Bartender's Bash 2010

Being that I've been looking for bartending jobs down here, my friend Josh invited me along to Bartenders Bash 2010 in Islamorada. We drove up sunday night, got a room at the Sunset Inn right up the road from the Holiday Isle resort, where the event was being held. We drove over to the resort sunday night to check it out, and it was a really cool place.

Monday was another story altogether. There were tons of people from all over who came to town for the bash. There were tons of beer and liquor people there giving away free drinks as far as the eye can see:

Now, Josh is whats called a "flair bartender". The Bartender's Bash has a flair competition every year with $1000 in prize money to the best bartenders. This was the best of the best of flair bartenders. Some of the competitors had come in from places like Vegas, Argentina, Orlando, etc. One of the judges was the actual bartender from the "5 O'Clock Somewhere" music video. For anyone who is a facebook friend, I posted a video of Josh's performance from the event. Here is Josh setting up his bottles getting ready to go on:

Staying in the hotel room next to us were a few of Josh's friends who had flown in from Vegas. Really cool people, some of them were competing too. There was Nick, who bartends at the new City Center in Vegas, and James (who, unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of), who won 1st place in the contest. He definitely put on a show! This is Nick on stage getting ready to go:

After the competition we went over to the pool bar for some much-needed beverages. The competition was set up right in the sun, so I was burnt up and in need of shade. We ran into a familiar face from Key West, he runs the Alamo bar and unfortunately I don't remember his name. He did have a really cool parrot, and Josh and Nick both spent time playing with it:

So we had a great time! On the job front, I interviewed at the Sheraton Suites here for the job of restaurant supervisor, and I was invited back for a second interview tomorrow, so wish me luck. I had an interview at boondocks, but I'm thinking that place is just waaay too far to drive to every day. Today I have an interview at the Hyatt for a part-time bartending job, so its ben busy! Hopefully in the next few days I'll be an employed Key Wester. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!

Matt