Mel Fisher Days

23 years ago today, July 20, 1985, the Mel Fisher crew found the Atocha Motherlode. This was 400 million dollars in treasure. Each year this is celebrated with Mel Fisher Days as it was during the last 5 days.

It started last Wed night with a group of the investors and employees getting together to kick off the week with a cocktail hour.

Thursday night was held at Schooners Wharf with the Annual Miss Atocha Bikini Contest where the contestants created a treasure themed bikini or wear one of their own. Our favorite Schooners Wharf bartender had entered (who had also won last year) and the winner is based on how much money they raise for the charity. In KW is it legal to be topless as long as you are painted so we had a couple of girls, including our gal who had amazing body paint and looked great. Based on all of the support she got she won again this year and was given a grade 2 Atocha coin. It was A LOT of fun and a great start to the evening.
There was also the customary cup cakes for sale, as Mel used to do, as a fun game of chance. The person who picks the winning cupcake won an Atocha Coin! There was only 100 that would be sold. We bought 2 but didn't win!
We also had a 50/50 raffle with the proceeds going again to the Have a Heart Foundation. We didn't win that either but give to this charity since it is very close to the Fisher Family’s heart. The foundation was created in the name of Taffi Fisher-Abt and Michael Abt Sr.’s son, Michael, who passed away just two years ago when his heart suddenly stopped in gym class. The money raised is used to purchase Automatic External Defibrillators and training in their use for Florida schools to help ensure no other families have to suffer the pain of losing a child.
Once the festivities completed at Schooners we were off to Finnigan's, an Irish pub, for a late dinner with a group from the party.

Then Friday afternoon brought the Annual Mel Fisher Days’ Parade with all of us from the Mel Fisher group gathering with kazoos, candy and beads in hand then got into decorated floats, fire truck, trolley, cars and trucks to head through town to make sure everyone is a part of this Mel Fisher Days’ Celebration. It was a HOOT to be included in the parade!
After the parade concluded we started the Pub Crawl to celebrate at Mel's favorite bars. We started at Rick’s in remembrance of the Hard Times before the Motherlode was found!
During the Pub Crawl there was raffle prizes being given out, partying and having a great time with friends and family in honor of Mel. After Rick’s we headed over to The Bull, another of Mel’s favorite hang outs to dance and hang out. The next stop was Two Friends where they used to always take care of the divers and crew during those Hard Times before the discovery of the Motherlode. There we sang karaoke and had a great time.
It was also there that we actually won one of the raffle items, a gift certificate to the Westin for brunch which is a great place to eat.
We also won the 50/50 raffle. It was $250 but I split it with our friend Ray since we had mixed up all of our raffle tickets together as a joke and I ended up with a couple of his tickets. Of course that happened to be the one that WON!
From there we went to the Chart Room. This is an incredible little bar that actually has a small amount of Mel's ashes sealed in the bar. It is a place we like to hang out usually on Sat since Greg is the bartender and does amazing bar magic with cards.
Then we ended the night at Cowboys Bill's!

Saturday brought a quiet day (after 2 nights of drinking) and then the Midnight Gambler Texas Hold ‘Em Poker Tournament aboard the Sunset Water Sports Party Cat. We took to the water from 9 pm to 3 am for a night of gambling and fun. Once again the money paid to play went to the Have a Heart Foundation. The top 4 players won an Atocha coin. Tom played but didn't win and I hung out with friends. It was a full moon and a beautiful night to be out on the water.

Then Sunday was the Diver Reunion Party at Dante’s Poolside Bar and Grill but we didn't make it. We had already spent a lot of time with some of the old divers at the Pub Crawl and spent everynight with the current divers so we decided to not attend. Hard to believe I know but after 3 late nights and all that goes with it we were WORN OUT! We can still hold our own with going out but have found that with age comes a LONGER time to recover. With having to work Monday we needed the day to lay low and get back on our feet!

I do think that at times the Adventure is bigger than both of us but we wouldn't change a minute of any of it !!!