huge pot during the show. The first time we saw him all we could do was smell the gumbo before we had to leave, it was maddening.. this time we finally got to eat some! And it was gooooood. It was a little on the bland side, but I guess when you’re cooking for strangers you have to be a bit lenient on the spice. But not to fear, because he serves it up with his own hot sauce; “Liquid Summer”. A few splashes of that, and the taste was right as the rain!

Bill definitely knows how to please a crowd, and he plays with some serious energy. The whole place was up and dancing the whole time. I highly recommend that you go see The Sauce Boss if you get a chance to!

I’ve never been one for big goodbyes, because I do believe good friends will always be just that, and distance can’t take that friendship away. And hey, this is the digital age, I communicate online with people more than I do face to face anyways. That being said, Eric, Danny, and John.. I will miss you guys! I’m sure you’ll be back to visit sooooon.

With that I’m going to leave you with a few of photos.

This one is of Danny jumping into the Key West Bight the evening of his going away party at Dante’s. He had a choice of either getting thrown into the pool or the bight. He chose the high road and decided to thrown himself into the bight for our amusement. Danny was always ready to amuse the crowd by snorting hot mustard or pouring lime juice into his eyes. Danny.. I didn’t know you well, but you made me laugh, and the huge group of loyal friends you have here speaks volumes about your character. Go in peace brother!

And where would I be in Key West right now without Eric (Below). I met Eric while working on the Haunted Fort and he immediately welcomed Christina and I into his circle of friends and made us feel at home. Most of the people I know and count as friends right now are such because of my friendship with Eric. His graciousness and hospitality are unequalled, and he knows exactly when to escalate a bad situation with a carefully placed plate of mustard, ninja-style. Dude, I’m going to miss you most of all.. well, I’m going to miss your courtyard pool, your smoker, and your Porktoberfest parties, but I’ll miss you too! SNIF! Have fun in Georgia!

I promise to keep Key West warm for you!