Bar None Suds Stroll

March 18, 2019

 

Bar None Suds Stroll

There are many annual traditions and events that happen in Key West, but few have the history and heritage of the annual St. Patrick’s Day Bar Stroll. This year marks the 41^st consecutive year that the event has been held, making it one of the longest running Key West events that there is. The event has an illustrious history since it first began back in 1979.

 

Buco and Rick

Founder Rick Dostal still runs the event, which has been going strong since it first began as the St. Patrick’s Day Bar None Suds Run. The original race (and for the first six years) the stroll was an actual race across the island with stops at various bars where participants would chug a full beer before racing off to the next stop. A lot of beer chugging, running and vomiting led to the event being reclassified as a stroll for its seventh year, with local legend Buco Pantelis still holding the record for the fastest suds run at just under 14 minutes.

Buco

 

Buco and Rick may be the only ones still around from those early years, most of the bar stops that have been used over the years have come and gone and are now known only in Key West lore. Places like the Full Moon Saloon, Simonton Street Station, the Blue Boar, Lowell C’s, Maynard’s, Billy’s Bar, The Cistern, Dill’s Pickle and the Sandbar are all nothing but memories but some current bars go back nearly to the beginning.

Debbie and Matt

 

The Bull and Whistle has been a stop since the beginning, the only bar to be a stop at every stroll, places like Rick’s and Schooner Wharf Bar have been stops since they opened and even more bars are more recent additions. The stroll begins promptly at noon, now starting at the Southernmost Beach Café and this year included stops at the Salty Angler, 915 Restaurant, Cowboy Bill’s, Aqua, the Hard Rock Café, Rick’s, The Bull, Lucy’s Retired Surfer’s Bar and the Schooner Wharf.

 

 

Hundreds and hundreds of people show up, all decked out in their St. Paddy’s day finest and there is a sea of Kelly green wandering down Duval Street making stops for their free beer at each stop. The stroll takes many most of the day and into the early evening and for many, it is their favorite Key West event of the year. In addition to the official registrants, there is a sort of shadow crowd that does not pay an entry fee, yet follows along each year as part of the throng.

Trevor 

These people sort of miss the point of the event being a charity fundraiser, but still add to the overall festive nature of the event, which gets more and more festive with each stop and additional alcohol boost. It can get a little messy by the end, which is why I generally don’t make a day of it, making it a little past halfway before calling it a day.

 

This year it was especially hot and sunny, which to me just increases my level of discomfort which is why after passing the halfway point, I ditched the end of the stroll and hit the pool at the Marker Resort for some cool relaxation. I do enjoy the event in spite of often cutting it short and I really appreciate the history and fun that people have with it and the fact that so much is raised for charitable causes. 

http://www.stpatricksdaybarstroll.com/