Showing posts with label the bull. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the bull. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Tourists on the Crawl


We had a great visit, yesterday with Candy Gandolfi Martin and her husband Bob.Those goobers drove all of the way down from the Sarasota area during the wee hours of the morning for a day trip!  That's dedication.

We met them at The Green Parrot. The Parrot is a great old historic place that has been there since 1890. 
It's a popular spot with a great story so I'll save that for a full post. 
When we first arrived, Bob was in the shop getting a T-shirt.  When he came out, we ordered drinks and settled in to catch up. Candy was looking forward to some beach time but, it only took a few minutes befor Bob declared his intention for full Bar Crawl credit. I liked Bob. 

Here's a pic at the Parrot with Candy, Melissa and I.  

Melissa left us here to go write for a few hours.


From The Green Parrot, we headed up to show them the place we think is the most interesting bar in Key West, Capt Tony's.


Although it trumpets itself as the original location of Hemingway's old hangout, Sloppy Joes, Capt Tony's back story is  much richer.  I won't tell the whole story here, but it includes pirates, hangings and Jimmy Buffet.  How is that for a tease to another post?

After that stop, Candy wanted drinks at the Smallest Bar but, for some reason, it wasn't open. Instead we stopped at the famous Sloppy Joe's and grabbed seats at the front bar.  Candy almost went for just a soft drink!  No kidding. We were all just as shocked as you guys.  Props to her, though, she quickly changed her mind and added a dose of rum.  Her crawl lived on! I'll break here for your applause..........

Three down.  That's a solid Small crawl. Two more stops and they would earn official credit for a full Bar Crawl. Candy talked about maybe heading over to the beach before they hit their final stops but, I pointed out that it would be a violation of Rule 3, sec 6 of the Key West By Laws.


Rule 3, sec 6
         “All activity must be consecutive.  The Bar Crawl or Small Crawl shall be deemed terminated for a participant in the event of any of the following;
a.   A participant enters and departs a drinking establishment without ordering an alcohlic drink
b.   A participant departs the establishment for 20 or more minutes.
c.   Participants enter any establishment with a liquor license and fail to order drinks.  In the event that it is a food stop, participants must also order a drink at the restaurant.  In that event, the stop is counted toward the Crawl.

That clinched it,  We pressed ahead. The lady's a trooper. The final two stops were easy. The Smallest Bar still hadn't opened so we diverted into The Bull. This is the place where Melissa and I go to hear Dawn Wilder sing. Melissa rejoined us here and Stop #4 was soon complete.

From there we slid on down to Caroline's for Cuban sandwiches and rum.  Not only was the Crawl complete but we had finished before 3pm.  One of our earliest ever!  That even gave them enough time to get Candy to the beach.



 Bob and Candy, you guys were tons of fun and you're welcome back any time! 

Friday, February 15, 2013

A Wilder Time at the Bull


If you're just looking for a drink, pretty much any door you step through in key west will lead you to a barstool. Even the donut shop has applied for a liquor license.  But if you want to dance your ass off and make some new friends while downing a few beers, head over to The Bull, on the corner of Duval and Caroline.


Every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday night starting at 8pm, Dawn Wilder energizes the crowd with an eclectic mix of oldies, rock, disco and classic country. She takes requests, knows a hell of a lot of songs and will ring a big red cow bell and shout thanks when you drop a bill in her tip jar. 






Something about Dawn's easy style and powerful pipes brings out the happy in the crowd. Everybody's singing along and the small dance floor is packed throughout the show.  Last Thursday, a couple of drunks jumped up on stage to harmonize and Miss Wilder was a good sport, sharing the mic for several songs before politely shooing them off stage when they got a little rowdy near the sound equipment. Since the Bouncer didn't look all that pleased, I'd recommend against trying to join the act when you visit. 





Make sure you stroll by The Bull, before going inside, someone will be out front offering 2 for 1 drink coupons.We're usually there on Thursdays, so say hello. We're the ones in the crowd singing the loudest.