Why YOU Should Say YES to Your Next Opportunity w/ Joe Apkarian

This week we bring on, Joe Apkarian, the owner of The Pour House, Taco Baby, and The Eagles Dare in Downtown Wilmington. In this episode we talk about Joe's time in the military/ government (during COVID), his crazy trip through Morocco, and how his success is from never saying no to an opportunity. 

Joe's episode was filmed in The Eagles Dare event space, so if you're in Wilmington, NC make sure you go check it out for yourself. 

This week we were sippin' on Molort and PBR... there's no words, just go try it for yourself!

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Transcript

Chris: 0:31

Welcome back everybody. This week we are on location at the amazingly designed, beautifully restored Eagles dare esp per usual. You have your boy Chris Coston co-host Tyler, y'all. And this week we bring on the owner of the equals here. Hey, Joe. Up Cian. Thank you. I was just gonna butcher your

Joe: 0:52

last name. Yeah, no worries. It's like the awkward silence. You're like, I I need to say my name.

Chris: 0:57

Yeah. I've followed you for a long time. Okay. Just that doesn't sound creepy at all. Yeah, I mean, that's say that's what you gotta do. You gotta follow people. We're stalkers here. Yeah, no, I'm just kidding. No. On social media. Yes. Yeah. I, I've known Joe since poor house days when I thought I was in shape and did the hash runs. Yeah. I was like, oh, the good days. But I think that was like 15

Joe: 1:21

years ago now. It was well, or else is 10 years April 15th. Oh, wow. So that's great. Yeah.

Chris: 1:28

Well, that doesn't make, that makes me feel not as old as I thought I was. Yeah. So to be on brand this week we're doing something different. We're doing a something that's kind of famous here at the

Joe: 1:40

Eagles there. Yeah. We're doing we've got our seasonal cocktails and those are great, but one thing that we're really focused on pushing here is like the original cocktail. Yeah. Beer in a beer in a shot. And I'm from up north. So I, I grew up, I was born in Madison, Wisconsin. I grew up in Michigan. But my dad's from Chicago. Oh, okay. And there's a specialty specialty liquor spirit that's from Chicago. And it's called mall. Ugh. And it's Dirty Gems Sock Water from Chicago. I've never heard of it before, and I, I think actually Mallor says that about it. So, a Chicago handshake is a malort and it should be an old style, but we can't get that down here, but we're gonna do a PBR R so. Perfect. The the facial expression is always key to get but yeah, I'm worried. We've got, we've got about like six or six or so different types of boiler makers with a one we've got right now, A new one is the the Bojangles Hard Sweet Tea, and we've got, I just saw the first time. Yeah. And, and so you do that with a shot of peach vodka. Oh, and that's diabetes. Sounds like. I wasn't gonna say that. Sounds like it. We've got that. We've got a bunch. But this is, so when people come in, if they're, especially if they're industry, service industry or whatnot, or they're from the north, they see Malor and they're like, and of course they look at their friend and they're like, have you ever had Malort? And they're like, no. And they're like, well then, here we go. So, cheers. Cheers. Yeah. There we go. That's interesting. Yep. It happened. It's not that bad. PBRs never tasted so good. Yeah, right.

Chris: 3:10

You're breaking stuff. There we go. All right, David.

Joe: 3:16

So yeah, we, we've got a b bunch of bowler makers, and we've got some great, great seasonal cocktails that just came out from our bar manager Hailey. Nice. That's nice. Harley. Excuse me. Like Quinn Harley Quinn. Yep.

Chris: 3:27

Absolutely. There we go. That way I can remember it.

Joe: 3:30

See, it didn't taste bad. It's the, it's the, the bike. Yeah, it's, it's the back end. Oh. You're gonna be like at home later having dinner with your wife, and you're like, and you're like, yep, my Lord. There it is. It's like Char Tru. I mean the the yellow and green horn in are, are come to bite you. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yep. Just sticks with you. Hmm. It's all good

Chris: 3:50

though. So

Joe: 3:52

tell us a little about yourself, Joe. Yeah. I born in Madison, raised up in Michigan. Went to college at University of Wisconsin. Traveled around the world. Did, did some study abroad in Australia and lived in England for a bit. Came back and joined the Marine Corps. Oh, wow. So hilarity ensued. Yeah. No. I went to, went to ocs became an officer and did that then was in Japan for a bit, and went to Japan, traveled all around then went to, went to Iraq, was one of the first like route clearance guys that went and found roadside bombs. Yeah. Like engineer. Yeah. And then I went back to Japan and then went and did marine security guard duty. So I was working with the State Department or for the State Department, did that for two years, living outta the Middle East. I was based out of Abu Dhabi. And then at that point it was kind of like, do I stay in, do I get out? And that's right when Marsak Marine Special Operations was coming online. Yeah. And so I tried out for that and made it and Wow. Came here, did, did their their course and then was with second Raider Battalion. Okay. For a handful of years. And at that time, around that time different stuff happening, open, open loop for the officers mother wanted to come back to Mother Marine Corps. I was like, ah, I don't think so. They're like, yeah, you're gonna go and do this. And I'm like, nah, no I'm not. And at that time, it was right around the time I got the poor house and, you know, slipped and fell and found myself in the food and beverage industry and did the poor house for a handful of years. I did some contracting and then really, The pandemic. I was, I got stuck in, I got stuck in Peru one day. Yeah. When the pandemic broke out. So I was stuck in a hotel room with my business partner of the poor house who was does security work. And so he had to call up his people and be like, I, I don't know. And so we got stuck and at that time, the poor house was shut down. Right. And we finally got out, we got an embassy flight out. Eventually we got, you know, taken back and I came, came back to Wilmington, to the poor house being shut down. And like, for like a week or so, I was kinda like and then I got a phone call from a good friend Brian at contracting group. And I was like, what do you know about Columbus, Ohio? And I was like, I was like, nothing good. No, no, nothing good. And he's like, he's like, we've got a contract. It's with a company. That has developed the procedure to decontaminate N 95 masks. Oh, wow. So that whole decontamination program. Yeah. So it was done by a company named Batel, so it's a Darpa d o d think tank nonprofit science tied to the Ohio University. Okay. They developed the tech to do this. Well, then FEMA was like cool, we'll take 60 of those across the United States and like 60 sites. Let's go. Yeah. And then Batel was like, but we're like, they're the, they're the thinkers, not the doers. Right? Yeah. And so they brought in through some connections and they brought in a handful of Green Berets, a couple Raiders, a couple seals, smart couple of condos and they're like, this is the tech. And in between us making the, like revenge of the nerd jokes, you know, nerds, right. That then tell us what to do. So they won. But they, they show us this tech and they're like, And we're like, okay, cool. They're like, I want, we want you to develop a training doctrine and curriculum to teach people off the street to do this, and then we're gonna ship'em across the us. Geez. And so we're like, okay. And they're like, you've got a week. And so, and so we developed a full like week, you know, training package to teach people how to don biohazard suits, paper suits and put these, you know, safely take contaminated masks, appro, you know, appropriate, you know, procedures to load them into a, a 20 foot shipping container. And then we just nuke the ever loving shit out of it with some chemicals to clean it. But we have to do it properly and we have to teach. At first it was Ohio State kids. Guess I'm not going to school this semester, might as well. And then it turned into like, like, who are you? Like, and it was everyone from like moms to like people out on outta work, college students, just everyone. And they would we'd train'em, then send'em out. And as those first couples started to get online, we're like, cool. So who's QA N mm-hmm. And then Patel was like so me and one other guy were the first two to go out and start qa. Yeah. So during the entire pandemic, like for 13 months, I was, after we first started training, I was part of the first cadre to train and write the curriculum. Then I started traveling across the US nonstop. To like quality check the work being done. Wow. So like, like my Facebook was just like traveling here, traveling here, and people had to like, would come up and I'd, I'd say, I'm like, Hey, I'm doing work for the government. I'm working for Yeah. You know, doing contracting. And, but people sometimes wouldn't pay attention. Like, you're, you're being a hazard. You're danger, you know, danger. I'm like, I can't help you, man. But it was, but it was insane to travel the US during that time period. Right. On orders, like, I mean, I'd, we flew to, I flew to Hawaii. I was in, I was in Vegas. I went to, I was in Connecticut. I was, I was all over the country everywhere. All over the country. Oh, wow. And it was interesting to see and, and during that time we were able to keep the poor house alive through that money. Mm-hmm. Through a GoFundMe through a couple. Venues or avenues to, to raise some money to keep it. Cuz the poor house doesn't have a patio. It doesn't have food. Right. It doesn't have, you know, it's like if I had one more person to be like, you should do Hot Pockets, I'm like, shut the fuck up. I'm sorry. I dunno if you're allowed to swear or not. Yes,

Tyler: 9:12

absolutely. It's a drinking podcast. Yeah. Perfect.

Joe: 9:14

They're like, I was like, if someone says Hot Pocket to me one more fucking time. But so we couldn't Yeah. And even as it started to slowly open, we were a base, we're a basement dive bar. Like it's not until things were fully Yeah. Like thumbed up that we could open. And so it, it, it was over almost a year that we were shut down And through this work was able to keep it alive and my, my business partner's work. Yeah. We were able to keep it alive. And during that time was when I was like, I'm kind of one dimens. And I started looking around and there was a taco restaurant on up the street mm-hmm. That we really liked or that I really liked and I had a great concept to it. It was called Taco Baby. Yeah. I was like, that's a great name. That's a great name. And then he looked at the stuff and it's not bad. Like, I'm gonna, you know, give, give respect to my, my business partner that I, I ended up buying in with. Yeah. His name, his name's Joe as well. Yeah, yeah. Right. He had some, we've had him on the podcast Joe sent. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So Joe, Joe, you know, we started started up and I think he had still busy with his other restaurant. Mm-hmm. And everything like that. So it was, it, the love, the TLC wasn't happening tot taco babies, so they had it listed. And around that time I had gotten done with one contract and I went to go do another contract. And I was in Nashville for like two months working for Maroc. And we, at that time we were talking, they had it listed and I was like, well, how. How would I just buy in with you? Don't sell it. Ah, I buy in. So I bought in as a partner with him and took over as operating partner. We renovated the place. Kind of, kind of put a rebrand, could put a little bit of a feminist spin on it. Yeah. Which I think is great. And it, it, it harkens to, you know, kind of my upbringing with you know, some of the women in my life. That's great. And we, so we did that and as that's all getting up and running and this space here at the DARE has always been just a eyesore for, it's like, it's been vacant for years. For it's years. It's been, I, I guess we set up with drug money and drug investigation and stuff like that. Okay. And, and then the guys that bought it are gas station guys outta Lake Baltimore and Oh, no way. They bought it. And then like, I guess their engineers or architects were like, this isn't gonna work like for, for our concept of a gas station. And so they said rent it and the guys that they. Hired to rent it had a direct link to my commercial real estate guy. Mm-hmm. Made a phone call and I think we had it off the market. Like, I don't even know if it fully hit the market inside a lake. I was like, yes. Like, we'll figure this out, like do it. And you know, that was November. Yeah. November-ish of last year. Yeah. And we've just been working on it since, and we opened up in, when Hurricane Ian came through September 28th or so, and we had our grand opening on October 1st. And so we opened in the off season and we've been, you know, just getting, now we're getting ready and setting the stage for the spring and summer here actually fully operating. So that's, that's huge. That's awesome. That's kind of, kind of, I went from me, my upbringing to business or whatever, but that's kinda where I'm at right now. That's great. So

Tyler: 12:02

how did you fall into the poor house then? Kind

Joe: 12:05

of take it back a little bit. Yeah, for sure. So that was the bar that the guys that we were going through the. The MARSOC pipeline was called ittc, the individual training course. Yeah. And that was the place that we all drank, like for whatever reason that hole in the wall Yeah. Is where we all found ourselves. And when we would get like 20, you have 24 hours or 36 hours, like, okay, I'm gonna devote 18 hours of getting shit hammered drunk, and the rest will be for refitting and prepping for the next week. Yeah. Yeah. Like completely responsible, like, you know, wanna be Marine special operators. Right. But that's where everyone went. And you know, fast forward a handful of years as I'm starting to, like possibly getting ready to look out, get out or whatnot, knew the owner of poor House. And it was kind of one of those things like, do you wanna buy it? And I was like, yes. Like not thinking, just doing. Yeah. And I bought it and, you know, at that time not all the guys that used to drink down there were alive anymore, or not all the guys pet all their body parts. Mm-hmm. And it had, you know, it had developed into kind of the home base for. The, the marsak, like recon. Yeah. But in general, like at that time in 2013, it was just, it was just welcoming to Marines. Cuz things, a lot of things have changed. There was a while there where down here in Wilmington, like Marines were not welcome. Like really? They had private membership laws. Yeah. And it was used to keep certain people out whether it be military or, yeah. Like 100%. Wow. 100, 100%. Oh yeah. Do you have a membership? No. Oh. You gotta come back on Tuesday. Dude, I'm in the, I'm in the Marine Corps. I'm, I'm up on base. I'm not gonna be able to come on Tuesday. No. Or, or it's because they're POC and there's like, oh, sorry dude, this is membership only. And you're like, you're like, this is what is going on here. That's crazy. I remember, I remember when I first moved here in oh nine, one of the first, like, that got pulled on me and I was like, what? And I went to a police officer, I was like, is this, this is, this is discrimination. Like, and I was with my buddy who was a, a. A proud black man. Yeah. And he is like, yo, what the fuck? And I was like, yeah, what, what, what he said and yeah, like me private membership laws, you kick out, you can keep out it whoever you want. Yeah. Wow. So the poor house was that welcoming spot for, for Marines and, and especially the marsoc and recon communities. And you know, we've got pictures of, of, you know, some of our following above the bar and Yeah. We've done a lot of fundraisers over the years. And it's, I mean, it's, it's lipstick kind of pig man. It's a basement dive. It's a basement dive bar on the cape. Fear like, what's that smell? You're like freedom motherfucker. Right. You know, it's, it's funny cuz people come in like, it smells bad in here. I'm like, it's which you should smell. He smelled this when it was 2013. Like when we, when we finally did a deep clean in there. When we first got ownership, it was just like, guys are coming down. They're like, oh dude, I love it. You know, how was it taking over and cleaning? I'm like, you don't want to know. No, you don't want to know. So yeah, it was, it was great. And we've, like I said, we, we hit 10 years, April 15th. All right. That's

Tyler: 14:58

fantastic. Then also too, just having a basement anywhere on the coast in general, I'm sure that's just a,

Joe: 15:04

a pain with it itself. Yeah, I mean, we can, we can, there's different chapters we can talk about Hurricane Florence we can talk about pandemic. Yeah. We, we can talk about any number of things, but the Poor House has pretty much seen it all. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So

Tyler: 15:16

let's talk about Eagles there a little bit more since that's where we're sitting right now. Yeah, for sure. So you, you kind of talked about kind of how you fell into it and everything here too. So the concept in here looks amazing. Thank you. I love it. Where'd that come

Joe: 15:27

from? So, I'm really big into vintage stuff like Rocket Billy. Mm-hmm. I'm a huge Misfits fan. Oh yeah. So the Eagles Dare wear Eagles dare you know, references to a World War II movie. And then also the Misfits Band and then just the aesthetic. There's some great places and food and beverage in this town is growing. I don't want to mm-hmm. Disrespect other, other spots, but I, I own the poor house. It's like, turn the lights down low and throw up a, throw up a, a high life sign and hope no one sees that hole in the wall. Yes. You know, like, I love a dive bar. There is not that many places that has put a f an emphasis on the design portion. Yeah. And we wanted to do that here with me and my partners. And we brought in Morgan Dale from Deeply Rooted Interiors. Ah, okay. Who's just, she's amazing. And she was able to take, you know, my, my, our vision and work, you know, building bo concept boards and mood boards, and then just listening to me send her Pinterest messages or be like, what about this? What about this? And she's like, no, no, no, no, no, no. You can't do that. And learning, learning things like, oh, hey, that's not rated for commercial. Like you can't do that. Yeah. That light fixture you that and, you know, our general contractors also having a, a piece in that. But a lot of the design work came, or the ideas is, is all from what I wanted to, to do when I, I actually had room to design a place as opposed to a 49 person basement dive bar. Right.

Chris: 16:49

It only fits 49 people.

Joe: 16:50

The poor house. Yeah. I mean, like, are we talking legally? Yeah. 49 people is is on the, if if fire fire department's listening, 49 people are all that's allowed in. Right. But yeah, I mean I bet I think we can fit a couple more in there. So yeah. But legally that's what is on our that's what's on our, on the board. Yeah. It does feel like you could fit more people down there though. I think we've, we've gone a, I mean we fit some more down there, just like a seven ton, you know, we fit one. One. Yeah.

Chris: 17:17

Gosh, I don't miss sitting in any of those things. Nope, not at all. So you've been traveling, doing a lot of stuff. Yeah. Before I get to that, did you get the tattoo before you opened the bar

Joe: 17:30

or after? Oh, so, no, I got this after. This was maybe one of my oldest friends in Wilmington is a woman named Shannon. Her tattoo name is Slim. She does tattoo work at, she was at Meow Meow and she is now at invoke up on Oleander. Yeah. And she's one of my oldest friends and she designed some of the artwork for us and Oh wow. There's one that I'll show you the sticker that we have, that we've had on a shirt. I was like, cool, you can just put that on me. And then her husband, who's a very good friend, David he did the, the brand design for here and taco baby. Oh, neat. Oh, nice. Yeah. So I mean, kind of keeping it all, all together. Yeah. Yeah. I

Chris: 18:11

didn't know if that was like one of those I was traveling, you know, In the Middle East, or I was in Japan, or I was somewhere and I was like, let me get a tattoo. So

Joe: 18:19

I've got like, I have some really great, like meaningful tattoos, and then I've got the Spotify code of Shania Twain's. Man, I feel like a woman. Is that what's right here? That's, that's what, it's right here. Actually, I had a smaller version right here that faded out that you could, didn't work anymore. So I was like, no, gimme a bigger one. That's great. So I've got, I've got a bigger one right here. Oh, well I've got, you know these, that's like, from Sweden, that's from Norway or that one's from Norway. I got this in Armenia. Got some other places. Copenhagen, Japan. Oh, that's so cool. Yeah.

Chris: 19:15

I always work wonder when I see people's tattoos who've traveled. I'm like, did you get them while traveling or were you all

Joe: 19:22

America? Yeah, it's all, all over. I mean, from Chicago to Kurt Elkins is here in town. Amazing artist. Yeah. He's had an invoke You know, also everyone at mail mail's great. There's Big Al like there's, there's a lot of tattoo shops in this town. Mm-hmm. A handful of really great artists. You know, Sarah Peacock from art Fuel has Done's done something on my chest. So yeah, there's some great people around. But yeah, I like to do that. The one my brother and I did Norwegian, like we did the Scandinavian countries. Yeah. And we traveled around looking for specific artists, so Oh, that's neat. This one out over here is was in Oslo, Norway by a guy named Tony Blue Arms. Okay. That we went to Oslo to see him. Oh, wow. So like we walked into this blue arm studio and like, he's like, Hey, hello. And we're like, Tony. He's like, yeah, we're like we're from America. We came here to see you. And, and he doesn't return phone calls, he doesn't respond to dms. You have to go. Oh wow. And so we showed up and he's like, yep. He's like, go down the street, get a pack of smokes, get two, two, like six packs of beer. Lemme finish up with him. Let me clear my schedule and we're gonna tattoo later. And this dude, shit, like, dropped everything, finished his tattoo, and we smoked and joked and he tattooed me and my brother and he's like, so like, what do you, he's like, oh, so like Oslo. He's like, I was like, bro, we leave, like tomorrow we came for you. Like if this didn't work, we're gonna be like, fuck. And I was like, we, we leave for like Iceland in two days. And we went to the Summer Solstice Festival and in Reic. And we went to Reic Inc. And got a guy named Skip there. Great dude. Ta he's tattooed me a couple times now. When I go to Iceland, that's sick.

Chris: 20:55

Yeah. See, that's what I get when I, this is Chris's rabbit holes here. I'm about it. Let's do it. So traveling wise we were talking earlier about the people who randomly see you traveling. On social media. Yeah. Your last, I guess the biggest piece you did was Morocco.

Joe: 21:10

Yeah. So, pandemic, right? Yeah. Pandemic. My buddy and I beforehand were like, Hey, do you do you wanna go ride a motorcycle across Mongolia? And I was like, and again, like, as you've seen or have heard a little bit, like I'm not, not a big thinker. A lot more doer. So it was like, yes, yes. Not even a question. Let's go. Yeah. Let's, I was like, so now what? And he is like, there's a company, it's called the Adventurists. They're awesome. Mongolia was just getting started. And so they're like, we, we fell in on Morocco and you get a 50 cc motorcycle, which is, you get a lawnmower engine with, right. With wheelbarrow tires. Oh gosh. And you're, and you ride across an unknown distance to a, a place in the desert. And so it's a company called The Adventurous, and they do a, they do a Rick Shaw run. They do, they do a, like a cannonball run across Europe. These guys are, it's, it's an amazing fun time, but also you're like, there's gotta be a trail team. There's gotta be a follow team. There's something and there should be there, right? Should, coulda, shoulda. So like our, the meetup in Morocco talking with the guy that's the, the host and the guy that's organizing from the adventurous and I was like, Hey man, I was like, me and me. What ended up supposed to be like five of us turned out to just me and one other guy, which is perfect. Great friend named Clay. And he was also my medic on my he was the, the, the sarc, the special amphibious reconnaissance. Corpsman. That's a good guy with, yeah. Right on my team. So, we went and did that. So like, everyone was like, are you worried? I was like, I'm bringing my own medical provider. I'm, exactly. Anyhow, we, we go there and we talk to the, the organizer the night before we're having beers and having dinner, and I was like, Hey, man. I was like, we're gonna be fine. Like, we've literally done this in combat riding motorcycles and stuff like that. There's a follow team, right? Or there's, there's some form. And he is like, no. And I was like, fucking love it because like, looking at the people, because like, we're meeting everyone. It's like, Hey, have you ever rid a motorcycle before? They're like, no. I'm like, do you know any Arabic or any French or any and no. And I was like, cool, cool, cool. Hey, do you like, and just asking questions and like, me and Claire are looking at each other like, this is gonna be good. And like, the next morning we, we load up in a bus and we drive for like 14 hours out into the desert. And you say this like, you know, desert sand dune resort you say intense and like that next morning you get to meet your motorcycle. Right. They've got all these motorcycles lined up and you know, they're like, okay, now who's never ridden? And, and they give a little class. And then like me and like there's like 40 people. Yeah. There's like 10 of us, 12 of us that are like, we've been out around machinery and, and bikes. Yeah. Can we go over and start turning gears on our stuff? They're like, yep, cool. And the other people are like learning how to, like, this is how you gear shift. This is how you Oh no. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. And it's like, it's slow to the ground, so if you fall over, you bounce. I'm like, okay. And so like, you're, we're like scavenging like pieces to hook for a frame to zip tie. So like, I had like rebar, like zip tied off the back of my, the bike to like wrap, like tie, tie down straps. Yeah. And I had like a old med kit that I put on the front, which ended up being perfect. I had a speaker in there and I had, you know, like gloves and everything and. So you have one day to play around, get around, you're like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Got it, got it. You know, get you, you brought, you brought your helmet which I had an awesome guy here in town that makes makes custom hats, custom destruction and Oh wow, awesome, awesome guy. And you throw your helmets on and you ride around, it's like, cool. And then you have dinner and the next morning it's basically like, Hey, Marrakesh is that way. That's it. And they're like, figure it out. And, and now here's the thing, like some of these guys are like using like old maps and they're using, like me and Clay, we had a, we had a map and we were also had our Google, Google Earth and everything like that. We did stuff that, we did stuff that no matter what us bred into us, we did map reconnaissance the night before. Yeah. We, we set way points. We set lines like, Hey, if we don't make a T here at this point, we're stopping in this city. Or else you're sleeping out under the stars. You don't want that? Hell no. No. Or you're sleeping in like goat huts, like you're sleep like and you know, you're still keeping up with people cuz there's a WhatsApp group and it's Morocco. Like, it's, it's not that People are like, oh, you're in Africa. You're like, but it's Morocco, it's calm down, it's Morocco. Like Morocco's an awesome country. And it's also like basically touching, you know, Spain. Yes. Right. You know, so like you could get away with English, Spanish, French, Arabic and just, you know, point grunt. And if you're respect, if you're just a good traveler, you're fine. Yeah. So it's was not bad. However, people like in the group and you see, start seeing messaging and you, you're ping on towers. So they have their, they have you like on a, their, their website and everything and Yeah. And so like me and Claire just. And then there's some people that are just like fucking, like off to the right, like going and like, you see them, they're like, and they send messages and they're like, yeah, we went down this trail that in on a map from 1985. So it was like a good unimproved road. And I'm like, you're a fucking idiot. Yes. And they're like, so their, their bikes are failing, but it's self-induced. But also the bikes are pieces of shit. So like, I was going top speed, like 40 kilometers an hour, 40, 50 kilometers an hour, and like a back tire blue. We started fishtailing and like I was able to keep it up and we were thankfully in a city, and again, like people have no idea of what you're doing. Well they're used to like western based culture, right? Oh, I should go to a, I should go to a Napa or I should go to a auto AutoZone. No, man, you need to look for a place that's got like fucking, like hubcaps and weird metal out front and like what you're like, that's a mechanic, that's a welder or a mechanic. We're gonna find out. And if he doesn't, if he's not one of those, he knows where one is. He knows it. Yeah. And so like we've wield it over and we're like doing broken Arabic and clay clay's pretty good with his language. And like, next thing you know, we're going to a guy's house and like we're, he's like welding and he's popping this and like the, the wife comes out and she's feeding us and like, it's, it's everything you expect on a journey. But you know, for some of these people that that went, were on that like way outside their comfort zone. For us it was like, oh yeah, live off the local economy. Yeah. Survive. Yeah. Got it. And we had a blast. And so yeah, we, we made it to Marrakesh. We were like a day outside of Marrakesh and we're like, fuck it, let's shoot for co. Like let's shoot for Casablanca or let's go to the coast. Cuz the whole joke being like, we can't go any further. Like, we went too far. Right? And sure enough, like on the WhatsApp group, we took a picture with our tires, like, like on the cliff, like at the water and. Guys we I don't think we can go any further west. And like literally the, the, like the head guy was like, where the hell are you guys? And, and so we ended up, you know, then we looped it on back and came into Marrakesh. And then it's like a great finishing spot. Everyone comes in, you ride over, like the finish thing. They give you a beer, you chug it, and all you can, it's a blast. And they gave out awards and they gave Clay and I the, like, the Ironman award for putting down the most kilometers and Oh, that's exactly going the furthest. Cause like, you look on the map of where everyone went, it was like, eh, okay. Crossed over the mountains. Yeah. Okay. Marrakesh, you look at us like we crossed over and it's like, like went all the way up into the coast and then came back down and Yeah, they were like, you put down some miles. So yeah, I, I recommend they do one in Peru. They do one, they do one in Mongolia. I want to do that. That one is like austere. They're about to do one in the. They just put a post up on their Instagram and I'm like, but I don't, I don't like how, like I don't, there's, you have to do it in a developing nation and it's not disrespectful to developing nation or, you know, don't call it third, third World, you know? Yeah, yeah. But like, you need to be in a place where you can't be like, oh my, my bike broke down. Hey AutoZone. Right. So I don't know what their plan is for. They try to do one in Scotland, I think, and insurance can't became an issue. Cause they're, see that Inuring the bike and everything, but it's, it's the Adventurists. They're awesome. I definitely recommend'em. We'll, that'd be awesome. Put them in the show notes. Yeah,

Chris: 28:54

for sure. Right. Wish. I'm like,

Tyler: 28:56

that story's just whisking wisdom. Take the adventurists,

Chris: 28:59

Lord. I need to make a little bit more money and stash it up before I can just like disappear. Take that time off for a couple

Joe: 29:06

days. How long was that for? I think it was like a total of two weeks. Okay. So you're, well you are on a bike for like seven or eight days. Gotcha. It's like seven or eight days total. I think overall, like you're gone for 12 days, flights and everything like that. Right. Morocco. Like, you fly to Charles Dugal and come on down and it's, again, it was, it was pretty, pretty easy. And it was nice nice to do. The only bad thing was it was like in October, like we just opened. Oh yeah. And I was like, I was like, oh, we're gonna be open in July. We're gonna be open in August, we're gonna be open. And then, you know, my, one of my partners and, and you know, some of our management team here were just like, you have to go do this. And thankfully I went, everything was good. It's still standing. Yes. And you know, again, we're, you have, your phone has connectivity, if there's reciprocity with Right. American companies, like, you go in into Columbia, you go to Morocco, it's like$10 a day and your phone is like, it's at home. Oh, wow. So like, I think they thought I was gonna be more out of pocket. They're like, oh God, he's gone. Thank God. And you know, like as soon as I got on the ground, I'm like, how's everything going? You know, they're like, go on vacation. So, Vacation. Still getting texts from this guy? No. What is that? What's that? What's a vacation? Yeah. No. I don't know. Right? Yeah.

Chris: 30:15

I just came back, like me and my wife had our anniversary went out of town. I came back and the store group chat was like, oh, I need this. And I responded. They're like, I thought you were on vacation. I'm like, I, this is what we do.

Joe: 30:29

Yes. Unfortunately, no. I mean, yeah, you, you want to come in, especially when, if you're the team lead or you're the manager or like the owner, you're like, you know, they're like, oh, you need to like relax. Go enjoy your vacation. I'm like, I will enjoy my vacation knowing that things are going well here. Yes, we are now in, it's now 2023, like technology-wise, if you give me a thumbs up, like, Hey, this is going on this is blah, blah, blah, and my, my general manager, Tara is wonderful at that. She'll be like, you know, Hey, ding, ding, ding. Like, this is what's going on, blah blah, pop pu pushing information. So I'm like, cool. You know, and same thing here. Like she'll, she'll hit me up or she'll gimme a call and she'll tell me what's going on with the businesses or anything like that. And I'll be like, where do you need me? And she'll be like, I need you to go to Sam's Club and get shredded cheese for type of baby, or, or what or she'll or, you know, it frees me up to do other things. Yeah, right. To, to work on the next bar, work on events or, you know, burlesque or drag shows or divorce parties or fucking mess.

Chris: 31:30

So bringing up all of those events. The space we're recording in is a rentable Yeah. Spacing.

Joe: 31:37

Yeah. This is the Wanda Jackson room. And it com It's completely separate from the bar. It, it, it can't, it's overflow bar, like a busy, busy night. But yeah, as you can see, we can shut this door right here. Yeah. And this is a standalone event room. So we've had birthday parties, divorce parties we got 150 inch projector rate here. So, corporate can do offsites. Okay. So like, oh, hey guys. We're all, we're all gonna go to the Dare. I'm, I'm a fun business owner. We're gonna do our annual training and I'll have a beer while we, you know, see PowerPoints. Can't get the officer outta me too all the way. You know, so full, fully rentable back here. And we have different packages, and we have our, you have your own entrance, you have your own restrooms you know, you have your dedicated bartenders, your own audio visual. So you have your own music, you have a microphone. Wow. You know, this, this is actually opening in the off season. Things that help sustain us was a lot of rentals. We also showed the UFC fights, so all, all the numbered UFC fights are on that big screen back here. Oh, and I, I think we charged like five bucks. Like, I will be here. Yes. Can't you can't beat next time y'all. You'll see me. I mean, it's all, well, the last one, the last one was in London, so it screwed it all up. Cause it was like, right. Yeah. That it started like five o'clock and it was great. But the one before that, that had Derek yeah. Fighting and there was, there was a big old crowd here. I think there was uh, one of the Mm. A engines came in and, and there was like, there's probably Derek's. Yeah. I, I, I asked, I was like, is is Derek's gym in here? And I didn't get an answer, but there's like 50, 60 people back here. It's great. We got chairs. And yeah, like it's, it's, and it's been really great and, and it's been great to be received positively. People that have come in here, they're like, oh, this looks great. Yeah. And makes us really happy to, to hear. I

Chris: 33:11

like it. Like my I was saying earlier, my wife and my medic for those who didn't know, I was in the military for a little bit. Nothing crazy. But they came out for, I guess like your, Your parking lot

Joe: 33:24

party. Yeah. So we we weren't open yet, but it was Azale Fest, which is the start of, start of the season Right. Festival here in, in Wilmington. Right. And so we weren't open yet. However, I knew that we could shut off the building and do a special one-time permit through a nonprofit and host a party in the parking lot. Oh, nice. So we did. And I'm, I'm deeply tied to the Marine Raider Foundation. Yeah. And so we raised money for the Raider Foundation. We served beer, and we had my, my friend Weibo, who's got a, a food truck here, probably one of the best Southern, Southern Comfort food food trucks here in town. He's awesome. Had him set up doing ribs. It's right here on the parade route. So like, we have to do something. Yeah, of course. And so we did that and then when we opened, we did a parking lot party again for Rocktober Fest, our grand opening. We had some, some honky tonk guys from Nashville come out called Cowpoke. Oh, cool. We just had our first parking lot party, the season the St. Patrick's Day party. Okay. Which we had some great rock and roll. We had a band from another band from Nashville called Volk come out their they're cow punks. So yeah, I've heard of that. Oh, they're, they're awesome. And

Chris: 34:28

yeah. Are you doing one for

Joe: 34:29

this Azelia Fest? Oh, yeah. We are doing the Poor Man's Garden party. Yeah, there we go. So our, our buddy over here, the Goat and Compass Bar Scott Wagner, they used to do the Poor Man's Garden party. Yeah. They're not doing it anymore. Just, I think because the land next to it, they're not able to rent. Anyway, I called Scott up, I'm like, can, can I get the, the go ahead? And he's like, take. So we're gonna do the Poor Man's Garden Party. And again, if you don't know, was F Fest. There's the Garden Party and it's all Sears sucker suits. It's pastels, it's big hats. It's so for, for everyone else, we're doing the Poor Man's garden party. So throw on your overalls and cowboy boots and throw on your daisy dukes and put on whatever the hell you want. And just come on over here and have a beer and, and listen to some live music. I'm gonna find my jorts. Yeah. Yes. There you go. 1000000%. The stretchy ones or just like, no, like the tight ones where like you just, every time you bend over you're like, this could be, could be a disaster. Oh, it's gonna be a

Chris: 35:23

disaster. I only have them because my best friend got married and they were like, okay, so after we're sitting at her in-law's house, all the groomsmen and whatever are gonna wear jorts. And I'm like, are you joking? I'm like, nah. So, I have a pair sitting

Joe: 35:40

somewhere in there house. Oh, they're ready to go. Yeah. So we, we, we've got, we've got the band that played the Kyle Pokes are coming back from Nashville. Nice. They're playing. We've got some great local bands. We've got we've got some rockabilly coming up from Charleston, but that's the Poor Man's Garden Party the 14th and 15th. Okay. And then the 16th, we're doing our first drag brunch back here, so April 16th drag brunch. And then that's all fine tuning for starting May 5th. We're doing the free concert Friday. So it used to be, it used to be called Downtown Sundown. Yep. We can't, we can't call it that. Wdi. I, yep. Uh uh. No. All good. They, they, they have the rights to that. So we're like, screw it. Free Concert Friday. Yes. When is it, do you have to pay anything or like, read the, read the title. Yep. So we're gonna, it, it, it's better branding. I, I, I, David did the branding on that too. And so we, They used to do it on the, on Water Street, and it used to be great, like in the foots of the, the Yeah. The courthouse, you know, the Cape Fear River Battleship. It's not, it was not a lot of room. No, no, not at all. And then Hurricane Florence happened, right. And all the work and, and everything on Water Street that stopped. Then they put it in the parking lot over at like second and Dock. Yeah. Yeah. It went way downhill. It was, well, it's just, why is anyone here? Right? Yeah. And then they tried to do it last year on whatever street it was. That was by the the Wilmington Gentleman's Club or whatever. Oh yeah. That, yeah. Whatever old man white club. And they tried to do that on the street public, you know, working with the city. And it failed D D B A Downtown Business Alliance. They failed. Mm-hmm. And I'm not trying to be mean about this, but when that was happening, I looked at my business partner, I was like, oh, well they should just do it on private property. So we approached them. Yeah. This year like a handful of months back and we're like, Hey, we're we want to do this? We talked to W D I and they were like, yeah, cool. Whatever, whatever. Like they, they're, they've got live oak. They're all good. They're like, yeah, cool. Sounds, sounds great. And we approached D B A, you're the Downtown Business Alliance. I'm gonna go on a, I'm gonna go on a tear here. That's fine. Anyhow we approached DBA and we're like, guys, like, why don't we just do it in our parking lot? Like we have more square footage than when it was on Water Street. We don't have to worry about Really? Yeah. We don't have to worry about the city and permitting and all the, I have a liquor permit to my driveway. I'll submit our, our noise, our, you know, audio. Mm-hmm. You know, whatever. Yeah. I've already got it approved. It's already done. And I used to plan combat operations. I can do, I can do this. Yeah. I think you got it. And DBA A Molded Over and there's some great people in dba, let me, let me first say that. Mm-hmm. Andrea, Arthur and, and some others in there are fantastic human beings, and I think they're, they're moving d b A to towards a more beneficial organization supporting downtown businesses like their name. Right. Mm-hmm. So take that as you will. Right. And, and so I think they're moving along the right way. However, I think that there were some other players involved that didn't want to be a part, and they came back and they're like, we're gonna pass. We're they, they told me that they are they weren't allowed to do something that wasn't on City, on public grounds and wasn't city approved. And I was like, you're a private. Nonprofit or I would love to see that bylaw. I'd love to see that. And it's like, cool. You don't wanna do it? Fine. We're still doing it. Mm-hmm. And, and as we start to ramp up and do pressing press, media, whatever, I'm going to say you were approached. I told them I will do this for you. I will do this. You can say you get to feather in your cap that says we brought down, we brought back downtown Sundown. Yeah. DBA at the Eagle, you know, DBA Free Concert Friday at the Eagles Dare presented by Wilmington Air. Cuz they're presenting sponsors. But like you could get all of that feather in your cap. But, but no, you, you, you couldn't cuz you couldn't look that far down the road. And it, it, so there's organiz, organiz d wdi I has has been great. I think WDI is, they've turned a corner over the past couple years and are really supporting a lot of downtown businesses. DBA a, I think there's a, there's a good number of. There's, there's like two or three food and beverage in dba. Like there's, it's not representative of what really downtown businesses are. Interesting. And that's on, that's on that organization to be like, they don't even know what they do or who they support or what, what office space. Right. What, what would you say you do? The new president is currently trying to address that and work through that and develop it. So I think I wish them well. I'm still gonna talk a little bit of shit, of course, because it, it would've led, it would've lent credibility and, and a little bit of support to me while I'm trying to do this up here at Third and Red Cross. So like, for a people that don't know Wilmington, like there's the downtown downtown where Poor House is Slan Bar and Yeah. And, and that like, we're a little on this north development where, you know, the, the the concert, you know, the Live Oak Camp Theater and where Brooklyn Arts District is like things are moving and growing in this town, but like, Brother. We're like, guys, we're still up at Third and Red Cross. So like, unless we have an event here or something like that on a Tuesday or Wednesday night, like, ask my bartenders. It's, it's a little quiet. Yeah. And so like, we're trying to grow this, we're trying to do these events. We're trying to promote all of Wilmington, right. We're trying to promote, you know, the Broken Arts district fly Traps behind us. They got people, you know, come here before they go to the amphitheater or they, they come here for a show and they go downtown. And I think there's still old Wilmington people and, and mentality that's just like, oh, what, what the kids, that's what the kids want to do. Or, or is that what the colors are doing? Like, and it's old white money and owners and property owners and people that want to, that just don't, that don't wanna change. Mm-hmm. And, and I'll, I'll, I'll die on this hill that there's some great people coming in. There's great things of growth. There's, you know, again, DBAs new president, I think is taking it in the right way, but there's still organizations that are not for the actual betterment of downtown or Wilmington at large. Yeah. And I saw a lot of that when I was traveling around with the doing the homeland FEMA stuff cuz like, I'd be in city centers. I was in, you know, Albuquerque, New Mexico, fucking awesome. Albuquerque is banger. And seeing Colum, I will shit talk Columbus, Ohio till the day I die. They're, however, they're downtown, they're campus beautiful. There's murals, there's artwork, there's all these things. And then you come to Wilmington and then Wilmington wants to be like, we're gonna be just like Charleston. No, you're not. Not at all. No, you're not. You are Myrtle Beach's cousin. Mm-hmm. And Myrtle Beach at least knows what it is. Wilmington, you're, you're still, you're, you think you're gonna be a Charleston or a Charlotte or a rally. You don't even allow people to put artwork up on buildings. Get out. You can't get out of your own way. Yeah. And, and that's from, that's from the city governance on, on down to the non, some of the nonprofits that say they support downtown businesses. Now you don't, you support yourselves. Mm-hmm. I

Chris: 42:39

was thinking that the other day cuz we were in Charlotte over the weekend and I was like, it's so,

Joe: 42:45

it's different like vi vibrant, right? Yes. There's, there's stuff like, look at that wall. Look at like, I mean, you could see, you look at the artwork that I've got on my wall right there. I was gonna comment about that. I'm probably gonna get in trouble for it at some point. I mean,

Chris: 42:57

you did get

Joe: 42:57

in trouble. We got in trouble for the stairwell artwork of the poor house. That was, that was done by that guy. He amazing artist. So his name is Dean Jones stain. And he's in uh, Brisbane area and he's an awesome guy. And he originally was in the States and he did the poor house and that's when it was all red down in the poor house. Right. And while we were shut down, they, the city came after us for our, our artwork in the stairwell. And I had to lawyer up, fight it. I had to, they had hearings that I had to VTC into. And by vtc I meant my friend there with like my iPhone going like this. I had to take time outta my, my like, government contract job to fly here for the final one, which ended up not going anywhere. We ended up suing the city so that the city attorney could take it and we could go into arbitration. And what was settled was we got to keep two of the three walls, so the walls, you can't see the wall on the side of the building. Okay. We had to cover up, so we had to paint it red. Well, no, let me back up. We're like, okay. Got it. Ooh, that's a settlement. We kind of won all, all good. What color, so like, what do you want me to do? You want me to take it back down to the original color? They're like, we don't care. I was like, motherfucker, so why does it matter? I painted, so I painted it red, so I covered up the tail of this snake that Steam had done like this giant snake down the stairwell. And so now it just, you had like the head at the bottom of the stairs and you don't have the body, and we painted red, but we've since upgraded and did some renovations inside. Steam came back from Australia and he painted the courthouse and he painted that mural and he did a mural on the side of the Eagle's dare as well. Oh, that's so cool. And, and, and, and with all of that at Taco Baby, we had a great local artist, Nathan Vek do a giant mural above taco. That we then got a grant awarded to us for Beautification by W D I. So wdi they come and they're like, oh, we wanna give you money for this refurbishment and, and, and this and this artwork and, and everything. I was like, and this is like still ju just fresh, like af like just a little bit after this resolution on the the stairwell. And I was like, oh man. I was like, you gotta be kidding me. So like, they'll take me and they, it was like thousands of dollars, like lawyer fees and everything to fight the city on that and then like queue up Taco baby and doing this artwork and then this wdi. I was like, Hey, we wanna give you money. I'm be like, yes. And again, that's also a testament to the change in w D I leadership, right? For sure. W D I is awesome. They're doing great stuff. And it, and it started with them being like, Hey, we wanted, we wanna present you with some money for, for the money you spent to, to do that. I was like, that's great. Fantastic. I'm gonna laugh a little bit about it. And then when we did this place up here, there was, it wasn't that bad. We don't really have anything crazy up here yet. You know, but, but yeah. I, I think we're getting there. But like you said, you know, you go into different cities in different towns, you see vibrant art and culture. Yeah. How We don't have a Michael Jordan mural downtown. I've been wondering. That is criminal is, and there's a dude, is he in Greenville or Greensboro? Jacks he did the, he did the mural. It's at New Anthem. Yeah. Yeah. Dude, that, dude, that dude needs to do a Michael Jordan piece on the parking structure downtown. That period sick there. The fact that there's not a Jordan mural in his hometown is fucking criminal. Criminal. Good point. Yeah. And what, like, he'd be like, oh, what the, the, the kid with the shoes that did the bee ball thing. No, I don't, not not my town. Not my town. That's my southern girl right now. Not my town. Like, dude, get the fuck out of here. That's

Chris: 46:42

what people come here, they come here for one Tree hill in mj. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there's a few other things, but I'm like, I never even thought about that. Like, because Wilmington, I think of, and I'm like, you're right. They, it has the, we want to be Charleston where there's not artwork on the walls and it's like all Woody toy. And I'm like, but it's not like you just need to embrace like we're, we're the middle child. We're not Myrtle Beach. We're not Charleston and Charlotte. Like we just need to embrace that. They just need to embrace Wilmington City, Wilmington.

Joe: 47:15

Drink in the streets. No. Yeah. Hundred percent be your, be you. Yep. Be you, but like, why does it have to be like old, old, south mentality? Mm-hmm. Embrace some new stuff. Like, I, I don't, I just, I don't, I don't get it. And I, I look forward to growth and, and more, I mean, look at Wilmington, more money is coming into this talent. Like the, it's growing. Mm-hmm. Like, it is happening. Some people are kicking and screaming, like, as it's happening. And don't get me wrong, there's legit, there's like infrastructure development that needs to happen and there's things that are gonna be like, oh man, that sucked. But also we needed that waterline to be upgraded. Yeah. You know, but there's, there's still this mentality with some of the people in positions of power that they're just like, what do they wanna do? They wanna, they wanna put color and art and like, if it's not, you know, like, From 1950s, they've got a crumbling facade of a movie theater. That's not even the movie. The the building is down. Yes. Now granted, I think they're finally getting forward on doing something weird. It's from the mayor's son or Mayor's Brothers Construction group. Weird not talking shit. Mayor Sao. But I mean, at least something's happening, but like, up until recently, there was a while there that, that the, the facade of the movie theater was starting to crumble. Yeah. And like you couldn't, they wouldn't let you touch that in that, that the historic preservation commission, that's who I dealt, battled with. Right. Are still in control of parts of downtown. And they won't let you do a thing without submitting like all this paperwork and all these things. They're like, guys, why? Like, what are we? And, and if you've seen, do you have or do you follow the Facebook groups of the historic, like Wilmington? Mm-hmm. You know, half the places on Wilmington, like Front Street and On Market were all like skin joints. No. Oh, hell yeah. Go do some research. Duck and dive. Duck and dive. Used to be a, a triplet, like a naughty bookstore. Oh my God. Uh, Duck Dixie Grill. Dixie Dixie Grill. Or the place next to it was like a topless dancing bar. So like, like let's, they're they're trying to hide that, right? Like, we're gonna harken back to old history. Not that har, not that part. Just kidding. You gotta

Chris: 49:26

go back far enough that you passed what they don't like and before what they

Joe: 49:31

really don't like. Right. Well, I mean, so how far are you going back, you're going back to where to where, I mean, again, this, we're in the south, like, it's gonna tie to racial shit. Oh, that's for sure. I mean, like what, what market street, what, what market are you talking about? You know, so like, I, I don't know. And again, there's parts of like, let's remember history, but like the whole, like, we had the, those Confederate statues. Hell yeah. We took'em down. Fuck those guys. Especially considering they know what that like, that was done by the children of the South. Mm-hmm. And it was done during Jim Crow area, era as for as parts of, in like, intimidation to the, the colored community in the area. So it, and they're like, no man, it's part of history. Shut the fuck up. So like, when people started to tell me that I, I'm sorry, I'm championing right now, dude. I'm going on Ontario. I, I just think that when people start talking about like, oh, well we just want remember what it was. I'm like, which part? Cuz they're like, there's some ugly parts. We can remember it and we can read about it and we can reflect on it. Mm-hmm. But that doesn't mean I need to look at a fucking Confederate loser statue. They lost. That was one of the parts

Tyler: 50:38

that you touched on too. It's, it's all about intention for me. Yeah. And when, and then when you find out what the intention was behind things, you're like, ah,

Joe: 50:46

okay. Right, right. You wanna do a cemetery for the confederate, you know, soldiers that were lost. Absolutely. Let's respect that. Sure. Oh, hey, we wanna put a statue up that's gonna intimidate local peoples of color. Okay. No, no, I'm good. So I don't, I don't know. I, I, I love this town. There's some great frustration in this town. There's beauty, and I think there can be more. And I just think that a lot of times people, people use excuses to be like, well, we're doing this because it's, we're, we're prete preserving our history and our heritage. No, you're not. You just don't want new shit to come in. You don't like hiphop, right? You like old country sy you like symphony, right? And you don't want to be a person that l Hey man, you know what? I like some country music. You know what? Sometimes I feel like I need to put on some nineties hip hop sometimes. Sometimes, man, I'll put out some of that, some of that cow punk, you know, like they're the, that's what I feel all these younger people are like, like we like, we like all these, a bunch of random shit. I like all this random shit. Like, man, I will watch a Marvel movie. And then, you know what? I'll go watch a art house flick and cry. Yeah. Hell yeah. Like I'll go, I'll go listen to some spoken word. I'll go like, I'll go see fucking, you know, the misfits in concert mm-hmm. If I can ever afford it. And, and, and I think that some of these people that we're dealing with are just like, no, it's country music all the fucking time. Or else, or it's, it's only symphony. Like, and they just can't open their aperture. It's so funny,

Tyler: 52:12

like talking to someone who knows that type of what's going on downtown. Cause that's, that's typically where you hear a lot of it. Right. Because we're, Chris and I used to work at the same place and one of my first questions I would ask anyone that walked into that store is, where are you? Because 99% of the time it's somewhere other than here. Right. And I always like, with that background of mine, I'm thinking like, oh, Wilmington's like this melting pot. But then when you hear of the people that like, have control of Wilmington, it, you don't

Joe: 52:42

feel that same vibe. Yeah. What, so it's still the old, old, the old guard are still in control, right? Yes. And, and a point that someone's brought up to me is like, cool, so what are you doing about it? Are you just gonna sit on a podcast and bitch or are you running, are you running for council? And, and you know, so, but again, there are some people, you know, running four seats that are Yeah. That are, you know, joining D B A and, and trying to change it from the inside. So I mean, I think people are doing that. Everyone wants it to go faster. Right. But I think there's great things happening, I think mm-hmm. Not to, not to make this podcast in just an absolute just bitch session. Which I'm sorry if I made it that way, but I think there's a lot of great stuff happening. Yeah. And I think. They are slowly, mindsets and concepts are changing. Just, I just want it to go faster.

Chris: 53:29

Yeah, I was saying that too, like I wish it could go faster, but I also understand, I'm like, sometimes it takes a little bit.

Joe: 53:37

Right.

Tyler: 53:38

Something I want to throw out there too, because I think Chris and I are gonna do it this year just because we talked about it last year, we decided not to. But we, we think we're gonna go down this alley of people, not politics type of thing, where we'll have people from both sides come on. And I think where I'm going with this to kind of tie it all together is vote in the primaries. There's people on both sides that want this stuff. Right. And you're not gonna get a lot of good change unless you have people from both sides coming together to get this done.

Joe: 54:06

I, I absolutely, man. Because I mean, there's gonna be things that like, look, and then also like that you, we can agree on city stuff. Yeah. And then like on a national level, like we might disagree on something. Mm-hmm. You know, or, or, or military guys. Might disagree on something like it's finding the places where you can connect and, and find common ground on. And I think that's part of the problem that, again, we're looking at national level politics where it's just like, we're over here, you're over here, and there is no fucking in between.

54:34

And

Tyler: 54:34

which is crazy too, when you're voting for city council, the national politics makes zero difference on what's gonna happen in your

Joe: 54:40

downtown. But, but you're one, but you're one party or the other, right? And so it's like, oh, he's Republican. He's he's fucking this. And you're like, no, I'm, I'm not. But mm-hmm. Again, like you can't even say you're whether you're a Democrat or Republican or more centrist or, or, or neutral or whatever. And just having that connotation, you know, being military, right? Like, there's times where you meet someone, they're like, oh, you're in the military. It's like, what? You like love, love guns, and you you hate, you hate gays. And you're like, where'd this come from? And you're like, what? No. Where'd that come? What? No. It's like I host a drag brunch. How? My car, like we had people say that. I had a friend hit me up and God bless her. She was just like, Hey, I just wanna let you know that on Reddit apparently Eagle to Dare is a proud boy hangout this. I got this message while my friend was drawing. Christmas decorations on our windows and was drawing the star of David in a Menorah. And I like, oh, and, and like the, and the, yeah. Yeah, I said it right. Yeah. Uh, But she was like drawing the star of David, and like I took a picture of that, sent it to her. I was like, I, I, who's that? I don't know what you want me to tell you. Like, everyone has like, the, the Reddit, you know, Reddit is, say you'll go down

Tyler: 55:50

some

Joe: 55:50

weird rabbit holes, weird rabbit holes. So yeah, like we can, I don't know, there's, there's always, someone's always gonna have something to say, so always.

Chris: 56:01

But because we're gonna totally just pivot. Perfect. So what are you doing here? What would you deem success? Like, what would be your definition of

Joe: 56:11

success? Definition of success for me. Okay. So I can do like the, the one is, is having a enough successful bi or have enough passive income. That I don't have to be hands on. Mm-hmm. That's successful to me, that I can, I can say like, Hey, let's, let's go to Iceland for a week. Right. That, that, to me, that's being successful. Right? Yeah. On a, on a snarky level, being successful, to me being a small business owner, is going into a bank and having the banker say, Mr. Arian, how much do you want for a loan? That, to me, is successful because whether we're talking about poor house or taco baby or Eagles dare navigating financial institutions to get money to do a small business, to fulfill your dream is so difficult and has caused so much stress that, again, on a, on a snarky level, and I've said, like to my father, I've said to like, my, my friends, I'm like, I will know. I have made it. When I walk into a bank and they say, Mr. Arian, like, what, what, what can we do for you? As opposed to what I, I have been doing, and probably will for another handful of years, be like, P, please, please. I, I my firstborn, I will give it to you. Just mm-hmm. Please. I want to let me fulfill my dream. And it's fucking, it's horrible man. So like, people that are like, oh, you wanted to be a small business owner, are like, do you have any recommendations or any advice? I'm like, don't, don't. Yeah, that sounds dumb. That's successful to me. Successful to me is having more free time and, and having a banker tell me, oh, what can I do for you?

Tyler: 57:45

My last question for you would be, if you could tell your younger self one thing, what would

Joe: 57:49

it be? I would've probably suggested that I had enlisted instead of gone an officer. Whoa, really? One, I was class of 2000. Oh, oh, okay. So I would've been, I would've been just out of probably my, you know, mos school around then when nine 11 hit. Also just people that I've developed friendships with, and they're officers enlisted all, all the same. But one thing I got a lot in my military career was like, Hey, sir, were you, were you a prior, were you enlisted before? I'm like, no. Why? And they're just like, ah, just kind of the way you talk. And I mean, like, look at my tattoo. Like, I got out and I started to get tattooed. Right? Yeah. I and my, both my brothers, I, I've, my brothers are twins and they both enlisted and one then became an officer. And that, so they both were, were oh three infantry men. And just looking back on it, and I look at stuff that I like to do and I wanted to do I think maybe I should have probably enlisted but I'm not gonna regret it. No rag rats, of course. No, no rag rats, right? No, yeah, of course. I do have no regret tattoo on my back. Yeah, I would, I would recommend that. And then I would I would probably also say stop and think a little bit more before you just make some knee-jerk reactions decisions which I've, I've done over my years. So just to, just to think more, you know, whether we're talking about planning out your, your tattoos or you're getting outta the military, or do I want to go to college? Do I want to do this? Do I, do I need to break? Do I wanna break up with this girl or do I wanna marry her? Just in general in life, maybe, maybe to stop and think a little bit more before you just jump into a decision I like, which is funny cuz

Tyler: 59:27

that would be the opposite of what mine is because I feel like I think too much before I make an

Joe: 59:32

action. Oh, Crip crippled by.

Tyler: 59:33

Yeah. Well I like to call his paralysis by analysis. Yes. So I'm just saying there, analyzing every nth degree of something, but I think if I can have a little bit more just like, fuck it, let's do it. But I think there's a

Joe: 59:44

good, a good marriage in between finding, finding that 80% solution. Right. Exactly. Yeah. I like it.

Chris: 59:50

So, cuz we're coming up at the end, obviously. Do you wanna shout yourself out or

Joe: 59:56

any of your businesses? I mean, I think I've, I've just gas, you know, gased myself up for the past hour. No, I mean, the poor house at 1 0 3 market. Taco baby restaurant at 1 25, grace and the Eagles Dare at 4, 4 20 north third. And we were talking about that. That's awesome. We're doing, you know, our free concert Fridays coming up starting May 5th with Signal Fire. Oh, sick. And Michael Kins Akins. And then we've got like Guns N Roses, tribute band for Memorial Day. We've got a Kid Rock tribute band. Nice. We've got some like Mid Atlantics playing. We've got pleasure Island. We've got some awesome bands. We've got, you know, again, we've got some Rock Ability, fantom, Playboy are playing. But every Friday during the summer, come to the Eagles Day and start your weekend, start your night out, whether it means you're just with your partner and you're like gonna go walk up to three 10 and just have dinner and maybe go to Palate or it's you and the boys and like you start off here and off to Barbery and off to the Husk and, and Poor House. Or, or you're going to the concert. But like, I want Fri people to start their Friday weekend at the Eagles Dare with Free Concert Friday. I like it. Perfect.

Chris: 1:00:59

Great thing is this episode comes out right before Azalea Fest. Yep. So definitely come check out the Poor Man,

Joe: 1:01:06

poor Man's Garden Party.

Chris: 1:01:08

I'm excited for that cuz I definitely can't afford it to the party.

Tyler: 1:01:12

They're not even selling tickets

Joe: 1:01:13

right now. Are they? Already is already sold out. No, it's only for,

Tyler: 1:01:16

Sponsors, which I

Joe: 1:01:17

don't get that, but Right. It, it's, it's funny because I know all the food and beverage, all the bartenders that go bartend, that, that's a whole, that's a whole experience unto itself. But then also knowing the people that are there. And again, like, don't get me wrong, do I like to play dressed up all the time? Usually not in pastels and Sears suckers. Right. But I, I mean, I've never been to it. It looks like it's just a lovely time. I would like for a place that is more for the boys, like Right. And and for the, yeah. For all of us that just wanna be like, cool man. Y'all go do that. I'm gonna throw on some shit kickers and overalls and a cowboy hat and I'm gonna drink some beer. Listen to Misfits and maybe listen to some, some, you know, bluegrass and, you know, Hok Honkytonk, but Nok. Yeah. We'll play that too. You know how that works.

Chris: 1:02:02

But thank you Joe for popping on. Yeah, man. For

Joe: 1:02:04

sure. And a note done and letting us set up in this beautiful venue of yours. Yeah, absolutely, man. I'm glad you guys were able to come. Yeah, it was either here or the poor house. Oh, that place. The only thing, the only thing I do at Poor House now is pooping the girls' bathroom and, and I host sex toy Bingo on Thursdays. There you go. Sex toy

Chris: 1:02:20

Bingo on Thursdays. He's a giant

Joe: 1:02:23

black dildo. It's a big, his name is Ramone. Put some, put some respect on that name.

Chris: 1:02:28

Oh, thank you so much. Yeah, man. But yeah, like us. Follow subscribe if you can and we'll see you in the next one.

Joe: 1:02:34

Awesome. Cheers. Cheers. Thanks guys. Thanks.