Revving Up the VW Passion on the Emerald Coast with The Mayor Derek Henry Ep14

WEBVTT

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Music.

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To learn more about this class-leading VW magazine.

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What's up, everybody? Welcome back to Dub Life Diaries, the VW lifestyle podcast

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where the engines are air-cooled and the stories absolutely run deep.

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I'm your host, Joe Person.

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Today, and I mean this seriously, I've got somebody who lives and breeds the Dub Life.

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This is exactly who we're looking for when we set out to interview you wonderful

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folks of the VW community.

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He's the founder of Pensacola VW Happenings, a rare air Emerald Coast guy,

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also a lawn care entrepreneur, which I thought was interesting about your past,

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a hardcore bass fisherman, which is another awesome thing.

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I'm a fisherman myself and an absolute legend behind the wheel of a bay window, Mr.

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Derek Henry. Welcome to the podcast, my man.

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Thanks, Joe. Appreciate you having me. Yes, my pleasure. Absolutely.

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Just real quick before we get started, I want to give just a couple of shout

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outs. My main sponsor, Bolts Mania Magazine.

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Check out issue number 22 should be on the shelves right now.

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23 is coming up. If you use Dublife 10, D-U-B-L-I-F-E, the number 10,

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you'll get 10% off your first issue.

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Certainly a magazine worth checking out. Also, shout out to Dino Stiles,

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Dino's garage in DC Metro.

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Dino is a supporter of the podcast. And I just thank you so much, man, for the energy.

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Great conversation. He's also been a previous guest. Awesome guy.

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Last shout-out is to V-Dubs on the Pier. We've got a big show coming up just in a couple of weeks.

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Al and myself are, you know, bursting at the seams right now,

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trying to get everything together.

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Derek, as a show organizer yourself, you know it's not easy.

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There's all kinds of stuff happening and going down, but that's not about this.

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I just want to give a shout-out to V-Dubs on the Pier, May 24th, 2025.

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We're hoping to continue to pound this thing out and have all kinds of doves. We've got a parade.

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We've got a car show. It's going to be awesome.

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It's, you know, the backdrop is downtown St. Pete one way.

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The other way, the backdrop is the pier itself, which is a peninsula.

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It's on the water. It's absolutely amazing.

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All right, buddy. Back to you. Back to you. Sounds good. Give us your full name just for the record.

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Derek Henry. Yep. Derek G. Henry, just like a football player.

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So no VW nicknames like the Bay Window Bandit or anything, Surgeon?

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It became the mayor by some people. The mayor? Okay, hey man, I can take that.

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Yeah, I have a tendency to be the welcome wagon, the guy that if somebody new

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shows up, I want to go make them feel welcome and give them a sticker and say hey to them, you know?

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Oh yeah, man, that's cool. That's the vibe for sure, right? That's who you guys are.

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That's what's so amazing about this amazing culture. Where'd you grow up, Derek?

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I actually grew up in Indiana, central Indiana, right outside of Indianapolis, Indiana.

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Yep. Moved here and not to Pensacola in 1998. So you've been there a while.

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How's a Hoosier wind up a Gulf Coast VW legend?

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Well, actually, my wife drug me here pretty much.

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We met when she was in her fifth career college in Indianapolis.

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And I guess we'd been married about a year. We had a bad snowstorm.

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And she said, hey, why don't we get out of this snowstorm and move to Florida?

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So we ended up in here ever since.

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Yes. I understand just looking at your past that I think a sand rail was the

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first VW that you ever owned, right?

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Yeah, it was actually. I rode motorcycles my entire life.

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I actually, my high school motorcycle was a drag bike and raced drag bikes and did all that.

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I bought the drag bike when I was 15. I rode it to high school and been riding my whole life.

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And then with cell phones, everybody has one now. Riding on the street got extremely dangerous.

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So yeah, about 15 years ago, I got off motorcycles and I was like,

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you know what, let me buy something kind of open air, something similar to a

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motorcycle with a little more protection and four wheels.

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And I ended up with buying a sand rail out of Atlanta, Georgia.

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And yeah, that was the first one that began the addiction.

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Yeah. Putting it lightly, I'm sure.

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So tell me about it. What year was it? Was it fast? What kind of motor did it have?

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I wouldn't say it was fast per se, but it had a 1641 with dual-cruise. carburetors.

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But what the cool part was, is it was a handmade by a fellow out of Atlanta.

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And he actually bought, he built the rail and then he got sick and never got

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an opportunity to really drive it.

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And I bought it from the estate sale essentially.

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And it had a full metal custom body that was all built by him.

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And it had taillights from different stuff, 50s Cadillac and motorcycle headlights

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and some cool stuff. And it was made for the street. It had 20 inch wheels.

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So it was definitely a street rail. Sure.

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Sounded like it was pretty interesting. Almost like a rat rod type street rail.

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Yeah, I'd say that was a good comparison. Yeah, definitely.

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And the body was a full metal, all made by him, which made it really unique.

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And really, you wouldn't take that rail anywhere and have somebody have one

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similar, which is one of the reasons I liked it.

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But yeah, I had played with it for a long time and then bought a square back after that.

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What happened to the rail? You sell it? No, I actually sold it to a military

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guy here. And, you know, we have a big Navy base here, Pensacola NAS.

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And he got one of his first checks. And I had put it on Facebook, on Marketplace.

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And he came and one of his first checks he used was to buy a sand rail.

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So, yeah, I kept in contact with him and he still enjoys it.

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Awesome, man. Does he come to some of the events that you're...

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No, he actually got shipped out.

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So, we have a clean appearance, really. Yeah, he actually got shipped out shortly after that. Okay.

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Yep. So that'll happen with military.

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Absolutely. Yeah, that's where

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it's a town of transients for that reason here in Pensacola. Yes, sir.

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So I got to ask you about your bay window. I just remember reading through some

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of the stuff I had gotten about your background. And I remember seeing something

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about how when you first got it, it broke down a whole bunch.

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Share that with us just a little bit.

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Yeah, yeah, for sure. So I actually bought it out in Texas.

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The bus is actually, we named it Tejas is the name of it.

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And I brought it out there actually from a guy that a lot

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of people know air-cooled air-cooled Kirk is what

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he goes by Jason Kirk really good guy so it

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had some history a lot of people would come up to me and say oh

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is that Jason Kirk's old bus and sure enough it was but I owned it I brought

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it back to Pensacola and it broke down five times within a week and five times

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here five times like most of the time right by the house you know and actually

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a couple of my wife's friends text her and say,

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oh, I saw your husband broke down on Nine Mile Road in that old bus that he bought.

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But it actually, my friend Jason Phillips from Automobile, he actually came

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over and we got it figured out about after the fifth time that it was the fuel

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pump rod was upside down.

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And it had just beat the whole guts out of the fuel pump. So once it got hot,

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that fuel pump and stuff would expand and it would just not get any fuel.

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So, yeah, that turned out to be what it was. We fixed that and knock on wood or plastic.

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It has never broke down again since it's been phenomenal. Oh, man.

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Paint the picture for me. What year is this one? It's a 69 tin top. It's a transporter.

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It's the original Montana Red. We've actually done some pinstriping,

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like hot rod pinstriping on it, and it's been lowered.

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It's like, I'd say, a patina rod, and it's got Porsche wheels, Fouke wheels on it.

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But it's a really good-looking bus. I love it. And that's what got me started

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on the Volkswagens outside of the rails. So it'd be hard between that and the square back.

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They were both phenomenal. It really got me into it.

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You would think five times, though, in the first few days. It's like,

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you know, it's the bus that hated you.

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Yeah, I definitely was losing my patience after the second or third time because

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it was, like I say, like instantaneous.

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You drive it for 20 minutes and then I'd break down right around the corner

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and be like, great, here we go again.

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But it didn't stop me from the passion of it. Part of the reason is because

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of the people I had help from.

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You know, that's been a big thing for me from the very beginning is the fact

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that so many people would help when I did have an issue.

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And then you're able to pass that along to people as well down the line,

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you know, that you can do that for them as well. Yes, and that's the beautiful

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part of this wonderful, amazing Volkswagen community that we're all a part of

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and that we're celebrating.

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So it almost is a segue into the next topic I want to chat on.

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Tell me a little bit about Pensacola VW Happenings.

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Pensacola VW Happenings came about. I was doing cruises and events and stuff

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for the Rare Air Emerald Coast Club, which is here. They're the long-established club.

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They've been here for many years, and they're the first guys I met when I got into Volkswagens.

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But there was a niche area that wasn't being filled, and that was doing cruises

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and events and little get-togethers, that kind of stuff.

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So I kind of started doing that. And a friend of mine said, man,

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why don't you start your own Facebook page to put this stuff on and get it rolling?

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Well, the next thing I know, it kind of became its own thing.

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So we basically essentially have Rare Air, the big club, and what we call the

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sister club to that, which is Pensacola VW Happenings.

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Yeah, and you got well over 1,000 members in that, right? Yeah,

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we're close to probably about 1,500.

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And when we do cruises and events, like we do Lost Pizza here in town,

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we do a few other things like that.

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And then our two big ones every year is we do the Pensacola beach cruise.

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And then we do our Christmas cruise.

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The two big ones, we get 50, 50 plus cars for those cruises,

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which is a lot for this small, small of an area.

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I would think compared to a big city. You know, I love the, that I love that

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the, when we under expect, you know, and then 50, 60, 70, or even a hundred cars show up.

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It's such a, such a wonderful thing. And Alan and I did that last year with

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the Skyway ride when we brought it back. It's so cool.

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Yeah. When it came back, we, you know, we had like 180 cars that had registered

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last year and we were like, wow, you know, it just blew us away.

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And then when, when over 400 showed up at lot five, uh, can a field,

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man, we were, we were literally just, just taken back.

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Like just, you know, we, we looked at each other a few times.

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Who are like, can you believe that this is, I can't believe it.

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Yeah, no, I can't either.

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So yeah, man, I love that feeling. Oh, well, too great.

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Uh rare air emerald coast rare air you're a

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part of that too that was the first yeah yeah

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in your area right yeah they were

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established in the late 80s so they've been around a

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long time and yeah i'm actually a member of

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them and i attend pretty much everything with them as well they established

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one of the things to me that's very unique is they do a tech session once a

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month and they hold someone's house with lifts all the specialty tools you need

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a tire changer i mean the whole nine yards and we show people how to work on

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their cars and mentor people.

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And if people need a hand with it, then they have somebody to actually help them.

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So, you know, to me, that's a big way to keep the hobby alive,

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which I give them all the credit in the world for that.

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And so, yeah, that's their main thing. And then anytime they need me for anything

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extra, then I help them out.

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So yeah, it's just a really, it's a good relationship between them and what

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I do. I don't even really consider what I do a club.

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It's more like a cruise group or just a bunch of homies that like to hang out

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and, you know, have a good time together.

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So it's a great relationship for both sides.

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Yeah. That, that tech, that tech idea. What a great idea.

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You know, there's a lot, a lot of folks in this and I'll even say me,

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for example, I'm not the best mechanic.

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Now, hang on. It's not because I don't want to, or because I can't learn,

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dude, I got a really bad back.

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And my back's so bad that I can't get down on the ground and that type of stuff.

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I've had two back surgeries. It's an ongoing thing. And the older I get,

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the worse my degenerative disc disease gets.

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And just, you know, I come up with all these excuses, but here's the truth.

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I can't do a lot of the stuff getting down, especially when they're lowered

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and I can't get down there.

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And, you know, so when there's a lift and just all of these extra things,

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it's like, man, it's so nice. And then when somebody can give that mechanical knowledge,

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you know, and spread. It's like spreading the wealth. What a fantastic approach and idea.

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I should talk to some of them guys at some point. That'd be awesome.

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Yeah, definitely. They put on their show here too in October.

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They have Five Flags Speedway every year and they do around 225 cars.

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We've really grown it over the last few years with social media.

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And so we really have that plus Bugs on the Bayou, which is about an hour away from Pensacola.

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So, you know, we're trying to make sure people know that Panhandle's got

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a good scene up here yeah you guys do you guys rock it

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out so let's touch on that real quick aside from

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bugs on the bayou which i'm going to give you a chance to talk

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about here in just a second what are some of your favorite bw shows i mean this

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can be all over the country hell even all over the world well you know the last

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10 years we've been doing stuff all over the southeast and really the one that's

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the two that stick out to me one is in tannahill alabama that's in northern Alabama.

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And one reason why is because most of the Gulf Coast people,

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we all get together there every year.

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So, you know, 11 years in a row, we've been going to that show and all the guys

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from New Orleans to Panama City, all of us tend to all go up there together.

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We all meet there to camp and hang out for the whole weekend.

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So it's kind of like a reunion. All the guys, maybe I may not see them that

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often, but we're going to see each other at Tannehill.

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So it's become one of our favorites because of that. And really,

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you just can't beat Nodo, but I'm sure everybody says that no dough yeah you

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do you hear that a lot you get a lot of no dough I hear some folks talk about

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bug jam oh yeah and I've done it a few times over the years as well yeah yeah,

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So let's talk about Bugs on the Bayou because this is yours,

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right? And this is your episode.

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So I want to broadcast this. Ten years strong, you guys have been rocking this thing out, right?

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Yeah, ten years. There was a little bit of a gap there at one time.

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So Cuts and Cruisers was the club that ran it before. Steve Osborne,

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he's my co-organizer, has become a really good friend through all this too over

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the last couple of years.

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But the show went out. The club kind of broke up. It was a Navy-based club.

00:15:03.934 --> 00:15:06.914
And a lot of guys got shipped out. It was actually at one time,

00:15:07.034 --> 00:15:12.114
I think they had 12 split window buses as their main crew for the club and everybody got shipped out.

00:15:12.254 --> 00:15:15.274
And then COVID happened and he didn't really have any help to do the show.

00:15:15.434 --> 00:15:19.254
So fast forward to Pensacola VW Happenings doing really good.

00:15:19.634 --> 00:15:23.214
And it was a funny story. I called him and kind of beat around the bush and

00:15:23.214 --> 00:15:26.074
said, you know, hey, what if you were going to redo your show?

00:15:26.194 --> 00:15:28.994
Kind of like, how would you do it? And or if you were going to do a show,

00:15:29.194 --> 00:15:32.754
would you? And he finally said, Derek, if you want to do Bugs on the Bayou, just say so.

00:15:34.554 --> 00:15:39.694
All right. Man, I can do it. Let's do it. And luckily, I have a lot of awesome

00:15:39.694 --> 00:15:42.234
friends, man, that run with us and we're willing to help.

00:15:42.514 --> 00:15:45.194
And as you know, you've got to have the help to do the show.

00:15:45.494 --> 00:15:49.054
And without that, it's impossible to do it. So he said, yeah,

00:15:49.134 --> 00:15:50.154
man, hell yeah, let's do it.

00:15:50.254 --> 00:15:54.434
So, yeah, this is actually my second year heading it up and doing the social

00:15:54.434 --> 00:15:58.254
media and I guess, quote unquote, being the face of the show.

00:15:58.434 --> 00:16:00.254
But the brains behind it is really Steve.

00:16:00.574 --> 00:16:04.934
Magazine coverage on it last year, right? We did actually in Volkmania, as a matter of fact.

00:16:05.074 --> 00:16:09.754
Yeah, so you got the shirt on, yeah. And I got my old OG Bugs on the Bayou shirt

00:16:09.754 --> 00:16:11.214
on. Yeah, cool. I like that.

00:16:11.894 --> 00:16:16.254
We've done a lot of advertising and social media nowadays is so helpful if you know how to do it.

00:16:16.334 --> 00:16:20.354
And I've been very lucky that the guys down your way, some of the groups there,

00:16:20.494 --> 00:16:24.834
like local volks, especially Southsiders, those guys have been open arms as

00:16:24.834 --> 00:16:27.854
far as letting me put whatever I want, spamming them. Yeah, yeah.

00:16:28.234 --> 00:16:32.654
You know, as they like to say, Robbie from VW Getaway, all those guys have been

00:16:32.654 --> 00:16:35.774
super helpful. Let me get in the word out about it You know,

00:16:35.834 --> 00:16:40.954
I've noticed over time Being in the same thought process Of, you know.

00:16:41.595 --> 00:16:44.855
Putting together shows etc it's a

00:16:44.855 --> 00:16:47.635
it's a very kind of a fine line that you have

00:16:47.635 --> 00:16:50.735
to walk with the Volkswagen community where too

00:16:50.735 --> 00:16:55.655
much is too much and you know not enough is not enough it's like you know one

00:16:55.655 --> 00:17:01.955
wrong move you're like you're out yeah kind of clicky you don't want to annoy

00:17:01.955 --> 00:17:06.315
people but you want to get the word out yeah and you're right I tried to do

00:17:06.315 --> 00:17:09.775
is whenever you do these posts and make it worthwhile.

00:17:09.995 --> 00:17:12.535
Don't just do a generic post. You know, if I'm going to do something,

00:17:12.655 --> 00:17:16.475
I want it to be, what impact is it going to have on the show or what impact

00:17:16.475 --> 00:17:18.375
is it going to have on the people coming to the show?

00:17:18.655 --> 00:17:22.015
Then people aren't so apt to just go, oh, he's just putting this too much.

00:17:22.275 --> 00:17:24.575
It's that they're finding something out about what we're doing up here.

00:17:24.835 --> 00:17:28.555
Yeah, no, you guys are rocking up there, man. And I've been watching you.

00:17:28.655 --> 00:17:32.095
I've been sitting in the back, you know, just kind of, you know, in the wings.

00:17:32.095 --> 00:17:36.455
Because I, you know, now I look at this whole VW scene as a,

00:17:36.455 --> 00:17:40.875
as a different, there's a different opportunity for me now, because where I

00:17:40.875 --> 00:17:43.695
used to think, you know, wow, these are a bunch of like-minded dudes.

00:17:43.695 --> 00:17:46.755
We're all kind of laid back, kind of chill, kind of cool, right?

00:17:46.835 --> 00:17:51.095
We all have our own careers, et cetera. We choose to do this as a hobby.

00:17:51.275 --> 00:17:55.295
One thing kept coming up time and time again, and that was the community.

00:17:55.535 --> 00:17:59.055
And it was so awesome. And it was just so vibrant and

00:17:59.055 --> 00:18:01.975
the spouses and the kids and the pets and

00:18:01.975 --> 00:18:05.435
the dog right just everything so yeah i just

00:18:05.435 --> 00:18:08.835
keep noticing that that that vibe is so

00:18:08.835 --> 00:18:12.735
alive and well so now i almost look at the community through a different lens

00:18:12.735 --> 00:18:18.755
now i'm like that guy'd make a great podcast episode yeah you know all that

00:18:18.755 --> 00:18:22.035
stuff kind of runs together i think running a show and going to shows is so

00:18:22.035 --> 00:18:25.835
different that's one thing i've because when you run one, you can't relax.

00:18:26.335 --> 00:18:29.535
There is no relaxing and miss people.

00:18:30.035 --> 00:18:33.355
You're like, oh, that person was at the show. Like you didn't even realize they

00:18:33.355 --> 00:18:37.535
were there, which is tough because I tend to be the person that wants to say hey to everybody.

00:18:37.975 --> 00:18:40.915
So that's a totally different ballgame when you do that. I had a couple guys

00:18:40.915 --> 00:18:42.875
at the show a few weeks ago, bugs in the body. And I'm like,

00:18:43.350 --> 00:18:46.110
oh wow yeah i didn't even notice they were there and then after the

00:18:46.110 --> 00:18:49.090
fact they say oh thanks for doing the show i'm like thanks for

00:18:49.090 --> 00:18:52.050
coming yeah because you're just going going

00:18:52.050 --> 00:18:54.830
going so hard and you just want it to be as perfect as

00:18:54.830 --> 00:18:57.790
possible yeah yeah that's that passion though good good

00:18:57.790 --> 00:19:00.490
stuff they're coming through definitely all right

00:19:00.490 --> 00:19:03.650
let's touch on how about road trips any memorable road

00:19:03.650 --> 00:19:06.830
trips over the years yeah definitely quite

00:19:06.830 --> 00:19:09.890
a few road trips i mean especially like i say around the southeast we've

00:19:09.890 --> 00:19:12.770
been doing it a long time but some of the many major

00:19:12.770 --> 00:19:15.770
breakdowns no you know what i think that's probably

00:19:15.770 --> 00:19:18.890
the rare story that i have is that we haven't had my bay

00:19:18.890 --> 00:19:22.450
window has been all over the place my van again this last year and a half has

00:19:22.450 --> 00:19:26.350
been i've probably done 5 000 miles this last year in the off season over the

00:19:26.350 --> 00:19:30.570
fall and i've had no problems you know and i've had guys with me same thing

00:19:30.570 --> 00:19:36.430
have had great luck so i guess a non-vw story with breakdowns I could tell you.

00:19:36.730 --> 00:19:40.930
So I trailered my square back one time to the type three invasion.

00:19:40.930 --> 00:19:42.290
It was going to be in Northern Alabama.

00:19:42.650 --> 00:19:46.370
The only problem is I had three blowouts on my trailer on the trip.

00:19:46.790 --> 00:19:49.630
I would fix a tire and then another tire would blow out.

00:19:49.870 --> 00:19:52.710
And then I would fix another tire and another tire would blow out.

00:19:52.830 --> 00:19:55.950
So I ended up making all the way to Alabama after three blowouts.

00:19:56.110 --> 00:19:57.590
That was the worst trip I've ever had.

00:19:59.010 --> 00:20:03.910
We were just kind of touching on, you know, the impact that it has on you individually

00:20:03.910 --> 00:20:10.190
where you're in show mode when you're there, when you're trying to enjoy one when you're not?

00:20:10.330 --> 00:20:13.450
What type of impact has it had on your family over time?

00:20:14.030 --> 00:20:18.890
Actually, you know, I'm very lucky. My wife loves it. She's actually become a big part of it.

00:20:19.090 --> 00:20:22.330
A couple of my best friends in the area, in the clubs and stuff,

00:20:22.550 --> 00:20:24.870
happened turned out their wives and my wife got close.

00:20:25.130 --> 00:20:28.090
She works my show. She's essentially the

00:20:28.090 --> 00:20:31.050
person that works the swag booth for the shirts and hats and

00:20:31.050 --> 00:20:33.950
all that stuff and so yeah she's taken to

00:20:33.950 --> 00:20:36.930
it as much as me and she's a lot like me the people was really the

00:20:36.930 --> 00:20:40.030
reason why she's not a not anti-car but

00:20:40.030 --> 00:20:43.770
i wouldn't say she's a car person but when i and i've been in all kinds of different

00:20:43.770 --> 00:20:47.830
cars before i got into volkswagens and motorcycles and she never really was

00:20:47.830 --> 00:20:51.990
that into it and now with the volkswagens she just absolutely fell in love with

00:20:51.990 --> 00:20:57.270
it so she even drives my van again to work sometimes now you know wife too You know,

00:20:57.450 --> 00:20:59.690
she got bit by the bug. Nope. Nope.

00:21:01.730 --> 00:21:05.570
You know, I've been an air cool VW guy since high school.

00:21:05.870 --> 00:21:10.990
My first one, you know, was a 72, just standard Beetle, but it was an auto stick.

00:21:11.490 --> 00:21:14.430
So, you know, I've had a lot of experience, a lot of Beetles over the years.

00:21:15.670 --> 00:21:20.970
Recently, as my, my, my teens have gotten, you know, turned into teens and dad

00:21:20.970 --> 00:21:22.850
was allowed to have hobbies and stuff again.

00:21:23.750 --> 00:21:27.850
They weren't so young. You know, we started picking up Dovin again And,

00:21:27.870 --> 00:21:32.670
you know, my wife has kind of followed along Well, she finally,

00:21:32.710 --> 00:21:35.230
you know, started falling in love with the Carmen Ghia,

00:21:35.906 --> 00:21:39.026
You know, she's like, you know, I'd love to have one.

00:21:39.166 --> 00:21:43.206
My thing is I would never drive one. I'm like, whoa, why not?

00:21:43.386 --> 00:21:45.186
She's like, because it's a stick shift.

00:21:45.366 --> 00:21:49.166
I just, I don't really do the stick shift thing. I can. I just,

00:21:49.286 --> 00:21:51.006
I don't choose to. I don't want to.

00:21:51.126 --> 00:21:55.386
I'm like, man, there is nothing better than rolling through the 40.

00:21:56.066 --> 00:21:59.186
She says, yeah, it's just me. So I start thinking, you know,

00:21:59.346 --> 00:22:04.106
because I know that late seventies, late sixties, early seventies had an auto

00:22:04.106 --> 00:22:05.446
clutch in the Carmen Ghia.

00:22:06.066 --> 00:22:10.166
I said to myself, you know, what if I could find her a nice,

00:22:10.166 --> 00:22:14.946
you know, redone or at least just maybe an old gem, a low mileage,

00:22:14.966 --> 00:22:17.866
you know, beautiful Carmen Ghia with an auto clutch.

00:22:18.046 --> 00:22:20.966
So I started looking about five months into looking.

00:22:21.546 --> 00:22:28.066
I found one. I found a 71 with 46,000 original miles from the original owner.

00:22:28.626 --> 00:22:32.906
And we bought it. I went up to Pennsylvania and it was amazing.

00:22:34.106 --> 00:22:40.646
It is an amazing car. Let's touch on the VWs again. If money wasn't an issue,

00:22:40.926 --> 00:22:43.806
what would the absolute dream ride be for you?

00:22:44.647 --> 00:22:47.867
Honestly, it would be an SP2. An SP2.

00:22:48.147 --> 00:22:51.167
Yeah, I've been obsessed with those since the day I saw one.

00:22:51.307 --> 00:22:54.767
I actually, I threatened all the time that someday I'm going to sell all the

00:22:54.767 --> 00:22:56.787
stuff I have now, and that'll be the last one.

00:22:57.087 --> 00:23:00.227
And I'll ride into the sunset, get buried in it or something.

00:23:01.767 --> 00:23:05.627
Do you have a dream road trip that you think about?

00:23:06.187 --> 00:23:11.347
Yeah, actually, I think it's going to come true. 2027, January of 2027.

00:23:11.347 --> 00:23:15.107
I've got some friends here, a group of people, and we're going to go out and

00:23:15.107 --> 00:23:18.467
do the BBB, the buses by the bridge, Lake Havisone. That's what's on the bridge.

00:23:18.947 --> 00:23:22.327
Yeah, we're going to do a full two and a half weeks, and we're going to do two-lane

00:23:22.327 --> 00:23:24.187
roads all the way there and back.

00:23:25.127 --> 00:23:29.927
So we've already started the planning on it now. And then I actually just today

00:23:29.927 --> 00:23:33.307
had a friend of mine message me and say, hey, the following year,

00:23:33.327 --> 00:23:37.767
do you want to go to Moab and do the Synchro Fest Moab? But I'm like, sure.

00:23:37.907 --> 00:23:41.587
So let's just keep checking the boxes, you know? Yeah, yeah.

00:23:41.787 --> 00:23:47.127
I had a guest on Mr. Mahalo previously that wanted to do, you know,

00:23:47.227 --> 00:23:52.547
the whole Route 66, you know, across the country.

00:23:52.767 --> 00:23:57.247
I said, man, if you ever put that together, you know, look me up,

00:23:57.427 --> 00:24:01.307
call me, let me do it. Yeah, there are guys planning on trying to do it because

00:24:01.307 --> 00:24:04.787
the anniversary, I think it's next year, is a 100-year anniversary.

00:24:05.127 --> 00:24:08.667
Oh, wow. I've heard some Volkswagen guys are talking about trying to get a group

00:24:08.667 --> 00:24:13.027
and start Chicago and then go all the way to California on 66 for the anniversary.

00:24:13.267 --> 00:24:14.987
That's exactly what he said. Yeah.

00:24:15.887 --> 00:24:23.767
Trailer or have your car brought into Chicago slash that area and start there. Yeah.

00:24:24.027 --> 00:24:27.187
I love it. so the the buses by

00:24:27.187 --> 00:24:30.047
the bridge i saw a lot of social media just

00:24:30.047 --> 00:24:32.787
from this last year and coverage i know a

00:24:32.787 --> 00:24:35.967
couple local folks had gone out there as well looked

00:24:35.967 --> 00:24:38.947
like it was a great time obviously that'd be

00:24:38.947 --> 00:24:41.767
like you know the top shelf type thing i'd

00:24:41.767 --> 00:24:44.727
love to do that myself who's riding shotgun with

00:24:44.727 --> 00:24:48.227
you though if you end up going oh my

00:24:48.227 --> 00:24:51.187
wife will definitely be riding shotgun with me for sure she's uh

00:24:51.187 --> 00:24:54.067
she likes the adventure of the rides and stuff as well so

00:24:54.067 --> 00:24:57.087
yeah just be me and her and then some local

00:24:57.087 --> 00:25:00.247
guys here in particular i think i mentioned jason phillips

00:25:00.247 --> 00:25:02.907
earlier he's one of my closest friends here and he's going to

00:25:02.907 --> 00:25:06.127
be going and a couple other vanigan guys that are here local it sounds

00:25:06.127 --> 00:25:09.107
to me like it's going to be a vanigan crew at a couple of bays right

00:25:09.107 --> 00:25:12.087
now people that have committed so yeah sooner rather

00:25:12.087 --> 00:25:15.907
than later man we're doing now before you get old too able to do it yeah right

00:25:15.907 --> 00:25:20.687
on yeah no it'd be that'd be amazing i think about dream road trips and dream

00:25:20.687 --> 00:25:24.067
cars and all that stuff because i get to talk to you guys and ask you these

00:25:24.067 --> 00:25:28.747
questions so i'm always i'm always in my mind like you know i wonder how i'd

00:25:28.747 --> 00:25:29.907
answer some of these questions.

00:25:31.747 --> 00:25:38.027
All right so what's one thing that the vw world does not know about derrick henry,

00:25:39.075 --> 00:25:43.815
Well, I already mentioned my love of Mountain Dew maybe earlier when you and I talked.

00:25:44.015 --> 00:25:48.335
So some people local, I'm sure, know that. But yeah, I'm a full-fledged Mountain Dew addict.

00:25:48.975 --> 00:25:53.535
And probably the other thing is that I'm a hoops head. I was raised in Indiana,

00:25:53.535 --> 00:25:55.675
which is the basketball capital of the world.

00:25:56.055 --> 00:26:00.495
You got two religions there. You got basketball and madness, and it's in that order.

00:26:01.575 --> 00:26:06.115
Yeah, you can probably throw Bobby Knight in there, too, as a third one. So I'm a big hoops guy.

00:26:06.235 --> 00:26:09.275
I watch a lot of hoops, and I still play them from time to time.

00:26:09.275 --> 00:26:12.455
I actually played five days a week until I was about 35.

00:26:12.795 --> 00:26:15.915
So that tells you how big of a part of my life it has always been.

00:26:16.355 --> 00:26:19.575
So you're in this cubby down in the south.

00:26:19.695 --> 00:26:24.175
I'm a little bit south of you, but I spent five years of my professional career

00:26:24.175 --> 00:26:27.415
at an HVAC company in central Alabama.

00:26:28.035 --> 00:26:32.195
Okay. So my story I'm about to tell you comes from the central Alabama.

00:26:32.195 --> 00:26:37.335
You said there's two teams in life, right? You got Auburn. Yeah.

00:26:37.895 --> 00:26:42.755
And you got Alabama because they don't have to be a belt team in Alabama.

00:26:43.255 --> 00:26:49.615
So it's about 2015, and I had flown out for some training, and I was connecting

00:26:49.615 --> 00:26:52.255
back in Atlanta to fly back into Montgomery.

00:26:52.775 --> 00:26:55.835
Okay. and when i noticed when

00:26:55.835 --> 00:26:58.535
i at on my connecting flight i noticed there was

00:26:58.535 --> 00:27:02.555
one that left back to montgomery about three

00:27:02.555 --> 00:27:05.255
hours from now instead of the one that i was going to

00:27:05.255 --> 00:27:08.575
catch which was like six or seven hours from now so i

00:27:08.575 --> 00:27:11.515
go up to the desk and i ask the young lady that's

00:27:11.515 --> 00:27:14.455
that's there right i'm like you know hey i told her all about i've

00:27:14.455 --> 00:27:17.675
been gone all week it's my kids i'm trying to get home and you

00:27:17.675 --> 00:27:20.715
know she's got like this this whole this face this this

00:27:20.715 --> 00:27:23.435
persona she's putting on here's what she tells me

00:27:23.435 --> 00:27:26.195
you ready she goes i don't know

00:27:26.195 --> 00:27:29.115
i might be able to get you on that earlier flight but i got

00:27:29.115 --> 00:27:32.675
a question for you auburn or alabama

00:27:32.675 --> 00:27:36.775
oh yeah i'm like shit here

00:27:36.775 --> 00:27:39.595
it is you know dang it because i was like

00:27:39.595 --> 00:27:42.515
kind of fresh there still i didn't i didn't choose a side yet

00:27:42.515 --> 00:27:45.475
i never chose a side by the way while i was there because

00:27:45.475 --> 00:27:48.175
i'm from florida so i would say hey you know

00:27:48.175 --> 00:27:51.535
to florida gators you know whatever but because she

00:27:51.535 --> 00:27:54.515
said auburn first i was

00:27:54.515 --> 00:27:58.955
like maybe you know i'm trying to do my whole you know brain thing you know

00:27:58.955 --> 00:28:01.755
i'm like maybe because she said that first she was thinking about them first

00:28:01.755 --> 00:28:06.335
that's her team i'm locked in i'm choosing that answer i said auburn she goes

00:28:06.335 --> 00:28:12.215
wrong answer the flight and i dude i'm not kidding i didn't get on that plane

00:28:12.645 --> 00:28:17.245
They take it serious. I was just going to say, I learned that day that they

00:28:17.245 --> 00:28:21.385
take that more serious than most things across that entire state.

00:28:21.865 --> 00:28:27.245
Absolutely. I totally understand. Yeah. I'm actually a big Notre Dame fan to football.

00:28:27.525 --> 00:28:30.545
So living down here, I'm hated by both sides.

00:28:32.525 --> 00:28:38.645
So talk to me a little bit about being a diehard fisherman. I know we graced that in your intro.

00:28:39.145 --> 00:28:43.645
Oh, yeah. I know that's something else that might be something that the whole

00:28:43.645 --> 00:28:45.985
VW community doesn't know, but maybe they do.

00:28:46.725 --> 00:28:50.445
Yeah, a couple locals here especially, they do. Actually, one of my good friends

00:28:50.445 --> 00:28:54.305
here, Jeff Taylor, he was actually the vice president of Rare Air at the Himerald

00:28:54.305 --> 00:28:55.445
Coast for quite a while here.

00:28:55.825 --> 00:28:59.365
Him and I fished all the time together, but yeah, I started as a kid.

00:28:59.505 --> 00:29:00.985
My dad was the guy that had poles

00:29:00.985 --> 00:29:04.485
in his truck on the way home and stopped just about every day to fish.

00:29:04.765 --> 00:29:07.885
There was actually a time in my life where I didn't like it because of that.

00:29:07.885 --> 00:29:10.805
You know, my old man kind of burned me out on it, I guess you'd say.

00:29:10.985 --> 00:29:15.045
And I'm like, eh, I'm not into that. So, yeah, about maybe six years ago,

00:29:15.245 --> 00:29:16.365
kind of funny story, I guess.

00:29:16.585 --> 00:29:20.265
I had a friend of mine say, you know, there's a pond at that place you're going camping.

00:29:20.525 --> 00:29:22.905
You really should grab a pole. And, you know, there's some bass in there.

00:29:22.965 --> 00:29:23.765
You'll probably catch one.

00:29:24.085 --> 00:29:26.685
I said, ah, you know, what the heck. I'll spend the money on a Zemco.

00:29:27.205 --> 00:29:30.885
Well, I caught three bass that weekend, and I was literally shopping for a boat the next week.

00:29:31.065 --> 00:29:33.845
Like, that's all it took to get me hooked again.

00:29:34.025 --> 00:29:37.525
So, yeah, we try to go as much as possible. We do a lot of pond hopping.

00:29:37.525 --> 00:29:40.585
Here in town in the city which i think is something unique

00:29:40.585 --> 00:29:43.705
a lot of people are going to bigger reservoirs and stuff but we

00:29:43.705 --> 00:29:46.945
do like even drainage ditches and holding ponds

00:29:46.945 --> 00:29:49.645
and if it's been there 20 years it'll have fish in it and you'll

00:29:49.645 --> 00:29:53.145
be amazed you can catch some big fish out of those places so you know anytime

00:29:53.145 --> 00:29:56.705
i get a chance to do that and then the off season you know we talked about my

00:29:56.705 --> 00:30:00.985
lawn care is what i do for a living lawn care season for me is basically up

00:30:00.985 --> 00:30:05.065
until november and then i take off november until february so that means fishing

00:30:05.065 --> 00:30:08.185
in volkswagons all off season So, but yeah, it's a lot of fun.

00:30:08.325 --> 00:30:11.305
That's really my favorite hobby besides Volkswagens. I love to catch a bass.

00:30:11.405 --> 00:30:14.145
It's nothing better. Like you're always looking for that personal best.

00:30:14.599 --> 00:30:18.359
You know, how big could be the next one be? Even if you catch one,

00:30:18.679 --> 00:30:20.639
it gets you ready and excited about the next time.

00:30:21.059 --> 00:30:27.899
You ever sat on the side of a lake and tried to pitch a jig from the bus?

00:30:29.179 --> 00:30:32.379
No, but that sounds like something I need to try to do. Maybe I should do that.

00:30:33.199 --> 00:30:37.199
That's an idea. That's an idea. You know, I think I might be one of the only

00:30:37.199 --> 00:30:42.019
ones that every year and at a no-no show, I'm out there at 5.30 in the morning

00:30:42.019 --> 00:30:46.419
every year at that lake fishing. I caught five last year or a year before last.

00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:49.339
And now some of the guys from some of the groups are always like,

00:30:49.439 --> 00:30:52.299
oh, we could find Derek this morning because he's over there fishing somewhere.

00:30:52.639 --> 00:30:55.799
So, yeah. And that's people are starting to know that about me because of no,

00:30:55.859 --> 00:30:58.419
no, because I'm the one weirdo fishing at five in the morning.

00:30:59.379 --> 00:31:05.019
You know, I keep hearing about my boys, my boys. They they're they love saltwater

00:31:05.019 --> 00:31:06.899
fishing slash even brackish.

00:31:07.379 --> 00:31:10.979
Yeah. They keep coming to me, telling me about the drainage ditches and the

00:31:10.979 --> 00:31:14.719
cutoffs all over South Florida, that whole peacock bass.

00:31:15.339 --> 00:31:18.199
And it's on my list. I want to get down there to do it. Yeah.

00:31:18.299 --> 00:31:20.719
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And they keep telling me about it. And I'm like,

00:31:20.799 --> 00:31:23.699
look, my one, my middle boy's got a guinou.

00:31:24.359 --> 00:31:27.439
Oh, yeah. That's perfect for that. Yeah. And he keeps telling me that's,

00:31:27.499 --> 00:31:31.399
that's his thing. He wants to, he wants to do it. I'm like, Hey, you know, do it.

00:31:32.059 --> 00:31:34.919
Yeah. To have a passion like that. Yeah.

00:31:35.079 --> 00:31:37.059
You don't even have to have a boat really for a lot of that.

00:31:37.059 --> 00:31:40.059
You can just walk the canals and just fish from the bank.

00:31:40.159 --> 00:31:43.219
And there's a few guys that are charter captains that they, that's all they

00:31:43.219 --> 00:31:47.659
do is charter peacock bass, like out of John boats. Yeah.

00:31:48.899 --> 00:31:52.419
One thing you have to be careful of here, which I tell him and he's like,

00:31:52.479 --> 00:31:56.759
oh God, if that ever happened, I'd, I'd beat it up and I'd kill it. And I'm like, yeah.

00:31:56.879 --> 00:32:02.119
But one thing you have to be careful of, especially bank fishing here in South Florida is gators.

00:32:02.639 --> 00:32:05.779
Oh yeah. Up here too. Yeah. Big ones. I know.

00:32:06.139 --> 00:32:10.639
Dude. Yeah. Yeah, but certainly, certainly something, but cool.

00:32:10.899 --> 00:32:16.399
New idea for you. Fish out the bus, catch a fish, tag me in the picture.

00:32:16.999 --> 00:32:23.619
I will. All right. Let me ask you, what advice do you have for somebody now

00:32:23.619 --> 00:32:28.999
who's listening to this podcast that maybe is not a VW enthusiast or fan?

00:32:29.279 --> 00:32:34.619
How can they, what advice do you have for them of getting into the VW life?

00:32:35.484 --> 00:32:39.024
I think the biggest thing is find a local club, a local group,

00:32:39.264 --> 00:32:40.744
people that will give you a hand.

00:32:40.904 --> 00:32:45.304
You know, a Volkswagen is like any other old car. There's going to be frustrations.

00:32:45.544 --> 00:32:48.784
There's going to be things you don't know about it. And I've learned that YouTube

00:32:48.784 --> 00:32:52.924
is handy, but there's also nothing better than having an actual person that's

00:32:52.924 --> 00:32:55.284
there to help you. And the camaraderie of it too.

00:32:55.584 --> 00:32:59.624
I have situations where people do break down and it turns out a chance to people

00:32:59.624 --> 00:33:02.824
just to talk and hang out when somebody is getting fixed. You know,

00:33:03.024 --> 00:33:05.844
so that's the main advice I would give is don't do it on your own.

00:33:05.984 --> 00:33:09.724
Go out and find somebody in the community or a group or a club that you can

00:33:09.724 --> 00:33:13.684
hang with and enjoy that camaraderie and get the assistance with your car.

00:33:13.904 --> 00:33:18.924
You know, almost anywhere now, like me trying to do the groups and stuff to promote my show.

00:33:19.164 --> 00:33:23.624
If you Google any city, you can find a Volkswagen club just about anywhere.

00:33:23.904 --> 00:33:25.504
Now, will they always be super active?

00:33:25.884 --> 00:33:29.864
No, but you can definitely find somebody. So that'd be my main piece of advice

00:33:29.864 --> 00:33:31.744
and be patient with like anything else.

00:33:32.244 --> 00:33:38.684
I mean, that's solid gold though, because for us on this side of the community,

00:33:38.704 --> 00:33:41.844
it's almost like perfection is not the point.

00:33:42.164 --> 00:33:44.304
Connection is the point. Yeah, absolutely.

00:33:44.684 --> 00:33:48.344
Yeah. So when you bring in the community vibe and find somebody that's been

00:33:48.344 --> 00:33:50.904
there before you, it's great advice. It's great advice.

00:33:51.464 --> 00:33:55.524
Yeah. I don't know if I would have stuck with it had I not met some of the guys that I met.

00:33:56.124 --> 00:34:00.004
I call them the old timers. You know, some of these guys were in the Navy or

00:34:00.004 --> 00:34:03.304
in the military. They were stationed in Germany back in the 60s, 70s.

00:34:03.484 --> 00:34:06.964
And that's where they found their love for Volkswagens. And then they brought

00:34:06.964 --> 00:34:08.924
it back with them. And they've been doing it all these years.

00:34:09.384 --> 00:34:12.404
I feel like I've probably, they forgot more than I've learned,

00:34:12.584 --> 00:34:13.564
you know, over the years.

00:34:14.064 --> 00:34:17.184
And every time I'm at one of these tech sessions, somebody will say,

00:34:17.344 --> 00:34:20.224
oh, have you ever seen this trick before? And I'm like, oh, wow,

00:34:20.304 --> 00:34:21.424
I just learned something else.

00:34:21.984 --> 00:34:26.104
So, yeah, that's a big thing. I need to get signed up for those tech sessions.

00:34:26.204 --> 00:34:29.204
Those sound awesome, man. And I'd love to see those, be a part of those.

00:34:29.524 --> 00:34:31.804
I'm just trying to learn myself, you know.

00:34:32.544 --> 00:34:35.544
Well, and I've been encouraging some of these other clubs that I talk to to

00:34:35.544 --> 00:34:40.144
try to start one. You know, there's one, Balkan Volts, they're up at the Birmingham area.

00:34:40.404 --> 00:34:43.304
They just started one and they're starting to do one once a month up there.

00:34:43.704 --> 00:34:46.224
Richard Hill, one of the guys up there, he's hosting at his house.

00:34:46.644 --> 00:34:48.904
And so, you know, we're trying to everybody I meet, they say,

00:34:48.964 --> 00:34:49.904
what are you guys doing differently?

00:34:50.264 --> 00:34:51.344
That's usually the first thing

00:34:51.344 --> 00:34:54.924
I mentioned is that because that's just different. And it's so helpful.

00:34:55.784 --> 00:34:58.684
Yeah, I agree. I think it's a great idea.

00:34:58.884 --> 00:35:03.224
You do some interviews, right? You do some podcasts. You have an opportunity

00:35:03.224 --> 00:35:06.484
to get in front of some people now, obviously, as a show promoter.

00:35:06.904 --> 00:35:14.164
What's one thing or one question that nobody really ever asks you that you might think they should?

00:35:15.031 --> 00:35:16.191
Oh, well, that's interesting.

00:35:18.451 --> 00:35:24.811
Well, I think some people, they tend to assume that doing the shows are easy.

00:35:25.391 --> 00:35:30.071
And so they just figure, you know, how hard can it be? And now you're making all this money?

00:35:30.931 --> 00:35:35.311
Right. Yeah. When, you know, whenever I started mine, our goal was to break even every year.

00:35:35.451 --> 00:35:37.911
Like, you know, we're doing it for the community and stuff. So,

00:35:38.131 --> 00:35:41.551
you know, I don't think enough people ask, like, what does it really take to put on a show?

00:35:41.751 --> 00:35:45.811
What does it take to make that show happen? Like, you know, and all the legwork

00:35:45.811 --> 00:35:50.291
to try to get sponsors, you know, we had probably 30, 40 sponsors this year,

00:35:50.511 --> 00:35:53.351
including like custom shops, nationwide, people like that.

00:35:53.491 --> 00:35:56.971
So yeah, generally people don't ask you that, you know, they ask you questions

00:35:56.971 --> 00:35:58.331
like, Hey, how much is the camping?

00:35:58.671 --> 00:36:01.551
But they don't ask you, how did you guys pull off getting this camping for this

00:36:01.551 --> 00:36:03.051
price or whatever? Right.

00:36:03.431 --> 00:36:06.231
No, that's a step you don't hear about. Yeah. Great point.

00:36:06.651 --> 00:36:09.771
And I'd have to, yeah, I was just going to say, I'd even have to chime,

00:36:09.911 --> 00:36:14.051
chime in on that because the expectation is, oh, those guys are.

00:36:14.131 --> 00:36:17.591
Killing it you know oh i can't believe they're charging xyz

00:36:17.591 --> 00:36:21.071
when when you know they're making all this money man we

00:36:21.071 --> 00:36:25.531
don't make anything you know just like you said our alan and i's goal was to

00:36:25.531 --> 00:36:31.791
was to break even i think you know with with this peer show this being the first

00:36:31.791 --> 00:36:38.111
year we probably won't even and that's that's that's gonna come out of you know out of my personal.

00:36:39.051 --> 00:36:40.991
Funds, Alan's personal funds.

00:36:41.811 --> 00:36:46.831
Oh, yeah. But again, it's the community and that's what's going to keep us coming back.

00:36:46.971 --> 00:36:50.111
And now the city's believing in it and they want to jump behind it.

00:36:50.231 --> 00:36:53.511
They donate it. And it's like, you know, we can do this.

00:36:53.611 --> 00:36:59.011
But I think that that point is such a valid one for people not really understanding.

00:36:59.011 --> 00:37:02.391
If you're not a promoter and you don't do shows, you're right.

00:37:03.231 --> 00:37:07.491
That's something that doesn't really get brought up or talked about enough.

00:37:07.491 --> 00:37:09.871
Because you do have to jump through hoops.

00:37:10.011 --> 00:37:12.591
Everybody sees, hey, the peer show got approved.

00:37:13.051 --> 00:37:18.911
Nobody saw the five times and I had to go sit in the downtown at the city at their meetings.

00:37:19.331 --> 00:37:24.831
Right. And go through hours and hours of just sitting and waiting for them to call on me.

00:37:25.011 --> 00:37:29.271
And there were times that I'd show up and they say, oh, you didn't make it this

00:37:29.271 --> 00:37:32.931
time, but come back next month and we'll make sure we talk about it.

00:37:32.991 --> 00:37:37.771
I'm like, oh, another month, you know, before we get an answer. But yeah, you're right.

00:37:37.871 --> 00:37:40.691
Nobody ever really talks about what goes into shows.

00:37:40.891 --> 00:37:43.111
So I think that was a great, great comment.

00:37:44.001 --> 00:37:47.561
Yeah, definitely. And, you know, for us, like I say, we we went into it,

00:37:47.641 --> 00:37:49.781
you know, Steve doing it the eight years prior to me.

00:37:49.981 --> 00:37:53.481
He had a little idea of kind of what it would cost. But what we've learned is

00:37:53.481 --> 00:37:57.081
that when we do make some money like this year, I mean, being perfectly honest,

00:37:57.141 --> 00:37:58.381
we did awesome with our raffles.

00:37:58.561 --> 00:38:03.181
We had some really over the top unique raffles and we did very good on those.

00:38:03.301 --> 00:38:06.921
But all that money that we made is going right back into new stuff next year.

00:38:07.341 --> 00:38:11.181
Bigger and better banners, more signage, you know, the opportunity to maybe

00:38:11.181 --> 00:38:13.761
have a live band and pay for a live band for Saturday night.

00:38:14.001 --> 00:38:17.401
So you're just going to, I'm just going to sink all the money I make back into

00:38:17.401 --> 00:38:21.121
making it bigger and better every year and attracted more people from different

00:38:21.121 --> 00:38:24.501
places and get more of y'all from down south to come up, you know,

00:38:24.621 --> 00:38:28.741
and for years, all of us have traveled down south to come to all the big shows.

00:38:28.901 --> 00:38:32.941
So now I'm putting in all the guilt trip on everybody down there to do the same thing for us.

00:38:33.101 --> 00:38:36.821
And we'll come up. We'll come up. Alan was, was just recently even,

00:38:36.821 --> 00:38:41.301
even talking about, you know, trying to do something up there in that market.

00:38:41.581 --> 00:38:48.361
And yeah, but I chatted about it actually. I don't think he knew the depth of

00:38:48.361 --> 00:38:52.861
your show and how long it's been going on, but awesome.

00:38:53.161 --> 00:38:56.681
I'd come up, no problem. And that's what this is. We'd love to have you, man.

00:38:57.421 --> 00:39:03.601
Yeah, I'd come up. So where can people find you if they want to look you up,

00:39:03.661 --> 00:39:07.581
if they want to look at Bugs on the Bayou? How can people find you?

00:39:08.101 --> 00:39:11.001
I'm actually really glad you asked that, too, because I was going to try to

00:39:11.001 --> 00:39:16.041
get a plug in. We actually just finished today our official website, bugsofthebayou.com.

00:39:16.221 --> 00:39:20.881
So now we've got a centrally located place. You know, we've generally always used Facebook.

00:39:21.181 --> 00:39:26.361
Within the next two weeks or so, we'll have our Facebook event page up, which we did nearly.

00:39:27.140 --> 00:39:30.400
Nearly 1,000 people interested are going this year on that page,

00:39:30.500 --> 00:39:32.240
which I was really proud of.

00:39:32.860 --> 00:39:35.260
So, yeah, BugsOnTheBayou.com. That'll have everything on it,

00:39:35.320 --> 00:39:37.320
the camping, what we're going to have this year.

00:39:37.440 --> 00:39:41.020
We're actually, I could tell you this now, too. We're going to be going to a three-day event.

00:39:41.440 --> 00:39:45.440
We feel like we have the ability to do that now. We have the venue for as long as we need it.

00:39:45.460 --> 00:39:49.600
So, it's going to be a Friday, Saturday event with stuff going on all weekend.

00:39:49.760 --> 00:39:51.000
And then Sunday will be our show.

00:39:51.300 --> 00:39:56.260
We'll be doing the show from 8 to 1 on Sunday. So that'll give people some time

00:39:56.260 --> 00:39:58.580
to get back to where they're coming from on Sunday if they need to.

00:39:58.700 --> 00:40:01.480
But we feel like if we're going to grow, we've got to be like all these big

00:40:01.480 --> 00:40:05.020
boys that are doing the three-day shows. Yeah, good point.

00:40:06.020 --> 00:40:09.900
We added camping to the Skyway PM ride this last year.

00:40:10.600 --> 00:40:13.880
And it was going to be great feedback and everything.

00:40:14.060 --> 00:40:19.100
But we had the show in November, or the ride, coming over the Skyway.

00:40:19.100 --> 00:40:24.560
And we had just, you know, four or five weeks prior got slammed back to back with two hurricanes.

00:40:24.860 --> 00:40:30.580
Yeah, right. Yes. So it was really kind of, you know, we had like 22 campers,

00:40:30.580 --> 00:40:32.080
you know, pay and register.

00:40:32.640 --> 00:40:34.680
And then we only had eight show up.

00:40:35.500 --> 00:40:39.380
Oh, wow. Yeah, man. It was rough. It was rough that first year.

00:40:39.500 --> 00:40:42.920
But again, another first year, you know, event thing.

00:40:43.140 --> 00:40:47.680
The Skyway ride's been running 26 years, but nobody's ever done it at night,

00:40:47.700 --> 00:40:49.940
you know, But that's the cool thing, right?

00:40:50.040 --> 00:40:52.760
The Skyway Bridge is lit up from underneath. It's got, you know,

00:40:53.440 --> 00:40:57.740
millions of dollars in LED lights that change colors in the season and all that fun stuff.

00:40:57.880 --> 00:41:00.100
We wanted to dub it out.

00:41:00.480 --> 00:41:04.980
Yeah, I love that. Yeah, yeah. But we'll get there. And, you know,

00:41:05.140 --> 00:41:06.300
it sounds like, you know.

00:41:06.984 --> 00:41:11.384
If you come from the mindset of don't give up and you really are doing it for

00:41:11.384 --> 00:41:16.744
the community, which you are, which we are, there is not an ounce in me that

00:41:16.744 --> 00:41:19.444
ever says, you know, forget this, I'm out.

00:41:19.784 --> 00:41:23.824
I don't speak like that. I like the adversity. I welcome it.

00:41:23.924 --> 00:41:26.324
I look at it as, okay, is that what you want? All right.

00:41:26.504 --> 00:41:30.524
I'm going to beat my chance then, and I'm going to show up for this community,

00:41:30.744 --> 00:41:31.884
right? So that's how I feel.

00:41:32.344 --> 00:41:36.624
Yeah. I definitely get that mentality. I'm the same way. I'm a self-starter.

00:41:36.984 --> 00:41:40.324
You know, I've been self-employed on it for 25 years. And so to me,

00:41:40.384 --> 00:41:43.164
this was just another way to, you know, to get that, you know,

00:41:43.264 --> 00:41:46.384
competitive nature out and go, okay, you know, how do we do this to make it better?

00:41:46.504 --> 00:41:50.784
And how do you, okay, the number is, well, they used to do about 90 cars previous.

00:41:51.344 --> 00:41:55.364
The first year of taking it over and doing it with Steve, we did 150, 155.

00:41:55.784 --> 00:41:59.284
But this year, without my, I don't know if anybody knew, but we had to change

00:41:59.284 --> 00:42:02.944
our day. We got rained out for Saturday, so we moved to a half day on Sunday.

00:42:03.284 --> 00:42:07.784
And we actually probably would have done 200 cars. had we not had to change

00:42:07.784 --> 00:42:11.204
our day. We still did 150 even with our day change.

00:42:11.364 --> 00:42:14.684
So we're really encouraged with this, man. And I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing.

00:42:14.864 --> 00:42:19.004
And the camping for us is a big focus. We have 30 RV slots.

00:42:19.204 --> 00:42:22.984
And we also have enough capacity to have 100 buses camp.

00:42:23.204 --> 00:42:27.964
And all of that's under the shade, which is Florida. So shade is good.

00:42:28.484 --> 00:42:32.104
It is great. That's one thing of pushback that we're getting,

00:42:32.284 --> 00:42:37.664
actually, for the pier, Is out there all day We can't set up a canopy You guys

00:42:37.664 --> 00:42:40.904
are crazy It's Florida, it's the heat You know, you're out of your mind It's May.

00:42:42.404 --> 00:42:46.024
So we're trying to navigate You know, through all that Again,

00:42:46.144 --> 00:42:49.864
it's a learning thing But Bugs on the Bayou Is also on Facebook,

00:42:50.753 --> 00:42:53.293
Pensacola VW happenings, Facebook

00:42:53.293 --> 00:42:57.053
page. So they can, people can find you there as well. That's right.

00:42:57.513 --> 00:43:00.853
Any, anything else, any other plugs you want to plug the, the,

00:43:01.133 --> 00:43:03.413
your, your, your day job, your lawn business.

00:43:04.213 --> 00:43:07.633
Ah, man, I'm done plugging the lawn business. I've been doing it so long.

00:43:07.713 --> 00:43:09.993
I don't need to plug it anymore, but yeah.

00:43:12.013 --> 00:43:15.733
It's a who's your lawn guy is the name of it. Who's your lawn guy with a question

00:43:15.733 --> 00:43:17.913
mark. Yeah. I love it. Yeah.

00:43:19.713 --> 00:43:25.073
So when we came up with the name 15, 16 years ago, I wanted to be different and that really stuck.

00:43:25.273 --> 00:43:27.193
You know, a lot of people know me because of that, you know,

00:43:27.273 --> 00:43:30.333
better than like Bob's lawn care or something, but it's been good to me.

00:43:30.413 --> 00:43:32.333
I actually grew it large, sold it off.

00:43:32.753 --> 00:43:35.273
And now I went back to the old days where it's just me again.

00:43:35.333 --> 00:43:39.693
And I mow about eight yards a day by myself and I love it. I wouldn't do anything else.

00:43:39.853 --> 00:43:42.393
People ask me all the time, like, what are you going to get too old for?

00:43:42.493 --> 00:43:45.173
And I'm like, I'm going to mow until I can't mow anymore. So who knows?

00:43:46.193 --> 00:43:53.793
I got a 15 year old kid. kid that, that, that door knocks a very good fruit style and he cuts grass.

00:43:54.253 --> 00:43:59.853
I love it. Yeah, man. And he just, he loves it. You know, I can't take him from it. He loves it.

00:43:59.933 --> 00:44:03.433
He's always asking people and they're like, you know, well, we have somebody

00:44:03.433 --> 00:44:06.433
that does it and he's outspoken, right? He's kind of like me.

00:44:06.533 --> 00:44:10.993
So he's like, well, I could be your new guy, you know, but yeah,

00:44:11.073 --> 00:44:12.973
man, you know, he's going to learn something though, you know,

00:44:13.073 --> 00:44:14.373
with the lawn business, this is true.

00:44:14.513 --> 00:44:17.313
And he'll learn this too almost everybody that you get as

00:44:17.313 --> 00:44:20.193
a customer had another lawn guy before that they didn't end

00:44:20.193 --> 00:44:23.173
up liking their service yeah that's just the truth you know it

00:44:23.173 --> 00:44:25.813
is as long as you do a good job and you

00:44:25.813 --> 00:44:30.133
do old-fashioned customer service like answer your phone on time show up on

00:44:30.133 --> 00:44:33.593
time all that kind of stuff you'll have more work than you need you know i turn

00:44:33.593 --> 00:44:40.533
away more now than i take so yeah it's it's a great problem to have yeah it

00:44:40.533 --> 00:44:43.753
definitely is yeah it's been good And also self-employment,

00:44:43.893 --> 00:44:46.933
like for him in the future, it gives you time to do things like playing car

00:44:46.933 --> 00:44:48.713
shows and have fun and go fishing.

00:44:49.193 --> 00:44:51.813
Yeah. Do all that stuff. You know, if you're working for the man,

00:44:51.933 --> 00:44:52.993
you don't get to do as much of that.

00:44:54.113 --> 00:44:59.133
Amen. Definitely a self-starter. Definitely that type of mindset and that young man.

00:44:59.353 --> 00:45:02.333
And I think big things for him in his life for sure.

00:45:03.013 --> 00:45:06.533
And that's a wrap for this episode of Dub Life Diaries.

00:45:07.093 --> 00:45:10.593
Thanks for riding along with us and diving into these incredible stories of

00:45:10.593 --> 00:45:12.653
the people in the Dove that drive their dreams.

00:45:12.913 --> 00:45:17.473
If you loved today's episode, don't forget to subscribe or hit that follow button

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so you never miss an adventure.

00:45:19.073 --> 00:45:23.733
Do you have a story to tell or know somebody else who's living the Dove life? Awesome.

00:45:24.053 --> 00:45:29.093
Reach out to us. You can find us on all socials at Dove Life Diaries or shoot

00:45:29.093 --> 00:45:30.853
me an email. I'm not hard to find.

00:45:31.153 --> 00:45:36.633
Dove Life Diaries at gmail.com Until next time, keep the engines humming and

00:45:36.633 --> 00:45:41.113
the wheels turning and always follow the road that inspires you this is joe

00:45:41.113 --> 00:45:43.693
person i'm signing off i'll catch you on the.

00:45:44.720 --> 00:46:40.373
Music.