Thanksgiving at Pete’s Bar: 2011 Edition
First Street in front of Pete’s has been swept clean, and now all the shops at the beaches are in full-on holiday mode. Thanksgiving 2011 is history, but memories of the cocktail party at Pete’s Bar in Neptune Beach will carry us through until next year.
These guys skated over for some libations and are – from left to right – Zach Modling of Jacksonville Beach; his older brother (and “kind of a big deal,” he quipped,) is Adam Modling, also of Jax Beach; Ryan Campbell of Jax Beach; and Drew Dutell of Neptune Beach.
You had to know this was coming! Allison Thomas (left) and Lauren Maloney (right) were the only ones to brandish this spot-on ‘trope-of-the-moment’. Good one, girls!
Here we met (left to right) Steve Thompson of Neptune Beach; Omar Brown of Neptune Beach; and the dude in the green pants who identified himself as OWB (Old White Bastard), from Staten Island, NY. They were enjoying every minute on the street, mixing it up with the crowd and posing for photos. That’s what this is all about, anyway!
Atlantic Beach resident Jane Brennan (far right) brought her visiting relatives, Dawn Martinez (middle), and Joe Gillespie to experience a Pete’s Bar Thanksgiving.
We thought that it was really cool that Susan Hurt (left) and Margaret Feeney – here with the U.K. Rugby British Police Team decided to come out to Pete’s, “To celebrate,” they said (of course!). The team is in Jacksonville to play in a rugby tournament with the Jacksonville Axemen, and a team from Australia, the Helensburgh Tigers. They were later hosted to an authentic American Thanksgiving dinner with a Jacksonville family, but first, they stopped in at Pete’s. The ladies told us that many of the players were in the crowd, but we didn’t run into them.
Meet (left to right) Ali Kasreaian and Tyler Reglin, both of Ponte Vedra Beach; and Tyler Reglin, of downtown Jax. (Wow, Pete’s sells some…cleverly-sloganed tees.)
An Atlantic Beach neighborhood tradition; a 5k fun run, and then run on down to Pete’s for the Bloody Marys. What a great way to jump-start Thanksgiving Day.
We ran into the guy who knows just about everyone at the beach, (right to left) Ernest Shad of Atlantic Beach who was celebrating at Pete’s along with his wife Susie; her sister Ann Marie Edwards and husband Ray Edwards of Ponte Vedra Beach, and the Edwards’ adult children who are pictured behind them.
Lisa Shmina from Michigan is visiting her family in Atlantic Beach for the holiday. This is her second consecutive Thanksgiving at Pete’s. While her husband kicked it in Island Girl Cigar bar with his brothers, smoking fine cigars and watching football, Lisa and her sisters-in-law were elbow-to-elbow on the street, where the real party was happening!
Longtime beaches residents (left to right) Kim and Don Sears of south Jax Beach enjoyed the weather, the party mood, and seeing old (and new!) friends.
Barbara Sears, 17 (left) is a student at Episcopal High School and her brother Hobie, 15, a sophomore at Fletcher. It was a great day to be out in the sunshine and seeing everyone in a happy mood, enjoying life at the beach.
Tailgating? I suppose if you are willing to get up at 5:00am and snag a parking place on First Street, and wait until the first official Bloody Marys are poured … why not? This group had a pretty sweet setup, with a little shade for the kids, too. We know that we neglected to get one of the names of the adults (sorry!), but the kids are Tara and Jeremiah; and two of the women are ‘C’ and Bonnie. These friends are from Mayport and Atlantic Beach, and were having a great time. Well, who wasn’t?
Did you get your tee shirt? Oh, if you attend the party, you must have a tee shirt to commemorate the experience! They always have a variety of great shirts to capture the spirit of the event. Katherine (holding the tee) was helping Pete’s out at the shirt sales table.
These two old friends have celebrated many times at Pete’s on Thanksgiving. Dave (left) lives just over the bridge, and his friend Mike (showing his love for the Packers) is visiting from Colorado.
A beautiful day to celebrate with friends!
What? They are REMOVING one of the doors at Pete’s!
Speaks for itself.
Thank you, Pete’s Bar, for carrying on with this cool,unique, fun, neighborhood, beaches tradition.
The End.
