One of a Kind

 

The Colonel and I took an overnight trip to Ft. Lauderdale (June24/25) to see a one of a kind show. This show is the Mermaid Burlesque Show...the only underwater show of its kind in the world (so we were informed). We had planned to make this trip earlier but then the pandemic hit.

The show can only be viewed through windows, while in the Wreck Bar (made to resemble a wrecked Spanish Galleon inside and out) located inside the B Ocean Resort. The B Ocean Resort is now what used to be called the "Yankee Clipper" hotel. It was built in 1956 and is shaped like a clipper ship. Many stars stayed in the hotel such as Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. to name a few. Two movies have been filmed in the hotel, Where the Boys Are (1960) and Analyze This (1999). One of the scenes of the 1999 movie was filmed inside the Wreck Bar and featured Robert DiNero and Billy Crystal (The Colonel and I may have even been sitting in the same chairs).

The Colonel and I booked a room at the resort for the night. We wanted to be able to watch the show and enjoy a couple of drinks and then just go up to our room after the show. Our show tickets included a $35/each credit towards drinks and/or a dinner. The showtime was 8:30 p.m. with the doors opening at 6:30 p.m. We checked into our room around 4:00 p.m., so had time to burn. We walked on the beach and then had a light dinner at the resort (sandwiches).

After dinner, we went back up to our room to change out of our travel clothes and wait for the Wreck Bar doors to open. Our room and views from the windows...

When we had changed into our "evening clothes" (those who know us, know we are casual people), we headed back down stairs and sat in some chairs across from the Wreck Bar to wait for the doors to open. A very nice lady who worked at the bar said she would give us the high-sign when the doors were about to open. The Colonel and I were the first ones in the bar. We asked the nice lady which were the best seats in the house and she showed us two seats at the bar. She was right, the seats were the best ones for watching the show. The Colonel was "staking our claim" while I took pics of the bar.

Throughout the evening, The Colonel had a beer or two and of course I had to have a (two actually) mermaid themed drink, a Mermaid Blue Hawaiian. It was coconutty and yummy. 

Before the show began, The Colonel and I shared a dinner at the bar. It was a delicious chicken dish and we also split a crème brulee for dessert. There was a great DJ playing music before and during the show. We could see resort quests through the windows as they swam in the pool. I don't think they were aware that we could see them. They closed the pool to guests before the mermaid show. The bar was filling up fast and it was full to capacity. There was a birthday party going on as well as two bridal parties. The place was loud and energetic to say the least. So glad we got out seats early. 

Finally, the show we had been waiting for since before the pandemic was about to start. The woman who created the show came out amongst the crowd and told us a little about the show's history.

She had been the only one swimming for years and then one day she thought, why not get other ladies to swim too and make it an underwater burlesque show (she also has mermen shows)? She said to make sure we made lots of noise, as the ladies under water could hear us and the music played by the DJ. She left the bar and it was showtime.

The lady was the only swimmer in a mermaid's tail (she would shed that later). She was joined by three other ladies.

There is no total nudity involved with burlesque and the ladies stripped down to pasties. The show lasted just under an hour and when it was done, the ladies came into the bar for photo ops when tipped.

The evening was entertaining (a bit racier than I was anticipating...I was thinking Weeki Wachee mermaids). I really liked the Wreck Bar's Spanish Galleon design and watching the underwater show from my seat at the bar was quite the unique experience. Check that off my bucket list. 

The next day, before we headed back home, The Colonel and I toured some more of the resort. We visited the pool where the mermaids swam the night before. You can see the windows of the Wreck Bar under the water.

We got our car out of hock (only valet parking at the resort) and headed for a place in town we discovered on Atlas Obscura. It is a huge piece of art entitled Thrive by an artist named Daniel Popper. He created it in 2020.

We were getting hungry and wanted to eat something before we hit the road for home. I had looked up places to eat in Ft. Lauderdale and one was a Cuban place that sounded good. It was called 925 Nuevo's Cubano's. Back in the 1970s it used to be someone's private home and now it is a restaurant. The front of the restaurant was for carryout and dine-in was in back, outside and under cover.

The food was good, the service friendly and fast. The woman who seated us kept speaking Spanish to us. I could understand most of it with my scant amount of high school Spanish. I had a beef empanada and The Colonel had black beans and rice with pico de gallo. The kitchen had to make the pico de gallo special for him as it was not on the menu. Our waitress did not know what it was. It ended up that she knew it by a different name and said that the "ensalada" was one of her favorites. Must be they call pico de gallo by another name in Cuba. Lunch was over and now it was time to make the 2-1/2 hour drive back home. 

We had a fun time while in Ft. Lauderdale but it always so good to get back home to our little town.