Friday Night Lites

this article was originally posted in the SWFL Parrot in the June edition

Finally… Friday!

After a week of working in the heat doing…well whatever it is that I do… I’m ready to put it all aside for a well deserved journey into a well deserved weekend. Ah Friday. The best day of the week that counts as a work day.
Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that the local economy here revolves heavily around snowbirds, but I sure do like it when they’re gone. I can actually get from one end of town to the other in under an hour and I can make it through a traffic signal on the first try.
How about I let you tag along with me on a typical Friday? As a barfly, you have to appreciate the work and time that I’ve put in to finding some nice local hideaways and deals that only we locals and die-hards know. The goal on this trip is to see and be seen by as many of the friends and crew, knowing that the funds have to last all the way to Monday.
Step 1) Happy hour at Coyote’s Bar and Grill…a beauty of a happy hour two for one bar. After the old Hogbody’s shut down a year ago the quest for a bar that has NTN trivia has limited the choices to less than a handful in town in which to play. Hogbody’s was THE place to play NTN trivia. A great group of regulars resided there with an unlimited amount of knowledge and the quickest sense of humor you will ever find…truly worthy of their own sitcom. Boy did that place have the greatest beer special ever invented anywhere. I still have the framed receipts from the Budweiser Nascar special where you paid the equivalent of the lead car’s number for a 16 oz. draft. Think about it. I once had 14 beers for 16 cents. Beat that anywhere, I dare you.
Anyway, some of those regulars are now Coyote regulars. You can be guaranteed to see BL and Patsy as well as Scooby and IMX (who knows things that no one should know). Some days you may even see JMFD who has accumulated over 6 million players plus points, which I think qualifies as Port Charlotte’s top total.
So a game of trivia, maybe two, and an attempt to put my name on the monthly board, a cocktail or two, some hugs and “thank God it’s Friday”s will get me out cheaply and with time to spare. I did have to stay and watch the barmaids dance on the bar of course!
Step 2) Time to head north…and a little hideaway few know about. Right around the corner from Coyote’s, hiding behind fine dining and a pool hall, sits the Tiki Deck at Sports City. To me it’s a little like the AfterDeck at Louie’s Back Yard in Key West. You really have to know it’s there to find it. You have to wander past Michelle at the bar of Sports City Billiards to find one of PC’s quaintest outside bars. The bar hasn’t been there very long but it won’t be unknown for long. Whether it’s Paul Cottrell playing roaming acoustic or the No Name Band taking the stage off the bar, the music makes this a must stop on my trip. I have to throw Tobey a hello given we’ve been through those old Beaches days when we were the only ones there (of course she had to be there until close… I was just doing my duty as a barfly staying)! I’m passing on food here but only because I have a craving for what comes next. The food here comes out of the kitchen at Coral Rock and is some of the finest in PC. I sure hope nobody finds out about this place!!
Step 3) Time for the food stop…and more cheap beer of course. Being a barfly means searching for a good thing in town (before they realize that they need to raise their prices!) Tijuana Flats is the next stop. This relatively new place in town is a chain but not in the normal sense. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the inside of this strip mall Mexican restaurant was anything but ordinary. It’s brightly decorated walls with comic book murals makes it seem more like a one of a kind than a chain. Since it is new, there weren’t any of the old “regulars” there yet… but there will be. I had to make a call and have Big Mike meet me there. The reason…16oz. happy hour beers are 99 cents until 7PM. EVERYONE knows Big Mike can put some beers away! I ordered myself a burrito and a Bud and waited on his arrival. The burrito was more than enough to fill me and that was the regular sized one not the Tijuana sized or heaven forbid the Megajauna size which can feed me for a week.
Step 4) After happy hour ended… it was a walk across the parking lot to Joe Cracker’s for Mike and I. This was purely to see the lovely bartenders Lindsey and Danielle and enjoy the constant breeze. I have to admit I’m a sucker for a pretty face and a couple of Parrot Pilsners would fill the gap until my final destination. Besides, it was a good meeting place for a couple more of the crew before heading off to…
Step 5) The Blue Parrot Bar. Men’s Night. One dollar bottles and wells from 9-midnight. Now how can you beat that? Easy. Add a great bartender with a sense of humor and the best service in Charlotte County. Big Mike and I are regulars there on Friday nights for sure. Just ask the bartender Mary. See if she has any Crown Royal bottles for me! She saves them because I’m trying to complete my collection of NASCAR labeled bottles.
Step 6) Home. Enough money left in my pocket to attempt to make it through the “real” weekend and halfway through my 12 step program. Check back next month to hear about Saturday nights crawl. I’m thinking of finding some good wings. Heaven knows there’s only 168 places in this town for wings! Maybe you’ll see me out? I’m the funny looking guy trying hard to be friendly to the bartenders…honestly, who better to know than a bartender! Toodles.