Pedro Los Dos is back in town. He’s First Mate on The Valparaiso, an oil tanker out of Coos Bay, Oregon. He’s here in Benicia for some R&R so he checks into the Union Hotel and heads for dinner at his favorite waterfront nightspot, The Naked Oyster. He’s got a Rib Eye Steak in mind, a Loaded Baked Potato and 2-3 Vodka Tonics in the course of dinner. He’s looking forward to no serious thinking for the next two weeks.

The Naked Oyster

The Naked Oyster
is a state of mind.
It’s a little fictional bar
on the Benicia waterfront
where you can go for lunch,
dinner, and a drink.
There’s a small stage
and a band in the back
that on Wednesday nights plays,
“Big Noise from Winetka.”
Tom Stanton told me,
“I wanna have drinks with you
at the Naked Oyster.”
I said,“Tom, it’s a state of mind.
Any place we are IS
the Naked Oyster.
We can start at The Rellik
and go downtown.
End up at Rosanna’s for poetry,
coffee, and desserts.”

I’m the spirit
of the Benicia waterfront,
old shipwrights and
ghosts of ferry captains
used to be found here,
along with cousins of early
Pony Express riders, foggily
or in the clear imagination
of my mind –
A combination of sea salt
and old ship timbers,
waves lapping against
support pilings,
aromas of seafood grilling
and garlic ever-present,
vodka-tonics sliding down
shiny bars where lipstick and roses
out for the evening
meander in darkened corners.
©Peter Bray 2/11/2018 & 6/28/2018
All rights reserved

 Absolutely Sweet Marie by Bob Dylan

Well, your railroad gate
You know I just can’t jump it
Sometimes it gets so hard to see.
Now I’m sitting here beating on my trumpet
With all these promises you left for me.
But where are you tonight, Sweet Marie?

Well, I waited for you when I was half-sick.
I waited for you when you hated me.
I waited for you inside of the frozen traffic
When you knew I had some other place to be,
So, where are you tonight, Sweet Marie?

Well, anybody can be just like me, obviously.
But then, now and again, not too many
can be like you, fortunately.
Well, six white horses that you did promise
Were finally delivered down to the penitentiary.
But to live outside the law, you must be honest.
I know you always say that you agree
Alright so where are you tonight, Sweet Marie?

Well, I don’t know how it happened,
but the Riverboat captain, he knows my fate.
But everybody else, even yourself
They’re just gonna have to wait.
Well, I got the fever down in my pocket,
The Persian Drunkard, he follows me.
Yes, I can take him to your house but I can’t unlock it
You see, you forgot to leave me with the key,
Oh, so where are you tonight, Sweet Marie?

Well now, I’ve been in jail where all my mail showed
That a man can’t give his address out to bad company,
And now I stand here lookin’ at your yellow railroad
In the ruins of your balcony,
Wondering where you are tonight, Sweet Marie?
Sayin’ where are you tonight, Sweet Marie?

Peter Bray has lived in Benicia since 1983
and has written this column since 2008.

Sharing is caring!