05-(29-30-31)-09

05-(29-30-31)-09
After packing enough for a week we are off to Siesta Key for the weekend. There are about 14 of us staying at the Siesta Key Beach Resort and Suites. We have stayed there once before. It is located in the Siesta Key Village area. Craig checks us in in less than a minute. It's in the heart of where everything is happening and close so every place is walkable, once you get there no vehicle is necessary. Convenient curbside parking so you don't have far to drag your bags to your room. It is really just a short walking distance to the Beach, shops, restaurants, and bars. The rooms have all been refurbished and the place was filled to capacity even in off season when we were there. I checked out 4 different rooms and all were clean, some with efficiencies, some with whirlpools, some with fireplace and flat screen TVs. No two were alike. We choose a poolside room with two double beds and kitchenette. There is a statue that every girl that passes has to touch his little PP. You can bring your own drinks to the pool, our group likes to drink and this saves a ton over the weekend vs buying at a hotel owned tiki bar. Everyone will be happy here whether you like the pool or the Beach as this place has both. Great Beach Type bars/restaurants abound. This is the OLD Florida motel like we used to know but with the modern ammenities. Rooms $94-$139. It seems to attract a lot of Floridians from around the State. After we get checked in it is off to Gilligans for Lunch. Jackie our waitress starts us with $5 pitchers of Ultra, we know we are off to a good start. There are all kinds of drink specials but now we are staying with beer. The front of their kitchen is an old brightly painted VW Bus, that has a place where they pass food to the servers. It looks small from the street but It is a huge place, it looks small because it is divided into many bars and sections.Today we are seated street side on their deck. A great place for people watching, today the dog walking lady comes by with 4 dogs in her stroller. You know there are rich people around here if they pay someone to walk their dog in a stroller. There are 8 or so of us and we get a variety of the sandwiches that they offer. We order their Beachy Parm sandwich, Fish(grouper)Tacos, Grouper sandwich, and caesar salad with blackened grouper, cheeseburger, and a salad with grilled shrimp. Everything was fresh and perfectly cooked. All meals were between $9 and $11. After eating it is time for a short siesta for me in the room (It is Siesta Key). It is now time to walk over to The Blase Cafe. It is right next to our hotel so it is not much of a walk. The outside has a covererd deck with tables, Inside is broken into 2 areas, one for dining the other has not one but two bars. There are about 16 of us and we take over the bar area. We are ordering beers, drinks and martinis and the two bartenders are shoooting them at us like a gattling gun. One after another they come out ice cold and perfectly mixed. Next thing I know Dixie was over served by 1 martini and she is down for the night, she still swears that someone slipped her a mickey. It is only 8:30 and we have not had any dinner so next door is Siesta Smeag's Pizzeria. We go in and it is like 120 degrees in the place, you could not eat in the place due to the heat but they do have a few tables if they are not stacked with pizza boxes. They have pizza by the slice but only 2 pieces as they just put some new pies in the oven, I get what they have ready, a plain cheese slice and a pepperoni slice and we head back to the room. I'm being nice today so I'll just say that this is not the best nor freshest pizza I have ever had, but anything is better than nothing after drinking, I'm sure that if we had waited for a new pie it would have been better. Dixie goes to bed and I was thinking about joining the rest of our crowd but decided that an early night would not hurt me, watching TV till 11 and it's Siesta time for me. The next day and we are now off for lunch. We walk to S.K.O.B. or The Siesta Key Oyster Bar (Bill thought it was a polish restaurant until Kathy pointed out that they were initials). This is another Island type bar that we have been to before, it was great last time so we expect nothing less this time. It is a weathered wood tin roof joint made to look old. It has dollar bills stapled all over the walls and ceiling with peoples name on them. The girls put one up a year ago with "Dixies Dockside Chicks" printed on it and was still there.There are two outside bars and one inside where it is air conditioned, we choose inside since we will be hitting the Beach later on today. All the typical neon lights, posters, and nick nacks line the walls. They do have a sign "Drink Through It", this we conclude is aimed at people like us. We order a sesame seed tuna appetizer, crab rolls, blackened grouper sandwich and a pesto chicken penini with provolone on a pressed garlic herb bread. We ran into a couple who were drinking bloody marys and wished we had ordered one for ourselves but for now we are sticking with beer. Raw oysters 12 for $6 from 3 to 6 everyday. Ultra drafts $3, appetizers and sandwiches $10. It's time to hit the beach and it is nice. Fine white sand, nice waves and clean water, 82 degrees water temp and 86 degrees air temp. No concession stands to screw up the scenery, no signs for no alcohol just don't bring glass. We hang out for few hours laying around talking and swimming and then decide to go back to the pool. Most of our group has the same idea and most are already in the pool when we get there. We swim and talk and drink and It's now 4:30 and those raw oysters are calling our name, 12 for $6 here we come.They give us 14 on the plate because some were a little small. Fresh in today we woof them down along with some grouper bites and a few cocktails and beers. It's back to get cleaned up, along the way I pick up a few $9 cigars, recommended by the kid, in The Solorzanos smoke shop. I like a good cigar once in a while, I just can't stand the 2 days it takes to get the taste out of my mouth. I won't smoke a cigar unless I like it, these were good and mild and without a bite, I liked. It's back to Blase Cafe where we are all having cocktails again. The group has grown to about 18 so once again we fill up the bar areas. Bobby K and I go outside with a snifter each of Grand Marnier and so we can smoke a cigar. The outside bar has a sun screen to block the hot afternoon sun and we meet Frank. He is 81 years old and drinking his glass of red wine and smoking his cigarette minding his own business. I get to talking to him and I correctly guess his age and I figure he was in the tail end of WWII. I guess right again and he tells me he flew P51 Mustangs with the 16 cylinder Rolls Royce engine and I am in awe. I am a pilot and this plane is one that every pilot would love to fly. We listen to his stories and finish our cigars and the girls come outside since they are finished drinking inside.They are ready for dinner so out the door we went. We are walking down Ocean Drive and I want to see what is a little further down the street. We find Gabbiano's Wine Club it is a spin off and connected to Cafe Gabbiano and we stumble on the private club $250 per year membership. It is dimly lit and designed to look like the inside of the wine cellars in Italy where the owner is from. They have private wine cellar dinners with the menu and wine selections prepared by your own personal Chef. Private Care and Service for two. For some reason they let us stay at the bar, Frank the bartender brings us a house Montepulciano$8, and then a house Sangiovese$9. Both deep, smooth and flat out delicious. I strike up a conversation with Joanne, the bar regular, she is an interior decorator and her work is slow, however not so slow as to not be drinking a nice glass on vino. If you make it to Siesta Key see if they let you in, because for the money it is the best house wine we have ever been served. It's a quality, not a quantity, of life kind of thing. We realize that we better get some food so we don't have a repeat of last nights overserving. We head back down the street looking for our dinner place. We stop at Napolis Pizza and Italian Grill. We sit at the outside counter so we can people watch during dinner. We order some Ultras and a large gorgonzloa pizza. It was thin crust, sweet tomato sauce,crisp without being burned, A good pie. We talk with the owner and he says business is slow compared to a few years ago. It's because of the economy not because of their good pizza. $20 for the pie and ouch $4 for an Ultra. It's back to Gilligans where we meet up with the Ks (I don't know where they went for dinner). We go to the back bar where there is music and dancing. Bobby K is trying to pick up some girl, Dixie is fooling around with a bearded kid that works there and Mary K and I are dancing fools, tearing up the dance floor. Everybody is pretty well trashed and after a while it is out the door we went. We hit the sack and get up about 10 and we are headed home. Some people are staying to go to the beach. When we get home we get in the pontoon, pick up the Ks and it's off to Fantasy Island. Everyone is there, all the usual suspects and more. I brought a jug of cherries that have been marinating in vodka for 16 months. They were gone when we left. Today the Locals have the Island to themselves. It's hot and we are ready for some shade so we are headed to Dixies Dockside. There is a guy playing and singing and taking really long breaks between sets. We don't come to hear the music most of the time we come because that is where everybody goes Sunday afternoon. 4 oclock turns into 6:30, the Ks have to work tomorrow so, out the door we went. It's chinese take out for dinner in front of the Boob tube and lots of water to dilute the last two days of partying. See Ya Brian