Island Breakers - September '08
It's hard enough for one of my riding buddies and me to agree on a time to go for a putt, b
ut when three of us try to set up a ride, it's almost impossible. We can't agree on anything. Finally, after a few dozen attempts and some minor name-calling, Brian, Denny and I agreed on a Saturday afternoon trip.
Now, the most unusual part of the arrangement wasn't that we finally worked out the logistics; it's that we actually rode for a few hours without stopping. Generally, when we
manage to get together, we spend more time off the road than we do on it. Not so this time.
First, we cruised from Brian's house in PSJ, out to Canaveral Groves, then on to Merritt Island, taking the scenic route down Tropical Trail. (Safety tip: be very careful on the
second of two 90 degree curves at the beginning of the trail as you're headed south. It's slightly banked, so the temptation is to build up a little speed so you can really lean into
the curve, but every time I've been down that way, there's always a bit of sand on the road. If there's one lesson I've learned, it's that fast corners and sandy pavement don't mix very well.)
Other than that one spot though, Tropical Trail is one of my favorite rides. It's shaded, decidedly un-straight and usually not loaded with traffic. And the folks down there are
generally pretty dang nice. As we were putting down the road, we passed a guy mowing his lawn. He stopped his John Deer as we approached, gave us a great big grin and a
thumbs-up as we passed. Nice guy. Of course, none of us could agree on what the guy looked like when we all mentioned it later, (I lost a bet on it. I think my buddies cheated.) but at least we agreed that he gave us a thumbs-up.
Eventually we ended up stopping at what I believe is one of the nicest biker-friendly places in the county: Island Breakers Billiards
Sports Bar, on Merritt Island. You can tell as soon as you pull up that it's a little different. First off, the place is almost brand new.
Second, there's an actual door-man out front. I thought that was just in New York movies from the 40's, and one episode of
"Seinfeld." I guess not, because this place has one. The guy wasn't wearing a funky hat and trench-coat uniform, but as we
approached, he came out to greet us, and directed us to park our bikes on the sidewalk out front, where he'd keep an eye on them. You don't find that at many places. Okay… at any places that I know of.
Inside, the first thing you notice is that the place is freakin' huge: over ten-thousand square feet. Then, if you're paying attention,
(we weren't and we argued about that later) you'll see a gorgeous mural on the arched ceiling over the doorway. I found out it's called "Daughter of the Deep" and was custom painted by a well known artist As I chatted with LJ, it was obvious that she and her
husband Bob are very proud of their place, and justifiably so. There are almost too many special touches to note, but one of the highlights has to be the pool tables. There are eighteen of them, all Gold
Crown IV's, finished with polished Brazilian Mahogany. For the house cues, you won't find the typical arthritic, bent and warped sticks. They use fiber-composite Cutec's, and on every table, you'll
find a professional cue ball and Brunswick Centennial billiard balls. We were going to play a game, but we couldn't agree on which table to play.
While we were arguing about the pool game, we noticed the main tapper at the bar. It's a Coors Ice Mountain. (Yes, real ice. I felt
it. It's cold.) It uses a system of super-cooled glycol that creates a solid ice cover on the upper part of the tapper and the Coors Light flows out at temperatures below freezing. Cool. Literally. Breakers is a full service bar
No bar is complete without music, right? The sound system at Breakers was custom built, with a subwoofer structure that actually generates the bass through the floor. When the music's cranked, the sound will flex the large front windows. (Loud
enough to even drown out our argument over which songs to play.) Of course, if you spend any time at all in a bar, eventually, you're going to visit the bathroom. Now, if you ask my wife, she'll
tell you flat out that I don't usually pay much attention to bathrooms, but in this place, you have to pay attention. You can't help it. There are flat screen TV's in the men's rooms.
Wow. Is that great or what? If they put a tapper in there, I might never come out. There were so many other things about the place to talk about, LJ and I barely touched on the seventy-six linear foot, solid
granite bar top, the Saturday night Blind Draw, or the Texas Hold 'Em tournaments they have every night. Then there are the charitable events they sponsor and the several bike runs that have run out of the place.
Like I said, my buddies and I don't always agree on much, but we did agree that Island Breakers was definitely the nicest place we
stopped at that day, and more than likely, the nicest biker-friendly place we've ever seen. You should check it out.
, Josephine Wall, out of New York. LJ Granger, one of the very pleasant co-owners, told us about it. She
also showed us some of the other very impressive pieces of art in the bar. (Art? In a sports bar? Yeah… but trust me, in this place, it works.)
. (They've even got cigars, but don't worry; the air purifying system completely exchanges the air every
ten minutes. Very non-smoker friendly.) And if you're hungry, they've worked out an arrangement with Dalino's Italian Pizzeria, just across the street. Anything on their menu will be delivered within 20 minutes, piping hot.
