032108 Ride to Mr Bones

Ride to Mr. Bones, March 21, 2008

Ride led by Roger Reed Photos courtesy of Mike Rieker

Amazing weather, Amazing Harleys and Amazing Friends….. well maybe not Amazing Friends but ,,, Great Friends,,,, good ,,, Ok, some friends. But Hungry Friends they were. Charlie and Judy, Mitch, Jim and I were led astray by Roger to the traffic laden roads of Bradenton towards Anna Marie Island to the famous Mr. Bones for a lunch that as always, was great.

            We left Fletchers after a few cups of “wake me up” and headed south on 275 and the Skyway Bridge. It never ceases to amaze me as I drive over the bridge why anyone would want to live anywhere else. The sky was blue, the water was green and the traffic was light. Well on the bridge anyway. After the bridge we got off the hard road at the first opportunity and rode the coastline thru some beautiful neighborhoods and some fantastic houses. These people know how to live the Florida Experience.

            From there we continued along the waterfront in Bradenton and on to Mr. Bones. The traffic going to the island was a tad thick but it was moving. Jackets that felt very comfortable on the Interstate were now bringing out perspiration on all of us. Upon arrival at the restaurant we were greeted by good old Mr. Bones his darn self who was standing in the corner bleeding off of all that grog he’d been downing before we got there. Not an appealing site but as a guy,,, I understood. It’s a guy thing which seemed to puzzle Judy as did most of what we men take joy in. You know, scratching, belching, fa,,, well you know.

            As if we didn’t get our fill at Mr. Bones, we headed south to St. Armand’s Circle for some ice cream. After fighting traffic and getting nestled in our parking places, Roger could not resist a throttle twist and his exhaust blew the ice cream from the cone of some poor old man sitting quietly on a sidewalk bench. Ok, maybe it didn’t blow the ice cream off but the look on the guys face made it appear that it did and he was not pleased. Making excuses for Roger, we went to Kilwin’s for some fudge and ice cream of our own.

            Following that we headed home for a nice long nap. Thankfully I was able to wait until I got home to take mine.

Mike Rieker