2015/04/17 16:00 Today was day one for my first trip to Rum Renaissance.  

2015/04/18 10:00 Had a great time at the Miami Rum Renaissance yesterday. When the rum festivities came to an end I went out to dinner with friends. We went to a Brazilian steakhouse. My first time at this type of restaurant. Had a great time. 

Selfie taken in the bar mirror at Havana 1957. I am so clever.

Super delicious Mojito at Havana 1957 Cuban Cuisine.

This latest iteration of my rants and rambles will be much like past versions. The key components will be unchanged. I still share too much information and I am still very weird. I am probably still boring.

I went to a seminar hosted by the company Real Cocktail Ingredients. I loved their products. They have a complete line of fruit purees in convenient squeeze bottles. I found them to be of high quality.

Truly a magnificent evening. Super delicious cocktails, a phenomenal steak dinner from the wood fired Chinese ovens, the best Polynesian dinner show, and all enjoyed with friends.

And if you thought the night couldn't get any more awesome: Mai-Kai behind-the-scenes tour. Special thanks to Andy for arranging and Kern Mattei for taking the time with us. (Photos by Paul Senft aka Rum Journey).

2015/04/19 23:30 Today was the last day of festivities at the Miami Rum Renaissance. I had a great time. One thing I did miss was Alice's fourth birthday. Karen and Robert sent me pictures. She got a Doc McStuffin medical set. She helped make her own birthday cake with strawberries. Karen and Robert took her and Tristan to Billy Beez to celebrate.

Ran into my friend Suzanne. Suzanne owns the bar Longitude in California.

View from the back of the bus.
I had an absolutely amazing time at the Mai Kai as always. I got to sit front row center for the dinner show. I have never sat that close to the stage before.

2015/04/19 15:00 Today was day three of Rum Renaissance.

After walking around Lincoln mall in SoBe I arrived at Havana 1957 Cuban Cuisine. I went into the bar first and had a Mojito. The Mojito is a traditional Cuban cocktail. A good Mojito is made using white rum, sugarcane juice, lime juice, sparkling water, and fresh mint. The Mojito here was excellent.

2015/04/19 12:00 Day three of the Miami Rum Renaissance will get underway at about one o'clock. Taking a brief break from the rum and enjoying an ice cold Corona with breakfast at the MACC (Miami Area Convention Center).

MACC; Miami Airport Convention Center.

The accommodations provided by Banana Bay Resort are nice. I am settled in and headed back into town. I will be taking a cab into town. It’s easier than parking and I don’t have to worry about how much I might drink. The plan is to hit Sunset Pier for the sunset and then The Rum Barrel for dinner and rum.

2015/04/19 11:00 I had a great time at day two of the Miami Rum Renaissance. Last night I left the rum festivities about five and boarded a bus headed to the legendary Mai Kai.

Pre-Castro Bacardi rum from Cuba.

The Miami Runway Inn.

I had a shrimp appetizer. Tostones Rellenos Con Camarones; stuffed plantain cups with shrimp enchilada. Then Masa De Puerco Frita; fried cubed pork topped with grilled onions, served with moro rice and boiled yuca with cuban mojo. I was convinced that I was going to hate the yuca. I only had it once many years ago when I was in Costa Rica and I hated it. My waitress said if I hated it then it wasn't prepared properly. She said I was going to like the yuca here and actually I did like it. I think if I had it a couple of more times I could acquire a taste for it. I washed everything down with some ice cold Coronas and the waitstaff made sure there was always fresh ice water on the table. Very enjoyable.

The view from atop the Key West lighthouse. You can see a cruise ship docked.

After the two and a half mile hike and climbing the 88 stairs in the lighthouse I was parched. On to Sloppy Joe’s for a cold and refreshing libation. Sloppy Joe’s has been at the corner of Duval and Greene since 1937. The bar is famous of course because it was an Ernest Hemingway hangout. The bar moved to its present location in 1937. It was located across the street but when the rent was raised from three dollars a week to four the owner moved. The bar didn’t close; the patrons just carried their drinks and the furnishings across the street.

2015/04/21 11:00 I woke up early this morning and drove to Key West. I stopped on the way and had breakfast at the Waffle House in Islamorada. The waitress said she had had it with the heat, had given her two weeks’ notice, and she was moving to South Carolina. I thought that was funny. Many times I have heard people in New York say they are done with the cold and they are moving south. I am staying at the Banana Bay Resort tonight but it is too early to check-in. They said I can leave my car here and I am going to walk into town. It is two and a half miles.

These girls were pushing Fwaygo rum. Fwaygo is a local rum made in Fort Lauderdale.

I went to a seminar and rum tasting with the rums of Puerto Rico.

Walking past the harbor on the way into town.

I was literally in the hot seat. I could feel the heat from the fire!!

2015/04/21 16:00 I am checked into my room at the Banana Bay Resort. I booked the room online. I was looking for a reasonable price and something close to downtown. I was informed at check-in that the Banana Bay Resort is an adult’s only resort and that clothing in the pool area is optional. Welcome to Key West. After I left my car here this morning I walked into town. Only two and a half miles but it was 95 degrees and humid. I stopped first at the marker for the southernmost point in the continental United States. Then I went to the Key West lighthouse and climbed to the top.

The Key West lighthouse.

Some strange vehicles spotted on the streets of Key West.

Some pictures with my FOM (Fraternal Order of Moai) friends, brothers, and sisters.

The rums of Puerto Rico booth.

As I said, I was parched when I got to Sloppy Joe’s. I downed three ice cold Landsharks in quick succession. I struck up a conversation with two guys from Chicago. Actually they broke the ice by pointing out the smoking hot young girl in the orange dress. I had already noticed her but it was right neighborly of them. You can see her in the picture above and believe me the picture does her no justice. They were from Chicago and I will be in Chicago in a few days. When I left Sloppy Joe’s to head back to Banana Bay Resort and get checked in I took a cab. It is just too damn hot to walk.

​On to Banana Bay Resort.

Raw materials.

Ended the day at Biscayne National Park. Sleeping in Homestead tonight.

Southernmost point in the continental United States. Swizzle stick from Suzanne’s bar in Oakland called Longitude.

There was an appearance by Jenny Scordamaglia. She is the reporter from the online entertainment channel called Miami TV. She is known for her interviews that she conducts always wearing very revealing outfits. I heard a rumor that she always has a sticker on her ass and she charges top advertising dollar for that space.

I had done a pretty good job of pacing myself as far as rum consumption is concerned. That was up until today. The rum got a little bit ahead of me. The young ladies from Barbados said I wasn't looking too good. They took me back to a couch and sat me down. They fed me chicken and rice and gave me cold water to drink. They probably saved my life. They said I had to go back to Barbados with them. I said that I couldn't right now but I promised to visit in the future.

A busload of rummies headed to the Mai Kai. I am in the very back of the bus.

The Gumbo Limbo chapter of the FOM (Fraternal Order of Moai) hosted a seminar on the art of home mixology.

2015/04/20 23:00 I spent today in Key Largo and Islamorada. Key Largo is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the Keys. Key Largo is 33 miles long. “Key Largo” was a 1948 film directed by John Huston starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. I have seen the movie more than once but probably not in the last 25 years. I passed a place called The World Famous Caribbean Club that advertised scenes from “Key Largo” had been filmed there. So, I stopped. There were more people inside than the cars out front would have suggested. I figured out that was because most of the people in the bar had come by boat. This was a local watering hole and probably a bit of a ‘dive’ bar. The bartender was sitting on a chair behind the bar with her feet up on a stool. She was friendly and I had an ice cold Corona that was quite refreshing. I started talking to one of the guys at the bar. He runs jet-ski charters. He was saying that that day he had a family with two small boys. He said he has a routine he always does with kids. He asked the boys, “What’s a pirate’s favorite letter?” The older boy responded with, “Aaarrghhh.” He said, “No, ‘tis the ‘sea’.” He said the kid got mad and insisted that he was right. He told the kid that usually he did the jokes but if he thought he could do better he should go ahead. The kid said, “How do you catch a unique rabbit?” “I don’t know.” “You ‘nique up on him.” Then  quick as a wink the little brother says, “How do you catch a tame rabbit?” “De tame way.”

2015/04/18 16:00 At the Miami Rum Renaissance.

A great seminar on making truly delicious cocktails at home.

Cockspur Rum is produced in Barbados. There were some delightful young ladies from Barbados dressed for Carnival.

Jenny's YouTube videos get tons of hits and she has a lot of Twitter followers.

The rants, rambles, and ravings roll on and on.

There are a lot of off-beat charms to see in Key West and one of them is the chickens. There are feral chickens that roam all over the place.

After enjoying my Mojito at the bar I got a seat outside for dinner. There was what I would assume was Cuban music playing and the hostesses, dressed in white, were constantly dancing as they tried to hustle up some dinner business. It was fun to watch.

Had a nice rum punch from Wicked Dolphin. Wicked Dolphin is a Florida rum producer.

Judging based on this picture that shows the aftermath of six hours at Billy Beez it must have been fun.

After the festivities were done at the convention center, Rum Renaissance for 2015 was over, I headed out to South Beach to see some sights and catch a little dinner. South Beach, also nicknamed SoBe, is a neighborhood in the city of Miami Beach, Florida, located due east of Miami city proper between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses all of the barrier islands of Miami Beach south of Indian Creek. I went to an area in SoBe that I think is called Lincoln mall. The area is filled with shops and restaurants and all kinds of outside vendors. The restaurants all have small inside dining rooms and then larger seating areas outside under canvas. As you walk past the restaurants each one seems to have a pretty hostess chasing you down and trying to get you to have dinner where she works. I had planned on eating at Havana 1957 Cuban Cuisine and that's what I did.

With new friends Peter Holland and his wife Pauline. Peter is the writer and owner of the Floating Rum Shack.

2015/04/20 13:30 I checked out of the Runway Inn this morning and I went to the airport to pick up my rental car. There are many different languages spoken in Miami. I asked an American Airlines agent how to get to the rental cars. She said with a smile, "First you take the skell-A-tor". It sounded a little scary but then it dawned on me what she was saying. Too funny.

I am headed down to the Florida Keys. I will spend today in Key Largo and Islamorada. I have a vintage travel guide for the area and hopefully it will come in handy.

I did enjoy the sunset.

I met a roadside carver while in Islamorada. He was very nice and patiently showed me around and answered my questions. He told me that he had recently acquired two very large mahogany trees. One was 1500 pounds and the other was 1800 pounds. He said getting the permits took over two years. He has cut huge slabs from the trees and makes tables from them.

With Matt Hull, Keith Wright, and Lynda Katzen.
I am off to day two of Miami Rum Renaissance. Tonight for dinner I will be on a bus ride north to Fort Lauderdale and the legendary Mai Kai.

I did not see any crocodiles.

Karen and I just finished watching the Netflix original series “Bloodline” before I left for Florida. We enjoyed it. The series takes place in Islamorada. Islamorada, a "Village of Islands," is located on the islands of Tea Table Key, Lower Matecumbe Key, Upper Matecumbe Key, Windley Key, and Plantation Key in the Florida Keys. The name Islamorada ("purple island") came from early Spanish explorers in the area. Its pronunciation has been Anglicized to aisle-a-more-AH-dah.

2015/04/17 08:00 I got into the Miami airport late yesterday afternoon. I took a cab and checked into the Miami Runway Inn. It was probably a pretty swanky place pre-Castro. The bed was comfortable and the air conditioning was awesome. It will be home for three more nights. I don't think anything is starting at Rum Renaissance until three this afternoon but I am going to head over to the convention center and check it out.

I am always looking for bar mats with a rum logo. They aren't easy to find. I told this delightful young lady that I was lusting after her bar mats. She said, "That's okay. You can look but don't touch. I've been saying that all day; just not about bar mats".

khan tiki mon's rants and rambles v.9.29

The restrooms in The World Famous Caribbean Club are labeled 'outboard' and 'inboard'. It took me longer than it should have to figure that out.

Here’s a funny Humphrey Bogart connection. The 1951 film “The African Queen”, which was directed by John Huston same as “Key Largo”, starred Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn. The same as “Key Largo” I have seen “The African Queen” more than once but probably not in the last 25 years. In the movie most of the action takes place aboard a boat – the African Queen of the title. The small steam-boat used in the film to depict the African Queen was built in 1912, in England, for service in Africa. At one time it was owned by actor Fess Parker (Disney’s Davy Crockett). From December 2011 through April of 2012 the boat was restored and is now a tourist attraction in Key Largo.