2/5/19
For the time being, I decided to alternate blog posts between current events and topics prior to my arrival. Today I want to talk about a place I discovered quite by accident. My original two haunts were The Big Bamboo, as previously reported and the Tiki Hut on the beach at Coligny. The Tiki is great for drinking with the ocean at your feet, but be warned Tiki is not cheap but the drinks are good and location, location, location. Again it all goes back to great bartenders. In the case of the Tiki, Tommy and Cliff. Through contact, I found out he has a piece of Cool Cats Lounge (aka CCL). It is on Palmetto next to the Smokehouse Restaurant and Lowcounty Backyard
CCL reminds me of places I left behind on Staten Island. Let me backtrack for a moment. I lived all my life no more than a stone’s throw from Forest Avenue and the 20 or so bars and restaurants. Actually, when I moved, I had lived 3 blocks from the hospital I was born in and a few blocks where in 1934, my grandfather bought a house and where my mother grew up. OK, enough of a tangent. Where was I? Oh yeah, Tommy and Cliff. Tommy is kind of serious where Cliff, who is a dead ringer for Danny Koker from Counting Cars, always has a smile on his face and laughter in his heart. so through the grapevine, I heard he had a piece of CCL. During a week where I do not have my daughters, I finally decided to check it out. I am very glad I did. The Bamboo was my original place but it is definitely a very different crowd. The Boo has been dead for a couple months except for Christmas week so I was looking for an alternate place with a lively crowd.
When I ventured in to Cool Cats, I felt like Alice when she fell down the rabbit hole. I had read about the new floors and new bar and as a joke, I said I was there to check it out for myself. The decor is your classic dive bar with a jukebox, video games, even a couch and a host of regular characters befitting a sitcom. Cheers cannot hold a candle to this place as I am on my way to becoming a “NORM”! In reality, CC is a bartenders’s and waitstaff’s bar where it can be dead at 11pm and by midnight, 25 people who have just gotten off work show up. I am reminded by the line from the show, “Pawn Stars”, you never know what (who) will come through that door. At their sixth anniversary party, I had a vision that hit me to the point where I started laughing to myself, prompting Troy, behind the bar to come over. I had a vision of the Delta Tau Chi fraternity house in Animal House during pledge week.
The Bartenders
The first one I met was Matty, who I describe as the White Rabbit. He is usually here during the last shift as is Troy. As I said previously in another post, Hilton Head is a very small island, and Troy is the brother in law to Kacie from the Bamboo. Adam is quiet and Andie, Jackie and Jen I do not know well but are very beautiful and sweet, and of course there is Cliff who is here when not at the Tiki Hut. Tonight was the State of the Union Address and frankly who cares? At 10PM, a slow night but who know what the rest of the night may bring? Troy is one who I have have had deep conversations with, hey free therapy. Lucky guy who has a beautiful and sweet wife, Angela.
The Usual Suspects
I met two nice kids here, Dolly and Brittany. I call them Laverne and Shirley. The one good thing being 55, I can say almost anything with nothing to lose. The younger gals think it is cute, go figure. They are both very cute where Dolly is more outgoing and Brittany is very quiet. Watch out for those!!! I also met someone who I nicknamed Watts from the Mary Stuart Masterson movie, “Some Kind of Wonderful”. She is from West Virginia and moved here the same time I did. She is a spitfire and I enjoy her company. Looking forward to some new adventures that I may write about. There are a load of other regulars but don’t know enough to comment on except they are locals and very interesting people from a NY perspective, real Hi
Cool Cats Lounge Turns 6!!
On 2/8/19, Cool Cats celebrated its sixth anniversary with food, music and the usual crowd. One regular, who grew up on HHI in the eighties told me a story on how his neighbor’s dog was killed by a 16 foot alligator. He was 13 and was not allowed to shoot it, so he came up with a way to snare it, tie it up and then kill it by a knife between its eyes. He told about his family’s roots in southern Georgia so I do not doubt his tale. He remembers HHI before a lot of the development of the island since the 90’s. All in all a good time was had by all. Last call came at 2AM which was my clue to skedaddle. I have discovered hard seltzer, which is only 5% alcohols and I can nurse for hours.
Coming up soon
I will be doing my next piece on the friends I left behind so stay tuned!!!
Yankee in Dixie 