Another great day at Pete’s for Thanksgiving!
When MOST people think of Thanksgiving, visions of roasted turkey, sweet potatoes and stuffing come to mind. But here in Jacksonville Beach and up and down the First Coast, Thanksgiving day brings, for some (a lot, apparently) quite a different vision: the Bloody Mary!
I haven ’t been in on the tradition for very long, by some standards. About 10 years ago, I was smoking Turkeys for an employee meal (that became a tradition itself) and for some customers on Thanksgiving Day and had heard that Pete ’s Bar, an institution in Neptune Beach since Prohibition, was, indeed, open that morning. So Debbie and I went to check it out. The place was packed and it was so amazing that all these people were out at that time of day. Who would have thought anyone would be open that early on Thanksgiving Day, let alone a bar at this hour? But standing room only? I was digging it.
Jump to this year, and Thanksgiving Day has become a HUGE tradition for all ages, pets, kids …people dressed like turkeys and Indians and Security Guards. Well, that ’s just how big this has become —security to make sure you don ’t walk from Pete ’s to the SunDog with a beer in your hand …I hope that get’s fixed by next year.
I ’m already planning my Bloody Mary Recipe for next Thanksgiving Day next year!
