This is not something I made up.

Yesterday, I wrote about Bike Week in Daytona Beach. Although Bike Week officially started on Monday, thousands of bikers descended upon the central Florida area over the weekend. As I drove past the Orlando Harley Davidson on Saturday evening, many motorcycle enthusiasts were at the dealership participating in full swing.

Although the majority of bikers are in Daytona Beach or Ormond Beach, there are bikers staying south of there, from New Smyrna Beach to all the way out in Orlando.

Anyway, on Tomoka Farms Road in a little town called Samsula, there is a place called Sopotnick's Cabbage Patch Bar. I have driven by it when I would drive out to Daytona, but I have never stopped in. It is popular among the bikers, and it has a camp ground across the street for those in town for Bike Week. Throughout the week, several of the biker bars have entertainment, such as live music.

Sopotnick's has wrestling matches featuring women wrestling in coleslaw. No joke.

If you go to their web site [[http://www.sopotnickscabbagepatchbar.com]],they have a gallery of photographs from previous events held during Bike Week. Including the coleslaw wrestling.

In 2004, the local CBS affiliate WKMG Local6 News did a report on Sopotnick's, featuring video of the women wrestling. You can go to their website and get the story.

In case you are wondering, I have never gone to Sopotnick's for the coleslaw wrestling. I have never been much for going to a place for that kind of entertainment, such as wet t-shirt contests. When I go out, I like to listen to live music.

A friend of mine played harmonica in a blues band a few years ago. They would play blues and rock-n-roll in biker bars throughout Volusia and Seminole counties. Although I did not drive a motorcycle, I would go out and watch them play. Everyone would have a great time, listening to music while drinking a cold beer. Very seldom was there any trouble. The only time I can remember there being a problem was when they played at the Lake Monroe Inn.

There was a lady who always came in to the place and would dance the night away until she had too much to drink. Then she would take out one of the guys in the band. And I don't mean on a date, either. The dance floor was in front of the stage, and she would eventually fall into an amp or microphone stand. Through several of the band's appearances, she fell into the lead singer, the lead guitar player, and I think she took out the bass player one time, as well.

After helping her up and making sure that she was fine, the bartender then would cut her off from any service and call a cab for her. Since then, the band learned how to keep an eye on her while she was on the dance floor and jump out of the way when she tumbled into the stage.

You need a cab?

Anyway, I look back on those days, and we had fun. I have not been out to Bike Week in years, nor have I been to any of the old biker bars that my friends would play at. One day I may have to go out and revisit some of those places. And I wonder if that lady still dances the night away, only to fall into the stage.

Or maybe she has taken up coleslaw wrestling.

This week is Bike Week in Daytona Beach, Florida. As far out as Orlando I hear the roar of the Harley Davidson motorcycles as I pass the Orlando Harley Davidson dealership off Interstate 4. It looks like a festival, with a concert stage set up and tents with vendors selling Bike Week 2006 T-shirts, leather merchandise, and beer.

I never owned a motorcycle. I just never had the interest in riding one. Several friends of mine have motorcycles, and chances are they will be at Bike Week. An old friend of mine will be there showing off the 1967 Triumph motorcycle he rebuilt. Another friend of mine who is retired will be out there on his Honda Goldwing. Harleys, Hondas, Triumphs, BMW's, Indians, Suzukis. All bikes will be out along the highway and up and down Main Street. Crotch rockets, choppers, and motorcycles with side cars and air brush artwork will travel down Highway U.S. 1, heading down to the Iron Horse Saloon in Ormond Beach.

I remember when I would go out and visit my parents in Ormond Beach during Bike Week. After I would help out with any work around the condo and we would have dinner, I would venture out to the Iron Horse Saloon or go down to Main Street in Daytona and look at all the different motorcycles. On Beach Street, motorcycles parked along the street as far as the eye can see.

And if you are into people watching, you are definitely going to see some real characters. People with short hair or long hair. Mustaches or muttonchops. And beards. Beards that have not been trimmed in years. You will see muscular people in muscle t-shirts, and people with a belly like old Saint Nick wearing a shirt that is quite not extra-large enough. And they show off that sunburned beer belly with pride. And tattoos. I remember seeing a few people that looked like the main character from "The Illustrated Man". Look at their tattoo of a woman's name, and it would come to life telling the story of a lost love and a broken heart.

Scantly clad women wearing cut off denim shorts that are a bit too short sit on motorcycles and pose for photos. And if you hear all the men cheer, that means the bikini top or halter top came off.

It is a place to be seen. To show off your "ride". It is a week when everyone decides to cut loose and have a good time. Maybe too much of a good time. On Main Street there is a biker bar called the Boot Hill Saloon. The slogan there is: "Have a beer and grab a seat. You're better off here than across the street." And as you sip your beer and gaze out the window across the street at the tombstones of the cemetery, you realize that you are better off there on your seat.
Maybe too much of a good time is not bad at all.

Now where is that bar where the women wrestle in the coleslaw?

I worked an eleven hour day today. It is 10:00 p.m. on a Sunday evening here on the east coast. As much as I would like to stay up into the night and read your blogs, I am tired. And I need sleep.

So before I go, I got to thinking about when I was a child and I would visit my grandmother. When she would put me and my cousins to bed, she would tell us, "Good night. Sleep tight. And don't let the bed bugs bite."

Does anyone ever remember a parent or a relative telling you that before you went to bed. And then you stayed up trying to figure out what a bed bug was and what they looked like?

So "Good night. Sleep tight. And don't let the bed bugs bite."

And if you see one, let me know what they look like.

Sweet Dreams

I did something stupid today. Earlier, I had mentioned my friend Ron in a recent blog. He is retired, and has been working on his retirement home. On his property, he has orange, tangerine,and grapefruit trees. He also has a banana tree, a key lime tree, and a kumquat tree. Or as he would say, a "comquat" tree.

He recently wrote me a letter telling me that he had to pick all of his fruit before a cold front came through the Ocala area. Frost warnings were in the forecast. Ron asked me if I had any recipes for banana bread, key lime pie, and any recipes for "comquat" jelly or jam.

I do not eat kumquats. I usually do not eat anything I cannot spell or pronounce. Which is not much. I had a recipe for banana bread and key lime pie, but no recipes for kumquats. I decided to go online and use the search engine for "comquats". The results of the search were for several web sites that used the word comquats for sexual references and a few particular sex acts that I am not going to describe.

Knowing this is what I did not want, I typed in the words "comquat jam" into the search engine and pressed GO.

Immediately, a response came up. Did you mean "kumquat jam"? Suddenly, I felt really stupid. I just had a Homer Simpson moment. D'OH!



After finding kumquat jam, I used the search engine to find a web site that would have a recipe. A web site came up called Food Down Under [[LINK:http://www.fooddownunder.com]].

This web site is amazing! If you like to cook, you can click on the categories provided. If you are looking for a recipe containing a particular vegetable or fruit, you can either click the food group, or the country of origin. For example, I typed in "kumquat" and I was able to get all the recipes from different countries that use kumquats. There are recipes for gator, emu, ostrich, and even kangaroo. Could you imagine going to the grocery store and asking for two pounds of marsupial?

If you are not that adventurous, there are recipes for pasta, poultry, beef, and other meats, including wild game.

I was able to find several recipes for my friend Ron. I printed them up and shipped them off in the mail along with the recipes I had from home. And if I ever get bored with what I am cooking for dinner, I know where to go.

Suddenly, I do not feel stupid after all.

But the next time I see Ron, I will tell him that it is spelled k-u-m-q-u-a-t!