How to fill time in retirement

Well, my quest for the best Bloody Mary led me to a new restaurant. I had just marked in my list that a new Barbecue restaurant had opened in 2016. It is located on A1A in Cape Canaveral at the site of a previous restaurant I went to in 2015. Back then it was called Mad Jacks Grillin Shack and I visited there with Julie & Curtis Deily. Now it is called Graham's Smokehouse and I went with Jim Middlebrooks this past Friday. Sign on A1A for Graham's Smokehouse The sign is not real big but the building is a much better advertisement for the place. Jim had heard it was good from a friend and he wanted to try it. We had four Bloody Marys over four hours and we needed some food before we headed home. Front facade of Graham's Smokehouse We were kindly greeted as we entered and told we could sit anywhere. We picked a table near where the waitresses travel between the dining room and kitchen. I borrowed a photo from their website... The staff at Graham's Smokehou

While driving across the Eau Gallie Causeway to restart my quest, I was reminded of a large dragon that use to protect the southern tip of Merritt Island. That dragon has since been slain by a hurricane, but I understand that there may be a new dragon. A renewal of the dragon correlates to my revival, to restart my quest of finding the best Bloody Mary in the world. It could be served in the Holy Grail! I had convinced my great buddy Jim Middlebrooks to start visiting some establishments with me to search for something that may not even exist. A drink so good that it would be hard to not order another....and another. So we started our quest on Friday, February 17. Actually, I told him I would drive so I picked him up in Satellite Beach at 11:30 AM. I told him I was going to take him to Port Canaveral, but we needed to stop at the Sandbar Sports Grill in Cocoa Beach.  I usually go there for the tacos; shrimp, fish, and carne asada. The bar was not too full so we grabbed a seat and o

Trying to catch up on my goal to eat at 26 new restaurants for the year, I updated an excel spreadsheet with all the restaurants I want to go for the year. There was a total of 41 new restaurants in the list, and I have not even completed the list yet. There were eight places that have closed down in 2016 before I got to go to them. Just to be complete, there were five I did go to in the last two years that have since closed. The restaurant business is volatile. When creating this new list of places, I added a field called "reference" which signified who recommended the place. Most of them I get from the local paper which I subscribe, the Florida TODAY. One though was recommended by my good friends Nancie & Jose Marin. The place is called  Mi Balconcito Latin Grill and that is where I went today. Painting inside the restaurant It is a Puerto Rican Restaurant and that is where Jose is from. I wish he was there with me to answer some questions about the menu and t

It seems like it had been twenty years, but I found on the Internet that Bennigans on Apollo Road closed in 2008, only nine years ago. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was the place to go to drink, eat and feel merry. Then this past year, I had heard that Bennigans was reopening along 192 in Melbourne, out towards the Interstate. Today, I finally decided to give it a visit. It was not out of the blue, I had seen a recipe for bite-size Monte Cristo sandwiches. Bennigans was the place for a delicious Monte Cristo. I had a craving and so I went out to hit the second new restaurant of the year (yes, I am behind after only one in six weeks). Front entrance to Bennigans I thought it may have taken over an existing building, but they have built a brand new building south of 192 at New York Street. It has ample parking and was easy to get to coming from the East. Upon entering, there is a hostess station and multiple dining areas. I took a picture from the entry looking back toward the kitc

Work continues on scanning photos. These are some more of me posing with other people including family, friends and drunks. These were all taken after I had moved to Florida in 1979. The first photo is me after I ran the first and only 5K I have ever done in my life. I am not a runner. I never plan to be a runner. My room-mate at the time was Ron Cunfer (he is a runner) and his girlfriend ran also. Philine Gorin is her name and I still hear from her once in while. I do not think Philine and I did real well. Philine & BJ after 5K run The next picture actually hung on the wall at the place it was taken. The place was called Hubbs Pub and they had a wide variety of beers. If you drank 99 different beers in 90 days or less, you got your name on the wall. After five times, you got a bar stool with your name on it. Hubbs finally changed into Coasters which is still there, but with different owners. They are getting ready to open a second Coasters in Cocoa Beach.  My name can still