Booze Cruise May 2009

By Durke Schmidt and Rob Meronek

This is a pretty simple event. We meet up, drink up, get on cruiser boards to the next spot, and repeat all night. This was the first, but definitely not the last Booze Cruise in Tampa, Florida. We started out in Ybor, then went through Channelside, then to The Hub, then bombed the Skypoint parking garage where I live. To the property manager that tried to jump in front of us like a rent a cop: Send me the fine and I'll add a nice tip to it. You know where I live...

Rob's words: We started out at the Rock N Sports bar in Ybor. This place is like a rad girl but her name is Bertha or something which gives her a bad wrap. You can't even shorten it because then it would just be "Yeah, I'm hanging out with Berth." Don't let the name fool you, Rock N Sports is a decent place with good food and cool bartenders. Thanks for the shots, Brandon

Rob's words: Ah man I didn't even think of wearing flip flops to make it extra hippie and lazy status on the cruiser. I might have to run that next time when we do this

Rob's words: Thanks for all the honks on Channelside Drive Durke's words: The "thumbs up" means either thanks for being cool and giving us some room or thanks for one of the following: Honking, yelling, driving really close to us, or deciding that you were done drinking your beverage and that possibly one of us might have a trash can in our pockets and you were hoping that we could catch it out of your car at 40mph

Durke's words: See the umbrella? Schaefer skated with it the whole time. I couldnt figure out why. Oh, that's why. It's to slow him down from "cruising" so fast

Durke's words: The gentleman on the left, sorry I forgot your name. He had just got back from Iraq and had me amped watching him swing in and out of our group

Durke's words: Manuals and an ollie about to go down. Who says ripping can't go down on a thick stick? I saw Barak do a hard flip on his board down seven stair. Okay, maybe not

Durke's words: All shapes and sizes were around Rob's words: Funny how you can tell we're at Hooters just by the wood and table color. The servers are all shapes and sizes at this Hooters, too. The manager is not picky

Durke's words: Second stop was Hooters for a couple of pitchers and a little food. I spy Malakai from the movie "Children of the Corn." You see the table in the upper right of the photo? That's something you never see, a table of all girls at Hooters. Strange Rob's words: They're looking better than the servers

Durke's words: Kevin Sullivan had the best cruiser board in my opinion. Plus, I lost five bucks to him for doing a kickflip in the bar on this board that had the steepest tail on it

Rob's words: While we were out, Clem got the text message of the week on his Commodore 64 vintage phone

Durke's words: For all of you out there under the age of 30, these are the size of wheels that we would ride normally Rob's words: That's Jeff Lako and Adam Jiminez. We are all loyal pawns of Innetech at Skatepark of Tampa. Adam's got the best cruiser board

Durke's words: Some drivers were down with lending a hand. Had I grabbed on to this truck, I probably would not have needed the Tiger Balm for the sore muscles Rob's words: This guy slowed down and gave us a lift. The next car that went by threw a drink at us

Rob's words: I am going to have to start writing down names as soon as I get introduced to people. UPDATE: Justin and Holly

Durke's words: Ah, The Hub, or as I like to say "Hub Dog Millionaire." If you want a real drink, The Hub is the place. Good jukebox, also. Max Scaaf rules. I got that shirt from him. Hey kids and motorcycle fans, check out Max's blog at http://4qconditioning.blogspot.com/

Ryan Clements with a tight shirt and tighter whip. When do we get the corn rows again?

Durke's words: Back in the early 90's, skateboarding got a little weird. With that said, the wheels suddenly shrank to a size of 39mm, which was the norm. For those of you that think that's not odd, think this: You could have taken one of these wheels and made a set of 39mm

Durke's words: My vote for tightest grip tape Rob's words: Another name I should have written down. I suck

Durke's words: Jenna decided to go with two wheels instead of four

Durke's words: Frosty and Brian. I think Spitfire owes these two some photo incentive. What do you think?

Durke's words: Thats not a wig Rob's words: Al Bow, pwned at Innetech

Durke's words: Smiles for miles, plus the fruit computing company owes Rob some photo incentive Rob's words: Nope, it's Photoshopped out

Durke's words: Rob and Jenna in a hair contest. Jenna won for longest and Rob won for darkest Rob's words: It's time for a jet black hair dye. The sun makes my oriental hair brown and age makes it gray

Rob's words: Public Service Annoucement - rabbit ears are for rabbits, not shoelaces

Durke's words: Hey, lets go skate down the Skypoint garage! Rob's words: My place there is about as big as this elevator. The management loves me living there

Durke's words: See the look on Frosty's face? Yeah, it was like that. Man down, man down Rob's words: Porpe was one of many of us that ended up in a pile on the pavement. The is the Skypoint parking garage. You need a resident pass to get in there. They should not have given this resident one of those

Durke's words: Schaefer jumping down the six stair on his cruiser. Oh, and yes it was a make and yes, he had the umbrella in his hand

Durke's words: George is a lucky guy. Let me explain. First, it was decided that he should front board this rail. Second, his buddy helped out by marking where on the rail he should hop on. Third, he had Frosty barking orders at him like a marine drill sargent. Fourth, after a little help from his friends, he pulled it. No "Johnny huck a rail" here. Relax and stand up tall

Durke's words: Brian going for it Rob's words: Nice NASCAR socks. take a poop

Durke's words: Holly says, "Yay shots." I guess so does the guy behind her. Sure, I like shots also

Durke's words: Hello Mr. Goodwine Rob's words: We are now at Reservoir Bar where the night and my memory ended. Hope we had a good time, Goodwine

Durke's words: Umbrellas not only repel rain, they also hold beer Rob's words: Wow, I guess I had my last drink out of Schaefer's umbrella. Good times