New-to-Me Small Crawl January 2014

Hey Gang, long time no talk.  Mark here.

With the new year upon us, it seemed mandatory to tackle some new bars.  Besides, Melissa had fallen way behind with posts so it was a good excuse to bike into town for some drinks.

Our first stop was Seadog Tavern. It's a long, slender strip of a bar that rose from the old back bar of Cowboy Bill's.  It's just a half block west of Duval on Angela Street. We were pretty early so we were also the first customers of the day. 

They have a nice variety of beers I hadn't tried and Deena, the bartender, let us sample them.  I chose a Funky Buddha (how could you resist the name) from a brewery named Floridian and Melissa ordered a UFO.  They also have daily food specials so I went with the Beer and Hot Dog for $5.  Melissa couldn't pass up the tacos.  I don't have a full list of their food specials but I remember that one was $.39 wings all day. I think that was on Thursdays. Both Melissa and I were real pleased and we will definitely stop back. 

Our next stop was just a half block away and back on Duval Street - Mangoes.

It was a very cool day so the heaters over their bar were really welcome. The bartender that day was Dan and he claimed his Mojito was the best in the island.

That's a gutsy claim to make to me.  I'm really picky about Mojitos but I like a guy with confidence in his craft. I gave him a shot. His mix was spot-on but I like mine with a subtler lime flavor. Dan's was great but he sits at number two on my list. Bahama Bob still makes the best on on the island. Melissa ordered their version of a Southernmost Punch, which is a rum punch with mango instead of orange juice. She loved it and followed it up with something called, Southernmost Punch a la Dan. Whatever was in his secret mix wasn't as sweet as the first, so about halfway through, I took over and finished for her. Big props to Dan.  I love a bartender who treats his job as a profession.

Now, for those of you tempted to cry "foul" and disqualify Melissa from the crawl for failing to finish her drinks, I have carefully examined all aspects of Rule 3 and she is OK.  I tried hard but I really couldn't find any verbiage relating to finishing your drinks.  You just need to order the drinks.  That's a clear oversight that will certainly be addressed at the next meeting of the Rules Committee.

Next up was Margaritaville. As I have said before, we generally sidestep the touristy places but it was high time to check out Jimmy Buffet's place in the center of Duval.  Melissa was hungry and happily ordered their corn and crab chowder. It was a shallow bowl of creamy satisfying soup with corn and chunks of crab served with oyster crackers for $6.99.   As usual, we had a nice chat with the couples seated beside us. 

For drinks, we both ordered a 5 o'clock Somewhere.  It's the Maragaritaville version of a Hurricane, made with authentic silver rum, margaraita paradise passion fruit, tequila, bacardi 151 rum, sour mix, orange and pineapple juice and a splash of grenadine on the rocks for $8.75.  The food and drinks were both very good and the ambiance was relaxing. A huge video screen on the backwall plays continous videos of Buffet and friends helping to cement the beach paradise flavor. I can see how it will appeal to vacationers. The big down side, even for Duval Street, their prices were a bit high. If you're a Buffet fan, that's easier to overlook. 

Our last stop was at a joint named 2 Cents.  Like Seadog, it's tucked about 1/2 block west of Duval, on Applerouth Lane and conveniently located beside Leather Master - a bondage boutique. (This IS Key West.)  :)  They have a small window display for those too timid to go inside. 

Melissa grabbed a table while I headed straight to the bar to order drinks. Here is a quick pic with some new friend I made while I waited for the bartender to mix our drinks.

2 cents has a couple interesting gimmicks for your Happy Hour.  First, they put cups of bacon out for their patrons and, second, you can roll the dice to determine the price of your drinks.   I gave it a shot and rolled a 2.  My drinks were $2 each. If I had rolled a 4, 5 or 6, they would have been full price.  A 3 gets you half price and a 1 gets you a drink for a buck.  I ordered Mojito for Melissa and I for the life of me, can't remember what I ordered.  It doesn't matter, because both drinks stunk. Melissa didn't even finish hers. I rolled the dice and gave the bartender another shot, having the same as my new friends (pictured above) Again, I forget what I ordered but like before, it doesn't matter. It was another dud. We won't be back. The bartender was cute but not nearly cute enough to cover up for those drinks.  Miss Florida would have barely been enough to make up for those.

Melissa claims she has 4 or 5 posts in various stages of writing. Hopefully, she has something up in the next couple of weeks. Until then...Chao