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November 01, 2003
Come With Me And Escape (The Pina Colada Post)
It was a very challenging week this week, to say the least - the most difficult in at least five years. It was the kind of week that makes you reconsider your whole life - decisions you've made, mistakes you must own... what you do next, whether you want to keep working at the same place, whether you even want to keep doing what you do, where you want to live, what you're going to do with yourself. To say that I'm exhausted -- physically, emotionally, and mentally -- is like saying Michael Jackson's had a little work done. My professional life is in extreme burnout right now, my personal life is coming to a screeching halt... and in the last few days everything that I thought I knew and everything I counted on is all turned about. Ever have one of those lives? Where you just want to chuck it all and run away from every stress?
You know what might be really wonderful to do? Open up a beach bar & grill. Find some place right on the ocean or the Intercoastal ... get an open, breezy layout of the place so that the breezes from the water could blow coolly through... do the decor in upscale-dive fashion (in other words, comfortable and respectable, but maintaining that roadhouse feel as well)... a jukebox with a giant collection of blues, country and a little bit of roots rock like Springsteen or Meatloaf - and of COURSE, Jimmy Buffett is mandatory... make it the kind of place twentysomethings go when they feel like taking a step up, and thirtysomethings go when they feel like dressing down... a couple of TVs on the wall but nothing so large as to be distracting... a few pictures on the wall of the staff and regulars out on a charter boat fishing, or golfing or something... maybe a few street signs on the walls from my favorite cities and places, to give it that kitschy "we're not from here but we've made it home" feel.
I'd have a tiki bar out back, with sand going right down to the dock (people will be able to just come right in from their boat if they want). Maybe even have a small stage set up somewhere in the place, either out back near the tiki bar or somewhere in the inside bar, where musicians and bands could play - nothing too loud, we're talking acoustics or light amps only... just some folks singin' the blues or country or Springsteen covers... playing the kind of stuff the people want to hear, not the stuff ClearChannel says we're supposed to listen to.
I'd hire bartenders who specialize in tropical drinks... going with the beach theme, I think the "uniform" might end up being polo shirts and cargo shorts for the guys, tank tops and shorts or wraps for the women... my menu wouldn't ever have too much "sit down and dine" food - everything on my menu is going to be stuff you gnosh on while kicking it at the beach. Lots of seafood - conch fritters, crab cakes, kalamari (both fried and grilled), oysters, clam strips, seared ahi tuna... and of course, the standard bar fare like wings, quesadillas, mozzy sticks, buffalo tenders, nachos... maybe the occasional "signature" item like a crab dip or a spinach dip, or a papaya, kiwi, peach & mango salsa... salads and burgers available... yeah, that's what I'm talking about.
I know that food service is a risky industry - that most places close within a few years. It's probably not worth doing. I don't know the first thing about any business, least of all the food service & entertainment business. I can cook and have good recipes, but what do I know about running a kitchen? Or a bar? Or a business? But I have to tell you, after weeks like this last one, the corporate writer in me is tired, man. I want to be Hemmingway or Jimmy Buffett, just soaking up the sun, loving the ocean & beach life, and hanging out in a place I built, listening to the kind of music I like, and watching people around me having a good time and letting their rough days fade a little bit, enjoying themselves in MY place.
Now THAT would be something to do with my life. Don't you think?
