I've been back for 3 weeks now, but just got a chance to finally sit down and recall the trip....
And WHAT a trip it was. Not the top trip ever, due to a few key missing people, but a very good one, nonetheless. It started with a fantastic drive from Miami Int. Airport to Truman Ave. On the way, the better part of a 12 pack was consumed by Cameron and myself. Thankfully there aren't too many turns on A1A! After unpacking, grocery shopping and settling in a bit, we took off for Duval St. for some food. Crabby Dicks was the restaurant of choice (actually the first good one we came to, and we were STARVING!). After dinner, we did the Duval Crawl, and set the pace for the rest of the week.
I won't bore you with all the little details of the entire week, but the highlights included visiting the following places: Margaritaville, Turtle Kraals, Conch Republic, Half Shell Raw Bar, Overseas Market for fresh seafood, Rooftop Cafe, Sloppy Joe's, Capt. Tony's, Ricks, Irish Kevins, Fat Tuesday, Whistle Bar, The Green Parrot.
One of the only disappointments came at Irish Kevins. Kevin broke his hand and only played once during the week, and we missed it. Jared, his #2 guy, had the flu and sort of played one night, but was really subdued and was really sick. He did make an appearance later in the week, and was pretty good, but you could tell he still wasn't feeling 100%. He also got married the day we left. I met Capt. Tony for the 3rd time, and had him autograph my new t-shirt. He's 89 now, but still as witty as ever. He asked Gina why she married me and didn't give him a chance. She said we were married in KW five years ago. So Capt. says "five years ago..... I was probably in Vegas with a couple of hookers. That's why I missed you." Classic Tony. I only hope when he dies they cremate him in the bar. He'd burn for days with all the booze in that body!
I got everyone in our group hooked on root beer barrels from the Parrot. So much that we bought a bottle of root beer schnapps and had to do barrels each night before going off to conquer Duval. I learned that while I can still hold my own in the partying aspect, it's becoming harder to hold the torrid pace over 7 full days. When you start your party day before noon with pool beers and continue until midnight, 1, 2, 3 AM, it takes it's toll after a few days. By day 3, I needed to downshift just a bit. I rallied for the mid-week sessions, but by the end of the trip, I had had enough for a while.
Sebago put on another good show for the snorkel/sunset thing, but the water was really REALLY choppy, and the snorkelling was pretty terrible. However, the open bar on the way back more than made up for things!
Overall a fantastic week. I hope to get there again someday with the old cast of characters and relive some more of the insanity.
