Twenty-six years ago, Gary and some of his friends
from college were stuck here when a norther came through, wrecking their plans
of sun and surf with rain and wind and more wind. Many of the days were spent wandering around
town, visiting bars, and strat)egizing whether to move the boats or just wait
out the storms.
Yesterday, we visited Miss Emily's Blue Bee Bar to
have an honorary Goombay Smash for the memory of that visit and Gary's friends
who were on that trip. This guy, Ken,
said he's referred dozens of cases to our company, IMIS, over the years. How freaking small is the world, eh? Ken asked me to take a picture of him and
Gary together because he thought his business associates would get a kick out
of it.
Ken kept saying how great it was that we are doing
this trip with Elliott; that he hopes Elliott knows what a wonderful experience
this is for him. (I think Elliott knows.)
We had a blast at Miss Emily's with those two; the dad, Len, is 84
years old, and still boating, though not single-handing a sailboat like back in
the day. He is on a big trawler right
now. He has had an interesting life, for
sure. He used to fly planes in and out
of Bimini, taking passengers on sight-seeing tours or back to the
mainland. His son lived there with him
and would sell polished conch shells and shellacked starfish to tourists just
coming in off the planes or ferries. He
tells of how he always had money in his pocket.
He's met Sting, Peter Tosh, and Bob Marley, Bob when he had to flee
Jamaica. Said he used to play pool with
Ziggy Marley. What a life.
So, Gary and I finished our Goombay Smash, which the
Blue Bee Bar is famous for and then Ken bought us another round. Now, Gary and are I lightweights in the
drinking game, and one Smash was doing a pretty good job upside our heads, so
two was quite amazing. We weren't
falling down drunk, but any anxiety I may have ever felt in my life melted
away.
Perfectly-Named Boat |
Sundowners, another local bar, was having some party (I later found out it was a wedding party), with lights and
music and dancing! I kept thinking about
how those folks are going to feel in the morning once the church bells start
ringing.
The bells have rung and gone and we are getting
ready to head back to shore in the hopes that The Wrecking Tree is open on a
Sunday so that Gary can try their much-recommended Cracked Conch.
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