Last night my ravishing red-headed girlfriend Lisa and I had a marvelous meal at Dharma Blue, a superb restaurant nestled in a historical cottage fronting Seville Square in the center of our historical district. Many you may be unaware that Pensacola was founded seven years earlier than St. Augustine and the city itself is much a museum and is called The City of Five Flags.
Together with champagne, we had Korean shrimp, Snapper with Bernaise, some Asian spring rolls with a marvelous sauce as well as a rainbow sushi roll containing salmon, shrimp, crab, and tuna. Sensational food in a great atmosphere.
After dinner we repaired to the Cigar Factory, found by an old hippie named David Sherouf who has started restaurants in many world cities and is about open a New Orleans theme restaurant next to the Cigar Factory similar to the Port of Call in New Orleans. David is quite a guy, and still operates the New Orleans Cigar Factory while living here. He’s a wealthy guy who has lived all over the world, operating an awning factory in Puerto Vallarta where he then resided. He closed shop as the power of the narcotraficantes became worrisome. Once on the wrong side of the law, he was once sent to a state penitentiary in California. One day, we were talking about our university alma maters. I proudly stated mine was the U. Another fellow was from Harvard, and yet another chimned in he was from Penn State. David brought down the house declaring he attended the State Pen.
I spotted one of the guys in the bar smoking an Assylum 8 x 80, one of the largest ring gauge cigars sold. He truly stood out in the crowd. Looking carefully at him, I recognized him. He was Emmitt Smith who with his brother Emery returned home for the holidays. I had a great conversation with Emmitt who I thought was very modest saying that he owes his fame to the famous Dallas offensive line that routinely knocked people off the ball, opening gaping holes that anyone could run through. We also reminisced about his glory days at Escambia High School leading them to two state championships. I was embarrassed that Lisa insisted that Emmitt submit to pictures taken of him and Lisa, and the pictures turned out very good. Like all of us Emmitt has aged, his chin stubble was notably grayed, and he was very generous posing with others in the bar. Courtesy of the Smith brothers, Lisa and I had a great evening in a great small town.
When Lisa sends me the photos, I’ll post them on this thread.