(picture 1, note plastic "butt" shorts and bikini t-shirt, worn by a man and the flamingo hat worn by the female, picture 2, note flamingo hat and bikini t-shirt. See below for explanation.)
As all great adventure stories start, it was a random suggestion at a table full of fun people, made half in jest.
Then it became serious.
It was Friday night, I was at the Sandy Parrot (a local wateringhole of pleasant reputation) with Mary, Mary's husband, Lee, and Mary's mom, Carrie. We were talking about fun little places to explore, and my love of the random road trip, when Lee suggested we get in our cars and head, immediately, for a place called Stan's in Goodland, FL. Once it was determined that Stan's could potentially be closed for the night (it was 7 then, but we'll get to that in a moment), Lee suggested a road trip for Saturday. Carrie dropped out of the fun, but the three of us left were to meet at Lee and Mary's house around 10:30 or so on Saturday morning.
I had woken up fairly early on Saturday morning -- around 7 or so, took a walk around the neighborhood then went to breakfast at FirstWatch. Came home, read the paper a bit, started laundry. Happened to look at my phone, realized it was 10:10 and I wasn't even in the neighborhood of being ready. I called Lee & Mary and reported I'd be there by 11. All good.
I get there about 10:50, freshly showered, bag packed, mind ready for adventure. Mary is still getting ready at this point (no big deal to me) and Lee hands me a beer. It was at this point I knew the day would be most excellent. Ice Cold Beer on the start of a roadtrip always portends good adventure.
We had a couple of errands to run first ... dropping off items to both of their Moms (coupons to one, tickets for the Commodores to the other) and away we go in the convertible, zipping down I-75. Sunshine, glorious sunshine and laughter were our guides.
We make it to Stan's at about 1:30 or so ... and hear live music as we arrive. Stan's is best described as a funky little small-town bar with a great following. It sits on the edge of the Everglades, has a tin roof (in parts), two stages and about 60-ish tables overall. The crowd was light on Saturday, about 60 people or so all day, coming and going with boats, cars and jetskis in attendance all day. One particularly unfortunate man on a jetski reminded me of the Chris Farley skit "fat man in a little coat" as the life jacket he wore would not keep him afloat if it was paid overtime.
The music of the day was provided by Hot Damn, a husband/wife duo out of Maine, who happened upon this place some winters ago and are now a fixture. They play damn near anything, with some definite leanings towards country music, which didn't bother me a bit.
Picture this: wooden deck, metal roof, license plates as decor, kitch for days, live music, dancing and buckets of beer under a warm October sky. Truly heaven, if you've got any sense at all.
The hours rolled by and the beer continued to taste as if it were made just for us. We laughed, told stories, enjoyed the hell out of the whole experience. As all good things must come to an end, so did Stan's. Yes, it is true, Stan's closes at 7 p.m. in the "summer" (winter hours start in November -- then open until ???) and I bought some CDs for my listening enjoyment later (all three are fabulous, btw).
One especially interesting thing to note ... next door to Stan's is a shop called The Island Woman, which sells all manner of tschotches, nonsense and whatnot, and was the store that Lee suggested I do all my Christmas shopping at for the northern relatives. The pictures included in this post are of some of the 'treasures' found at the Island Woman. Please let me know if you cannot live without any of these items, as I'm sure Stan's will become a favorite of mine in short order.
Apparently Sunday is the day that Stan's becomes out-of-control outrageous, as it is a well-known destination for local bikers. From what I could tell (60+ tables, two stages and plenty of madness), Sunday must be seen to be believed. I think a Monday off work will need to be in order for a Sunday adventure.
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