More rambling...

[Clearwater AL]

I guess I’m the only one who uses the sub-forum. “After 5 forum Pub.”
Anybody else to have a story or want to ramble. ?

It reminds me of back when I was working, after 5 o’clock several of
us would go to Bennigans in Clearwater and have a few cold ones
before we went home. It was almost a ritual.

If you are watching or following The Curse of Oak Island… you’ll
probably watching it next year too. They’ve drilled more holes than
three golf courses, in the Swamp they’ve dug dirt and mud here and
there, on Lot 5 they are digging with hand scrapers. That’s got to go
to next year. I doubt all those who advertise on that show want to see
it end this year.

Yes, they have found cobble stone roads, wood from the 14th century,
nails, tools, coins, pieces of pottery and possible jewelry form the
same time.

I’ve wonder when those ships came over how many men it took to bury a
possible treasure 150 feet deep, dig tunnels, build roads and work on
those lots with picks hand shovels.

Just for those who happen to watch or follow The Curse of Oak Island
I guess.

 

[Landis02]

We love Oak Island in my house. They’ve spent so much money over the last 10+ years, so I hope they find treasure, but I have my doubts. But they’ve unearthed a lot of interesting items. Too bad we’ll probably never know what all occurred on the island hundreds of years ago.

 

[KimT]

Ah, Bennigans. When I was branch manager at a bank, a bunch of us would go to celebrate TGIF each week. I always got their Cobb salad. It was crowded, so we would always leave at 4:30. Lots of good memories.

This is my niece's final weekend on the East Coast of Florida. Her place in Madeira Beach is finally being reconstructed from the September hurricane. They lost just about everything except their impact windows and the frame. Their boat dock was nowhere to be found, but their neighbor's boat was on top of their patio. What a mess and it took over four months just to get permits. They had contractors and materials/furniture all purchased, so it should go quickly now. I'll miss her. She brings light wherever she goes and it was good to talk about our home town and all the people still there. I was only seven when she was born and we spent a lot of time together until I left NY for Florida.

 

[Clearwater AL]

Kim, you mentioned Madeira Beach, brought back a flood of memories.
In the 80s it was known as “Mad Beach” to us that lived along the beach line…
Clearwater Beach, Indian Rocks Beach (my home), Redington Shores, Redington
Beach then Madeira Beach. Each of those beach communities had neat little
beach bars. Mine was on Indian Rocks Beach.

I left the beach and moved to Clearwater, there from my reputation living
on the beach line I got the nick name “Clearwater Al” when I would go back
to my favorite watering holes and see close friends.

My theme song is Jimmy Buffets "A Pirate Looks at Forty" well 70 now.

Last time I went back I was so disappointed… Gulf Blvd from Indian Rocks
Beach down to Madeira Beach is like a concrete Canyon of high rise condos
hotels, parking garages, upscale stores, big box stores.

All the neat little beach bars for the most part are gone. I hardly recognized
Madeira Beach. I won’t go back.

Got to rambling again….

 

[KimT]

I moved to Daytona Beach in 1978 and often drove over to the Gulf coast because I loved the warmer, calm water. I remember all the small joints that had great fish and that small beach town atmosphere. The last time I was there was 2016 and it was crowded and not the place I remember. Same thing happened to New Smyrna Beach. It was a small, cute town with lots of art, good food, nice activities and killer surfing. Now, you can't find a place to park and the over building has made it into a flood zone.

 

[Clearwater AL]

Kim, really not sure I should I write this. But... After 5 forum Pub.

As I wrote before my theme song is “Pirate Look at Forty”… from that song.

“I've done a bit of smugglin', and I've run my share of grass I made enough
money to buy Miami, but I pissed it away so fast.”

Steve Lamb’s book “The Smugglers Ghost”… Steve was a legend back in the
70s and early 80s… Pot was in its hay day, college students couldn't get enough
of it. I had a lawyer who smoked Pot, I was told even some cops smoked off duty,
maybe on too. About every profession then had pot smokers.

Steve got sentenced to 27 months in prison. I went to a going away party for
him at a bar called “Lambs” in St. Pete.

Those were great times then, I was lucky, had a lot of fun, made a lot money
great memories. You’ve said something about writing a book… I’ve written
one too but can’t decide if I want to go with it. So many of my new family
(Ann’s son married and has family) and I now have a granddaughter. Don’t
know what she would think of Papa Al and his days down in Florida. And
most the family still living in Florida. Ann feels the same.

(Tell me a lot of people now in their 60s and 70s don’t remember those days.
Then the years of the big crack down, people got arrested for having just a
“joint” on them, ended up with a record, lost their jobs. Now it’s legal in many
states… how times change.)

More rambling...

 

[KimT]

Yep, when I was going to Daytona State (where I retired from as a teacher, then called DBCC), the teachers used to go out at recess and smoke a joint. Some students went with them and nobody cared. The crack down on weed was terrible. If you were black, it was worse. There was a black kid (one of my students) who was sentenced to 10 years for having less than an ounce on him and he wasn't dealing.

Sometimes, I wish I could go back for a do-over. I'd have more fun. I did have fun, but school four nights a week and a full-time job limited my free time. Oh well, it all worked out in the end. Now I get to sit on my ass and watch WNBA.