TRU E S TORY
Jimmy Caras in Key West Continuing from our last article, we pick up a few years later
At this point, Jimmy’s wife Phyllis had passed on and now Jimmy lived in a apartment around the corner from our pool room (Drexeline Billiard Club). He lived alone and was very content. Jimmy would show up at the pool room nearly every day still with as much enthusiasm as the first day he started playing pool. He was the real thing. Sitting around the pool room one day, I asked Jimmy if he had ever been to Key West, knowing this man had already been around the globe. To my surprise , Jimmy stated that he had never been. My wife Susan and I have dear friends (Steve & Madeline Condella) who live in Key West and visit every chance we get. Steve & Madeline love pool and extended an invitation for Susan and I to bring Jimmy Caras for a visit if he was up for it. I sprung the question and asked Jimmy if he would like to go? He replied , “Why would I want to go to the end of the world?” joking around. I explained about the great seafood (which Jimmy had a fancy for) and told Jimmy about Steve & Madeline’s house, where we would be shacking up. Little did Jimmy know, we would be headed for Paradise! My final words were, “Ha Jimmy, go pack a bag, we are out of here”. Jimmy got the green light from his doctor, packed a bag and off we went. Philly to Key West, one jet and one commuter plane and about 4 hours we would be there. Steve & Madeline live about 1 mile out of Key West on a peninsula. You would think you were on your own private island. Words can’t describe how beautiful their residence is. The big kicker for Jimmy is Steve & Madeline’s pool room, as well as their cue collection, and cannon collection. Moving right along, in a nut shell: Madeline can give everyone the 5 out and the break preparing seafood. Steve’s Key Lime Pie , everyone should be so lucky to taste. Their pool room is to die for, the cue collection (Szamboti’s, Balabushka’s, Tad, Showman, Rambo, all the Palmers) to mention a few. My favorite is the cannon collection dating back to the 1500’s. Historians from around the world come to see this spectacular collection. Puts museums to shame. The collection is that good folks, and a privilege to see. Anyway, landing in Key West, Jimmy said, “What is there to do around here?”, as the island of Key West is 3 miles by 4 miles and looked like a match head to Jimmy from the airplane when we were coming in. I had been boasting about everything to Jimmy and hoped he would not be disappointed. Fooling around Jimmy said he would like a lobster and then a good game of pool. That was his sense of humor coming out. A good thing, as he was loosening up. When we arrived at Steve & Madeline’s, I could tell Jimmy was getting very comfortable. After checking out the pool room, I think Jimmy was ready to change his address. He immediately fell in love with his surroundings. Looked like Jimmy was ready to get the party rolling
Jimmy Caras now. That first night Madeline prepared a seafood dinner fit for a king and had invited some of their pool friends over for dinner and pool. Everyone was eager to meet Jimmy. After dinner everyone retired to the Condella’s pool room. Steve gave us a tour of his cue collection. Great stuff, as the old cues brought back memories for Jimmy and that prompted him to tell some great pool stories from yesteryear. Everyone took turns playing pool, mostly with Jimmy. It was getting late (midnight) and Jimmy was still going strong. He kept us up till 2 in the morning doing trick shots, and we had to shut him down. He was outlasting all of us. Unreal for a 88 year old guy. He called us all light weights! Bed time for Jimmy. Each night went the same way, only we ate out, the A&B Lobster House, The Rusty Anchor, and a Great Authentic Cuban Restaurant. Jimmy tried to pick up the check but it would have busted him the way we were partying. He was our guest, no way he would pay. A couple of nights after dinner we went to the only pool room in the Keys, The Stick & Stein, in Key West. Here the customers lined up to get Jimmy’s autograph. Jimmy was in his glory as he dazzled the
customers by putting on a trick shot show. He was by no means rusty. He was in dead stroke. I think everyday around a pool room keeps you in shape, no matter how old. I was happy for Jimmy, because with all the recognition, he seemed to be thoroughly alive. Really a cool thing to see in a man of his age. We always ended up at the Condella’s pool room at the end of the night with Jimmy outlasting us all. That is the truth. Till the wee hours, Jimmy still wanted to keep it rolling. He would call us amateurs. HaHa. On one afternoon, we took Jimmy on a tour of Key West. We went to Hemingway’s House, the “90 Miles to Cuba” Marker, Cruised the Navy Yard, and checked out the famous Duval Street. Also got the grand tour of Key West Welding, where Steve & Madeline make their living. Very impressive, with High Rise Cranes, and a huge Metal Fabrication Shop, always busy with projects. Everything must come to an end as our final night was spent at the Condells’a. We were all gathered at their pool room as usual with a few extra guests. Standard procedure was talk about the old cues as you can’t imagine the history here. This always wound Jimmy up, as well as just playing the game. This time we could not pry Jimmy away from his work. The hours peeled off till it was 3 in the morning and our plane was to leave in 6 hours. We finally got off to get some rest before departing. It was tough getting up and we were close to missing our flight but we made it. I do believe Jimmy was not interested in leaving but reality had set in. He had many excuses why we should stay longer. He was very amusing. Great guy with great sense of humor . Now back home at Drexeline Billiards, Jimmy for months talked about his trip to all our customers. The sights, the locals and their hospitality, the wonderful seafood, and most of all our hosts, Steve & Madeline. I think Jimmy adopted them. He could not say enough about these kind people, who graciously opened there doors to us. We could all tell that this trip was on the top of the chart for Jimmy, out of all the places he had been during his life. Jimmy had a great time.
4th from left Jimmy Caras, Madeline Condella, Steve Condella (standing), Bob Maidhof (sitting), (some people’s names were unknown)
4 The Break - September 2011
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