09/05/2026
Coconuts Bar & Liquor Store. The Liquor License, came from the Oasis Bar in Marathon, with the help of the owner, Joe Rabito, a longtime friend. Meri-Lynn’s folks, Ron and Betty Rondeau, along with our local bankers, who helped us arrange payments we could work with, and local contractors and architects, we were able to pull it off. To say we were overextended is an understatement. Our first hurdle was to order stock and be able to pay for it within two weeks! We continued to play music for the first year or so up and down the Keys. Meri-Lynn was pregnant, so this time in our lives was, to say the least, challenging.
When we finally had our grand opening at the end of February, 1983, our Piners turned out. Business was good and remained good. It became the Hub of the construction trade which was booming here at that time. The Nut was much smaller than it is now, much smaller. So eventually, we went back to the bank, rearranged our Loan and build a roofed in deck, office and kitchen. That went well and a few years passed, and then we went back to the bank to extend the roof and deck area again. We needed a stage and pool tables to give our folks some entertainment. We had been playing at Coconuts occasionally all along but now we could pull in other bands. During this time we had two children, continued to play music , and Joe also worked the bar while Meri-Lynn did the office work/book keeping. There is so much that took place along this journey it would be difficult to do a good job sharing it. Remember the Keys were a very different place back then. Much of the wild- west atmosphere has been put to rest. The Keys have grown way past anything we could have ever imagined. Over these many years, we two and our excellent staff have raised many thousand’s of dollars for people in need. None of that would have been possible without this great island community and the wonderful people that settled here. Today we are serving the grandchildren of people we first opened our doors to. We love our Island Home and still can’t think of anywhere else we would rather be! We wish to thank our “Piners” for always showing up and helping us to continue to live the dream. From the bottom of our hearts, Thank you all and may God Bless us all … Joe, Meri-Lynn and the Coconuts Family…
