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sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago #288134
09/01/2022 08:40 AM
09/01/2022 08:40 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,495
Anguilla, British West Indies
NeilRooney Offline OP
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NeilRooney  Offline OP
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Posts: 2,495
Anguilla, British West Indies
I felt the need to post this today, 26 years after the opening of Sunset Beach Bar!

Building My First Bar
How do you start your first bar? First is a location, then a lease, then a concept, a name, a logo, a license, insurance, employees,
equipment, power, water, phone, trash removal etc, etc, etc.
I was lucky on the location. I had worked for a company for three years whose principle had purchased the bankrupt Caravanserai
Hotel and offered to lease the "little bar out front" to me. The name was easy too as the location was on the western end of the
Island. I'm pretty good at visualizing concepts and what I saw in the lay of the land was a given. A simple bar with a wide ocean
front deck and a simple BBQ operation, down wind of the bar. A basic stereo system playing Island tunes and classic rock was
was I wanted for the crowd that I envisioned patronizing the place. Cold beer, good drinks, good music and a friendly staff. And the
beach and the ocean views. And so was born Sunset Beach Bar.
The bar building had been built years earlier as a part of the Caravanserai Hotel. It had been used as a bar but not focused upon
as anything more than a service to the hotel. We were about to change that. The building had survived Hurricane Luis but had been
beaten up a bit. The terracotta roof was a mess of broken tiles. We stripped off the tiles and exposed the asphalt shingle roof
which was in pretty good shape. We covered the dark shingles with a white zinc roof. The bar top was finished in dark brown
little round tiles, ugly. The tiles were soon history and the top given a coat of cement paint. The mish mash of cabinets inside
were soon scrap lumber. A coat of dark brown paint on the inside walls from the floor to the bar top was applied and the exterior
was covered in light blue with a light grey trim.
While we had an open trench across the driveway of Caravanserai Hotel a gentleman approached me and commented that we had an
open trench to which I agreed. He then said that we should run a telephone line while the trench was still open, OK. He then introduced
himself a "Gibbs", he was with the local telephone company Telem. Next he asked how long a cable would we need, about 125 feet.
He got on his cell phone and called Yolanda at his office and asked her to drop off the cable on her way home that night. Yolanda
lived down the road in Beacon Hill and did indeed drop off the cable that evening.
A week later another employee of Telem, Shorty, came to the bar and dropped off two copies of an application for telephone service.
Carl Wagner from Don Carlos Restaurant was sitting at the bar, enjoying a drink from our cooler, and nearly fell off of his chair.
In 1996 it was still a bit difficult to get a telephone line installed. And here was the company DELIVERING an application.
Carl wanted to know who I knew to get this kind of service. I had no idea. I had never seem Gibbs before.
Next was getting the bar and grounds rewired, all new wire was installed including a 1,000 foot feed wire directly to the
transformer house in the middle of the Hotel's grounds. There was no power as the local utility company had terminated the
connection at the power plant since the hotel had not been operational for several years. When we applied to have our new
line activated the power company had to replace the old transformer with a new and smaller one. The day that the bar went
"live" the technicians radioed the power plant to "turn on the beach bar".
The bar opened for business on September 01, 1996 almost one year after the hit of Hurricane Luis. We began as the neighborhood
bar for the residents of Beacon Hill. Business began slowly with some nights being so slow that Gabe and I, and some evenings
Geoff from Chesterfield's Restaurant, entertained ourselves by baiting and shooting rats emerging from the empty hotel next door
with BB and pellet guns.
The bar was decorated with nautical junk which I had been collecting since the passing of Luis. Additional junk was donated
by customers and hung from the ceiling and walls of the bar. The most entertaining piece in the collection of bric-a-brac was
a bosons chair which hung in the center of the bar. The bosons chair was lowered and raised via a few pulleys and cleats.
The chair was salved from the boat "KOMA" , Kiss Old Marks [censored]. Thank you Mark Williamson. This custom made bosons
chair was an instant hit with customers sitting in the chair and drinking shooters while hanging nearly upside down.
Martin from NCR in Philipsburg donated two brass running lights from the boat which he lost to Hurricane Luis. These port and
starboard running lights ended up at Peg Leg Pub, behind the bar. They are antiques which were lighted by kerosene.
The construction of the wooden deck was done by Brad and myself with much kibitzing by our resident experts, some of who
did raise a hammer or grab a screw gun. I had never built a deck and Brad wasn't particularly handy. So we spent a day touring
many bars and restaurants to see how other people had built their decks. We also used this trip to measure the various home
made picnic tables and bar stools of the Islands watering holes. The deck was trimmed with a four inch thick rope donated, along with
other nautical junk from the van den Bosch brothers, Harry and Johnny and their boatyard.

We ended up building the deck with pressure treated number two lumber, two by eights, set on an eighteen inch center with three by six
support columns and railings. This framework was double bolted together. The bar stools were made of two by fours and two by
sixes. They're very heavy but can support a 350 pound person. The picnic tables we made with two by sixes and are bolted together
too. The deck was structurally sound as it has supported more than 100 people at one time. The bar stool design has been copied
by others on the Island. They're durable and we never locked them up as they're too heavy and ungainly to be stolen for home use.
We needed to purchase the aggregates to mix our own concrete to anchor the support columns of the deck. We drove over to BBW,
the local cement plant. We bumped into Steve Smith, the owner, in the lobby of the offices. Neither Brad or I had any idea of how
much sand, gravel and cement we needed. I had to describe to Steve how the deck was going to be built and that I needed to build
nearly thirty "ant hills" of concrete around the support columns. Steve quickly calculated the amounts of aggregate that we would
need. We had no idea how much money this was going to cost. Steve commented that the bar was our first business venture
and he wanted to help us out. The sand, gravel and cement were a "house warming" present from him. Steve still has an
open tab at any bar of mine.
The colorful surf board logo of Sunset Beach Bar was created out of convenience. We had been searching for used surfboards and
windsurfer boards to use as a railing for the deck with little luck. A couple of friends told us where they had seen some junk boards,
and that's just what they were. Then Rodger Boutelle, of the Last Mango In Paradise store, donated a board which had come with his
well known "Shark Man" figure which stands at the entrance to his Front Street store. The board was then painted with the name
Sunset Beach Bar, in outlined letters, by English sign painter Dean Allen. We now had our logo.
Some of the initial charm of the bar were our bathrooms, or lack of. We had the use of a couple of rooms in the hotel for storage
of beer and liquor but with no water the bathrooms were soon nailed shut. What to do but rent a couple of port-a-johns and place
them downwind just inside the parking lot of the hotel. Some of our patrons still preferred the "third tree on the left" over the
port-a-johns. In December 1997 we began construction of a building to be half bathrooms and half storeroom. It was an
octagon shaped building the same size as the bar, about twenty feet across.
The building was divided into three rooms. One quarter of the building was the Ladie's Room, one quarter was the Men's Room
and the remaining half was our storeroom. The storeroom was large enough to accommodate an ice machine, refrigerator, freezer,
shelving for liquor, wine, juice, logo merchandise, charcoal, burger rolls and lots of cases of beer.
As this building was nearing completion we were visited by the local Health & Hygiene Department who wanted to inspect the septic
system. Our septic system was nearly complete and they were able to view the entire system before we buried it. Our holding
tank was a fiberglass barrel about six feet long by four feet across and was connected to a proper leach field filled with gravel.
After much discussion we were given the thumbs up.
The next visit was from a gentleman from Public Works. He was a fairly regular customer. The roof was going up and I was
watching the crew at work as the gentleman walked up to my side and said "Nice building". I looked at him and said yes.
He then asked if we had a building permit. No, we didn't but he knew that. He next asked how soon could I get it finished to which
I replied, Monday. It was then Friday afternoon. He simply nodded and said good. End of story.
At this time the hotel was under going renovations and there were many changes in their plans and permits. I'll assume that our
toilets fell into these renovations and permits.
During the construction I was vigilant about pouring Boric Acid on every surface at every opportunity. It was in the dirt foundation, on the plastic
sheets under the foundation, in the electrical conduit pipes, on the roof joists, literally everywhere that I could think of. It's a lot less expensive
to deal with extermination during construction than dealing with it after infestation happens. The construction guys thought that I was nuts.
The barbeque area was added at this time as we now had ample storage room for the needed cooler and freezer to store the
perishable foodstuffs. The BBQ area itself had dry storage and a "working" cooler. Our three BBQ grills were stainless steel beer
kegs, cut top to bottom with hinges on one side and a handle on the other. The feet of these grills were embedded in the concrete
roof over the dry storage. When D grill became operational we added a splintered wooden boat mast to the edge of the deck
as a flag pole. The pole flew four flags, a beer mug and three nautical signal flags, two B's and one Q. Not one yacht or boat person
ever caught the "beer and BBQ" message. A bit too subtle?
One item behind the bar which was cause for quite a few comments, our cash box. We did not have a typical cash register. We had a
simple wooden cash box, similar to a cigar box, for bank notes only. I had seen a couple of restaurants using the same thing and simply
copied their concept.

Pizza
As a thank you to our regular customers we began giving away Dominos pizza on Friday evenings at six o'clock. This gesture of
thanks began to draw new customers as well, one of them who we'll call "Disgusting" only showed up for the free pizza. He became
so bold that he actually got off of a bar stool to help the pizza delivery guy carry the twenty pizzas from the car to the bar. What to
do? We played the game and began to change the delivery time to anywhere from five thirty to six thirty, just to bust his chops.
More US Navy League
My being involved with the United States Navy League had benefits for Sunset Beach Bar. Sunset became an unofficial "Officers Bar".
Sint Maarten was a popular liberty call with the US Navy between 1994 and 1999. The more well known visits were those of aircraft
carriers. There were visits to the Island from the "America", the "Teddy Roosevelt", the "John F. Kennedy" and the "John C. Stennis".
There were also liberty calls from a variety of other US Navy ships and from the United States Coast Guard. The US Coast Guard
Cutters were about eighty to one hundred feet in length with an average crew of about eighteen while the carriers had crews of
five thousand or more.
During carrier visits we were home to a variety of officers and even had a visit from an Admiral from Roosevelt Roads in Puerto Rico.
Some of the best selling items during a Navy liberty call were Cohiba cigars from Cuba, Robustos and L'Espenditos. During one visit I
traded and extra Cohiba humidor for a flight jacket.
On a weekend in 1998 we had small group from a United States Coast Guard helicopter. They had been in the area assisting with a
search and rescue operation. After spending an afternoon "break" at Sunset their chopper broke down. They ended up spending the
weekend at the bar. They were big fans of Carib Lager Beer and we just happened to have Carib umbrellas at the tables on our deck.
Yeah, we gave them one. As they were leaving the airport Monday morning they hovered over the bar with the sliding door open to
wave the Carib umbrella and yell a thank you as they departed.
We never had a negative experience with any military personnel. They were all well behaved and decent tippers too.
Missing Bottles
In the summer of 1999 we began losing a couple of liquor bottles at night after closing. Four of the bars serving "windows" had an
open space between the top of the shutters frame and the roof. This allowed the building to breathe and the heat to escape. The
down side was that, a motivated person could reach over the frame at two points and reach the liquor bottles displayed on a shelf
running across the bar near the ceiling. After losing a couple of bottles two nights in a row something had be done to prevent this
from becoming a daily problem. Closing off this gap with wood was one solution. Hiring a security guard was a possibility. We chose
another. Two large rat traps were purchased and set on the ends of the shelf the next evening. The following morning one of the traps
was gone as was our liquor bottle problem.


Another Day On Planet Earth
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Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288136
09/01/2022 08:43 AM
09/01/2022 08:43 AM
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 17,476
Ohio
ruralcarrier Offline
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Many good times there before it was a tourist trap.


J.D.
Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288138
09/01/2022 09:08 AM
09/01/2022 09:08 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,478
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Thanks so much Neil for posting this story! Definitely enjoyed all of your bars over the years on SXM.


Carol Hill
Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288141
09/01/2022 09:17 AM
09/01/2022 09:17 AM
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I had some great memory s there. Remembered most of them. I remember the Caribbean Sharks riding in every Fri. night before pizza time. I remember when the hurricanes came through and there was no phone system, the locals meet there to communicate. Thanks for the experiences.

Wendell

BTW today also is my anniversary date for opening my business 48 years ago.

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: SXMWendell] #288142
09/01/2022 09:18 AM
09/01/2022 09:18 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,478
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Central Florida!
Hey Wendell, good to see you here again! Hope things are good with you!


Carol Hill
Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288145
09/01/2022 09:28 AM
09/01/2022 09:28 AM
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CT,USA
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Enjoyed our times there great service lots of fun drinks and good food and the view of the planes landing and taking off and the view of the sea were the best . When did they start using the bosons chair for the drinks and when did they start topless drink for free was to a-joke just to see if it would draw people . The staff was great never had to wait for a drink, it came to be the place to be

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288147
09/01/2022 09:31 AM
09/01/2022 09:31 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,495
Anguilla, British West Indies
NeilRooney Offline OP
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NeilRooney  Offline OP
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Anguilla, British West Indies
More bits....

Speed 2 cast and crew
In the late Summer and Fall of 1996 parts of the movie Speed II were filmed on the Island, both sides. There were several hundred
people working and playing hard. Some locals and resident expats were also put to work on the film. There was a lot money
being spent.
I spent several days wandering around the "set" on the waterfront in Marigot. They had constructed a small village on the recently
expanded area between the Cemetery and Le Bar De La Mer. This was the set used in the "final" crash scene of the movie.
We had printed business cards good for a free "tequila shooter". I passed them about liberally. And the cast and crew started to
patronized the recently opened Sunset Beach Bar.
It was interesting to see the combination of people who came from the cast and crew. Who traveled and drank with who.
The medics and stunt personnel always seemed to travel together. The sign painters and carpenters. The stars had their
body guards. They came in cars, trucks, vans and even on rental Harley Davidson's. One of our first "regulars" from the
crew was the location manager Stanley Pierce. He was very out going and could not be called shy. He took a liking to the
bar and staff and brought more and more of the cast & crew. Thank you Stanley.
At last the stars came. Willem Dafoe was first. Glenn Plummer was second. Then Sandra Bullock arrived with her body
guard Michael. Sandra and Glen were there on a regular basis. Around the time of the films holiday break in December
1996 we had another Hollywood actor visit us, Matthew MacCaughney. He was in the proper frame of mind and spent
some time one Monday evening acting as our DJ and even doing his "Chicken Man" dance for a while behind the bar.
Some of the cast and crew stayed on Island for the December holidays while the bulk went home. I seriously under estimated
the amount of Champagne that we would need for our first New Year's Eve. Another couple of cases of Cristal and Veuve Clicquot
on hand would have been nice to have. People were buying bottles at an amazing rate that I had not thought possible.
Their presence at the bar didn't hurt our small but growing business. Sandra even had a small birthday party at the bar one
night in January 1997 for her assistant Susan.
When filming on the Island had finished we said our goodbyes to the folks who had become regulars at the bar. To my surprise
Stanley Pierce and Steve Perry invited me to join them in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. I readily accepted their invitation and made plane
reservations. Stanley took care of the hotel reservations as he was from New Orleans. When I arrived in New Orleans there was
Stanley at the airport with a new black Ford Expedition to give me a ride to the Dauphine Orleans Hotel, including a motorcycle
cop escort.
While there I had to rent a tuxedo as we were attending the Endymion Ball at the New Orleans Super Dome. The entertainment
that night was Little Richard and then The Doobie Brothers. We had a table second row, center stage. That night Steve Perry,
who had been one of the Producers for Speed II, invited me to join him and Stanley Pierce the next day for the Endymion Parade.
We were in the parade all right. We were in a purple Rent-A-Wreck pickup truck. Along with us in the truck were the Hughes Brothers,
Allen and Albert, who were filming a documentary about pimps and prostitutes who travel across America from event to event.

Topless Women Drink 4 Free
This "concept" happen accidentally. That is, we didn't sit around drinking beer and dream up this promotion. In the spring of 1997
we had a group four Dutch people operating a tandem sky diving operation from the Dutch side airport. Their problem was the weather.
There was a week where it was too rainy or too windy or too overcast to safely operate their business. So what did the crew do?
What else? Drink. They ran up such a large tab that it was "traded" for sky dives for the entire staff for Christmas 1997.
One day there was a group of 4 or 5 girls laying out on the beach sunbathing, sans tops. (topless). Every time they needed a round of
drinks they put their tops on and walked up to the bar, This didn't endear them to the drinking sky dive crew. On about the third
trip to the bar one of the sky divers, J.R., jumped over the bar and erased the "Cocktail Of D Day" Sign and wrote "Topless Women Drink
4 Free". J.R. said to put the drinks on the sky divers tab. And we just left the changed sign there. That's the story.
About a year later we did have t-shirts made advertising this, using nautical flags to "spell" the slogan "Topless Women Drink 4 Free".
Jets Landing Lights
One morning in the Spring of 1997 I was opening the bar for business. It was about 10:00AM. A morning jogger approached
the bar and began giving me some light hearted ribbing. He was an American Airlines pilot who had arrived the previous
evening. He told me that because they were late out of the gate in San Juan, they arrive a little late in Sint Maarten and
missed getting a nightcap at Sunset Beach Bar. We had closed promptly at 11:00PM. I responded by telling him
that if we had known that we would have had some late arrivals we would have remained open. He said that he'd be back
in a week and would let us "know" if they were coming for a beer or not.
The week passed and Gabe, one of our bartenders, and I waited for "word" from the pilot. Nada. But, as the plane came
in on it's final approach the landing lights started blinking off and on. So we waited. Some twenty minutes later the two
pilots came bounding into the bar with ear to ear grins.
This flashing of the lights became a regular thing as word spread among the pilots on this Dallas, San Juan, Sint Maarten
flight. It was also entertaining for both our regular local clients and tourists alike. We also had on occasion a phone
call from the airport tower letting us know that the flight was late and that the pilots would be on their way to the bar
shortly after landing. Only in the Islands.
Jell-O Shooters
We've all heard of Jell-O shooters and we usually associate them with an event like Spring Break. We started giving away Jell-O
shooters on Sunday afternoons in our second or third year of operations at Sunset. I made them at my house on Saturday afternoons
and brought them to the bar on Sunday mornings.
Here's how to make Jell-O shooters which are firm enough to scoop out of a squat plastic souffle dish. First boil the amount of
water as directed to on the package, times the numbers of boxes which you're making in one large batch. Second, empty the
powered Jell-O into a large mixing bowl. Third, pour the boiling water into the mixing bowl with the powered Jell-O. Fourth, add
the alcohol to the mixture but use only half of the volume of the prescribed amount of water. Now pour the hot mixture into the
squat plastic souffle cups. I used several trays, or half sheet pans, to stack the filled cups in my freezer. A refrigerator is not
cold enough to congeal the mixture to a firm enough consistency.
We used different flavors of Jell-O with different types of liquor. Tequila was used with Lime Jell-O. Vodka was used with
cranberry Jell-O. Rum was mixed with Lemon Jell-O. Some of the other mixtures were successes and some were pretty
awful tasting, trial and error


Another Day On Planet Earth
Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288149
09/01/2022 09:39 AM
09/01/2022 09:39 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,478
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Wow, great stories, Neil!! That is funny about the topless drink for free, how that started. Especially liked the one about the pilots of the San Juan flight! We were on that flight one time when it was WAAAY late. We arrived at SXM at something like midnight. All the car rental guys had gone home and they called up a bunch of taxi drivers from home, to take people from the airport. We were headed to the French side, so the taxi driver asked if we minded if he went through the drive through at KFC and picked up some chicken (for himself!)


Carol Hill
Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: SXMWendell] #288152
09/01/2022 10:06 AM
09/01/2022 10:06 AM
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Posts: 17,476
Ohio
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Congrats on your anniversary as well.

I remember a couple of times there were phone calls made when you and/or Junior were at that bar and visible on the webcam. We went there with Junior not too long after they opened (maybe the second or third year) as he indicated "that guy makes a good burger and fish sandwich".


J.D.
Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288160
09/01/2022 12:08 PM
09/01/2022 12:08 PM
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Bahston Offline
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Those were the days…

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288166
09/01/2022 01:46 PM
09/01/2022 01:46 PM
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psod Offline
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wow awesome great story Neil... We've been patrons for a long time when it wasn't a tourist trap,,, my wife rarely paid for a drink!
had some of best times of my life there,, began with just my wife and I visiting her cousin Rick and eventually we would return every December with
more and more friends,, Sunset was legendary in our circle,,,we became friends with many people, there was a the point where I knew
more people there than I did at home! Our first trip to SXM was 94 and we have been over 50 times since.
We've met a time or two back in the day,,, so ya keep the stories coming,,

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288167
09/01/2022 02:11 PM
09/01/2022 02:11 PM
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CaribLee Offline
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Was one of my favorites Neil.

Attached Files Pic004.JPG107-0746_IMG.JPG
Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288168
09/01/2022 02:25 PM
09/01/2022 02:25 PM
Joined: Jan 2003
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mort Offline
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How do I attach a picture?

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: mort] #288169
09/01/2022 03:24 PM
09/01/2022 03:24 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,478
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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mort--Click on USE FULL EDITOR, then click on Attachment Manager, and attach the picture.


Carol Hill
Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: CaribLee] #288170
09/01/2022 03:26 PM
09/01/2022 03:26 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,478
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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CaribLee--Thanks for that picture of Moose.


Carol Hill
Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288179
09/01/2022 07:09 PM
09/01/2022 07:09 PM
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mort Offline
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Original sign graciously given to us by Neil

Attached Files 20220901_143037.jpg
Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: mort] #288180
09/01/2022 07:14 PM
09/01/2022 07:14 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,478
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Wow, very cool!! (And congrats, you figured out how to post pictures!)


Carol Hill
Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288181
09/01/2022 07:16 PM
09/01/2022 07:16 PM
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Yonkers, NY
fabila Offline
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First visit there 2002. Great bar. We partied there a lot.

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288184
09/01/2022 09:10 PM
09/01/2022 09:10 PM
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Bucks County, PA
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snuba Offline
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Joined: Aug 2003
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Bucks County, PA
Oh those memories! We used to spent many afternoons there watching planes and talking to people and barmaids, even Heidi when she was in not too grumpy of a mood. Was a must stop for us. Wish it would have same vibe now....


Life is short, travel the World.
Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: snuba] #288185
09/01/2022 10:01 PM
09/01/2022 10:01 PM
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 185
P
panman Offline
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panman  Offline
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Joined: Jun 2005
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Wonder what ever became of Heidi!?

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288186
09/02/2022 06:46 AM
09/02/2022 06:46 AM
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,989
Westchester /NYC
Colour1 Offline
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Colour1  Offline
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Posts: 1,989
Westchester /NYC
Thanks for posting that!! We had great times there!!! The halloween parties were the best on the island!!! Yes, I still have my original SSBB tank top and long sleeve shirt!!! Cool story about the blinking lights!! "Save the last call for us"!!!

Attached Files SSBB SXM  1996.jpgSSBB david.jpgDavid SSBB 10-2018.jpg
Last edited by Colour1; 09/02/2022 06:58 AM.

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Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288195
09/02/2022 09:29 AM
09/02/2022 09:29 AM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,772
So. Shore MA.
jollymonsrv Offline
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jollymonsrv  Offline
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Posts: 1,772
So. Shore MA.
Those were the Best of Times/ Vacations for us. Being from New England, we met Neil and followed his ventures on every vacation Thanks for the “ Memories “

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288201
09/02/2022 09:54 AM
09/02/2022 09:54 AM
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 5,258
Kennys Offline
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Kennys  Offline
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Posts: 5,258
Topless always drank for free lol , good times .

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288209
09/02/2022 11:09 AM
09/02/2022 11:09 AM
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 381
CT,USA
DICKG Offline
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DICKG  Offline
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Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 381
CT,USA
Thanks Neil for answering how Topless started, that and the Bosons chair always was interesting all in good fun even the crab races on the beach . We are glad that we were there for the great times at THE PLACE TO BE AT . You created the Sunset Beach Bar it will always be there in my mind THANKS

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288212
09/02/2022 12:27 PM
09/02/2022 12:27 PM
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 145
psod Offline
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psod  Offline
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Posts: 145
Found this little video I had,, not the best but the camera gear wasn't great back then,,,

https://youtu.be/KJu4n0DE6CQ

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: psod] #288214
09/02/2022 12:45 PM
09/02/2022 12:45 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,478
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Posts: 82,478
Central Florida!
Thanks for the video!


Carol Hill
Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: psod] #288216
09/02/2022 12:48 PM
09/02/2022 12:48 PM
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 5,258
Kennys Offline
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Kennys  Offline
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Posts: 5,258
Awesome and wonderful ! Thanks very much.

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: psod] #288222
09/02/2022 01:25 PM
09/02/2022 01:25 PM
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 3,278
Maryland/DC Metro
BeachKitten Offline
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BeachKitten  Offline
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 3,278
Maryland/DC Metro
That's a fun little video. Thanks!


"It is good to do nothing all day, and then to rest" wink
Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288230
09/02/2022 06:03 PM
09/02/2022 06:03 PM
Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 248
Shelby2 Offline
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Shelby2  Offline
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Joined: Mar 2016
Posts: 248
Thx for the history!!

My first trip to SXM was either 2000 or 2001? My friend and I got off the plane, got our rental car and headed straight to SSBB--yes, luggage in car and all...like I said, our first trip, not too knowledgeable about island goings on, but we were lucky to return to our car full of luggage! Anyway, we sat down to great reggae music playing with lots of what I assumed were locals swaying their heads from side to side to the music and limin. We joined the limin and head bobbing, had some great conversations with those at the bar and was my first introduction to the island...Many return visits after that....thx Neil!! Sorely miss that original, true " island" bar!!

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288444
09/06/2022 04:30 PM
09/06/2022 04:30 PM
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 145
psod Offline
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psod  Offline
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Posts: 145
So I dove into my archives a little more and thought I'd put together all my video clips from SSBB over the years,, lots of crazy times to say the least,,

https://youtu.be/zHdE6JPHppY

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: ruralcarrier] #288459
09/07/2022 07:42 AM
09/07/2022 07:42 AM
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 467
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bizzottom Offline
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bizzottom  Offline
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 467
EXACTLY.....Rural
Started going there about 21 years ago....and haven't been for about 10 years "TOURIST TRAP"

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: psod] #288500
09/09/2022 10:42 AM
09/09/2022 10:42 AM
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 131
Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
C
CaribbeanCanadians Online content
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CaribbeanCanadians  Online Content
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C
Joined: Sep 2022
Posts: 131
Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
My wife and I enjoy all your St. Maarten videos from over the years. We love Sunset beach Bar, we will be staying nearby the Sand Bar for a couple of months in December.
Thanks for the videos, fun stuff.

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: psod] #288509
09/09/2022 01:07 PM
09/09/2022 01:07 PM
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 3,278
Maryland/DC Metro
BeachKitten Offline
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BeachKitten  Offline
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 3,278
Maryland/DC Metro
Originally Posted by psod
So I dove into my archives a little more and thought I'd put together all my video clips from SSBB over the years,, lots of crazy times to say the least,,

https://youtu.be/zHdE6JPHppY



Another great video. You had tons of fun there over the years. Sadly, it's not what it was. Driftwood is now where we hang.


"It is good to do nothing all day, and then to rest" wink
Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: NeilRooney] #288510
09/09/2022 01:21 PM
09/09/2022 01:21 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,666
MIA
I
irina Offline
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irina  Offline
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,666
MIA
First time there for me was 1998. That was a fun little bar but never really hung there as I was busy fixing our place.
Had a pic of us sitting around drinking, (doh) at SBYC with a bunch of friends.
Cheers Neil.
irina

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: BeachKitten] #288537
09/10/2022 05:09 AM
09/10/2022 05:09 AM
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 467
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bizzottom Offline
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bizzottom  Offline
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Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 467
Beachkitten......Rum Punch at driftwood is awesome

Re: sunset Beach Bar 26 Years Ago [Re: psod] #288558
09/11/2022 06:39 AM
09/11/2022 06:39 AM
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,989
Westchester /NYC
Colour1 Offline
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Colour1  Offline
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Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,989
Westchester /NYC
That was great!! We're still "newbies" from 2002!! It's amazing how much both places have expanded. Yes, sadly SSBB became a cruise ship tourist trap. Yet, IMHO, Driftwood has always been a great lil staple for good bar food and great tropical drinks!! I still love there pizza, the old truck! Order a large pie get a free drink!! How many times the pizza didn't make it back to the unit! LOL!! Thanks for sharing!! Sorry we never ran into you, as we are Oct into Nov (SSBB had the best Halloween parties!!) travelers and sometime Mar into April!


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