PARADISE LOST

First of all, let Miss Vero thank y'all for the wonderful emails and comments yesterday. We loved the suggestion of being linked to the PJ, but kids, y'all know that 's not gonna happen, besides that would just raise their stock and send ours plummeting. We are achievin our goals right here, thank y'all very much.

We sent an email to Miss Marilyn Bauer at the Press Journal, wondering why someone local isn't hired (cause y'all know the job will be filled by a newcomer, oh yes hunnies, mark my words), but she hasn't responded yet. hmmm...

Now today children we are going to talk about a place we swore we'd never review - Captain Hiram's. So stop groaning right now, y'all hear?

Since Miss Diana Foote is reviewing places she's never been to (and we all have) and since she saw fit to write about Hiram's yesterday and the PJ saw fit to print it and her other drivel (not our word, the one lone comment to her last two articles - and no, we are not providin the link).

We thought, well, we should take a crack at it.

Miss Vero has a long history with Hiram's going back 20 years or so. Now it's a giant tourist trap run by a management company, but back in the day it was the coolest partyin place this side of Key West. As Miss Foote found out, food is, or has never been the reason to visit, except if ya'll know what to order. Hiram's was once known as a raw bar and one of the original owners, Mr. Martin Carter, would fix you up a dirty oyster if he happened to be around the bar. He also had a very good recipe for Maryland crab chowder and a little unassuming guy called Captain Jimmy made the best crab cakes. All of these items made it onto the menu, but we much prefer the days when Captain Jimmy would come out of the kitchen himself with the crabcakes or Martin went behind the bar with Roxanne to get oyster fixins. We were there recently and glad to see Roxanne still behind the bar.

This is our favorite place to sit inside, probably because of all the great fun and fishin pictures. Miss Vero is sad to see that the great Don Ray art has been taken down to provide room for some lame flat screens spewing out sports programs. Our favorite was always "Snook in the Mangroves" (any idea what a snook is Miss Foote? good eatin, that's what). And that was how y'all got the best fish at Hiram's, y'all caught it and brought it in and they cooked it up.
http://www.donraystudio.com/donray.htm

Now the place got a bit a popular and Mr. Martin and his partner, Mr. Tom Collins (yup that's his real name), decided to pretty it up a bit and send the fishin boot wearin locals out to the dock area, so as not to disturb the genteel customers they were trying to attract. They put a little outside bar in the back, it was real cute with only seven seats, they called it "The Sand Bar."

There were two women who worked there, Miss Kate and Miss Margaret and they wore bikinis and sarongs and Hatmon hats and they kept the locals very happy and business boomed. There was Captain Terry, Cokie, Joey and Marcia, Scott and Leslie, Captain Buddy, Bobby, Captain Gus, Captain Bruce, Doug Moss and his dog Malei, Uncle Bill, Pete Harris, George and Dr. John, just to name a few.

Hatmon was "imported " from Seacrets in Ocean City Maryland, (now y'all know where the Maryland Chowder came from) and it was on the success of local business and the idea to replicate Seacrets that Tom Collins built the Sand Bar y'all see today. In fact if y'all take a look at the Seacrets website, it will look strangely familiar.
http://www.hatmon.com/

http://www.seacrets.com/

There were so many great stories and people that were present at the birth of the Sand Bar. Sadly some of them are gone forever. We already told y'all about Pete Harris in our June 18th post "Mad about Micco" and one of these days we promise to tell y'all about Doug Moss, but one person y'all should know about is Dr. John. He is the only original regular that has a plaque at the Sand Bar.


Now first off, don't get any fool ideas about pesterin Dr. John with stoopid questions or askin him about Miss Vero. As we told y'all in previous posts, he is one of the smartest people we know ( there's only a handful) and he is a Doctor of psychology, so he can see your BS from a mile away. And if that doesn't deter y'all, he's a feisty Irishman from Newark, NJ. who will make that very clear to anyone who annoys him. Y'all might have heard him on the Love Doctors, he's a guest quite frequently. We are still wondering why WZZR doesn't give him his own damn show.

Dr. John Dispensing Wisdom

We suppose the reason we chose to tell y'all about Hiram's is because it no longer exists, not in the way it used to. It's like Sebastian and Vero Beach, still there, still thriving, but not as folks who have been here a while remember. New people come along like Diana Foote and Russ Lemmon, who haven't lived here long but get paid to tell us old timers about our own surroundings. We know it will never be the way it was and that's life kids, things change. But what we need is something to hold onto while we make that transition. We need to build that change on the foundation of the past. We need the new folks to know who the plaques belong to and why. Miss Vero sincerely hopes to give y'all that. We'll do our best.

Now let's mix up a cocktail and start the weekend! See y'all Monday..

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

MISS VERO WILL NOT SURRENDER!

"THIS IS... THE BEACH HOUSE!"

Imagine y'all - the Press Journal is lookin for some one to do the following:

"You've heard the term over and over by now. Staycations - what to do when you choose to spend your vacation at home but still want that time to be special. We are looking for a Treasure Coast Staycation expert who will report on all the treasures found in our backyard. We want the tried and true - stories on the Elliot Museum (Who is Elliot anyway?), the Manatee Center and McKee Gardens. We also want stories on off-the-beaten- track activities and attractions - a stick swamp tour, a frog leg festival. We're looking for an experienced freelance writer and reporter who can seek out special places and write about them with a fresh perspective in a clear and engaging style. If you are interested in becoming part of our team, send your resume and cover letter explaining your qualifications to: Marilyn Bauer, Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers, 1939 S. Federal Hwy. Stuart, FL 34994. No calls please "http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/job-JDMPUD3R7D8;_ylt=AosDDZVoYAeSbEuQxQoLgM_6Q6IX?search_url=%2Fjob-search-l-Stuart-FL-k-Scripps-m-1-h-Scripps

Oh really. How original, wished we 'd thought of that.

Go ahead Miss Marilyn Bauer, throw us another cat toy, we sure are gettin tired of those ole Lemmon droppings and stinky Foote reviews. Miss Vero is lookin forward to a new plaything.

What do y'all think children? Is it time to kick it into high gear? The Beach House has become very popular and we have some statistics to share. Everyday we have over a 120 visitors. Since we started countin in June there have been over 5,800 "hits" to our little blog. We think this is pretty darn good, considerin that we are only one damn person with our only goal being to inform and entertain y'all.

We have received many e mails and correspondence from local politicians, media people and folks who are just as fed up with the PJ. Even Mr. Milton R. Benjamin from Vero Beach 32963, was a gentleman and sent his kind regards and encouragement. Miss Vero admires his good manners and sincerely thanks him.

So now we must ask, what would y'all like to see? Should we continue to pick up where the PJ leaves off? Do y'all like to hear more about political parties or cocktail parties? Restaurants or remote waterin holes? And most important, do y'all just like being entertained or would y'all like to contribute? Miss Vero needs to know - Beach House Guests! Is it time for battle?

Miss Vero looks forward to your response, don't make a lady wait.

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

P. S. If y'all are the lazy type, and we perfectly understand, just do one thing for us, share the luv with your friends. E mail the Beach House to someone y'all know, just click the little envelope below and it'll tell y'all what to do. Spread the word kids!

SEX AND THE CITY - SEEN IT!

Did any of y'all notice that Sex and the City was playing at 11:59pm last night at the new Majestic in town? Miss Vero just had to check it out and what did we see? A couple of cute girl groups in high heals and more luscious young lez-b-anns kissing in public. Wow, maybe Vero is cooler than we thought!

Miss Vero pretty much knew the plot and just for a piece of trivia- one of Miss Vero's very dear friends is Michael Patrick King's ex-partner. If y'all are a fan of SATC, you'll get it, if not, don't worry. Believe it or not children, Miss Vero was once a resident of the Hills of Beverly and is very familiar and well connected to many celebrity types.

Too bad Mr. Bill DeYoung, didn't respond to Miss Vero's email when he was looking for SATC material. Miss Vero could have given him a big time inside scoop, but no. As per PJ protocol, the mundane must be printed.

There's a lot of web stuff out there, good-n-bad, but we will offer two sources. For the absolutely romantic photos by Annie Leibovitz in Vogue:
http://www.style.com/vogue/feature/051308

And because Miss Vero likes to buy local (and really wants to but for lack of variety) - Feature Editor, Marilyn Bauer, at the PJ, for breaking PJ protocol with a perfectly balanced, crisp, clean review and points for getting the Diane Arbus reference:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/30/movie-review-welcome-return-sex-life-cosmo-lane/

All in all, it is what it is - a movie. Dust off a copy of "Sullivan's Travels " to remember why we all love movies. Girls like this kind of movie the way guys like to see stuff blowed up, it's that simple. For Miss Vero, of course it's an excuse for a party and a valid reason to drink a cosmo leisurely. Now, tonight, hundreds of single women will be swarming the mall at the Vero Beach premiere. If-in y'all have any single men friends, tell them to hang out at Friday's - it'll be like shootin fish in a barrel. As for Miss Vero, we will be havin our own little private soiree. Cosmos for everyone!

Bye y'all and thanks so much for all the love, back on Monday.

MWAH!

missvero@live.com

MISS VERO SMELLS A RAT!

Miss Vero does not know how much more of this we can take. We have mentioned the Press Journal's restaurant critic, Diana Foote, five times already for her ridiculous musings. Y'all remember the time she mulled over a decision to wear a fur to lunch in Vero? Read it if you must:

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/apr/10/Out-to-lunch-with-diana-foote-dining-out-treasure-/

After her little rant yesterday about the Patio (which Miss Vero has thoroughly covered, thank you very much), we are takin off the gloves! Check this out:

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/may/21/Out-to-lunch-with-diana-foote-patio-restaurant-ver/

PAID TO PLAGIARIZE?

This woman is really "Out to lunch" and Miss Vero is gonna prove it. First she name drops Tony Bourdain and then quotes him gushing over the film;

"Ratatouille" "quite simply the best food movie ever made...
the best restaurant movie ever made. The best chef movie."

Oh really? How about mentioning the fact that Mr. Bourdain was paid to be a consultant on this project?

She goes on -supposedly in her own words- to tell you:

"Animation is so advanced now that you could see the old
burns on the arms of the chefs who got too close to the heat."

That's funny, in Mr. Bourdain's original statement he had a similar observation;
"The tiny details are astonishing: The faded burns on the cooks' wrists."

Here's the original article quoting Mr. Bourdain exactly, compare it children, to the garbage that Miss Foote is PAID to produce for the Press Journal.

http://blog.ruhlman.com/ruhlmancom/2007/07/kitchen-rats.html

Apparently you missed the Journalism Ethics 101 class at Vassar, Miss Foote.
Miss Vero is callin you out on the playground girl.

And how dare you, Marilyn Bauer, feature editor for the Press Journal, allow this type of trash to be printed. Being the only paper in town does not give you the right to promote crap, even if it is a dinky restaurant review, have you no standards?
Pul-ease! I beg you, put her out of My Misery!

Will we ever get a decent periodical in this town kids? Ohh wait! Miss Vero just remembered why we started blogging!

Y'all know it's a double martini day don'tcha?

MWAH!

missvero@live.com