Joined: 02-05-2013 Posts: 23,719 |
Homebrew wrote:Locals are great, when you have a good one. They suck if you don't. I have a good one, about 25 miles away. It is where I bought my second good cigar. My first I got from my grandfather, when I was 12 and he caught me smoking a swisher behind his barn. But that is another story. The local I get to, when I have the time, is owned by C.L. Davis. It is a family run joint attached to his wife pet store. The regulars are called the "Cigar Mafia." We hang out, smoke cigars, and drink coffee. Solve the worlds problems, and joke around. I bought my first humidor there. Made my first 2 box purchases there. A box of A. Fuentes Canones, and a box of A. Fuentes Double Chateau S.G. This was before there was such a thing, as the internet. I was a broke college student, who was waiting tables, and cooking, at an Irish pub. When C.L. found out, he would bring his family, to Kelts, where I worked, for dinner, and leave a generous tip, and a cigar. In return, I spent a bit of my tip money with him. A symbiotic relationship developed. As my cigar knowlege, and my palate matured, I bought more, and better cigars from him. I left the area, and went to culinary school. Got a few chef jobs, and moved to southern California, and worked the LA scene, then to Coronado, and made six figures as an executive chef. Burned out, from the stress of the job, and a nagging Cocaine addiction. Decided to move back to Arkansas, and get clean. The year was 1984. My sponser, in NA, smoked cigars, and I got back into cigars. Back to Mr. Davis, his smoke shop, and the cigars. Then the internet happened. I discovered this place, and my hobby became an obsession. I was back at my old job, but the majority of my cigars, were from here. I still made a weekly purchase, from Mr Davis, on my day off, and would smoke them with the Cigar Mafia. To this day, I still make it by, as much as possible to have a smoke, and stimulating conversation with the mafia. But the majority of my purchases, are online. I ocassionaly bring C.L a Cuban cigar, but alway purchase whatever I am smoking, when I am there. When he gets Opus X or Anejo, he saves some for me, as he knows I will buy them, even if I can beat the price elsewhere, because it is my home town smoke shop, and I want it to stay open. I have left the culinary arts, because it just doesn't pay here in Arkansas, and started a trucking business. I don't have the time to visit, as much as I would like, but I am always welcomed, as if I had never left, and offered a chair. It is nice to have a home. Even at double the price, of online shopping. For me, it is worth it. Dave (A.K.A. Homebrew)  Thanks for sharing Dave! You’re a lucky guy that never forgets his roots. 
|
