In March, 2010 Wayne Cavalier and I wanted to add something to do in Perdido Key for families. We decided to open an internet café/game room with hotdogs & popcorn. After we found someone that had some old games (Pacman, Centipede, etc.) we rented two units in the Villagio Shopping Center. Remember, this was before everyone had internet on their cell phones! We thought it would be pretty cool to be able to come play a couple of internet games or check your e-mail while you were on vacation. Wow – technology sure has changed!!
Everything was ready to open when the BP Oil Spill happened in April. The man that had the games told us that he would not put his machines in Perdido Key and that we were crazy to try to open anything right after the oil spill since the Gulf Coast would be a ghost town.
Well, Wayne said, “Let’s go to Plan B – Let’s open a Sports Bar” By August we were open as the Sports Bar of Perdido Key. We had 12 TVs, 10 draft beer taps, ice cold bottles and three bartenders.
After three days we found out that if we didn’t sell liquor, we weren’t going to make it. So the hunt was on for a liquor license – not that easy to find in Escambia County. Within two weeks we found the license and we were selling liquor.
We quickly became the favorite new place for locals to hang out. Because I was from north of Buffalo, New York, I couldn’t imagine a bar without Buffalo Wings. We found out that we didn’t have enough room for a kitchen so our kitchen expert told us to use a cook trailer. We added Buffalo Wings, Burgers, French Fries & Hot Dogs and we were in the restaurant business!
Along the way, we found out that Wayne’s cancer was coming back with a vengeance. We spent most of 2012 going back and forth to MD Anderson in Houston. Luckily by this time, both of my daughters, Jennifer and Stephanie Davis, had started working for us because by October, 2012, Wayne was in the hospital in New Orleans and I was sleeping in a chair next to him. The girls ran the business from October until February when they transferred Wayne back to Pensacola, where he died on February 24th.