BOCA CHICA LOUNGE

There once was a place…..

A bar, a dive, drug infested, criminal clientele, a den of inequity, infamous. Customers shrimpers, smugglers, thieves, and drug dealers.

Referred to by many as a Knife and Gun Club. Most carried one or the other. Legality had nothing to do with it. Legality had nothing to do with anything that went on in the Lounge..

Former Sheriff Bob Peryam said, “We were always the least armed people when we went there.”

I write of the Boca Chica Lounge.

The Lounge opened in the 1950s. Closed in 1989. A 24 hour around the clock club. Never closed. Went out of business in 1989 when Monroe County passed a 4 am closing time.

Located on what is now US 1 on Stock Island. Today, a nondescript auto parts store. I have tried to visualize the building as I write. I cannot. I will look for it as I drive into Key West later this morning.

Although located on Stock Island, definitely a part of Key West’s roaring drug driven 1980s.

Last night my podcast show.

Last week’s show not broadcast due to technical difficulties at Blog Talk Radio’s end. My opening topic was to have  been An American Christmas. Did not want to waste the story. America’s Christmas history not what most people would have thought.

So, I opened with last week’s Christmas tale last night. Ate up the first half of the show.

I followed with a topic that has caused me serious concern this past year. Robots and artificial intelligence. Not discussed in the recent Presidential campaign. Jobs will be eliminated in huge numbers.

The road has opened and we are already traveling it. Within 3-5 years, robots and artificial intelligence will impact how we live.

Already, over the highway driverless trucks have been tested. Uber testing driverless cars in Los Angles and Pittsburgh. McDonald’s testing kiosks to place orders. Push a button type thing. Some automotive assembly lines already operated solely by robots.

A perfect and simple example of what is to come is McDonald’s drive through window. In 18 months, it is expected you will receive your cheeseburger, fries and change from a robot.

Wonder of wonders!

Food for thought. New jobs must be created to replace those lost because of robots and artificial intelligence. They are there. Requires ingenuity and innovation to become aware of what they are and train the work force.

Have to hustle. Full hands on doctor physical this morning.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

14 comments on “BOCA CHICA LOUNGE

  1. Re: Your statement that “Some automotive assembly lines [are] already operated solely by robots.”

    Absolutely correct, Lou. Here’s an interesting video of Mini Coopers being manufactured in the U.K. — from start to finish, countless robots vs. only a couple dozen humans.

  2. Louis, my Key West authorette friend wrote in her mystery novel about Boca Chica bar on Stock. I wish that I could have experienced that bar in the era – she wrote lovemaking was common back in the dark, corner booth. wow.

    • Truth all of it,, I was a shrimper during the mid 80’s on the Captain Reo and the tale is true, Ray, Jeff and me frequented whenever we got to the docks late at night when Capt. Tonys and Ricks were closed.
      Red Bobby

  3. Robots have been in the automotive industry and others for a long time and its growing, like Tom mentioned. Robots don’t need or demand breaks, benefits and work 24 hrs a day. They are also accurate and don’t complain about paint fumes when spraying.

    Fast food chains are looking at it especially upon the demands for $15/hr.

    New jobs will require proper education or at least some education.

  4. Boca Chica bar was such a fun bar!! Didn’t come alive until the rest of the bar staff got off work! That place and The Conch Flyer at the airport!!!

  5. Why don’t you engage with your audience at all? It seems like you treat the internet and social media like a one way street–you go down it and that’s it. For instance, a commenter asked the other day for Lisa’s seven fishes dinner menu, no response; someone provided you with info you requested on Truman’s final days, no response. The kind of beauty of the internet is you can have an exchange with anyone. It seems like your entire self-styled media brand is summed up by the title of your never-gonna-get-off-the-ground YouTube livecast: Louis Petrone Says…

  6. Lou, I was in the Boca Chica Bar once in the early ’70’s. Not for that long, and I was too naive to appreciate what it was really all about (I did think of it as a dive). Oh well, at least I can say I was there.

  7. Louis, more thoughts about Boca Chica bar on Stock – my authorette friend telling me about her days at Boca – after teaching at Key West High School, she and other teachers would do the Duval bars till they closed, then head to Boca Chica till it closed at 4p or didn’t even close. Then the KWHS teachers would go eat breakfast and head to school to teach all day if they could even stay awake. Boy, those were the days.

  8. Artificial Robot Intelligence – we know how well that will go soon given our history. I had better watch Terminator again and get ready.

  9. Was there back in the 80s crazy place but fun was taken there by a topless dancer that worked at a place if I remember correctly called the pirates den . When the place closed for the night and the workers were all heading to the bocas Chicago lounge .I have been to lots of bars but this one will always stuck out in my head and one I will ne and er forget they had Cages suspended from the ceiling and anyone who wanted to could get up in them and dance they had lots of pool tables and yes it was a shady place but had fun and it certainly was memorable

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *