Have you ever watched a one-legged pirate dance? I DID.
Blame it on Jack Parker, who owns a restaurant in St. Maarten called Peg Leg Pub. Jack is a native of Scottsdale, AZ., who moved to the friendly island of St. Maarten some years ago to go into the restaurant business.
His Peg Leg Pub specializes in fresh seafood and is one of the most popular restaurants on the island which is half Dutch, half French. A stuffed pirate with a patch over one eye hangs from the ceiling.
When I worked as a staff writer for Today, a daily newspaper that serves the island, I would dine at Jack's restaurant several times a week to enjoy his prime rib, meatloaf, seafood dinners, and drinks!
Jack and I had several things in common. Both of us had had our cars stolen from us twice. And we both played poker at the Hollywood, Rouge et Noir and Atlantis Casinos.
In the case of the one-legged pirate, Jack was engaged in a special promotion that focused on Blackbeard, and some of the Caribbean's other infamous buccaneers who sailed the Caribbean hundreds of years ago.
He hired a one-legged man who worked in the sugar cane fields to dress as a pirate at nights and on weekends to entertain customers. The sugar cane worker had lost a leg due to an infection and was willing to don a patch, a pirate's hat, a vest and dance for Jack's customers.
The pirate had a wooden leg and was able to create a spritely dance that brought the crowd to its feet night after night. While he was dancing, he would sing bawdy songs to the delight of the patrons.
Jack was a genial host and the food he served was outstanding, including his steaks. He was a good poker player as well and we enjoyed matching wits at the various casinos around the island.
One night he asked me if I knew what Blackbeard's favorite drink was. I told him I suspected it was rum.
"Correct," Jack said. "Blackbeard would tank himself up on rum before leading his pirates into attacking a merchant ship. He would also be smoking ganja by tying it to his beard and lighting it up so he could inhale the fumes. The combination of rum and ganja made him fearless."
"I have no doubt of that," I said.
Both Jack and I were familiar with the story of how Blackbeard died:
He and his crew of 35 men attacked the wrong ship, a British Man O War that was disguised as a merchant ship that had 200 armed men down below waiting for action.
They got it when the pirates raided their ship and lost a bloody fight that ended in the deaths of most of the pirates, including Blackbeard whose real name was Edward Teach.
I haven't seen Jack or his lovely wife since leaving St. Maarten, but I suspect he is still playing poker and serving his loyal patrons those tasty dinners he prepared for me when I worked on the island.
Ho, ho, ho and a bottle of rum, Jack!
Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.
(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).
