The ALLENS report on ROYAL PALMS!! 2014 03 22.
Last month ISA President Zellner wrote an intriguing article about the opening day of the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club in Brooklyn New York.
Well Beth and I had the opportunity to visit this past Friday, and let me say that Michael’s description that this place is beyond belief is accurate!
You walk into the location and you realize you are walking into the Jonathan Schnapp/Ashley Albert dream world. The first thing that comes to your mind is a Florida Vacation.
The decor, the lighting, the music, the memorabilia all give you a sense of being back in Florida. Even the drinks remind you of being at the beach with a shuffleboard cue in one hand, and a cocktail in the other. The similarities to a Friday Night Shuffle in St Pete do not go unnoticed as we survey the twinkling lights, the overhead lamps, the similar hexagon shape tiles in the bathrooms. The music is a throwback as well, playing on 33 RPM vinyl records, but neither drowns out the ability to chat, nor keeps you silent like in an elevator.
It was 6 pm when the doors opened, and by 6:30 all 10 courts have been rented and are full of young Brooklynites — all eager to learn the sport of shuffleboard. Some have played before – for many this is their first effort at shuffleboard. You notice that most of the courts have not 4 players, but 6 or 8 enjoying the game. Move over Facebook and Twitter, the latest Social Network is the Royal Palms Shuffleboard Club.
Around the courts the crowds are flowing in, and by 9 pm over 300 patrons are enjoying the atmosphere, as well as the signature drinks. There are 2 new signature drinks on the menu – the Stan McCormack and the Mr Shuffle Orange Buggy Whip. Both are selling well this night as the young crowd seems just as eager to learn new cocktails as they are to learn this new sport.
The food truck rolls in and is serving grilled cheese sandwiches. Only in Brooklyn could this mundane food be cultivated into such a culinary delight. We were treated to a Croque Monsieur (Gruyere + Smoked Ham + Mornay + Pickled Leeks) that is out of this world.
Our evening ends at 10 pm, and the Royal Palms is just hitting full stride. Open until 2 am another 200 patrons will enter the doors and enjoy the shuffleboard, the atmosphere and the ambience that so many have already experienced that evening.
If thinking outside the box were an app, you would need a GPS to follow the concepts of Jonathan and Ashley.
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