History
The Red Rose Cafe Society came into being around the mid 1990's, when a small number of enthusiastic sailors came together to plan some special sailing voyages. While their primary interest was in sailing they sought something more than the usual SYC cruises. Something more profound and artistically satisfying than following a bunch of stinking power boats to a marina, gathering on the pier at sundown, drinking the demon rum and consuming a vomitus colored concoction, the ingredients known only to the manufacturer and known as a " covered dish". Not for the stalwarts of the RRCS.
The first trips made were to St. Augustine, Port Canaveral and to Key West. The annual excursion to the Miami Boat Show, these last seven years has always been a highlight of our calendar.
While the sailing was much enjoyed it was the evenings that were the " piece de resistance" of the voyage. Whether in a hotel room or gathered together on one sailboat, after a healthy meal of broiled fish and steamed vegetables the discussions would begin. The subjects were wide and varied, art, the old masters and the neo-impressionists, sculpture, literature, and such poetry, the romantics of the 19th. century and the mysticism of the Irish poets, the singing of patriotic songs. Oh! the joy we all felt as our sensitivities and emotions were released, the tears we shed when coming face to face with our feminine sides. How well remembered the night we first read Elizabeth Barrett Browning's, "How do I love thee, let me count the ways". The release of such pent up tender emotion, the unfulfilled longing brought all to tears. The music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Bach and Beethoven, the Elizabethan madrigals that were sung with such joyous abandon. And let us not forget the member using only his right hand and his left armpit could exactly recreate the melody of a bale of hay as it works its way through the eight stomachs and digestive system of an extremely large and hungry cow.
These experiences have in a large part molded the men you see here gathered before you, ladies and gentlemen please look upon these men. Please note that they are all tall and handsome young fellows, squarely and powerfully built, bronzed by the sun and the moon, and even copper colored in spots from the effect of the stars and with faces in which honesty, intelligence, and exceptional brain power are combined with Christianity, simplicity and MODESTY.