I entered the workforce at 11. It was in a pet store in 1976. I was paid $1.50 per hour.
I didn’t last long in the pet store industry. It didn’t pay well. Also, I would be getting my driver’s license in a few years and needed to save for gas, insurance and a car.
In 1981, I applied for a job as a busboy at a local restaurant chain called the Claim Jumper. Three things that stand out from my days at the Claim Jumper are a tremendous mud pie, the cashew chicken sandwich and long spears of fried zucchini. I still love mud pie and make it from time to time. I make long spears of fried zucchini more frequently. I haven’t thought about cashew chicken in decades. I’m pretty sure the next time I cook up some chicken breasts, I’ll be dicing some up with celery, onion and cashews.
The Claim Jumper, with its oversized mint chocolate chip mud pie, was my first restaurant job; it was not the last. Making tips was so much better than minimum wage. It was 1981 when it dawned on me that I was going to write. I was 16 and a sophomore at Huntington Beach High School. It was a big year. When my wisdom teeth were pulled, my cheeks swelled up like a chipmunk with a load of nuts, and I was laid up with icepacks instead of heading off to a Friday night drive-in movie ritual.
While I was home with icepacks pushed up against my face, the girl I’d been crushing on and Steve, my alleged best friend, were kicking back at the drive-in. Subsequently, they became an item and, heartbroken, I wrote my first poem. Though I gave up poetry decades ago, I’ve been writing daily since, and the restaurant industry has supported the habit that has defined my life.
I turned 60 on June 4. For more than half of those years, I worked as a busser, expediter, server or bartender. Twice I thought I’d left it behind. Twice I’ve gone back. It had not been the plan.
The first time, I had just graduated from the University of Miami with my master of fine arts degree and moved to Plantation Key. That first year, I tried teaching, but it didn’t pay well, and a part-time bartending gig turned into a full-time stint as a waiter at Islamorada’s now-closed Bentley’s and Lazy Days, where I worked for a decade before the big, unexpected break arrived.
Out of the blue, I was hired to curate the Florida Keys History & Discovery Center. Not everyone is handed the opportunity to go from offering blue cheese, tomato basil or Italian dressing for a dinner salad to creating a museum from scratch. For eight years, I worked to turn blank blue walls into a must-see stop for anyone interested in learning about some excellent local history. On that note, I’d like to thank Thomas Locklear, who has become a friend, for suggesting to the museum’s board that I might be the right person for the job.
Years later, one of my great pleasures was writing a letter of recommendation on his behalf when Locklear applied for director at the Museum of the Everglades. In any case, the eight years I spent acting as the curator and historian at the museum was, what I thought, the last break. It was not.
For the last two-and-a-half years, I went back to bartending as a means of cobbling together the funds necessary to support my work as a writer and local historian. It is not a coincidence that I got a job at Robbie’s of Islamorada. I was pretty pushy with my barrage of emails and texts highlighting my experience and my love for the property.
It is not the first time I’ve worked on the property. About 20 years ago, I worked at the Kayak Shack renting kayaks, selling souvenirs and giving directions to those paddling out to Indian Key. I had just signed my first book deal for “Snorkeling Florida” with the University Press of Florida and would sometimes work on the manuscript at the shack. Now, they sell more of my books than anyone else in the Keys.
Getting a job at Robbie’s was never just about bartending. It was always about being on the property. Situated on Lower Matecumbe Key, within paddling distance of two amazing state parks, Robbie’s is at the center of some fascinating history and probably the reason I have been drawn to this property since I moved to Plantation Key in 2001.
Working at the Beach Bar at Robbie’s has kept me close to Indian Key, Lignumvitae Key and the surprising history associated with the property. It has also given me time to figure out a way to bring history to the property.
Guided tours of Indian Key will be added once work on the island’s boat dock is completed. In the meantime, I have stories to tell during an event I’m calling “Tasting History.” Enjoy iconic island eats and unforgettable stories during a one-of-a-kind Florida Keys experience. This tasty, one-hour dive into local history starts with a rumrunner (invented in Islamorada) and ends with a slice of Key lime pie. In between, it’s all about conch, Conch culture and the Conch Republic while you sample two Keys staples, a bowl of conch chowder and two conch fritters. Join me Mondays and Thursdays at 11:30 a.m. or 2:30 p.m. for this intimate, flavor-packed trip through Keys culture and history.
To keep the event intimate, seating is limited to eight. While you are being served, I’ll share some local history, including how the rumrunner was invented, the importance of conch, its role in the island chain’s history, the birth of the Conch Republic and how the sponging industry helped create the Florida Keys dessert, Key lime pie. The cost is $50.
Book your seat and experience local food, history, and culture by visiting www.robbies.com and navigating to the Hungry Tarpon tab, or give me a call at 305-395-9889.
