Key West Summer Weather, New Album C/D In The Works Part 1, The Beer Show

Key West Summer Weather



One of the great things about Key West is that predicting the weather is really not all that difficult. The seasons are different, but each season and sometimes months are the same year to year, for the most part. So easy, in fact, that baring the unusual oddities or, God forbid, a hurricane, it's pretty similar from one day to the next.

So easy in fact that I made this generic weather forecast for local station 104.9 The X radio station. It's not the first I've done for them. I did another a couple of years ago and it still works just perfectly!



As the recording mentions, it's going to be hot! t is summer after all and we're in the tropics as well, so what would anyone expect?

Every day I take note of the temperature. This year's been a bit hotter than last year. Back then we had a total of three days that hit 90 degrees. That's 32C for our metric readers. This year, I've lost count... back in June! It may sound like a big difference, but in reality, it's splitting hairs. Is there really a major difference between 89 (32.2C) and 90 (31.7C) ? Not at all.

When I first moved to Florida, several decades ago from New Jersey, where I grew up, I worked in Coral Gables (a city surrounded by Miami). I recall walking down the street at lunch time and while the ambient temperature was around 88 (31C), the same as New Jersey/NYC, the difference was in the power of the sun. Walking down the street, the power of the sun felt as though it was pushing you harder into the sidewalk. If I weighed 150lbs (68 kilos), it felt like I was carrying an extra 20 pounds and weighed 170 pounds (77 kilos). It's the power of the tropical sun and that's what it's like in the Key West. Consequently, what you do is walk on whatever side of the street that has the shade is! Pretty simple and common sense.

I'll hear people sometimes complain about the summer heat. I think that's pretty foolish, if you ask me. You're in the tropics, it's summer time, what do you expect? Of course it's hot. The true facts are that very often in the summer, it's hotter in New York, Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago, or Atlanta, than it is in Key West. Key West has never hit 100 degrees (38 C). I recall growing up thirty miles west of NYC and the summer hitting 106! (41 C). Additionally, the air there often wouldn't move for days on end. It would just sit there. In the town next to where I lived, Ridgewood, N.J. there was a scenic overlook in a section of the town refereed to as "the Hights". Right off this overlook, the land dropped maybe fifty feet (16.5 M) and there was a valley which stretched right to NYC. On a clear day, it was beautiful. However on these days where the air didn't move, it was a brown cloud of air pollution that just never moved out.

In Key West, we have the trade winds blowing through. 90% of the time, there's a breeze and that 10% when there isn't one, it doesn't last all that long.

There is no air pollution in Key West.

Humidity is high in the summer as well. Again, when people complain about it, it's the same here as it is in NYC, Chicago, or Boston. For someone who heads north for the summer, weather wise speaking, they are jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

For visitors, summer is the true deal, as far as visiting Key West and the smart travelers visit then. They already know all of the aforementioned weather I explained above, plus the hotel rates are, far and away, the lowest of the year.

New Album/CD In The Works - Part 1

I'm starting to put together ideas and songs for my next album, which I hope to start recording this fall. There is a big weight to follow up my last one "Shanghai'd and Marooned in Key West (things could be worse)". When Miles Davis' producer writes from L.A. to say "Chris, I love your CD! It makes me feel like I'm back in the Keys!" it means this next project has extremely large shoes to fill!
For those of you who are not in the music industry, I'll share a few things that go into making a new project like this. I say project because I really don't know what the next name for these are going to be? Back when they had vinyl, it was an album. Then when CD's came out in the early 80's, it started being called a CD. Today? Who knows? Aside from live performers like myself and the Country music field based in Nashville, the music industry is all downloads. So I'm not sure what to call it, or what it will be called down the road. Maybe back to "Albums"?

Henceforth, that's what I'll refer to it as.

The first thing I have to deal with are the songs that will be on the compilation. It's like choosing favorite children. I was wrestling for a name for the album until I wrote a new song for it. It was a tricky song to write, in that in this case, it has to make you smile and hopefully laugh, yet continue to be fresh all the time, continuing to make one smile and laugh when they hear it, time after time. If it's done like a joke, it's funny at best the first few times once on hears it. After that, it's all over. So it can be a fine line. With this song, I gave it a wide birth because I don't need to be walking a tight rope, fifty stories over a mote of crocodiles.

The title song is called "Jump Into De Fire". Unlike "Shanghai'd and Marooned in Key West (things could be worse)" this album will have a title track. Shanghai'd actually had a title track, but I never completed writing it, so it missed being on it. So, we have one song on it for sure! Another song that will be definitely on it will be the newest mix of Island Blue, featuring Misty Loggins on vocals and Dani Hoy on background vocals.

When I recorded Shanghai'd, one of my main objectives was to have every song sound different from any other song on the album. I can't tell you how many albums/CDs I've listened to over the years, where every song sounds like the song that preceded it. No thanks. One of the ways I achieved that was to write songs in different root genres. We had Afro/Cuban/Motown, Jazz, Country, Funk, Barrel House Blues, Brazilian, Bahamian, so on and so forth. In the end, nothing sounded like anything else on the album. In addition, I also used a lot of different musicians on different songs, so that contributed greatly to the album's diverse sounds.

"Jump Into De Fire"s goal will be much along the same lines of having nothing sound like anything else on the album. How it will be executed remains to be seen. Unlike Shanghai'd, there could very well be songs of the same root genre on this album, for one thing. Logistics may also come into play. Last year, after performing with Misty Loggins at the Key West Songwriter's Festival (and her doing "Island Blue" for me) I wrote a new song, a duet for the two of us to do, "Sometimes We Tote The Load". the logistics being that if she's not available to fly down to Key West from Nashville when we record it, "we're up the creek", as they say.


(Misty Loggins and I doing Island Blue)

Dani Hoy and I are in progress of putting a song together, "Smile". I have the music pretty much done and a fair amount of the lyrics. Dani's looked at it a few times so far, looking forward to  seeing what she will add!

Meanwhile, there's a bunch of songs I have to weed through and figure out what goes and what stays. Then, on the one's that stay, band arrangements must be put together. Trust me, it's a whole different animal from playing it solo live and playing it in a studio.

Updates on this will follow in each blog, as I think readers might like having some insight on how making an album all comes about.

Beer Show!

The beer show is stepping up it's game big time! This week we had a live studio audience in the form of Tiffani and Mike Green, which was a first. At this time, Dave Sr. who owns the Cork and Stogie with his wife Leslie, has approved having guests. We're very limited in space and the guests must agree to not talk. We already have five personalities babbeling away and that's really the total limit we can have for a radio audience. However, for a nominal fee, you can be in our audience!
We've also have a Facebook page:


https://www.facebook.com/KeyWestBeerTales

A Twitter page:

https://twitter.com/thekwbt


Here's the schedule, All times are EST (a.k.a. Same as NYC)

KW Beer Show Airing/Stations Schedules:

KWOM - 10am and 10pm
http://www.tikilive.com/radio/kwom-key-west-original-music-radio

Trop Rock Radio - Sundays 5 - 6

http://www.radiotroprock.com/Welcome.html

Radio A1A - Monday's at 7 and last week's show at 7 every day of the week other than Mondays
http://www.radioa1a.com/

The Shore - Friday at noon

http://wnyshoreradio.com/

Tiki Island Radio - times TBA


Tiki Beach Shop -                                         Monday, Wednesday, Friday  -  2 PM

http://www.tikibeachshop.com/

More to come on this as we go!


 Thanks again for reading the blog everyone!

To obtain my music:


My CD is available on iTunes, CD Baby, CD Universe, Rhapsody, and Beachfront Radio.

Search: Key West Chris

Thank you everyone!!

Radio Show and Some Bad Business in Key West

                          (Looks like an electric palm tree!)






RADIO SHOWS
As I mentioned in a previous blog, my girlfriend Dani Hoy and I are doing not one, but two radio shows all of the sudden!

Stop by our pages on Facebook for each show, which will have airing schedules listed. I know a lot of you are in Europe, the times posted are Eastern Standard Time, which is -5 hours GMT and -6 hours for the continent.

For the Key West Beer Tales - The Sum of All Beers:
https://www.facebook.com/KeyWestBeerTales

For the The Key West Music Show - Conch Rockin in the Keys:

https://www.facebook.com/TheKeyWestMusicShow



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SOME BAD BUSINESS IN KEY WEST

I really don't care what people do behind closed doors. That's their business, not mine and frankly, I have a lot more to be concerned about than being a busy-body, sticking my nose into other peoples personal affairs.

However, if it's a business and when the buisiness is being unethical, that's where I draw the line, especially if it's a detriment to the town of Key West.
The Key West Adult Entertainment Club ( formally The Scrub Club) at 1221 Duval St. seems to always be in the news... albeit not so much in the LOCAL news and the news is ALWAYS bad. Very, very bad.



Lets set the stage: The Key West Adult Entertainment Club is a strip club that features only private rooms.

The story here is always exactly the same. A customer goes in, must sign a waiver and is charged something in the range of about (hence to referred to as "@")$200. After that runs out, everybody is naked and the guy hasn't achieved what he went in there to begin with for. They have an ATM, but it's down the hall. The guy being naked, takes the advise of the girl there and gives her his card to take out an additional amount of agreed money. Lets say it's another @ $200, for arguments sake. He stays in the room and she goes and gets his @ $200 from their ATM. Naturally, he doesn't see that the ATM fee is not$2.50, $3.00 or $4.00, but rather@ $50.00! The girl will NEVER come back with a receipt either. "Oh! I forgot to get your receipt and the transaction's already closed" Of course if they did the customer would see the @$50 ATM charge.

 Now here comes the fun part. Every report carries the same M.O. Only the amounts are different. What they are said to do next is put in for another withdrawl! There's another $50.00 fee and the ammounts withdrawn reports say are $600.00, $800.00, $1000.00, $1,500.00, $6,000.00... and so on! Meanwhile, the guys, more often than not, find out about this after they get back home, to Chicago, New York, Atlanta, New Orleans... You'll see it in their local papers and once in a blue moon, maybe, just maybe, in a Key West paper, albeit, just in passing. Every report says that it cases are being investigated, but that no charges have been filed.

It does seem odd that all of these cases that pop up continuously, from all around the country, never have anyone charged. While I grant you for thinking that the clientele are pretty stupid for giving out their ATM codes to begin with, one has to consider the fact that A) the establishment knowingly is stealing their money and no doubt violating the trust and responsibility issues of having an ATM, a.k.a. a remote bank, there on premiss and in their control in first place B) The clientele is usually inebriated to some extent or another, C) At this stage of the game they are 75% - 99% of achieving nirvana and in their condition, clearly not thinking rationally. I'm amazed that the city of Key West doesn't have the owners tared and feathered, then run out of town. However, they continue to operate.

There are police cars, often two or three, there responding to  issues there at minimum of once a day.

The word of mouth is perhaps the worst. What happens here is that these people go back home after being fleeced by this rat's nest, and allow me to ask the question: Do you think they're thinking of coming back to Key West? I doubt it. Likewise, can you imagine what they might be telling friends and acquaintances  of their overall experience in Key West? Granted, they may refrain from where they had their disastrous experience at this slut hut, but believe me, they're not trumpeting the fabulous virtues this town actually does have to offer.

Additionally, having known a previous manager,  I was brought up to speed on a few things. They put up for housing a lot of their female employees. There are "requirements" they have to follow in the business and if they didn't fulfill these "requirements" in any way, they are "fined". The fines would be levied on them for being late, not hanging out on their front porch hoping to lure in customers, not doing their required one hour strut down Duval St. in attempt to solicit additional  business ( this is against city code, by the way,) , and for not moping up the floor after their customers achieved what they went there to begin with for.

Really.

(Regarding the required hour long strut down Duval attempting to bring back business to the hovel, you may have noticed that it's mentioned that this is against city code? Well, they were cited for it in 2012. They had court date after court date postponed and put on to continuance until this week when it was all supposed to finally be heard. I'm not sure what happened, but the docket no longer has any record whatsoever of there ever being any kind of a hearing, or it ever even being on the record books at all. Unusual, to say the least.)  

There were cases when said previous manager worked, where some of the girls owed more than they actually made! Additionally, as they actually housed the women, they had them entirely over a barrel, so to speak. The girls didn't have any money, as they had to pay off their fines and the establishment applied and deducted them against their earnings. How can they leave? They can't. So they're stuck there. Yes, this is happening in the United States, not a back alley brothel, where the streets smell like urine, in Bangcock, Calcutta, Shanghai, or Mumbai. It's happening in Key West folks. This is a problem. This is a major problem.

Sir Peter Anderson

Sir Peter Anderson




Thirty years ago a man named Peter Anderson arrived in Key West and Key West has been the benefactor ever since. Several years after his arrival, Peter Anderson  was appointed by the mayor, saloon owner Captain Tony, as the Secretary General of the Conch Republic. He was also knighted by the King of the Conch Republic, Mel Fisher, thus carrying the title of "Sir Peter Anderson", of which he was very proud indeed.

His first main focus in being the Secretary General first was to ensure the floundering Conch Republic Days, the celebration of the independence of the Conch Republic, would continue on. This he did extraordinarily well and because of his gallant efforts over the years, to this day the festival is booming! He also started the Conch Republic Days Parade! Yahoo!!!


(Sir Peter Anderson leads the 1998 Conch Republic Parade. Picture by Rob O'Neil)

My first introduction to Sir Peter was in 2006, I think it was? Because of the idiotic rules that the U.S. has for Cuban immigrants.( if they come here by boat or raft as immigrants, they must land on U.S. soil. If intercepted on water, they are repatriated to Cuba) In this case, a group of Cubans sailed on a raft to the U.S. and landed on one of the abutments of the Seven Mile Bridge here in the Florida Keys. Because they didn't reach dry land, but rather one of the supports for the old bridge, they were collected and sent back to Cuba. Sir Peter consequently went to the Seven Mile Bridge and declared it Sovereign Conch Republic Territory. The rest of the Conch Republic territory, from the Dry Tortugas through all of the Keys, is joint U.S.and  Conch Republic. However, as the U.S. did not recognize the old Seven Mile Bridge as territory and sending the Cubans back, Sir Peter claimed is as sovereign Conch Republic. Additionally, his proposal was to build affordable housing on top of it! Apparently, somewhere there are architectural plans drawn up for it!

For me, a songwriter living in Miami at the time, with a serious eye on moving to the Keys, this was too good to pass up, so I wrote a song about it! It actually was supposed to be on my album "Shanghai'd and Marooned in Key West (things could be worse)" but on the day we were completing the rhythm section of the tracks on the CD, I was just completely out of gas, so to speak and when Richard Crooks said "Ok! What do we have next? The Seven Mile Bridge" I was just too tired and it never was recorded.

I do have a demo however and here it is:



While writing the song, I contacted Sir Peter for the first time. What I found was a man who possesed the very rare combination of a completely off the wall sense of humor, combined with an intelect that was very clearly far into the genious level. Now, take these two very uncommon attributes and add to it the fact that the man was anchored, as solid as concrete, with, get this: common sense and logic. Plus, he was a great proponent of having fun and incorporating fun into everything he did. 

After I moved here, one of my first order of business was to meet Sir Peter Anderson in person. This didn't take too long as he was a part of the 2008 Phlockers Gone Wild party at the Blue Heaven restaurant's outside stage area. He swore in the entire crowd there , with beer in hand, as Conch Republic citizens! The lead off picture of this blog, is him doing so that day.
Here's another picture from that day, Sir Peter can be seen in white at the bar.



Sir Peter also came up with all of the utterly fantastic sayings you'll hear regarding the Conch Republic. Things like "A Sovereign State of Mind",  "We Seceded Where Others Have Failed", and "The Mitigation of World Tension Through the Exercise of Humor". Sir Peter also got the Conch Republic passports rolling. I am a proud holder of one of these.

He also set up the Conch Republic website. Be sure to check it out!

http://conchrepublic.com/

The Conch Republic flag was also Sir Peter's doing. Back when I made my business cards I asked permission to use it for the card. Naturally, without hesitation he said "Of course!" after a moment he said "Would you do me a favor? Would you mind putting 'Used with permission' under it? It can be microscopic if you want. All I ask is that it's there". I immediately said absolutely and it's been on the cards since they've first been printed.






Sir Peter was as well, a great proponent and organizer of good causes and charatible events, such as Reef Relief, of which he was elected president and  Habitat for Humanity.

I don't think I would get any arguments at all if I stated that Sir Peter Anderson was the biggest proponent of the Conch Republic itself. He actually was able to make a living out of it. He was a true ambassador for this silly little country, this "fifth world state of mind" as he also acronymed it.


(Sir Peter Anderson explains the history of the Conch Republic at Schooner Wharf Bar)

His actions tought me a lot. As this little archipelago of islands, I quickly came to believe, having a long extensive sales background, that it is all of our responsibilities, to do our part in promoting the Conch Republic. That's why I write this blog for the most part. Chances are actually maybe one in a hundred that individually we might gain somthing ourselves out of it. However we don't do it for ourselves, we do it for all of us who live on these islands. "The needs of the many out weighs the needs of the few" as Mr. Spok had said. Being the wise, logical, man that I saw him as, when I spoke up on a subject Sir Peter spoke on, I'd always bang the same drum. Sir Peter always had the best interests of all and the Conch Republic at hand.

On a funny note: I recall several years ago I had heard that Mel Fisher had been the King of the Conch Republic, however he had passed away and I couldn't find who was the current king. So, naturally I asked Sir Peter and he gave a very quick answer, without hesitation. "Mel Fisher!" was his retort. So I said "Well, Mel Fisher has been gone for several years." and he answered "Yeah, so?" and I naturally replied "So even though he's dead, he's still the king?" and Sir Peter answered "Of course!!" I laughed my ass off! It's that sort of humor that just encompass the Conch Republic.

Any conversation I've ever had with Sir Peter was always peppered with laughter, from both of us. Humor was one of our similar attributes and in our conversations it reared it's ridiculous head all the time. His favorite regular spot to watch the Key West sunset was always Louie's Backyard and he was always enjoying a quality beer... another similar attribute we shared!

On Tuesday, 16th of July, 2014 we lost Sir Peter Anderson to cancer. Back in October he was diagnosed with lung cancer. Ironically, from a man who never smoked. Unfair as it was, he fought a gallant battle and won on many fronts.  He was back from the hospital and was in at least two parade events and a ridiculouse running event that went across the Cow Key Bridge from Key West to Stock Island... about 100 yards!


On my next batch of cards the release will be augmented to:
 "Used with permission of Sir Peter Anderson"

Godspeed Sir Peter! It was an honor ato know you and you were a true inspiration. Thank you!

Sometimes when in the presence of greatness, one only realizes after they are gone. This was never the case with Sir Peter Anderson. I knew it from the start. For this man knew how to have FUN!!!

And in closing I will quote Sir Peter Anderson:

"Long Live The Conch Republic and Long Live  Every One of You"



(Picture by Ralph DePalma)








To obtain my music:

My CD is available on iTunes, CD Baby, CD Universe, Rhapsody, and Beachfront Radio.
Search: Key West Chris

Thank you everyone!!

Dateline: Key West

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Mercedes Benz, Mercedes-Benz Museum

The Mercedes Benz Museum

Note: In this blog, I'm taking a side step from the usual Key West Blog, to share with the world an incredible experience I had, many, many years ago. As you'll see, this experience was a very important part of my life, for which I am still amazed at to this day.




I was twenty one and I was going out on my big adventure. back packing through Europe! I had no desire in the least to travel with anyone. just go by myself. A lot of people thought this was very weird. Myself however, I thought it made perfect sense. This way there were no compromises and I'd do everything I set out to do. It worked out perfectly, as it turned out. I went to every place in Europe that I set out to visit. Some places were more significant than others, however I got to see them all! As this story is specificly about the Mercedes-Benz Museum, I'll restrict this blog story to that visit.




The preamble to all of this was that my father, Robert C. Rehm, had been working for Mercedes-Benz of North America (MBNA) since 1963, shortly after MBNA was formed, and was instrumental in setting up their North American sales organization. So, I grew up with the firm, so to speak. Every couple of months, my dad would come home with a new car that the company assigned him. This was an era where there weren't all that many Mercedes on the road and passing cars would always wave to each other. Dad brought home over those years, the greatest assortment of cars! 200, 200D, 220D, 230, 250S, 250SE 280S, 280SE,280SEL, 280SL, 300SEL, 300SEL 6.3, 450SE, 450SEL.. I think he brought home virtually every model that was in the product line over those years, with the exception of the two 600 models! The only person in the organization who had one of those was the CEO of MBNA, Karlfried Nordmann, whom I met once at a company family get together.

In those early years where I was somewhere between seven and eight, my dad brought me home a book, "A Racing Car Driver's World", by Rudolph Caracciola, perhaps the most famous racing driver of his era (1925 - 1953). The book was fascinating and I loved every paragraph! Easily one of my favorite books I've ever read. I still have it to this day.

Reading this book was more of a passion than anything else for me, I found it tremendously exciting to read about the races, fellow drivers, and of course the cars themselves.


Caracciola in a W125 at Monte Carlo, 1937)


While Mercedes-Benz was ingrained into my soul, I also couldn't help but love the competition as well! The Auto-Union of the thirties, was Mercedes' biggest rival and what a car it was! It looked so sinister with the engine behind the driver. The engine was magnificent as well. Sixteen cylinders and designed by Dr. Porsche, for the first several years.


(Hans Stuck Sr. in an Auto Union C Type)

In one passage Caracciola talks of a time where in a press gathering, he and Auto-Union driver Berndt Rosemeyer, switched cars and gave them a run. Imagine that today? I don't think so HA HA HA! They both agreed that the ideal car for 1937 would have an Auto Union engine and a Mercedes transmission... albeit, with the engine in the front.

The bottom line here was of course, that I learned everything I could about all of the Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix and record cars (in 1938 a Mercedes-Benz record car set the fastest official speed ever recorded on a public road. It still stands today, 76 years later.( Note, this blog was written in 2014  Ed.)



I knew these cars like the back of my hand and the drivers that drove them Caracciola, Hans Stuck, Achille Vartzi, Berndt Rosemeyer, Manfred von Brauchisch, Tazio Nuvolari, Dick Seaman, Louis Chiron, Rene Drefouse, H.P. Mueller, Luigi Fagiola...  I read about them day in, day out for fourteen years, so, as you can imagine, visiting the famous Mercedes-Benz Museum was a top priority for me, to see these cars I had only read about prior.

I first landed in England and toured their before I went to the Continent. I was in Munich and mentioned to a few fellow travelers in the youth hostile I was staying at, that I was planning on going to Stuttgart to see the museum. This was always met with the same answer "Oh Stuttgart is an industrial city. It's all Mercedes, Porsche, and Bosch". Obviously I wasn't going to give their advise any attention. I was going to Stuttgart, no matter what they said.

When I arrived in the Hauptbahnhof (train station) as soon as I alighted from the train, a local approached me with a friendly smile and asked "Are you looking for the youth hostle?" in English. I said I was and he gave me directions. On the way there, I'm guessing it was maybe six or eight blocks, I was approached by at least three other people offering to help me find the youth hostile, all with a friendly smile and a sincere attitude of giving visitors a warm welcome. Forget what the tourists said in the Munich youth hostile (Munich itself was wonderful!), I found Stuttgart to be a very, very friendly city. I tied it for being the most friendly on my entire European tour, with London. This was 1977.

The next day was my big day and I set off for the Daimler-Benz factory, which within it's complex was the Mercedes-Benz museum. It was a somewhat cold day in October as I crossed the Neckar River and saw the outside of "The Wall of Death", the Mercedes test track that I'd seen so many times in the Mercedes magazine "In Aller Welt", that my dad would bring home. What a thrill!

After passing that, there was an entrance to the factory compound with a guard house. I approached the guard house and in my best German, asked the guard inside how I could see the museum. To my astonishment and dismay, he told me that the museum was closed. When I heard this I exhaled and it seemed that every ounce of enegry left my body. The guard saw my disapointment and went on to explain that a terrorist group, the Badder Meinhoff Gang, had kidnapped and brutally murdered a board of directors member of Diamler-Benz and that the factory was closed to all outsiders.

I was so dejected, but I fully understood. The needs of the safety of the firm out weighed the dreams of my own As I turned to leave, I had only one option that I just thought of. I pulled my wallet out and handed the guard my father's Mercedes-Benz of North America business card. I told him that was my father and he asked me for my passport. I didn't hesitate. The last names matched of course and he looked over at me and said "Ein moment, bitte" and he picked up the phone to make a call.

He was on the phone for quite a while,making a series of calls, obviously talking to different people and waiting on their replies. After about a half hour, he stuck his head out of the guard house and said in English "Welcome! You're one of the family!" and shook my hand with a smile from ear to ear. He informed me that they had arranged for a car to come out, pick me up, and bring me to the museum. I was elated, yet a bit confused. The bottom line was, I was going to the museum!

What had turned out happened was the guard called a director of the facility, who in turn called someone else higher up the chain of command, who did likewise until one of them called my dad at MBNA in New Jersey, who confirmed who I was. Amazing!

After a few minutes, a black 220 airport style limo comes and picks me up at the guard house. I thanked the guard profusly. I know I made his day, as much as he made mine. An executive was in the car and greeted me warmly. As we drove to the museum, within the complex, he talked about how sorry he was that the museum had been closed, but it was a securty situation we all had to deal with.

When we arrived at the museum we walked up to the front door and he pulled out his keys, unlocked it, entered and... really... turned on the lights. He mentioned to me to make myself at home and stay as long as I liked. He would be in an office there if I had any questions, as he had some work to do. He also mentioned that later in the afternoon, there were people from the U.S. picking up their cars on what is known as, the European Delivery Program and were going on a factory tour in Sindelfingen, if I wanted to go, I could.

Here I was, they opened up the Mercedes-Benz museum just for me. I couldn't believe it! I was in a state of both shock and gratitude. Nonetheless, I spent about three hours, looking at all sorts of cars, but spent most of my time around the racing cars W25, W125, W154, W156, W165, W196.


(1938 W154s in France)


(1939 W156)


(1939 W165 Tripoli)


 Even the still-born Type 80, that Hans Stuck Sr. and Dr. Porsche had as a project with Mercedes-Benz, designed with a Daimler-Benz DB 601 aircraft engine but never run, for the world land speed record, was there.


(The type 80)

A few hours later, I was off by a special factory bus to the Sindelfingen factory, to see how the product was manufactured, with a group of people picking up their brand new Mercedes-Benz cars. I rode the bus back to the main facility in Stuttgart and had a great conversation with the tour guide about all things Mercedes-Benz.

To this day, decades later, I am completely blown away by the acts of kindness and compassion, by so many people at Mercedes-Benz in Stuttgart. They all went so far out of their way to help a member of the "Family" see his dream come true. I felt it extremely important that this experience be documented.



Mercedes-Benz built an all new museum several years ago. I felt it important to mention this amazing act of kindness that was extended to me years ago and I hope I do get to visit the new facility one day!

As a songwriter, one day I'll write a song about this incredible experience.

Of course, I write this from my own perspective, however it goes much deeper than that. What was exhibited here was a sense of loyalty of workers to the firm they worked for and the belief that together they were all a team. Here we had a series of employees, from a guard at a gate, to super high executives all pulling together for the sake of a co-worker's son. Strings were pulled, a lot of strings were pulled and in a day where overseas calls cost a fortune, that didn't matter the calls were made. They actually opened the museum for me, a twenty one year old wearing a flannel shirt and hiking boots. That has always instilled a serious sense of pride of being a part of such an organization.

I am eternally grateful to all at Mercedes-Benz and to every one in the firm,  I say "Thank you und Vielen Dank!"

Christopher R. Rehm

IF YOU FOUND THIS BLOG HELPFUL, FUNNY, EDUCATIONAL, OR STIMULATING, PLEASE HELP SUPPORT IT BY BUYING MY MUSIC, OR BOOKS BELOW! Thank you!!!!

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"Time Traveler - The Oddities and Adventures of a Key West Bartender". The first of the series! 

Follow Mark Straight's continuing journey and friendships from current Key West, back to historical Key West and elsewhere!

 Order paperback or download here! Paperback comes with a free download!

 30 + Five-Star ratings!

https://www.amazon.com/Time-Traveler-Oddities-Adventures-Bartender/dp/154977770X/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1510587586&sr=1-3&keywords=time+traveler&dpID=51-oZioDBAL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch 

Also! My latest music release, "Trimaran" is now available through Amazon at only: 

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"Time Traveler II - The Further Adventures of a Time Traveling Key West Bartender"

This book picks up where "Time Traveler The Oddities and Adventures of a Key West Bartender" leaves off!

Available at Amazon!

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"BAR STORIES - A semi-fictional adventure-tour as witnessed from a bar stool"

Individual stories of things I've seen in bars over the years which are noteworthy... and in most cases, humorous! Read about The Jack Daniels Floor Cocktail, or Bar Cherry, or Kamikaze, The Cox That Rocks, Only In Key West... the list goes on!

Time Traveler III Excursion! The latest in the series! Fun to read as either a first time reader to the series, or a seasoned reader of the series!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09GDRB8SL/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title

                         

                   Available on Amazon! 21 Five-Star ratings!

 

https://www.amazon.com/Bar-Stories-Tour-Witnessed/dp/1980365113/ref =sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522339781&sr=8-1&keywords=bar+stories

All The Best From Key West! Released in December, 2019, to rave reviews! 

Only $5.94 for the download

https://www.amazon.com/All-Best-Key-West-Chris/dp/B082XFG8G7

The Ark of Music

https://thearkofmusic.com/key-west-chris/

Stereo Stickman

https://stereostickman.com/music/key-west-chris-all-the-best-from-key-west/?fbclid=IwAR1F3cbHKEMVxJmkSdQ2pc4uJowlFP4Zt47_Ur0HBaGX1XbVjHBYcTlNJz4

Sleeping Bag Studios

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Indie Band Guru

https://indiebandguru.com/key-west-chris/

Check out my website too!

 https://keywestchris.com/

THANK YOU!!!!!

Key West Chris Rehm  😃 🎸🎸📕📖📚