Brian: 0:11

Well, welcome back to the Vero Beach Podcast. This is part three of our interview here with Steve from the Blue Agave. Well, I love, I love part three, Steve, because we get to talk to you about what you love about Vero. So let's just start off right there. What do you love most about Vero Beach?

Steve: 0:26

Uh I like the small, quaint town that it is. Uh again, uh I've been coming here for 20 years plus because my brother's been living here. And it's just amazing, you know, seeing how much it's grown in the small time that I've been here. Um, I love the community. Uh a lot of great people here. I've got to meet a lot of good people. Uh, met people that have lived here for their whole life. Uh that's really interesting when they start talking and telling you stories about, oh, you know, after US one, there was nothing. You're like, really?

unknown: 0:51

Yeah.

Steve: 0:52

And then like how the big did them all was a big deal for them. Like, wow, we have them all. Like, yeah, so what? Everybody has them all. But for them, it was, it was, it was definitely different. But you know, the beach here is fantastic. Uh, you know, a lot of people obviously talk about beachside and it's the name Vero Beach, but I think that's just so cool. That that quaint little beach town, like it's lost in time. And the other thing I like about here, uh I lived in Fort Lauderdale, and I think one of the things that didn't ruin Fort Lauderdale, but they put high rises after high rise after high rise. Of course, that creates traffic and this and that. But yeah, that's what keeps it kind of keeps everybody grounded. I like, you know, the old, I'm trying to think the right word here, where it's like an old beachy town, quiet. Here's a perfect example for you. So my brother has uh uh three boys, but when he was younger, you know, he used to call it Zero Beach. Because there's zero to do, right? So I'm like, oh come on, it's beautiful. Say you're old, that's why you like it. But so he moved away as soon as he got out of college, obviously. Didn't want to be in Zero Beach anymore. But what's funny is once you you come back and you have children or you get older, you're like, oh, you know what? I I missed that. I want to come back. And you see a lot of the people that grew up in this town, they go away. They absolutely can't wait to get out of Vero, but then they come back. Yeah, and there's so many people that I meet do the same thing. They say, Wow, yeah, you know, we went here, we went to Fort Lauderdale, we lived here, you know, uh Arizona, it's all different places. All over the country, yeah. All around the country. And then they say, you know, we kind of missed our little hometown.

Shawna: 2:18

Absolutely. So many people we meet say the same thing.

Brian: 2:21

Yeah, we had never even heard of a zero beach that phrase until after we moved here, and then we started hearing it, and we're like, really? Like, there's so much to do around here. But you're right. Well, and then, and I guess we don't realize it as much because we're like 9:30, we're ready for bed.

Steve: 2:39

Oh, by 9:30, 10 o'clock, uh, it's like Thanksgiving. After I eat the turkey, I'm done.

Brian: 2:44

Yes, exactly. Oh, and I didn't know about the high-rise things either until after we moved here. I love that.

Steve: 2:50

No, there's only one high rise in this town. Uh, and they they built it, and then that's when they they put a kibosh on it's um Costa's not a high rise, is it?

Shawna: 2:57

No, no, not Costa.

Steve: 2:58

They know more than three stories. So you're allowed to be three stories in Ohio. So the Vero Beach Hotel is three stories, Waldo's is I think two or three stories high. That's a cool place, too. I don't know. Yeah, it is with the with how they built it with all the driftboard. That's a lot of a lot of character for Vero Beach. And then, of course, we gotta talk about Vero without mentioning the Dodgers. That was a big thing in this town back back in its day, just from a lot of people that I've met that you know that are a little bit older. They they miss bringing their kids to the game or go and catch a you know, you get to see upcoming stars and stuff like that.

Brian: 3:30

Is that by the airport? Is that yeah, yeah, that's what I thought I heard.

Steve: 3:33

Uh Jackie Robin Stadium now it's called, but it I forget what it was before that. But that's important. You know, I I grew up, you know, Massachusetts, and we used to go to small ball fields, and that's where you get to see the kids that are up and coming. So it's kind of cool. But I I wish you know they still had Dodger Stadium, you know, the where the Dodgers played here.

Brian: 3:49

But I have to say, like, I'm amazed of how big the high school football games are here.

Steve: 3:54

Yeah. So uh I uh funny I should say that. I was just talking to someone the other day uh who's an alumni with the and they were saying they were number one in the state. And I'm like, oh, I figured, well, they're division two or three is like no on the whole state. So yeah, that's wild. Wow.

Brian: 4:10

If you've never been, anybody's listening, you should definitely go. I mean, they're the field is incredible. It is beautiful. Uh they even have a streaming service that you can actually watch it on stream if you can't go there. We do that.

Steve: 4:21

Do you have a Friday night? Uh yeah, YouTube has it on there so you can put it on the TVs, which is cool. That way people can stay in here. They don't want to go to the game.

Shawna: 4:28

Yeah.

Steve: 4:29

Uh they get a great crowd for those games.

Shawna: 4:31

Oh, yeah, they do.

Steve: 4:31

Yeah. And even when they travel, they go out of out of the town.

Brian: 4:34

They have a good good.

Shawna: 4:36

I didn't know.

Brian: 4:37

A bunch of people that follow them. Uh Steve, like when you're not running a restaurant, uh, where do you like to relax or recharge around in Vero? You know, I like to go to the other restaurants in town.

Steve: 4:45

Um, you know, and just go out and I like to see what other restaurants are doing, what they're doing differently. And that's the fun part for me.

Brian: 4:51

So with knowing like uh you're talking about how you know people come back and you know there's been changes and stuff. What's been the biggest change you've seen like in the Vero Beach area itself?

Steve: 5:01

I think the a lot more growth. So Vero Beach has already grown out. So you really can't do you gotta knock something down and put something back up. But out west of town, that's where I live, uh, where point west, you know, I you're seeing a lot more people buying these old homes that, you know, with the orange, you know, with five, five acres of land, horses, things like that. That's starting to become a lot more populated, which is good for us because hopefully there's not much out there. There's the mall, and they've got some some some of the bigger chain restaurants out there, like Olive Garden, Outback, and things like that. But again, going back to shopping local, if they could just come down to downtown and support the downtown people, beachside means a lot. Means a lot for us, obviously, and the people that work for us. Yeah, yep.

Brian: 5:39

Well, this has been a we've we've really enjoyed the interview with these dudes. So thanks again. Thank you. Yeah, definitely. Well, if you guys have enjoyed this episode, make sure you leave us a review. That helps other people find your local podcast here. And be sure to share it with your friends. And don't forget to stop in here at Blue Agave, right here in Downtown Bureau. You're not gonna regret it.

Shawna: 5:59

So, with that, catch you next time, neighbor.