Mike may have added on some years, but I have no doubt that he he still remembers how to swing a tennis racket. Mike and I met back in 1985 when we took tennis lessons at Braeburn Park in North Lauderdale, Fla.
Mike's offices are in the Bass Pro Shop in Clarksville, Ind. Browsing the store is a great way to while away the day. Even if you're not into the outdoors, there are plenty of things to look at.
Me being goofy -- when am I not goofy? -- while waiting for Mike to wrap up a job interview.
We rode an elevator to the second floor, where Danielle tried on some sandals. She didn't find any she liked ... even after trying on about a dozen pairs.
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MARK: It’s always nice when you can meet up with a friend while road-tripping.
Because of the floods in Nashville, Mike Sullivan, whom I first met back in 1984 while taking tennis lessons in North Lauderdale, had been re-assigned to the Bass Pro Shop in Clarksville, Ind. Clarksville is only a few minutes across the Ohio River from Louisville, Ky., where Danielle and I were planning on staying from June 14-20.
Once inside, we walked toward the giant fish tank and were accosted by Brian, one of Mike’s employees, who tried to sell us a time-share package. I worked for Mike at the Bass Pro Shop in Dania Beach a few summers ago, so I knew what Brian was trying to accomplish with his niceties. “Did you sew that Gators’ logo on yourself or did someone do it for you?”
When Brian continued to sell us on a trip to the Wisconsin Dells, which happens to be one of our destinations this summer, I had to laugh. I finally told him that I was a friend of Mike’s and had been through this whole time-share routine before.
Despite only having one salesman on the payroll, Mike stepped away for a few hours, joining Danielle and me – and my Uncle Bobie and Aunt Linda – for dinner. Bobie and Linda chose Wick’s, a restaurant whose pizza had won best in Louisville in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009.
Having spent summer 2009 in New York City, I like to consider myself a bit of an expert on pizza. One of the highlights of my NYC trip was a pizza tour of Brooklyn. So I was looking forward to trying a Louisville-style pie (Linda insisted that it was not like Chicago or New York pizza but instead was a style all its own). Mike, Danielle and I shared an 18-inch (extra cheese and pepperoni on the whole thing, with mushrooms on half). Bobie and Linda shared the “Big Wick,” a 10-pound pizza “filled with pepperoni, Italian sausage, beef, tomatoes, onions, green and black olives, fresh mushrooms, and green peppers,” as the menu read.
It wasn’t the best pizza I’ve ever had. But it wasn’t really about the food. It was about reminiscing with an old friend. Oddly enough, Mike received a phone call halfway through dinner. Brian, left alone back at Bass Pro Shop, had gotten irate with a customer who had decided that he didn’t want to purchase a time-share package. Seems Mike was going to have to leave dinner abruptly so he could terminate Brian.
Maybe we can meet up with him again on our way home.
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